All right, so if you're thinking about making a move here to Murrieta, California, you're definitely going to want to watch this video. I've lived here in the area for over 20 years. I'm going to go over the pros and the cons and tell you guys what it's really like to live here in the area to hopefully help you guys decide if it's a good fit for you and your family. So let's go ahead and get into it.

Hey guys. Hey, again, my name is Justin Short. I'm a realtor and team leader for the short real estate team here in Temecula, California, in Murrieta, California, and I work here at Keller Williams. And this video is all about the pros and the cons of living here in the city of Murrieta, California. So I'm going to get into all the info, but the first thing, if you want to see more videos like this about Murrieta Temecula or Menifee California, do me a favor. Hit like, please hit subscribe. We have new videos that are coming out each and every week just like this, talking about the best areas, the worst areas to live in, best school district, worst school district, what type of town, what part of town you want to live on, what part of town you want to avoid, market updates, all types of good stuff.

So you can definitely stay tuned for more videos coming each and every week. And then if you guys have any specific real estate questions, of course I would love to hear from you. So you can feel free. You're going to see all my information below. It's also going to be at the end of the video. You can feel free, you can call, you can text, you can email. Of course, happy to answer any questions you guys may have. Or of course we would love to help you out with your real estate search as well. But let's go ahead and we'll get into the video here. So again, we're all about the pros and the cons of living here in Murrieta. So I guess first thing, just some perspective about me. So I have lived here in the area for over 20 years. I think it's closer to 25 years now.

I've lived in Winchester, I've lived in Temecula, and I've lived in Murrieta. So for most of, I think probably 14 of those years, I lived in the city of Murrieta. So I've kind of lived in all three. To me, they're all very, very similar. They really blend together. But hopefully with my experience living here, I think I can give you guys a really good perspective on what it's like to actually live here. And I've helped tons of clients relocate here, both here to the area and also out of the area as well. So we're going to go over some pros and cons. First, when anytime I mention the cons, I have to kind of give this disclaimer. So I've lived here for a long time. I'm raising my kids here. We love living here. I think this is a great area to live in. I think Temecula, Murrieta Valley is an awesome place.

I think it's relatively affordable. I think it's a great fit for a ton of people. I think especially if you have a family that you're planning to raise or if you're looking for more of a suburb area that is developed and has all types of good stuff to offer, I think it's a great place to live. Having said that, it's not going to be perfect for everybody. So there's going to be some cons. Just because I'm given a couple cons doesn't mean that I don't like the area. I do love living here, I'm raising my kids here. It's where we plan to be long-term, but occasionally I'll get a couple messages that don't quite understand that. So I guess there's my disclaimer. So we're going to get into the pros, and so I'm going to kind of go through 'em one through six and then we'll get into the cons.

But pro number one, and really I would say the number one reason that people live here in Marietta is it's really, it's in a relatively affordable area for Southern California. So where we're at, we're in South Riverside County. If you go any further south, if you go more than a couple miles south, you hit San Diego County. And that's just a lot more expensive. And then if you go east, or if you go west, you get closer to the beach, you're going to hit Orange County. And if you go northwest, you're going to hit LA County. So the average home in San Diego is about $950,000 as opposed to the average home in Murrieta, it's going to be right about 750,000. So it's a couple hundred thousand dollars cheaper, which is definitely significant. But not only that, for that price point, you're going to get such a larger and newer house.

So you get so much more for your money here in Marietta than you're going to get down in San Diego. And San Diego. That house is probably going to be 1200 square feet. It's probably going to be built in 1976. You're probably going to have some maintenance concerns, and honestly, that price point, it's probably not going to be the greatest of areas, as opposed to here in Murrieta for seven 50, you're going to get probably a 3000 square foot home, four bedrooms, five bedrooms, you're going to get a good size lot. You're going to get a home that was probably built anywhere from 1995 to 2010. So it's newer construction, which means it's more efficient, all that type of stuff. It's bigger. And it's also, it's in this suburb area where we live that is just really squeaky clean. So it's a nice area, it has a great school district.

It's where a lot of people want to live. And so because of that, the value is just so much degrading, so much more for your money here, and it's significantly less too. That's really the number one reason that people live here. It's more affordable than other parts of Southern California, and you could still be in a really good area. Alright, so that's going to bring us to the second biggest pro about living here in Murrieta. And really it's the second reason that people live here, and that's because it is a great public school district. So Marietta Valley Unified School District is super, super highly rated. It's all the schools from elementary to middle school to high school are all ranked really, really highly. They win all types of awards. And especially for being in southern California in an affordable part of southern California, it's really hard to find a better district that's out there.

Pro number three. So along with being a relatively affordable area to live in and having a great school district, Murrieta is also one of the safest cities in America. So over the last decade now, they've been anywhere from the top 10, top 20, top 50 safest cities throughout the United States. So because of that, there's a big police presence, there's a big military presence, and it's just really, it's a squeaky clean area. I mean, if you came through and drove through the area, I think you would see that. I think that would really stand out to you, is just how well kept the area is. And really the stats show it. It's a safe area and that's definitely a big plus. Alright, so the fourth biggest pro of living here in Murrieta is really just all about all the other cool stuff that Southern California offers.

So although we are here in Riverside County and we were about an hour away from all the other cool stuff that Southern California offers. So to me I think that's a big pro. So what that means is you're about 45 minutes to an hour away from the beach. You're about 45 minutes to an hour away from being in downtown San Diego. You're about 45 minutes to an hour away from being really in Orange County out at Disneyland, you're about closer to an hour and a half or so to most parts of la. You're a couple hours away from the mountain range up in the big bear area and you're about an hour away or so from being out in the desert out in the Palm Springs area. So because of that and really how central Murrieta is, all these other cool things that Southern California has to offer, you can really access really easily.

So you can take day trips, it's real easy. We go down to sports games, we go down to San Diego to go see the Padres play or downtown San Diego walk around or the zoo or the Safari Park or Disneyland or all the other cool stuff that you would do as a family or of course the beach trips. And it's also accessible because it's just an hour away. Alright, so the fifth biggest pro about living here in Murrieta is because it's a newer and well-kept suburb. So as opposed to other parts of Southern California, I'd kind of mentioned it a little bit before, but most areas are really built anywhere from 1960 to probably 1980, maybe 1985. So those are really becoming older homes. They're anywhere between 40 to 60 year old homes, which means you're going to have some true maintenance concerns. You have to worry about the roof, you have to worry about probably plumbing, probably electrical, and all these other different maintenance items that you have to be concerned about when you're buying a home.

As opposed to out here in Murrieta, where most homes are built anywhere from 1995 to 2010, and there's still some new construction that's still happening out there. So there's even newer homes in that, and there's some that are a little bit older. But the bulk, I would say probably 80% of the homes that are out here were built during those ranges. And because of that, that means you have newer construction, that means you have newer materials, you have tile roofs, you have concrete slabs, you don't have to worry about some of these old real dated issues that some of these other houses are going to have. And then also as you're driving through these neighborhoods, some of them have HOAs, some of them do not. But either way, most of the city is really, really well kept. I keep saying, but it's really pretty squeaky clean.

The Murrieta PD does a great job keeping the area safe. The city of Murrieta and the employees, they do a really good job and they have a lot of workers that are out taking care of the area and picking up trash and just keeping it a really nice area. So overall the city is really well maintained and I think that's one of the big pros is just keeping it in a really nice suburb. Alright, and so the sixth biggest pro, and the last thing that I want to mention it is just probably a little bit more specific to me as a real estate agent, but really it's just the fact that Murrieta and the city of Murrieta is significantly less expensive than the city of Temecula, which is right next door. So when I get contacted by people that are from out of the area, most people are not super familiar with the city of Murrieta.

They're more interested in the city of Temecula. It's a little bit bigger, it has a little more name recognition. There's a wine country area there. It's really a little bit more on the map and a little bit more well-known than Murrieta. But because that when people want to move here, that's what's on their radar. What they don't realize is the next city over Murrieta is going to be about a hundred thousand dollars cheaper on average. So you can get a lot more for your money in Murrieta than you can Temecula. And so because of that, it ends up being a better value. And also not only that, I mean the commute time if you want to call it that, but the driving distance between most parts of Marietta to most parts are of Temecula are anywhere between five to 15 minutes. So they're super, super close.

They really run right into each other. They blend together. There's a main road here in town, which is Winchester Road. If you're on one side of the road, you're Temecula. If you're on one side of the road, you're in Murrieta. So as you cross over, there's really no difference. They really, really blend together super, super well. And I encourage most people to consider both if you are commuting or you have different concerns or you need to be in a specific neighborhood for a specific reason or maybe a specific school, then you're going to probably tighten down that search. But most clients, when they're relocating here, I encourage 'em to look at both and consider both and at least see what you can get for your money in Murrieta as opposed to Temecula. So those are the pros of living in Murrieta. And so that's going to take us into the cons.

So same deal, I'm going to list 'em off one through seven, give you my perspective on the worst parts about living here in Murrieta. Like I mentioned before, there's pros and cons to everything, but if you are thinking about moving here, I think these are definitely factors you're going to want to pay attention to and make sure you at least take them into consideration before you decide to make the move. So number one, and without a doubt in my mind, the worst part about living here in Murrieta for most people is going to be the commute. So because the fact that most people live here in Murrieta, they don't work here locally. So that means they're commuting to San Diego, they're commuting to, or they're commuting to Orange County. So on average, the average commute is anywhere between 50 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes for each person.

And that's each way. So let's say, let's call it an hour each way, that's two hour commute, it's two hours a day. If you're commuting five days a week, that's 10 hours a week you're going to be in the car. And of course if there's an accident or something, that's going to be even longer. So I think since I've lived here, that is probably the biggest complaint that I hear from people as far as the worst part about living here is making that commute each and every day. So if you are going to be making the commute, just know that rush hour, you're going to hit some traffic, definitely. So if you're factoring in that drive time, make sure you're on Google Maps and you're plugging in the right times to get a true gauge on what that commute is actually going to look like for you.

And I guess on the other side of that is today, so it's 2023 now and so many more people work remotely that did not get a chance to do that before. So because of how much more remote work is happening, that really takes away people's biggest pain point. So if you can work from home five days a week or four days a week or three days a week and now you only have to commute one or two days, that makes living here a lot more palatable. And making that drive once a week or every so often really is pretty doable. But when you have to grind away and do it five days a week, it can definitely eat at you. So it's just something to keep in mind if you are going to make the commute, if you got to make sure you're prepared to do that long, long-term or if not, maybe look into another job situation as well.

Alright, so number two kind of ties into commute situation and most people make that commute. And the reason they do make that commute is because there are not a ton of local jobs here in Murrieta. So like I mentioned, most people live here, it's a little bit more of a bedroom community and people make that commute to San Diego, LA, Orange County. Of course there's a good amount of businesses here local. So it's not that there's not businesses and shopping or anything like that. I mean there's 500,000 people that live here locally in the surrounding cities. So it's not a small town by any means, but there's not a lot of big businesses. So there's not these big huge, massive employers that maybe other parts of the country are going to have and that's why people end up making the commute. That's the second biggest con.

There's just not a ton of big industry here and that's really leads into 0.1 of people having to make the commute. Alright, so the third biggest living here in Murrieta is really back to the average sales price that we were talking about earlier. So although Murrieta is relatively affordable compared to other parts of Southern California, like I mentioned right now, the average price home was about 750,000 in Marietta. But if you compare that to the average price home throughout the United States, really we're about double. So right now the stats show the average priced home throughout the US is $350,000. The average home price in Murrieta 750,000. So just about double the price point to live here. Again, if you're coming from other parts of Southern California, it's going to seem affordable. And if you're coming from somewhere in Iowa, it's going to be super, super expensive coming out this way.

I guess it's really perspective, it just depends what you're used to, where you're coming from. We have a lot of people that move here from other places on the west coast, so they come down from the Bay area, San Francisco, that type of thing up from Seattle, anywhere out there on the west coast. We get a lot of people moving here from. So compared to those areas, it's definitely going to be a lot more affordable. But again, if you're coming out from somewhere in the Midwest, it's definitely going to be more expensive. Of course you're in southern California, you're going to get the great weather and all that good stuff, but just something you got to keep in mind and just know there's a certain price point to live here unfortunately. Alright. And the fourth biggest con that I hear from people about living here in Marietta is just the cookie cutter tract homes.

So like I mentioned, most of the homes here were really built anywhere from 1995 to probably 2010, 2011. And really it was these big mass builders that came in, bought up big plots of land and subdivided 'em and put in 1000, 2,003,000 homes. So you get these big builders, KB and Lennar and all these different nationwide builders, but because of that they tend to kind of build these stucco boxes. And so a lot of comments that I get from people that are moving from out of the area is, hey, all these houses really all kind of blend together. They're all stucco, they all have tile roofs, they're all different shades of brown and there's not really much diversity between the appearances of different neighborhoods. And I think that's probably fair. Again, myself, I've lived here for a long time, so I don't really know anything else.

To me that's what a suburban neighborhood looks like. It's not something that bothers me, but it is a comment that I get, especially from people that move from the east coast, if they're used to something with maybe a little bit more character or maybe a home that was built in 1890 or something and has these different cool unique features, well you're not going to get that out here for sure. So that can definitely be a con for people is the cookie cutter tract homes. So the fifth biggest con really goes back to the price point, but with our average price point that we have of about $750,000, that makes it, it's a really hard market for a first time buyer to buy a home in. So a lot of times we have people that are younger, maybe my age, I'm in my mid thirties or younger or maybe older too, but they are in a position and ready to buy their first home and they look at Marietta as they're going to be their target.

Hey, I want to get in a good school district, I want to be able to buy a home in Murrieta. But because the price point is so expensive, it's really, really hard to do that. So it's more common that when people are buying a home in Murrieta that it's more of a second home market where people have maybe lived in a condo, lived in a smaller home elsewhere, maybe built up a little bit of equity over time, they're selling that cashing out and then buying the home in Murrieta. So that's not a hundred percent always the case, but it's just more common. And because of that, I would say Murrieta is definitely a hard market for a first time buyer to get into. Alright, so that's going to bring us to my sixth biggest con about living here in Murrieta. And really this is the last one on my list, but like I mentioned, most of my clients when they come here, I have them look at homes in both Murrieta and Temecula.

We talked about Murrieta is going to be less expensive than Temecula, but however, the flip side of that and the con is that city of Murrieta has less local businesses and shopping than City of Temecula is going to have and it's pretty significant. So Temecula has the mall, Temecula has a casino, Temecula has the wine country area, and Temecula has a pretty robust old town area as opposed to Murrieta has really a handful of chain restaurants and probably a handful of other privately owned businesses or privately owned restaurants. So I would say percentage wise, I would say there's probably 25% as much of those local businesses as what Temecula is going to have. So I would say that would definitely be a con about Murrieta. The flip side of that is the commute, the drive from your Temecula, it's just going to be anywhere from five to 15 minutes.

So it's super close. It's not like you're going to make this long haul out to the boonies to go to the local restaurant. It's nothing like that, but it's just not as convenient when those local businesses are just not right down the street. So I would say that's a con and that's something that I hear from clients locally a good amount of the time. So just something to keep in mind if you are going to be comparing both cities. So anyways, that's my list. Those are the pros and cons of living in Murrieta. Hopefully it's a good perspective from someone that's lived here for a long time. If you guys have any questions, you can feel free to reach out anytime, like I mentioned. Do me a favor, please hit like please hit subscribe on the video. Happy to hear from you guys and hopefully talk to you soon. Thanks.