Alright, so this video is all about everything that you need to know about living here in the city of Murietta, California. I'm going to go over what it's like to really live here. I'm going to talk to you about the different parts of the city, what separates the west side versus the east side of Marietta. Talk about a little bit about the pros and the cons, and then I'm going to go over some things that you want to make sure you pay attention to when you're buying a home. 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 at Keller Williams in Temecula, California in Murietta of California. And this video is all about what it's really like to live here in the city of Murrieta, California. I have lived here in the valley here in the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, and Winchester for over the last 25 years, and I've helped a ton of clients relocate here to the area and then buy and sell homes here locally. So I think I can give you guys some really good information about what it's like to actually live here and hopefully help you decide if this is the right area for you and your family. Before I get into all the information, if you are in real estate videos like this, do me a favor, please hit like please hit subscribe.
Obviously it helps me, it helps my channel as we continue to try and grow it. And then we are going to have new videos that we post each and every week, so you can keep an eye on those. And we have a backlog of hundreds of videos over the last couple of years that you can check out as well. If you guys have any real estate questions, of course, I'd love to hear from you as well. So you're going to see my information either at the end of the video or you're going to see it down below. You can feel free, you can call, you can text, you can email me. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to answer any questions you may have, point you in the right direction, or of course we'd love to help you out with your home search as well.
Obviously it's how we earn a living, so I would love the opportunity to do that as well. But I'm going to get into some of the details about Murietta. I'm going to flip the camera around. I'm going to pull up a map. We're going to circle some of the areas and hopefully be able to give you some good information. So let's go ahead and get into it. Alright, so hopefully the camera change went pretty well, but you should be able to see a map of the city of Marietta here on your screen. I'll kind of draw on it a little bit and highlight some of the different areas as I'm talking. But when I was think about creating this video, basically one of the questions I get from people when they are thinking about making a move here is, what is it like to live here on a day-to-day basis?
Is it a good area? Is it a bad area? Is it a safe area? What is it truly like? And I thought I'd really start with just kind of pointing out what makes Murietta so desirable. So where we're at, we're in Southern California. We're about an hour north of San Diego from downtown San Diego. And really the thing is, we're probably about an hour away from most of what most people think of Southern California. So you're about an hour away or so away from the beach. You're about an hour away from downtown San Diego. You're about an hour away from most parts of Orange County, from Disneyland, about an hour away from the desert. You're probably an hour and a half, two hours away from la, most parts of LA and probably about two hours or so away from the mountains. You are pretty centrally located here in Southern California, but you are not right next to any of those big, big attractions.
But the draw is, it's just so much more affordable here than it is in la, orange County and San Diego. So the average price home here in Murietta right now is about $750,000. And if you compare that to San Diego, la, orange County, they're all over a million dollars for your average home. But not only that million dollars, what it's going to buy you, it's probably going to buy you like a 1400 square foot home that was built in the sixties and the seventies. So it's not that big two bedroom or a three bedroom, that type of thing. Probably have some true maintenance issues just because it's an older home, it's 60, 70 years old, that type of thing. And then out here in Murietta for 750, you can buy a 2,800 square foot home with four bedrooms or maybe five bedrooms, plus a loft, a good size lot, maybe a pool for a little bit more, or maybe a smaller house.
You just get so much more for your money and that's what makes this area so desirable is you're still within driving distance from all that southern California has to offer, but you're at such a lower price point where it's going to be a lot more affordable As far as living here and kind of what this area is really, it's truly like a bedroom community. So it is a squeaky clean suburb. And this goes for Murietta and Temecula both. They're very, very similar cities. Murietta is a little bit less expensive. So I do recommend that most people look in the city of Temecula and the city of Murietta, unless you're making a commute south, I do recommend most people take a look at both and just because they are so similar and you can get so much more for your money in Murrieta, about a hundred thousand dollars cheaper to buy a home in Murrieta as opposed to buying the same home in Temecula.
So really squeaky clean it's suburbs, it's mostly tract homes, it's probably 90% tract homes. So builder goes in, they subdivide, they build a thousand, 2000 houses. So because of that you get a lot of that stucco box look, et cetera. But most of the houses are built anywhere from the mid nineties to mid two thousands, but there's still some new construction that's still going on. So there are some newer more open concept layouts that people tend to like, et cetera, but it just is a really clean area. When I say bedroom community, as far as the city itself, there's probably about a hundred thousand people that live here. But in the general area, there's probably about 500,000 people that live in the surrounding cities. So Temecula and Murrieta, wildomar probably even in in Lake Elsinore, Menifee, just the surrounding cities. It is a really large area and it is fully functioning.
There's tons of shops and grocery stores. It's a question I always get from people is like, is there a Costco? Yeah, there's two Costcos, there's a few Walmarts, there's tons of grocery stores and malls and downtown areas and all types of stuff. So it's not like this small itty bitty thing. It is a large area, but it's not a big city like say LA or downtown San Diego or something like that. So those are just things to know. The other question I get all the time is like, well, hey, I'm looking for a home in Murrieta. I'm not really familiar. I really want to rely on you, Justin, to make sure I don't buy a home in a bad area. And the truth is, 99% of Murrieta is going to be a really, really nice area. Yes, there are many different neighborhoods and some neighborhoods are a little bit nicer than others.
They might have better lots or bigger newer homes or maybe a little bit more maintained, ect. But in general, when I tell people it's 99% of towns going to be really, really nice if you're kind of picky about how well kept your neighbor's home is and ect, maybe you want to buy a home that's in an HOA. There's a lot of low HOA homes out here anywhere from 40 to 80 bucks a month, that type of thing. And of course they go up from there. They'll probably get up to that two 50 range depending on what amenities you're looking for, et cetera. But for the most part, most of the areas are really, really nice. I do recommend that you look at most areas as opposed to geographically you have certain limitations. So for example, you're a commuter that you want to be right off the two 15 freeway, so you can go north and that's going to really shorten your commute.
We want to stick to a cluster that's going to be there, but if you're kind of open, you don't have those restrictions. I do recommend that most people look at the majority of the city to find the right house. It's going to be in the right neighborhood for them. The one area that I would say is probably not the best I'll show you here on the map. So you have this 15 freeway, this runs fairly north and south through the city. Then you have this two 15 freeway that runs pretty northeast. It kind of starts here and runs up towards the city of Riverside area. So kind of the general lay of the land. One of the off-ramps here is Murrieta hot springs. And the area that I'm talking about is right here, right off that Murrieta of hot springs area right before you get to Temecula, this becomes Temecula.
This is all city of Temecula, city of Temecula, but right here in this area, it's an area that they have a lot of quadplexes, a lot of rentals tends to be just not a very great area. We don't really do much business in there. It's mostly big commercial properties that are eight plexes and quadplexes and stuff like that. So it doesn't really come into play, but that is an area that I tell people, most people, Hey, I'd probably stay away from that, but other than that 99% of the city, it's going to be really, really nice and it's going to be an area that I would want to live in my, you just got to find the right spot, the right neighborhood, the right house. And so the other two things that I wanted to mention as far as what it's like to actually live here and really what makes the area desirable.
So first it would be a good thing. So the school district here for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District is a really, really great school district. It's really, really highly rated and it is one of the main attractions for people that are going to be moving here. Again, if we're comparing say to San Diego for that million dollar home, it's probably not a great area, probably not a great neighborhood, probably not a very good school district either. As opposed to out here, you're going to be part of a school district that constantly has schools that are eight, not rated, eight out of 10, nine out of 10 and tens out of ten. So really, really highly rated. It's a big plus for people and one of the main reasons they want to make a move up here. And then on the flip side, just I would say the downside of being here in Murrieta being a little bit more inland, being a little bit more away from the actual coast is it is quite a bit hotter here than it is in those other parts of Southern California.
So the average temperature in the middle of the summer, so September and August, yeah, August and September, it's about 90 degrees. You're going to have heat waves that'll definitely take you up to 95 up to a hundred. Occasionally. We've had higher than that over a hundred, a hundred, 305. We had one crazy day that was like 110, that was terrible. But it doesn't happen very often, but it does happen from time to time. I would say there's probably 10 to 14 days over a hundred degrees each year out here in the area. So it does happen. Everyone has central air, right? You see, you flip on your AC and it becomes bearable. But when it gets hot outside, for sure, I will say even though it does get hot, it's not like the desert. So it does cool down really, really nice here in the evening.
And then it is a really dry heat, so it's not very humid. So it could definitely be a hot day, say it's a hundred degrees super hot outside, but by the time four o'clock comes, you get a really nice breeze that comes over the mountains. There's a mountain range that separates us between the ocean, the breeze comes over the mountains, really cools things down. And an hour later it can easily be 80 degrees, 75 degrees and might get down to 60 or so in the middle of the night as a low. So it makes it really comfortable. It's not like say Palm Springs or Las Vegas or just somewhere that's in Arizona, Phoenix, something like that where it's just unbearable and it never cools down. At least it cools down, and becomes really comfortable in the evening. So the next thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about is just the different parts of town and the different areas and things to pay attention to in each what the draws are.
So we'll give you the general lay of the land. So again, we have the freeways. So you have this 15 freeway that runs fairly north and south going through town. And then you have this two 15 freeway that runs pretty much northeast towards the city of Riverside. So if you had a bigger map, you can see out that way. But basically these freeways divide the city into three sections. So you have on all the way to the left, so this would be the west, Murrieta over on this side. Then you have central Murrieta between the V here, the central Murrieta, and then you have East Murrieta. So central, sorry, west, central and east. That's kind of the three different sections of Murrieta. So pretty easy to be able to visualize that. And then in addition to that, you have a handful, I think there's four three off-ramps right here off the freeway.
So this is that 15 freeway. You have one here, which is Murrieta Hot Springs. That's a main road that goes all the way up. This is Temecula. Then you have Cal Oaks, California Oaks that runs this way. And then you have Clinton Keith Road, which here, that actually connects both freeways this way. So those are my very pretty road drawings there, but just kind of give, those are kind some big landmarks and show you how the town is divided up. So the first thing we're going to talk about is West Murrieta. So again, you're on the west side of the 15 freeway over this way. And really what makes West Murrieta so desirable for people is the fact that you are so close to the freeway. So it is really easy when you live in one of these track homes here to just get up here to the off ramp, you'll jump on the freeway and get on your commute.
So whether you're going north or whether you're going south, it makes it really, really accessible, which is nice. Not only that is really on the west side here. You have a fully functional town over here. So you have your schools, elementary schools, your middle schools, your high schools, you have your grocery stores, you have your shops, you have your downtown areas, you have your other shops and stores, you have your hardware stores, Lowe's and Home Depot and all that type of stuff. But basically you have everything that you're going to need right over here on the west side. So it makes it super, super accessible and you don't have to worry about going to other parts of the city. So what's nice about that, it's because there's so much traffic, it can be a pain getting over the freeway. So if you can just stay on this one side on 90% of your life, it makes it a lot easier, which is nice.
So those are some of the things that make West Murrieta so desirable. Not only that, what a lot of people do like about it is the fact that there are so many neighborhoods in here that have no HOAs. So they're really nice neighborhoods, super desirable, but no HOAs. A lot of people don't like dealing with the rules and the restrictions, et cetera, all that type of stuff. But Murrieta tends to be the most expensive part of the city. So there's a handful of nice neighborhoods that are in there, but it definitely tends to be the most expensive part of Murrieta. The next area I talked to you about here is the central. So again, we're between the two freeways, so this is going to be in between the V, right? So Central Murrieta, what makes that area really, really nice is it's part of the original part of the city that was built.
So you tend to have a little bit older homes. So you probably start seeing them being built anywhere from probably starting like 1988 up to like 2000. So a little bit on the older side for the city. And what people like about that is those homes tend to have really, really low taxes and low to no HOA most have no HOA. So low taxes, no, HOA also tends to be a little bit of an older home. So because of that, it tends to be the most affordable part of Marietta. So a lot of people like this, especially as a first time buyer, are just looking for something more affordable. It becomes a really nice and desirable area for that just because it is so much affordable, more affordable than say some of those newer homes are going to be, not only that, but just on a living basis where you're at, say if you live here, you can very easily access either freeway, you can access the two 15 really easily, or you can access the 15 very easily.
So you're right between the two freeways. So whether you're going north, whether you're going south, it makes it super accessible and it's an area that I like. I tend to consider it more of a bread and butter type of area where just kind of more average homes, slightly older, a little bit less expensive, and most of them are very well taken care of. Like I said, the city is still going to be really, really nice. Still good school districts, et cetera. So that's Central Murrieta and on the other side of the freeway. So now we're coming back over here. This is going to be East Murrieta, so over this way. So East Murrieta, there's pros and cons to all these different areas in general. East Murrieta tends to be on the newer side. Most of the homes tend to be built anywhere from 2004 to 2020. There's even some new construction that's still going on, so that tends to be a plus. It can be a little bit further away from the 15 freeway. So depending where you're commuting, if you have to commute, get on the freeway often, that could be a thing.
People tend to like it. It's on the newer side. And then people also tend to like it because you're very close to Temecula. So this is your dividing city line right here. So this is Murrieta for the most part. I guess I should withdraw better since I have this guy here. So this is really Murrieta over this way, over this way. And then this becomes Temecula. So people like the idea of living over here close to Temecula because Temecula has more amenities. So you can get to the Temecula Mall, you can get to Temecula wine country, you can get to Temecula, old town area, which is going to be bigger and more to do, et cetera. So for the most of my life I have lived over here on the east side of Murrieta. I really like it. For me for work, I sell real estate.
So I tend to be in both towns, tend to be in Temecula, tend to be in Murrieta. So you can see where one of our old houses were over this way, but we could have gone east or west either way, depending which city we needed to go to. So there are pros and cons to being over on that side a little bit further away from the freeway. But for me I thought it was a really good place. Some people don't particularly like it and they want to really focus more on the west side. And so the last part of this video, these are just three things that I tell my clients to make sure they pay attention to when they're buying a home here in Murrieta. So number one, and really the most important is going to be the property taxes. So I'll say that a little bit better.
So across the board, city of Murrieta, really all the homes are going to have the same base property tax rates about 1.15%. However, from there, each home in each neighborhood is going to have different amount of what they call special assessments. So basically these are just extra taxes that are going to be on the tax bill that you are going to pay as a homeowner. And those are going to depend on which neighborhood you're in. So you may be in one neighborhood that is a low tax neighborhood and you may pay $50 a year in special assessments. So you pay that yearly, you divide it up once a month, it's like $4 a month. It's not a big deal. However, you may look at something that tends to be more of a new construction home or newer, and you may pay $4,000 a year in those extra special assessment taxes.
So that's a big deal. Now that is like 350 bucks a month just in taxes, let alone if you have an HOA. So for example, I pulled up just I wanted to highlight two just kind of sample neighborhoods. So there's a neighborhood, that's right, actually most of this area here, right here in that central Murrieta area that we talked about, this would be considered an older home with a lower tax rate. You may buy a home there and it's probably going to be about right about a 1.15% tax rate. Really little, very, very low to no special assessments per year. And so let's say you're going to pay $6,000 a year in taxes. Okay, great. However, you may buy a home up here over on the east side in the Spencer's crossing area, which is kind of notorious for having higher taxes and one of the newer homes up there.
You might buy a home that has $4,000 a year in special assessment taxes. So you might be looking at two homes, they're both $700,000 you think, hey, they're both going to be affordable. But this home here in central Murrieta might be between the HOA and the taxes. It might cost you probably $420 less per month than this guy will up here. So if it's going to be affordable for you, I think each neighborhood can be great. There's pros and cons to each. I've had clients buy homes in each, I have friends in each, right, they're both going to be really nice areas, but most people, if you don't live in this area currently, you're not really necessarily thinking about those special assessment taxes. It's really something you got to pay attention to and make sure you keep that in mind when you are buying a home here locally.
And actually I see it a lot when a lot of times people maybe use an agent friend that's from San Diego or a different area, they don't know this area too much and then they're always shocked to find out what those special assessments are. So you got to work with an agent that knows the area that is an area expert and can at least give you that information upfront. So that's the first thing I wanted to mention is paying attention to those property taxes and those special assessments. Number two is really thinking about if you do not work from home and you need to commute to work, which a lot of people do, but if that's going to be the case, you really got to think about how close your home is to the freeway and what that's going to look like on a day-to-day basis for you.
So for example, let's take somebody that is commuting south to San Diego. I'm sure they're not the most excited in the world to do that on a daily basis, but hey, this is going to be the right thing for me and my family to get the type of home that we want and have the lifestyle they want. Awesome. Cool. So you're going to make that commute. So you're going to be going down the 15 freeway every day to work great. However, you can buy a home, let's say it's here, right here in Murrieta, right off the freeway, right off of Murrieta Hot Springs, which is a main road. Or you can buy a home that is right over here on the west side, over on the corner, close to the Bear Creek area. So on a daily basis you're going to drive on the freeway, you're going to get on the freeway and you're going to commute south.
Okay, great. From up here you're going to get on Clinton, Keith Road, you're going to come across, get on the freeway and you're going to commute south. So it doesn't look like that big of a deal. But this freeway, if you are going at rush hour here and you are coming home or going to work at rush hour, so with everybody else, with the other 500,000 people that live here and you're all going to go to work together, well those freeways get super, super jammed up and especially at rush hour, especially coming home, it can really slow to an absolute crawl. So if you're going to make that commute just by being on one side of town to the other easily, it can cost you an extra 25 minutes per day to be stuck in traffic. 25 minutes just to go this far, just a few miles just to get up on the freeway and over and over to your home as opposed to if you bought this home over here.
So people do it every day, it's not the end of the world. And if it's the right home for you and your family, it's not a bad thing. But if you don't know the area very well, that's something you really need to think about. Your agent should be able to give you some advice. You're like, Hey, this is the pros and cons about one side of town versus the other, ect. But being close to the freeway, being at an earlier off ramp, it's going to be a big difference, especially if you're making a commute at rush hour just because there's so much traffic out here on the roads. So that's the second thing I wanted to mention. And then the third is a newer thing over the last couple years and it's the homeowner insurance rates. So the homeowner's insurance rates in California have gone up quite a bit over the last couple years.
It's not something you're aware of, you really want to pay attention to it. Murrieta has really been affected if your home is in a fire zone, which the fire zones have been expanded and that has cost your homeowner's insurance to go up quite a bit. I've seen clients have their homeowner's insurance go up from 1200 bucks a year, which is a hundred dollars a month up to $4,000 a year, which is 350 bucks a month or so. So it can go up substantially. And not only that, if you are in Murrieta, but you are in a more remote part of town, you can have a really, really high insurance to the point to where most insurance companies or no insurance companies actually going to cover you. So you have to have insurance through the state, which is super expensive. So there's one part of town that's really famous for that.
That's up here in the La Cresta to Tenaja area. It's up here. It's a little bit more rural. They're not like tract homes. A lot of people are going to be looking at, you're on some land, right? But you're probably five, six miles away from town. You're probably on two to five acres, maybe 10 acres. So it's more remote or estates, stuff like that. But I've seen people pay up to 10 K per year in homeowners insurance. So it is not cheap. It is a big deal. If you're not familiar with that, you really want to pay attention to that. And it's something you want to keep in mind when you are looking at different properties here in the area. So hope that's good information for you guys. Hopefully didn't ramble, ramble too much for you, but if you have any questions, you can reach out anytime. Feel free, you can call, you can text, you can email me, and hopefully we'll talk soon. Thanks.
