[ice9]

Thanks for the comments and information about Temecula. It’s gold for me to get this kind of feedback.

I’ve given up on my no-car ambitions years ago — I’ve accepted car ownership is a necessity with a family, but I can try to minimize car usage (biking, etc) to help keep ownership costs down.

Just for background information, the other cities we are considering are:

Ashland, OR
Signal Mountain, TN
Peachtree City, GA

I am sold on Temecula, but I’ve got my work cut for me to convince my wife. She is concerned about the cost of living (legitimate) and things like earthquakes and wildfires (not legitimate concerns IMO).

She wants me to research what earthquake insurance costs. Is that something you need in Temecula? If so, what does it cost?

It seems like utilities are pretty reasonable (just from reading some posts on city-data.com). Is the drought in SoCal making water prices go higher in Temecula?

We would want to minimize property taxes, so avoiding Mello Roos is a goal. It seems like there are some nice older neighborhoods like Vintage Hills without Mello Roos. Any other good neighborhoods without Mello Roos you would recommend?

We also really want a one-story home — but those seem uncommon in Temecula. It’s going to make the home buying process more difficult, but hopefully not impossible.

Thanks again for everyone’s input!

[ice9]

[quote=FlyerInHi]What’s wrong with Austin? Did you read the other thread about moving to Texas?
[/quote]

Austin a great place to live overall. The main reasons why it isn’t the best choice for me:

It can be hot from May through October. I don’t mind hot weather for a couple of months, but in Austin it just lasts too long and it too extreme.

Property taxes are too high. They vary on where you live in Austin, but a 400K house could be anywhere from 8K to 12K per year.

The city is too big. Our ideal city size would probably be around 50K. I know T/M the population is around 200K — so it’s bigger than we would like, but it’s not anything like Austin size (or San Diego size for that matter).

I haven’t seen the Texas thread — I’ll look for it.

[ice9]

Any reccommendations for realtors that specialize in Temecula/Murrietta?

[ice9]

Hey all, OP here. I thought I would revisit this thread I posted 5 years ago!

I’m still interested in semi-retirement in Temecula area. Some things have changed:

* Have two toddlers, yikes.

* 2M saved (1.4M liquid, 600K IRA)

* Left full time employment last year. Freelance now.

I’m at the point where I want to find the right place to settle down for the next 18+ years, hopefully permanently. I keep going back to Temecula as an option since it is much more affordable than San Diego, and we’re looking for a smaller city that has great (public) schools.

Still looking for something in the 2500 sq ft range, but I’ve convinced myself we need a pool. I know pools are expensive and a pain to maintain, but pools are great for kids and I selfishly want one to enjoy myself in the hot Temecula summers.

So — can someone on the ground give me a sense of what the Temecula market is like these days?

[ice9]

montana – how extensive are the trails you can access from SEH? Just looking for a rough idea… a few miles, 10, 20, more?

[ice9]

FREEDOM MANIFESTO eh? I will check it out, thanks.

[ice9]

FREEDOM MANIFESTO eh? I will check it out, thanks.

[ice9]

FREEDOM MANIFESTO eh? I will check it out, thanks.

[ice9]

FREEDOM MANIFESTO eh? I will check it out, thanks.

[ice9]

FREEDOM MANIFESTO eh? I will check it out, thanks.

[ice9]

I appreciate the comments/feedback earlyretirement.

It’s very useful to hear the thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about this, and even done it.

Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but I don’t think of myself as having debt. I have a mortgage, yes, but there is 100K equity in the house. No student loans, credit card debt, etc.

Given the tax deduction on mortgage interest, I feel more comfortable having money earning dividends (that are taxed at 10% currently) than sitting in home equity.

[ice9]

I appreciate the comments/feedback earlyretirement.

It’s very useful to hear the thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about this, and even done it.

Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but I don’t think of myself as having debt. I have a mortgage, yes, but there is 100K equity in the house. No student loans, credit card debt, etc.

Given the tax deduction on mortgage interest, I feel more comfortable having money earning dividends (that are taxed at 10% currently) than sitting in home equity.

[ice9]

I appreciate the comments/feedback earlyretirement.

It’s very useful to hear the thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about this, and even done it.

Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but I don’t think of myself as having debt. I have a mortgage, yes, but there is 100K equity in the house. No student loans, credit card debt, etc.

Given the tax deduction on mortgage interest, I feel more comfortable having money earning dividends (that are taxed at 10% currently) than sitting in home equity.

[ice9]

I appreciate the comments/feedback earlyretirement.

It’s very useful to hear the thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about this, and even done it.

Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but I don’t think of myself as having debt. I have a mortgage, yes, but there is 100K equity in the house. No student loans, credit card debt, etc.

Given the tax deduction on mortgage interest, I feel more comfortable having money earning dividends (that are taxed at 10% currently) than sitting in home equity.

[ice9]

I appreciate the comments/feedback earlyretirement.

It’s very useful to hear the thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about this, and even done it.

Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but I don’t think of myself as having debt. I have a mortgage, yes, but there is 100K equity in the house. No student loans, credit card debt, etc.

Given the tax deduction on mortgage interest, I feel more comfortable having money earning dividends (that are taxed at 10% currently) than sitting in home equity.

[Author]

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