All right, so this video is all about 15 things that you definitely need to know if you're going to make a move and live here in the city of Murrieta, California. I'm going to give you what I think is a really unique perspective from someone that actually lives here in the city, has lived here in the area for quite a long time, and give you an idea of what it's like to actually live here. I think these are some cool things that you're not going to find most places online and hopefully give you some insight to help you decide if this is the right area 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 here at Keller Williams. And this video is all about the city of Murrieta. So we're going to go over the 15 things that you're definitely going to want to know if you are thinking about making a move and living here in the city of Murrieta, California. Some of these are a little bit more general items and then a bunch of them I think are pretty niche. I think it's going to give you a really good perspective on what it's like to actually live here in the city from someone that's lived here for a long time. And I think some things you're not going to find most places online, so hopefully it's good information for you guys. I know I've kind of mentioned my story a bit before in a lot of the other videos, but I've lived here in the valley for over 25 years, probably about half that time I've lived in Murrieta, so probably 12, 13 years.

I lived in the city of Winchester and lived in the city of Temecula, actually where I lived now. So I can give you a really good perspective on what it's like to actually live here. But the first thing before I get into all the content on the video, if you like real estate videos like this and you want to see more real estate stuff about the Temecula, Murrieta and Menefee Valley, do me a favor, please hit like please sit, subscribe. So obviously it helps me, it helps my channel. We're trying to continue to grow it, and then we have new videos that we put out each and every week. So we have videos like this talking about what it's like to actually live here, the best parts of town, worst parts of town, best schools, best neighborhoods, all that type of stuff. We have market update videos, we have new home community tours, so we have new stuff coming out each and every week, and so hopefully it's good information for you guys.

And so hit, hit subscribe, and then if you guys have any questions, of course, I would love to hear from you so you can feel free and reach out. You can call, you can text, you can email. It's all my information is going to be at the end of this video or you can scroll down below. That goes to my cell phone, so I'll be the one answering all of your questions. Of course, myself and my team would love to help you in any way that we can or help you out with your real estate search. If you're thinking about making a move here or out of the area, we'd love to help you. Of course, of course, feel free to reach out, but we'll get into the video here. Again, this is the 15 things that you need to know if you're going to make a move and live here in Murrieta.

We're going to start at number one and kind of run down. Number one is just, it's all about the weather. So living here in Murrieta, California, it is hot two months of the year. So the stats show that the months of August and September average about 91 degrees. Personally living here, I mean there are definitely heat waves that are quite a bit hotter than that. We get heat waves north of a hundred, so we get to a hundred to 103, 104 degrees. They don't last super long. They're probably here for 2, 3, 4 days maybe. So they're not super extended heat waves by any means, but it gets hot here two months of the year. So that's something you got to know. You got to be prepared for the heat. Everyone here does have central air. I don't think I've ever seen a house that doesn't just because it would be miserable if you didn't have ac.

And what is nice is that even when we have a heat wave and it gets super hot here in the middle of the day, we are not too far from the coast. So as a bird flies, if you went and direct over, there's a mountain range between us and the coast, so you're not super close driving distance to the beach, you're probably about 45 minutes to an hour, but at night we get a really, really nice breeze that comes over from the ocean, which is nice. It really cools down the area. So even it's hot, see it's a hundred degrees in the middle of the day most days by about six o'clock, 6:30pm, by the time that breeze rolls in, it'll really cool down to probably 72, 73 degrees. It's super comfortable. You can sit outside at a restaurant, eat dinner. It feels nice, right? It's not like a true desert climate, like something like say Palm Springs or Las Vegas where it's 103 in the middle of the day and it's 99 at eight o'clock at night.

So we do cool down pretty nice, which is nice. And although it is super hot those two months of the year, the other 10 months are actually really, really nice. The weather is good. You can pull up average temperatures, but they're going to be probably anywhere from the high seventies to mid eighties. It's super comfortable. We don't get very much rain. I think the weather is a big plus here, but for those two months you got to know it's going to be warm for sure. Alright, number two is the fact that there is not a ton of non-chain family owned restaurants here in Murrieta. So we have all the chains are going to be here. There's going to be Applebee's and Chili's and all that type of stuff. But inside the city limits at Marietta, there's not a ton of those family owned restaurants, and that's kind of a struggle when you live here is you'd like to go to something local and support a small business or whatnot.

There's not a ton of that in Murrieta. There are a handful and there are some really good restaurants for sure, but a lot of times because of that, because of the lack of family owned restaurants, when you live in Murrieta, you end up going to the surrounding city, you end up going to Temecula to get more choices for restaurants because Murrieta just doesn't have a ton. Number three is there are far too many car washes and gas stations in Murrieta, so it's kind a running joke is it feels like every time a little retail development center is built up, there is a new carwash that gets labeled and that's going in a month later. So it's a running joke when you live here is what we want. We want more restaurants, we want more family activity, places to do to go to stuff like that, but it seems like they just keep throwing up a bunch of gas stations and a bunch of car washes.

So we're saturated with gas stations and car washes and not enough restaurants. Number four is the golden triangle. So the golden Triangle is actually, it's a really cool location in town, so it's in the city of Marietta. It is located right between the 15 freeway and the two 15 freeway. So if you look at a map, the 15 freeway runs pretty north and south, and then the two 15 freeway starts to break off and go northeast towards the city of Riverside. So right where those freeways branch off of each other in the middle, it's called the Golden Triangle. So that area, it's a really prime spot for real estate. It's very close to the border of Temecula and Murrieta and the city of Murrieta has had huge plans for it for over 20 years. So none of 'em have ever really come to fruition. I think at one point the model was supposed to go there that is in Temecula, so that didn't happen.

There's supposed to be some really nice gourmet restaurants, high-end restaurants that was supposed to go in there that never happened. There's been a couple other plans over the years and it's still dirt, it's still vacant land. Nothing has ever really gone in. At some point though, it's going to be a really cool area. So if you haven't lived here very long, it's something to keep an eye on and it will be developed and it will end up be a nice air and it's going to be a great location. Alright, number five is breweries in Murrieta. So a lot of people don't know this, but there are a bunch of really nice breweries located within the city. Murrieta and Temecula has a handful as well, and I think that's something that most people don't know. So online, the Temecula wine country obviously gets a ton of praise and there's over 50 wineries and it's like a big tourist destination.

But if you're like myself, I don't really like wine. So we do events and stuff in the wine country, but I don't go out there for wine tasting and stuff. It's not my thing. But there are a ton of breweries. Most are Murrieta, there's a few in Temecula, a couple in Menifee, but it's actually, it's a really underrated aspect of living here. There's some really cool breweries. A lot of 'em have some nice restaurants attached to 'em, cool lounge spaces. They do office meetings and stuff, different places. One of 'em has an arcade. So I think that is something if you don't live here, it's probably something that's good to know and I think it's a cool hangout spot. Number six, and I think this is something if you don't live in the area, is probably going to be a little bit surprising to you.

A lot of my clients that relocate here mentioned this to me, but here in the Murrieta, there is a really strong military presence. So there's a lot of military support from people that live here. There's obviously a lot of American flags, stuff like that, but people don't realize how close a lot of the military bases are. So there's a lot of people that live here in Murrieta and commute. So they're in the military, they're in either Marines or Navy, and they commute to work living in Murrieta. So Camp Pendleton is relatively close. It's probably about 30 to 40 minutes away, so that's a super doable commute. There's an Air Force base, it's kind of, I dunno if shutdowns the right word, but it's not an active air force base, but Marge Air Force Base, there's still some military personnel that's there, and then some people can make the commute all the way down to the Point Loma area in San Diego, down to the other bases out that way.

So there are a ton of people that live here that are in the military, and it gives us, it's a really huge presence. I think that's one of the really cool things about living in Southern California, but people that aren't from the area don't know that and they're always a little bit surprised. Alright, so number seven, I think this would be a surprise for most people politically, this area, the city of Marietta and the surrounding parts of South Riverside County tend to lean to the right and tend to lean red. I think that's always something that's surprising for a lot of people. Most people, when you think politically you think California is a super, super blue state, super democratic, you can look at the voting history of people that live inside Riverside County, specifically South Riverside County. It actually tends to lean pretty red. So it's always something that's surprising.

People kind of think everyone in California is democratic and whatnot. So it's just always, it's an interesting perspective. I don't know that actually affects your quality of life living here or not, but it's just something to know and something that sometimes people are surprised to learn about the area. Alright, number eight. Alright, so the city of Murrieta is actually pretty strict with a lot of their rules and regulations that they have in place, and they don't seem to have really any plans in place to change that. So the city Murrieta is super proud of all that they have established and all that they have built over the last 20, 30 years. They've grown a ton, they've managed to do some really good things. They've managed to really, even with a growing city to keep a lot of that small town feel, they have managed to keep crime out.

They have managed to be one of the safest cities throughout the United States year after year, ranked anywhere from the top 10, top 20, top 100. But those are some really, really good feats. They've managed to bring a lot more people into the area. A lot of builders, they've just done so much infrastructure, freeways, off ramp, they've done a lot of good and they're really, really proud of themselves, which they should be. They've really done a great job. But on the flip side, as someone that lives here, there can be some restrictions, especially like you're in California. So maybe some building restrictions on what zoning is or what you can do with your property. If I've had a lot of clients maybe do some custom builds at their properties and there's some certain regulations that are, maybe they're kind of niche and maybe it won't really concern you, but if you are going to build, these are things you have to look into the fine details with the city to make sure you can build what you want, make sure you're going to have the proper setbacks, make sure you're going to be able to follow the proper rules.

They have some additional rules that most parts of other California do not have and especially other parts of the country. So just a little bit stricter here and they like it. But that is why the city is so s squeaky clean. That's why it's so well kept and that's why there's so much pride of ownership that people live here. But just something to know. Alright, number nine is the horse community. So most people do not realize that there is actually a pretty large horse community here in the city of Murrieta, and that extends to the surrounding area. Other parts of South Riverside County here. So from Temecula to Wildomar and Menifee and Perris and really the whole area, but maybe some of that comes from me when we do videos like this, but most of Murrieta is going to be a cookie cutter tract home.

So a mass builder came into the city, bought up a hundred acres, subdivided, cut it up, built stucco homes, and kind of went from phase to phase and then they move on to the next one, right? That's like the most common type of living situation here. But even with that, there is still a good amount of horse property. A lot of people have horses, especially like that west part, west side of Murrieta. There's some horse trails that are built out. There's a lot of custom homes that are out there, and there's some really cool different horse properties that are out there. If you don't live here, you're probably not aware of. So if you have horses or you like horses like being surrounded, there's definitely some cool areas here which would be able to accommodate that. So number 10 is the city of Murrieta is the only city close by that has their own fire department and their own police department.

So that's something that the city's super proud of. Even Temecula is a bigger city and they don't have their own police department. They use the county sheriffs and most other cities around here use the county sheriff's or a part of Cal Fire, but Murrieta has their own for both. That's something they're super proud of. I think it's kind cool. Number 11, Murrieta and the surrounding cities are a pretty hot medical hotspot. So there are a bunch of hospitals, there are four hospitals here in the area between Murrieta Will, DeMar and Temecula. There's a Rady's Children Hospital. They have a real big offset here in Murrieta, and there's two Kaiser locations as well. So there's a lot of medical options here, and that's something again, if you don't live here, you're probably not going to know. Alright, so number 12, there are a lot of activities here in town that are geared toward families and kids.

So as someone that has lived here for a long time, I have young kids. We're raising our kids here in the valley. I think it's a great thing. I think it's a really nice thing that there's so many different activities that are kid and family friendly, but there are so many sports leagues. There's two or three different soccer leagues, there's two or three different baseball leagues, there's a couple different, there's one or two different girls, softball leagues and all the different sports that are out there. The city itself puts on a lot of family friendly events. So a lot of 'em have face painting or kids' games or AADE games or all types of different stuff. It just seems like everything that happens here within the city is so geared for families. It has so many options for people of all ages, from young kids to middle age to on the older side, which I think is nice.

It kind of makes everyone feel inclusive. I'm saying that as opposed to say, living in a big city. If you live in New York City, there's really, your family isn't going to be able to fit in a restaurant. There are not that many family friendly events. So I think that's one of the perks of living here, is just how family friendly the areas. So number 13 is about the school district, and I think this is a pretty good piece of information that I don't think a lot of people know, especially if you don't live here, but you can buy a home and your address can be a Murrieta address, and even though you live with at a Murrieta address, your home may not be located within the Murrieta Valley School district. So that's an important thing because of the Murrieta school district is super, super highly rated.

A lot of people move here just to go to the schools here, just for the kids to be a part of the education system. It's a big perk and it's a really good thing for resell value in the future as well. So anytime you're part of a good school district, that is a really good sign that your home will retain and go up in value over time because it's going to be desirable for people. But if you're going to buy a home in Murrieta, you always want to double check the school district website to make sure that your home is actually zoned within the school district. So for example, I owned a home. My address was in the city of Marietta. It was showed at the city of Marietta, but I was actually not within city limits. I was in an incorporated area. Now luckily my home was actually assigned to Temecula Valley School District, which was also really good school district.

So that wasn't a bad thing for me personally. But there are other parts, other areas that have a myriad address where they're zoned for say, Paris School District, which is not as highly of a rated school district. So these are things that you need to know and if school district's important to you, something you want to pay attention to, obviously a realtor should be able to point you in the right direction and give you the right information for that. But that's something you need to double check for sure. Alright, so number 14 is when you live in Marietta, you're probably going to spend a lot of time in the city of Temecula because some of it I talked about earlier where there's not a ton of family owned restaurants in Murrieta, right? There's more in Temecula, there's not a ton of businesses, there's not a ton of small businesses and shopping and things that are in Murrieta. Most of that's going to be in Temecula. So Temecula has the mall, Temecula has the old town Temecula area. Temecula has more of those family owned restaurants. Temecula has the wine country area.

To me, I don't think that really makes Murrieta undesirable, but you just got to know that a lot of times you're going to drive right down the road and you're going to spend a lot of time in Temecula. So the distance, it's going to be like anywhere from five to 10 minutes down the road. So it's not a big deal at all. I don't think it's going to negatively impact your life at all. But if you're going to buy a home in Murrieta, you got to know you're probably going to spend a decent amount of time in Temecula just because they have a little bit more going on, which now Murrieta is less expensive than Temecula. And so you can get the price savings drive five minutes down the road and get to enjoy all the nice cool things. So I think that's a very good thing for people to do, but just something that you should know.

Alright, and then number 15. So my last point are the tax rates. So if you're going to buy a home in Murrieta, you definitely should know that not all neighborhoods have the same taxes. So what that means is a low tax rate here in town is going to be right around the 1.2% area, but especially the newer home. So starting in 2004 and newer, then the more new you get, the more your taxes go up. But starting by 2004 and newer, you tend to have some of these, what they call special assessments. These are extra taxes that are on your tax bill that will increase how much tax you're going to pay per month for your property taxes. So a low tax home is going to be about that 1.2% area, and a high tax rate might be up to 2%, 2.1, 2.2% area.

So that might not sound like a big swing, 1% difference in tax. But if you're going to buy a, say a $600,000 home, 1% is going to be $6,000 per year. So you might look at, and this happens, so you might look at two houses, one on one side of the street, that's maybe a slightly older neighborhood, one on the other side of the street that's maybe a brand new neighborhood or very newly built. This has a 1.2% tax rate. This one's 2.2, same exact house, same square footage, maybe similar price point, but this one's going to cost you an extra $6,000 per year. That's $500 a month if you have a mortgage just to live there In the newer one. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely something that you should be aware of when you start looking for homes. Make sure you're paying attention to the tax rates and obviously you could pay attention to HOAs as well. So hopefully that's my 15 points. So hopefully that's some good information for you guys. If you stuck through the video, if you have any questions, you can feel free to reach out. You can feel free, you can call, you can text, you can email. Please hit like please hit subscribe. Of course, you'd love to hear from you. Love to answer any questions you may have and hopefully talk to you soon. Thanks.