Interested in Murrieta but concerned about mello roos/ special assessments (Los Angeles: sales, HOA)

[DougStark]

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to look at homes in the Murrieta/ Temecula areas. I haven't contacted a realtor yet, so I'm basically just looking on Realtor.com to get a feel for prices, etc. I'm anticipating looking in the $400K-450 range. That price is higher than my current Phoenix neighborhood's median, but I think it's do-able. I don't dislike my house/neighborhood, or even Phoenix; I'm just wanting more moderate summers. 90s and occasional 100 degrees are fine. Just don't give me 3 solid months of 100+ degrees like we have here.

Since CA has such a unique and confusing system for assessing a homeowner's property taxes, I'm not sure what to expect. Would you say the VAST majority of single family homes built in the past 20 yrs in these towns will have not only base property taxes, but also Mello Roos costs (I think you guys call them special assessments?) I remember looking at new homes in San Diego County 20 years ago and Mello Roos taxes were the norm in new housing developments--rather disappointing But many people accept the trade-off for a new home.

Also, Zillow lists the Temecula Valley's housing market as "cool" right now. While that's fine for me as a potential buyer, I don't know the reasons for this. My "guess" is that prices have climbed so high that potential homebuyers are reaching their financial limits. With San Diego area prices and nicer areas of Los Angeles/Orange counties continuing to hit the stratosphere, I can't see a situation where the Temecula valley will ever not be desirable (if you can stand the commute.) Fortunately I'm retired, so I won't have to deal with rush hours.

Thanks.
PS. if any realtors who know these two towns well want to pvt message me, please feel free to do so.

[dump1567]

Mello Roos and special assessments are the common way new developers pay for everything. I believe this has been going on since the 80's & and the passage of Prop 13. But some of the older places can actually have these paid off by now. Your taxes can be anywhere from 1.1% to 2.3% of the appraised value of the home you buy. You can actually run parcel numbers through the County of Riverside to see what Mello Roos/Special Ass. a property has attached to it. This could help you figure out your payment. Some of these actually increase every year by a couple of % points adding to your taxes. So an older home is always going to save you on taxes. But now your utility bills may be higher due to poor/out dated insulation techniques.

I would spend a few summer days in the area. 90-100 in CA may feel hotter than the 100-115 dry heat of AZ. I think it does.

IMO, the So. Cal market is in an adjustment or upcoming recession. I think prices are going to drop 5-10% (and are actually starting to). There seems to be a ton of inventory right now and nothing is moving like it use to. Buyers are starting to reduce there prices. Not to mention this is a horrible time to sell with the holidays going on. Interest rates are also going up with promises of more increases. Let's hope we're not heading for a recession, but it's been predicted for awhile to happen in 2020. As the So. Cal market was one of the first to come out of the recession, it makes sense it would be one of the first to go back into a recession (or at least an adjustment).

[dump1567]

Buyers are starting to reduce there prices.

This should say "sellers", but for some reason, I don't have edit capabilities.

[forzalugano]

There are homes built from 1990 to 2002 in Murrieta without Mello-Roos, anything after that that is not custom built its hard to get away from.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to look at homes in the Murrieta/ Temecula areas. I haven't contacted a realtor yet, so I'm basically just looking on Realtor.com to get a feel for prices, etc. I'm anticipating looking in the $400K-450 range. That price is higher than my current Phoenix neighborhood's median, but I think it's do-able. I don't dislike my house/neighborhood, or even Phoenix; I'm just wanting more moderate summers. 90s and occasional 100 degrees are fine. Just don't give me 3 solid months of 100+ degrees like we have here.

Since CA has such a unique and confusing system for assessing a homeowner's property taxes, I'm not sure what to expect. Would you say the VAST majority of single family homes built in the past 20 yrs in these towns will have not only base property taxes, but also Mello Roos costs (I think you guys call them special assessments?) I remember looking at new homes in San Diego County 20 years ago and Mello Roos taxes were the norm in new housing developments--rather disappointing But many people accept the trade-off for a new home.

Also, Zillow lists the Temecula Valley's housing market as "cool" right now. While that's fine for me as a potential buyer, I don't know the reasons for this. My "guess" is that prices have climbed so high that potential homebuyers are reaching their financial limits. With San Diego area prices and nicer areas of Los Angeles/Orange counties continuing to hit the stratosphere, I can't see a situation where the Temecula valley will ever not be desirable (if you can stand the commute.) Fortunately I'm retired, so I won't have to deal with rush hours.

Thanks.
PS. if any realtors who know these two towns well want to pvt message me, please feel free to do so.

Lived in a development that finished building out in about 2002 and while it was an HOA, it had given the city all the streets, etc, so nothing for the HOA to do so it was never formed. No dues.

[DougStark]

Thanks for all your replies!

[DougStark]

I've decided that if I'm forced into paying Mello Roos AND ordinary property taxes, I'll stay put in Phoenix. My budget is limited. My current prop taxes are $2200/yr.

[dump1567]

Originally Posted by DougStark

I've decided that if I'm forced into paying Mello Roos AND ordinary property taxes, I'll stay put in Phoenix. My budget is limited. My current prop taxes are $2200/yr.

Probably a good choice. Your taxes probably would have been $6k to $9K a year. Plus higher State income tax, maybe higher sales tax, about a buck more for a gallon of gas, and possibly a higher monthly HOA fee. It's not cheap to live in CA.

Although I can afford to live here, I don't have much extra for other things. I'm headed to AZ next month.

[JohnSoCal]

Not all neighborhoods in Murrieta have Mello Roos fees. We bought our house new in a very nice development in 2002 and we don't have Hello Roos fees. Our total property tax rate is approximately 1.12% which is common in California for areas without the Mello Roos fees. We have owned 6 new homes in California in San Diego, Poway, San Jose, Livermore, and Murrieta and have never had to pay Mello Roos fees.

[usklx]

Too lazy to Google but what is Mello roos?