Temecula currently pencils out for what you are looking for but the 250k range doesn’t have the rental return that the cheaper places do. It’s an inverted market as far as housing stock goes, condos and apartments are the minority, large houses are the majority. Large rentals don’t have the return that say, two smaller ones for the same money would. Murrieta and Temecula are probably the only places in the IE I would steer you towards unless you like the desert and want to go with palm springs.
In Temecula/Murrieta you can easily buy a 2000-3000 sq ft house for 250k depending on location and condition, but $100 a square is the average, they will rent easily for the $1500 to $1800 range. A townhouse can be had (something with a garage and nobody above or below) for about half but the rent isn’t half, it is closer to 25% less, probably $1300-$1500. When you evaluate a potential future rental, pretend you don’t have cash and run the numbers as if you had to borrow 100%, then see if it is rent nuetral, not just advertised rent of one or two but the going rent measured against nearby apartments as well.
I like zip code 92592 for rentals, something in the temecula parkway corridor. There is only one apartment complex and three condo complexes in an area with 40k people. It also has one of the largest employers in the county (pechanga, one if not the largest casino) and a very large hospital on the way. Rental demographic workers are commuting into the immediate area, not many live close, that always bodes well for an area’s future and South Temecula is almost built out with no future apartments coming.
The only problem is you are not the only one with a calculator, the well priced ones can yield a dozen offers in a week, if not a day. Being unfamiliar with the area you might have to act too hastily and end up getting screwed because you are in love with the numbers. There are good and bad choices, take time visiting before you buy. As time goes on this should slow down, other areas are coming down and we should stop seeing the influx of buyers at some point.
As a cash buyer, you may want to wait for rates to rise a little, then you will have the listings to yourself.
