Rental home in the Moreno Valley (Riverside, Bakersfield: real estate, renters, home builders)

[stautxie]

My wife and I are trying to invest in Real Estate Rental for retirement. Given the healthy run of the house price in SoCal, we cannot afford a rental home on the coast, including Orange county where we live. Therefore, we are thinking about buying one in Inland Empire.

Initially we were looking at Temecula, which seemed pretty nice but the property price appreciated quite significantly in the past year. Corona and Riverside as well. Now, we are trying to expand to Moreno Valley. I did some research on the forum and seems that people liked to live in Sunnymead Ranch, Moreno Valley Ranch, and Rancho Belago. I am seeking your input as to

1. Are there a decent size of "good" tenants in the 3 locations above?

2. Do local people prefer to live in MV or rather in the neighboring and safer places?

3. Rancho Belago's assigned elementary school is Ridge Crest Elementary, which has quite some bad reviews. Is it true and any concern?

Thank you all in advance!

[therese marie]

You could not pay me to live in Moreno Valley... sorry.. if your looking for affordable, maybe try Northwest area in Fontana.. its the other side of Rancho Cucamonga, near the 15 fwy..
Have you considered getting a cabin in Big Bear and have a rental company rent out for you, prices are super low there right now.. great vacation rental potential.

[stautxie]

Thank you for your feedback, Therese!

[Happa Brat]

If I were to rent I would not rent in Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, Perris, Lake Elsinore.

I would rent in Temecula, Murrieta and Menifee.

There is an old saying, "If you live in a cheap area, expect to deal with people who can afford that".

Show me an area with low median income and I will show you an area with issues, facts are facts.

[CityGuy88]

Some of it will depend on what you're looking for in terms of diversity. Many people will say Moreno Valley is a bad place to live because of who lives there. Because it is a heavily African-American and Latino city, it has gotten a bad rep (some of it is deserved, some isn't). To somewhat answer at least one of your questions: from what I know of Sunnymead Ranch, it is a cool place to live. It seems quieter than many other parts of MoVal and the homes in the area seem very well taken care of.

[stautxie]

Thank you all for the info!

It is pretty hard to pick a place in SoCal that are not too expense for rental investment. Therefore, we have been thinking about the three potential areas.

1. Moreno Valley: the safer and well-managed part, of course.
2. Redlands, Mentone, or Yucaipa in San Bernardino county
3. Places like Beaumont/Banning, which are further away from OC.

These are places with 1.5 hours driving from OC and we really do not like to go all the way to the desert areas, which is too far to reach.

What are your thoughts are in general desirable and safe area for good renters and yet affordable? My uneducated guess would say Redlands, Mentone or Yucaipa. But I have also heard the gang activity and drug issues in SB county due to police shortage could be a big concern.

Thank you again for your advice!

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by Happa Brat

If I were to rent I would not rent in Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, Perris, Lake Elsinore.

I would rent in Temecula, Murrieta and Menifee.

There is an old saying, "If you live in a cheap area, expect to deal with people who can afford that".

Show me an area with low median income and I will show you an area with issues, facts are facts.

Absolutely true.

Bakersfield is cheap, and it is listed as the most stressful place to live in California.

[waltchan]

Moreno Valley has had a lot of issues since the early-90s, but new home builders will never stop building here.

[Newfangle9]

Decades ago when I lived in Cucamonga the Moreno Valley area was called Sunnymead, but everyone I knew called it Scummymead. I know there was Edgemont too, but we never mentioned it when referring to that area. It wasn't known as a very nice area even back then and I doubt it has improved.