Bearish girl, I concur with what ren said, it’s the budget that matter most but there are other less expensive places that exist in SD, they just dont ofer what Temecula does, especially for those with kids. I’m not disputing that some people aren’t unhappy or that some paid too much during the bubble and may take a long time to recover, but that can be true for a lot of areas. Right now, if you do your homework, you can spend about 300k for a 3000 sq ft house built within the last 5 years. Your taxes will be between 4 and 6k because it’s based on purchase price, so for about 2k a month, you can get more than you need and with top notch schools, probably only surpassed by the carlsbad/encinitas or poway districts.
As far as long term investments, Temecula proper is nearly built out, most houses purchased today are almost rent nuetral from day one, I can find rentals that cash flow from day one, no place in S.D. has the same opportunity. What I think you need to do is actually come check it out or get a tour from a local, your impression is from another time and it’s not the same place it once was. I still think there are nicer places in S.D. than where I live, but comparing apples to apples, dollar for dollar, the 270k i spent on my place would run me between 700k and 1 mil to get a comparable feel as far as the physical house and the community it is in, and that wouldn’t allow for the rest of my plan, the rest of my plan is more important than the real estate part of my plan.
I also think the market in most sd areas is still overpriced so it will appreciate less in the coming years. My place was purchased at peak in the 600’s and then they put money into it, losing it two years later as it value fell below half, in my opinion, the air had already be let out, most of sd has yet to lose similar numbers so it will either still do it, or fail to rise because there is a limit as to what people can afford using traditional mortgages. A 300k place in some of the less desirable places you mentioned willhave just as hard of a time getting to 600k as mine will in the future. Because little old falling apart places with rotten schools dont attract young families, migration out is as likely as migration in. Look at these boards, people talk about places within 5 miles of highways 52, 56 or 5, the Temecula Valley is one of the other places that gets people talking about it and moving to it, more so than the east county or south bay, there’s a reason. The reason is that low crime, good schools and low prices is a winning formula. It was the formula for the Santa Clarita valley in the 1980’s and much of S. Orange county in the 1970’s. All of the talk of this place becoming palmdale or vegas after prices crash never materialized. We are a few years into the recession, prices have remained stable with slow upticks since 2008. The local government and the retail is just fine, they are doing better than most other places and much better than San Diego. My guess it’s because of people like ren and scardey, people who are spending between 10 and 20% of their income on housing, it’s not all they could afford, it’s all they were comfortable affording, a whole new paradigm.
