Indio, Ca (Terra Lago) (appointed, for sale, HOA fees)

[OldsRocket]

Does anyone know anything about the Terra Lago community in North Indio? I know that the HOAs are very expensive $260+. Is the community nice? What does the HOA pay for? Will the housing prices recover in this area?

[sams]

I'm staying at one of the resorts in Terra Lago right now. It's really beautiful here. Golf course is fairly immaculate, mountains provide a nice view. Always sunny of course. The community seems very quiet...

Only bad thing I've encountered so far was shopping. I picked up some breakfast items (muffins, bagels, peanut butter) and got back to the resort only to find that the peanut butter had been previously opened and fingered. Never had that happen before anywhere.

[starlight1589]

my grandparents live there

[PumaGirl]

My husband and I moved into Terra Lago nearly 2 years ago. Home values/prices have plummeted drastically, approx $160,000 as far as I can tell. The HOA dues are $264.99 right now, which is ridiculously high. The dues cover landscape maintenance throughout the community (not resident homes), use and upkeep of clubhouse, pool, home internet access and basic cable. There are now roaming security patrols due to a number of burglaries. (Our home included, as we were burglarized within a few months of moving in.) This is not a gated community, but given the high HOA dues, it should be. It is way too easy for anyone to drive into the neighborhood any time of day or night, take what they want and then drive off on lonely Avenue 44 into no man's land or onto I-10 and disappear. I don't get the impression that too many residents feel as safe here as they would like. Myself included. The golf course "next door" is very nice, but you don't have to live here to enjoy it. I know my husband and I regret not looking at other similar but gated communities. Gates don't make for perfect communities, but they help. There's good reason why the vast majority of communities in the desert are gated.

[Arlem1973]

I reside in Terra Lago and have been very disappointed. We pay $264 in HOA fees and the services are very substandard. The internet service is ok but the cable service is terrible. The representatives at the community center are never available and when they are, they make silly excuses about the facilities.

If the neighborhood installed gates, this place would be a much better place. This place has so much potential and the layout was well designed. The gym is a nice amennity until the equipment starts falling apart or requiring maintenance. The clubhouse, lake, landscaping and pool are very nice.

I'm sure the developer had great plans for this community, but like everything else, progress has dried up. Due to the economic downward spiral, I can only forsee things getting worse before they get better.

[LNBAGS]

We have lived in a portofino home on the lake for 2 1/2 years. It is a beautiful community that has exceeded our expectations. We used to live in a 55+ community. Terralago is quiet, well-kept and the hoa does a great job monitoring all of our needs!

The lack of gates has never bothered us because many of our friends live within 1-2 miles in gated and guarded communities and you should hear of the crimes committed there. (unfortunately, there have even been violent crimes). Anything can happen anywhere. We used to live in west los angeles/adjacent to beverly hills....no place is safer than the next. Then we moved to thousand oaks, california (voted most safest city in america)....still heard of crime!

While the whole coachella valley has become deflated house-wise we still will live here because of close family ties.

(our lake house is for sale) because of our need to downsize economically having bought a beach house as a second home (right before the recession hit)....contact us via this site for more info.

[linz98144]

My home in Portofino (Terra Lago) is on the market right this second for almost 200 grand under what I paid/owe. Moving there was a bad decision, of course buying a home 2 years ago turned out to be a bad decision too.
While the area looks nice, be careful. There were A LOT of burglaries and since so many of the homes are in foreclousure or selling for half what they are worth, there are some very shady residents.
PM me if you are still interested.