I'm tired of the development! (Riverside, Ontario: sale, real estate, insurance)

[NewportBorn]

Originally Posted by LetterLady

Hey! What's wrong with the IE???
Talk about overdevelopment...check out Temecula, land of pretty hills covered by earth-toned, red tile roofed, brochure-perfect, "12-Floor-Plans-To-Choose-From tract homes, habitat to the Suburban Keep-Up-With-The-Jones-Smiths-Steins-Chungs people. ROFL!
Anyone want a small beautiful custom built View Home nestled on 5.25 acres, fenced and cross-fenced for horses, 2 wells, a windmill and a rental trailer and the best down-to-earth neighbors anyone could ever dream of, located in the winter wonderland mountains of SoCal (IE)? We're trying to escape to OREGON!!!!

So do you like Temecula?

I know there are beautiful parts (wine country)...

Pics of the house?

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by cobmw

Yes you went from fighting traffic to no crowds. But there are also no jobs! Development brings business opportunities. SLO is a jobs wasteland. Unless you are able to work for the state, the county, the city or a hospital you are likely not going to find work. There are very few private employers of any significant size in SLO. Could the growth controls and the resulting high living costs have chased them away? I remember a guitar maker who had to leave because his employees could not afford to live there.

You are lucky to have found a way to live in such a nice, exclusive area. Most people coming to CA might as well look elsewhere.

I live in Monterey County ... not SLO, although I visit SLO fairly often. One of the reasons is the jobs from my profession (RN) are better (and better paying) here.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by yo vanilla

Too much overdevelopment; houses sprang up everywhere and still they all drove 75 miles to work.

Very true. When I lived out in the desert ... the new development did not bring higher paying jobs. You still had to drive 75 miles ... unless you were willing to work at Burger King.

Even as an RN .... which is an in demand position ... you had to drive for higher pay. The hospitals figured they could pay lower and still staff with people who wanted to avoid the drive.

So more development doesn't always mean better jobs. It might bring some jobs but not necessarily higher paying ones.

[eclipxe]

Originally Posted by LetterLady

Hey! What's wrong with the IE???
Talk about overdevelopment...check out Temecula, land of pretty hills covered by earth-toned, red tile roofed, brochure-perfect, "12-Floor-Plans-To-Choose-From tract homes, habitat to the Suburban Keep-Up-With-The-Jones-Smiths-Steins-Chungs people. ROFL!
Anyone want a small beautiful custom built View Home nestled on 5.25 acres, fenced and cross-fenced for horses, 2 wells, a windmill and a rental trailer and the best down-to-earth neighbors anyone could ever dream of, located in the winter wonderland mountains of SoCal (IE)? We're trying to escape to OREGON!!!!

What an ill informed view. The hills in Temecula aren't covered with homes and the homes that are in the hills are very nice custom estates on several acres. Have you ever been to the Santa Rosa Plateau, La Costa, Santiago Estates, De Luz, etc? Some folks drive down Margarita or Winchester Roads, think they've seen the entire area and post ignorant assumptions online. The hills to the west, the south, wine country to the east - all wide open spaces, little development, beautiful nature. You can drive for 40 miles east through rolling hills and just enjoy the beauty.

[eclipxe]

Originally Posted by yo vanilla

Now take another extreme, the nicknamed Forclosure Alley down in the inland empire. GQ just had an interesting article on it. Too much overdevelopment; houses sprang up everywhere and still they all drove 75 miles to work. Now they've got something like 500 foreclosures/week (due to the snowball effect of yay! development + get these people mortgages any way you can) and it's a ghost town.

LOL. That GQ article was the biggest piece of journalistic drivel I've ever read. The author Charles Bowden (see his WikiPedia entry) is famous for his overly dramatic and inaccurate representations of areas he knows little about. He pretty much pissed off all of North Dakota a few years ago calling the area a "ghost town" as well.

First and foremost, it is inaccurate to say Lake Elsinore is 75 miles from jobs. There are plenty of jobs in the valley - folks from LE work in Temecula, Murrieta, Riverside, etc. Some professionals in Lake Elsinore commute right over the hill to Orange County for jobs (it's only about a 35 mile drive). Others work in job centers in Ontario (about 40 miles) or Corona. The author seems to ignore facts and distort his brief encounters to illustrate a point that sells magazines.

Is the area (especially Lake Elsinore) suffering from Foreclosures? Definitely. Is it a ghost town? Nowhere close.

[yo vanilla]

Hey, it was just an example. I know enough to take journalism with a grain of salt. It was an illustration to drive my point on the subject that it's easy to cross the line.

[eclipxe]

Originally Posted by yo vanilla

Hey, it was just an example. I know enough to take journalism with a grain of salt. It was an illustration to drive my point on the subject that it's easy to cross the line.

Fair enough!

[DezertGirl]

Originally Posted by NewportBorn

So do you like Temecula?

I know there are beautiful parts (wine country)...

Pics of the house?

Temecula is fine, if you love the tract home/postage stamp lot lifestyle. Of course, there is more than tract homes, but most new construction within the last 8-10 years or so have been planned developments with as many homes to the acre as possible. I'm sorry, I don't do well in an environment where you can clearly hear your neighbor flush his toilet and walk down the stairs! Where I live, I am somewhat required to shop in Temecula, but really dislike the traffic snarls and nasty attitudes. Wine country is beautiful, but the overdevelopment of the general area and poor planning regarding the roads has contributed to a vicious traffic problem. Wine country also floods gloriously when they get a couple inches of rain.
A realtor recently told me that tract homes that had been selling for $500,000 at the top of the sales scramble are selling at auction for $150,000 - $175,000. I haven't verified that...
Don't even add in the tract home builder lawsuits due to shoddy construction in the area...
But another saving grace is the Pechanga Casino
Pix coming soon of the ranch...how does $275,000 sound?

[DezertGirl]

Originally Posted by eclipxe

What an ill informed view. The hills in Temecula aren't covered with homes and the homes that are in the hills are very nice custom estates on several acres. Have you ever been to the Santa Rosa Plateau, La Costa, Santiago Estates, De Luz, etc? Some folks drive down Margarita or Winchester Roads, think they've seen the entire area and post ignorant assumptions online. The hills to the west, the south, wine country to the east - all wide open spaces, little development, beautiful nature. You can drive for 40 miles east through rolling hills and just enjoy the beauty.

When was the last time you were in Temecula? Fifteen or twenty years ago? I live 35 miles away...how is it possible that I have an "ill-informed view"? I live it...LOL! Those "custom estates" were built, for the most part, in the 1980s and early 90s. Been down the 79 South from the 15 heading towards Warner Springs lately? Suburban clutter...RedHawk, Vail Ranch, Oak Creek, and more, sprung from the gently rolling hills beginning in the mid-nineties, spreading out and around those nice 2 - 3 acre lots with the million dollar homes on them, which, by the way, are being bought up near Margarita Road, down Ynez and rezoned as commercial property for medical offices.
I have lived in Temecula, sent 3 kids to school there, worked there, have clients there, shop there and go to yardsales there on Saturday mornings. I'm quite familiar with Temecula. Sometimes I even venture into Murrieta!
I'm not including DeLuz and such lovely areas in my Temecula rant. That's up the hill, overlooking the growing smog and dust problem that 90,000 people emit. I can see that cloudiness as I'm driving down the 371. It used to be a marvelous view . I'm offended that you called me ignorant
Next time you drive 40 miles east/southeast on the 79 South, come one by! I have this really nice ranch for sale...pix coming soon (on my profile, of course). Would you also be interested in a goat? I have several to choose from.

[eclipxe]

Originally Posted by LetterLady

Temecula is fine, if you love the tract home/postage stamp lot lifestyle. Of course, there is more than tract homes, but most new construction within the last 8-10 years or so have been planned developments with as many homes to the acre as possible. I'm sorry, I don't do well in an environment where you can clearly hear your neighbor flush his toilet and walk down the stairs! Where I live, I am somewhat required to shop in Temecula, but really dislike the traffic snarls and nasty attitudes. Wine country is beautiful, but the overdevelopment of the general area and poor planning regarding the roads has contributed to a vicious traffic problem. Wine country also floods gloriously when they get a couple inches of rain.
A realtor recently told me that tract homes that had been selling for $500,000 at the top of the sales scramble are selling at auction for $150,000 - $175,000. I haven't verified that...
Don't even add in the tract home builder lawsuits due to shoddy construction in the area...
But another saving grace is the Pechanga Casino
Pix coming soon of the ranch...how does $275,000 sound?

Just drove through meadowview today, such beautiful homes! Temecula is awesome - you can definitely find many tract homes, but there are also very, very large areas of big lots with custom homes for affordable prices. Meadowview, Santiago Estates, De Luz, Wine Country, La Costa. There are house options for everyone - you can even find nice tract homes with half-acre lots and plenty of room.

I can't comment on auction prices, but the sweet spot for most homes right now is about $250-$300k. This is in the city proper. The bigger the house, the lower price per square ft. Some are down to $90-100 psqf. The good places that don't need a ton of work are getting snatched up quickly with multiple offers. Just from my experience on the ground, the brown lawns are gone and there are many fewer for sale signs.

A lot of folks complain about the traffic so I have to give it some credence, but I personally never have an issue with it. Maybe because I'm so used to LA/OC traffic, but I have no problem getting around town. I love the fact that there are cars along Winchester after 11pm. The city doesn't seem dead at night these days (as it did when I moved here in 99).

Nasty attitudes? Aww sorry you have that impression LetterLady! There are snobs everywhere (and people living in Temecula have nothing to be snobby about) but I've had the opposite experience. People have been so nice and friendly. I've made so many new friends around town in the last few years - and I'm not especially friendly myself! Hopefully we can convince you that we're good humble folks down here one day!