Alright, so this video is all about what it's actually like to live here in the city of Temecula, California. So this video is about the 15 things that you didn't know about living here in the city of Temecula. Let's go ahead and get into it.

Hey guys. Hey again, my name is Justin Short. I'm a realtor and team leader with a short real estate team here in Temecula, California, in Meredith, California at Keller Williams. And this video is all about the 15 things that you didn't know about living here in the city of Temecula. So hopefully this will be some good information for you guys. I think this is a lot of information you're not going to find most places online. You're not going to find it in most spots on Google. You're not going to find it on Zillow and Redfin and any of these other home search websites. And hopefully it's some good perspective from what it's like to actually live here from someone that does actually live here. But before I get into all the information, if you are liking videos like this, do me a favor, please hit like please hit subscribe.

Obviously it helps me, obviously helps my channel. We're trying to continue to grow it. And then I have new videos that we put out each and every week. So from videos like this to new construction, home tours to market update videos, et cetera. I think it's a lot of good information that we put out there every week. So if you want more, like I said, please hit like please hit subscribe. And then if you guys have any real estate questions, you can feel free to reach out to me anytime. So you're going to see my information down below. That's my personal cell phone. My email's on there. You can call, you can text, you can email me. You're going to see the info at the end of the video as well. I have people that reach out all the time, happy to answer any questions.

And then of course if myself and my team, if we can help you out with any specific aspects of your home search, would love to help you out that as well. But we'll go ahead and we'll get into the video. So again, we're talking about 15 things, what it's like to actually live here in Temecula. If you haven't seen any of my other videos, I mentioned this a lot, but I've lived here in the valley for a really long time, so it's about 25 years now. So I went to high school out here. I am now here raising my kids. Obviously we own a home, we plan to live here. This is where most of my real estate business is and this is where we plan to be. So I think it's a great area. I think it's a great area for me to raise my family.

It it's a great place to be a part of southern California and be able to have access to all the other cool stuff that Southern California has to offer. So I love it. I think it's a great area. So we've lived in the city of Winchester. We've lived in the city of Murrieta and the city of Temecula over the last 25 years. So again, hopefully this is good perspective on what it's like from someone that actually lives here. And we'll get into my list here. So number one is actually not such a huge great secret, but it's the heat and it's hot out in Temecula. And really there's two months of the year are super, super hot. Honestly, it's a little bit miserable during the day, but the other 10 months of the year are super, super nice. So the months of August and September are the hottest months.

The stats show on average, they're about 89, 90 degrees is their average temperature. To me as someone that's lived here, I think that seems low, very, very common to have 90, 95, 98, 99, and then heat waves over a hundred, up to a hundred to two, a hundred, three, 104 degrees. It's hot during the day, in the middle of summer for sure. Everyone here has central ac. You probably couldn't live here if you didn't have it, but the other 10 months of the year, the weather is really, really nice. We don't get a ton of rain. We've had more over the last couple of years than ever before and it's still just not that much. So not a ton of rain. So you can enjoy all the other cool stuff, all the other things that Southern California has to offer throughout the year. And one thing that a lot of people don't know is even though, yeah, it gets super hot here in the middle of summer, even if it gets a heat wave up to 102 hundred and three, we're not that far, but as they say, as a bird flies to the coast, just you can't really drive a car that way.

But between here and the coastline is not super super far. So in the evening we get a really nice breeze that comes over from the ocean over the Santa Rosa plateau and really cools off the area. So by about 4 30, 5, 6 o'clock at night, even on a hot day, the weather here cools down really, really nicely and makes it really, really nice outside. So it can get 102 during the day on a hot day, but it'll cool down to 74 or 75, 69 degrees by evening. So you can go to a restaurant, you can sit outside, it's really nice, et cetera. And that is one of the things that makes Temecula different than a lot of the other hot areas, as opposed to say something in Palm Springs or Arizona or lots of parts of Texas or Vegas. Or maybe you'll get those super high heat waves, but it never cools down.

You go outside at 10 o'clock at night and it's still, it's 101 just blazing on you. So that is one of the things that's nice here is you do get that nice breeze on. The second thing on my list, and this is something that people always mention to me when they're from out of the area, and I took it for granted until I started helping a lot of clients relocating here, but there is a huge military presence here in Temecula. So again, I've lived here for 25 years, so it's just kind of part of life for me and something that I'm used to. But if you are not from Southern California, you're going to be really surprised on how many people live here that are in the military. They're retired military or they have military members of their family, et cetera. So there is several military bases close by from down in San Diego.

I think there's four different military bases. There's in Moreno Valley, there's from Air Force to Marines to Navy to, there's some people that are in the army out here as well. So there is a really heavy military presence and it's so much more affordable to live here than where most of those bases are in San Diego. So a lot of people will live here and then make the commute. You can live here, live in a decent area, their housing allowance covers a pretty nice place and then they jump on the freeway to get to work. So because there's a lot of military personnel that lives here. Number three on my list is politics. So kind of a hot topic for me as a real estate agent. So it's something I try and stay away from and not talk too much about. But when you look at all the voting trends and the voting history of Southwest Riverside County, it's pretty easy to see that this area is opposite of what most of southern California is.

Southern California, I think most people in the country know it's a very heavy blue leaning area. Anytime there's a presidential election, as soon as California pops up, boom, they're going to stamp it blue, it's going to vote and Democrat, but Southern Riverside County. So this valley tends to lean a much more red than the other parts of the state. So that is something that people are a lot of times surprised to hear about because you kind of think California, you think like Hollywood's Orange County, just these areas that are typically very left leaning, but this area tends to lean more. So that's just something to know and whether you think it's good or bad or whatnot. But it's a data point to know when comparing to the rest of Southern California. Number four is the city of Temecula is a pretty strict city and honestly they really like it that way.

So city of Temecula, they would definitely be considered very conservative. They're not very aggressive, they don't really allow for a lot of rift raft. There's a lot of police presence in the area, which is good. Someone that lives here want it to be safe, et cetera. I think it's a really great thing. But beyond even a police presence, as the city has grown and more and more people, more tourism, et cetera has come here, the city has continued to be pretty strict with their rules and regulations. So with that, for example, they don't allow any Air b and b’s within city limits in Temecula. They in the old town area especially, or any type of bar or restaurant that gets a reputation for being a rowdy place and kind of a scene and have a lot of mischief happening or whatnot, the city's very quick to shut them down or put a lot of pressure on them or pull their liquor licenses, et cetera.

They really, what is, they're very conservative. They don't want the city to be this big massive party place and be really loose and not have rules that are in place. They want it to be well kept. They want it to be well taken care of. They want it to be well policed. They want it to stay squeaky clean and they want it to be a nice place, which I think is a good thing. But as the city continues to grow, there tends to be this present, this pressure for the rules to loosen up in the city and the city council for, they're not about that. So they are all about the rules. They want things to stay how they are. They will like the idea of it's kind of a small town field. They like the idea that it's a squeaky clean place and they really have no desire to change that at all.

So that's something to know is the city, they like the way it's set up and they're not looking to change. Alright, so number five. So there is a large horse community here in the city of Temecula. So a lot of people don't realize this because the city of Temecula is so much, and even this comes up in my conversations, it's such a heavy suburb area, it's suburbia. 90% of the homes that are out here are tracked homes that are built by a builder, stucco homes, similar looks, et cetera. A lot of retail shopping centers with national chains, all that type of stuff. But outside of that, there is a large horse community that is in the area. There's a lot of large properties that are on half acre, one acre, three acre, four acre, five acre lots that have stables, horse corrals, there's a lot of riding groups, et cetera.

And that's just something that a lot of people don't realize. And I think it's because being in Southern California, if you're say in San Diego County or Orange County, the cost that it's going to cost you for those five acres of land to have a nice horse property is going to be so astronomical. So as you can come out here, you can find four or five acres, have it be a relatively affordable price for Southern California at least, and be able to participate and be a part of that horse community. So I just think it's so much more affordable here than other parts of California, which kind of is the draw. And they have some really nice amenities. There's a lot of nice places here in Temecula where they have get togethers as Galloway downs and they have races and tracks and horse trainers, all that type of stuff.

Obviously I'm not a horse track, I don't know the right words to use, but there is a big horse presence, horse community presence in the area. Alright, so number six. So the surrounding area is a very big medical hotspot here in Southern California. So this is a question that actually I get asked a ton when people are moving from other areas like hey, is there a hospital close by? Is there a medical building is close by because we kind of refer to it as a bedroom community. But keep in mind, I mean between, in the valley here, there's 500,000 people that live here. It's about a hundred thousand or so in the city of Temecula. But between the surrounding cities that kind of use all the same amenities, it's a half a million people that live here. So it's a very large area. There's a lot of people that live here.

And with that there are many hospitals. So there are actually four hospitals close by. There is a Rady's Children hospital as well. So that would actually be the fifth hospital. And then there are two Kaiser locations with a third one currently being built. So if your insurance is through Kaiser, so there is a lot of medical facilities and those are just hospitals, let alone the doctor's offices and surgery centers and all that other types of stuff that exist as well. But there is a lot of medical care here in the area. Alright, so number seven. This area has a lot of events that are put on whether by the city and surrounding cities as well. And also a lot of private businesses and most of those events and things that are put on are really focused as being family friendly events. So for example, the city of Temecula, city of Marietta, like I said, some of these businesses, whether it's sports leagues, there's a ton of 'em.

There's two basketball leagues, there's two softball leagues, there's three soccer leagues, there's private soccer clubs, there's travel baseball and pony baseball and little league baseball. I mean there's all types of sports that are out there. And then there's a lot of events that the city puts on as well from having an ice rink down in there in the old town area to Easter egg hunts, to any of those types of holiday events. Pretty much all of 'em are family facing and family friendly activities that they put on. And so I think with that, they really want, I don't know that they encourage it, but the city really caters to that market to be as far as being family friendly and having activities that the kids can go to, kids can be a part of and kids can enjoy. Alright, so number eight on my list is tax rates.

And if you haven't looked into property taxes before you buy a home here, I think you're really making a mistake for yourself. But what's very important to know when you go to buy a home that each neighborhood is going to have a different tax rate compared to the one across the street. So what that means is you might have a home that is a low tax area, that might be let's like 1.2% and then across the street you might be see a home that's a high tax area. Let's say that's a 2% tax rate, it's a 0.8% difference. That doesn't sound like that big of a deal. But on a monthly payment that can cost you between 350 to $450 a month very, very easily. So if you're not from the area, you're probably not going to know this because not a lot of parts of the country are like this.

But different neighborhoods are going to have different special assessments in Melrose that affect that tax rate and can really affect what your monthly payment is on that home. And not only that, it could affect how expensive the home is that you can actually qualify for with your loan. So you really need to pay attention to the tax rate at the different neighborhoods when you are looking at homes to purchase. A good rule of thumb, the older homes tend to have the lower taxes. The newer homes tend to have the higher taxes. Like pre 2003 is usually the cutoff that I go over with people, but each neighborhood's going to be different and you got to check 'em every time when you go look at specific houses and specific neighborhoods. Number nine on my list is tourism. And this was not a thing when I first moved here.

I, I've been here about 25 years. When I first moved to the city of Temecula, obviously I was young, I was a kid, but you would meet somebody out at say or down San Diego or you're on a vacation or something, you tell 'em, I live in Temecula. They have no idea what you're talking about. It was kind of a small no-name town that no one had ever really heard of. Fast forward to now Temecula has a big reputation. People know what it is. You might be watching this video and just kind of being curious and maybe thinking about taking a vacation here or know someone that took a vacation here and they told you it's a nice place, et cetera. But with that, as the town has grown so much and so many more people know about it and so much more on the radar and on the map, we've now had a lot more tourism.

So over the last couple of years, up to about almost two and a half million people per year that come visit the city through tourism, which is a ton of people especially, there's only about a hundred thousand people that live here full time. So that makes for a lot of tourism people that come. So a lot of that traffic goes out to wine country. So wine country and Temecula is over 50 wineries that are out there. A lot of 'em come in for weddings or wine tasting, but a lot of bachelorette parties or just get togethers, et cetera. And then the Pechenga Casino is another big target for that. And then old town area in Temecula is kind of like our downtown area with a bunch of cool restaurants and more of a night scene, et cetera. But that's a big thing that's changed over the last couple of years is just all the tourism.

Alright, so number 10 on my list is the Temecula Valley Unified School District. So a lot of people move to this area and live in this city just to be a part of the school district. So the Temecula Valley School District is rated super, super highly. They have a lot of eight, nine, and 10 out of 10 ratings on the different websites that are out there. Probably the most desirable school in the area is the high school. It's a great Oak high school that's located in South Temecula. It's a top 1000 school in the entire country, very, very highly rated. They have a lot of higher education programs, et cetera. But whether it's not even that specific school, just in general, the whole district is super highly rated, super desirable and helps make this a place that people want to live. And honestly, that's going to help keep home prices high and probably higher over the coming years.

Alright, so number 11 on my list is all about the commute. So most people that live here in the city of Temecula live here and then commute out for work. Do they commute to San Diego, LA, or Orange County? Most people do not work here locally nowadays. This is in this post covid world. So many more people work from home. So that is a big thing for people. So a lot of people do work remotely. If you do work remotely, that makes this area a lot more desirable. You don't have to get up on that freeway every day with all those commuters. There is a lot of traffic on the freeway. So if you're thinking about moving here, make sure you look at those Google Map traffic times, et cetera during peak hours and when your commute's actually going to be happening because a drive that can take you maybe 45 minutes on a non-traffic time can take you hour and a half, two hours during peak traffic time.

So that's just something to pay attention to. But there's not a ton of large employers in the area and that's why most people commute out for work. So most people commute, they work from home or most people, obviously there's exceptions to the rule, but most people that live here locally, a lot of 'em work in medical at a doctor's office at the hospital, a nurse, or they might work for the school district teacher or admin employee, et cetera, something like that. There's obviously a lot of retail shopping here as well. So we might be working at a place like that, but most people do commute out of the area for work. Alright, so number 12. I kind of touched on this earlier, but Air b and b’s and short-term rentals are banned in the city of Temecula. So actually this is an issue that I deal with personally.

When I have clients that come in, they're trying to relocate here, they want to stay here for a week or two to check out the area, maybe look at some homes, et cetera. It can be really difficult to find a place to stay because you're probably going to be stuck in hotel life because inside the city of Temecula, there are no short-term rentals. So there's a few people out there that do it, but they operate in the gray, they get shut down by the city. The city does not want them to exist. That can be kind of a nuisance for neighbors, tends to attract people that are making noise and partnering, et cetera. But a lot of people don't know. Again, Air b and b’s are outlawed inside the city limits of Temecula. Alright, so number 13 is about the wine country in Temecula. So I think most people do know about wine country, but they don't realize that there are now over 50 wineries out there.

So I mentioned a little bit earlier, as far as the tourism, it brings in a ton of people. People love going out there, wine tasting, it makes for a ton of really nice high-end restaurants, all types of stuff and attractions. Personally, I don't even like wine, so we don't do a ton of wine tasting, but we do to go out to wine country a lot because we're going out to a dinner meeting some friends at brunch or going to a concert that's out there at the wineries, et cetera. So just a lot of events and it makes for a ton of venues that are out there as well. Alright, so number 14 on my list is the casino. If you don't know, Temecula has a very large casino in town, which is the Pechanga Casino that is located in South Temecula. If you're looking on a map, it's located very, very closely to Great Oak High School, probably about a mile or so away.

But they are, it's a massive casino. They spend a ton of money in advertising. You see 'em, they sponsor the Kings right now, they sponsor the Lakers, they spend a ton of money to attract new people to come check out the casino. They've expanded a ton over the last 10, 15, 20 years. They keep adding and they have golf courses and luxury pools and all types of cool stuff, extra parking structures. It's grown a ton and it's a real destination for people. And again, another venue where all types of stuff that's going on there as well. The people come in for concerts, people come and have comedy shows, et cetera, but a lot of stuff they always have going on. Alright, and so the last one on my list and the 15th thing that you probably don't know about living in Temecula is about the public parks.

So there are now over 52 parks within the city limits, which is the highest by far of any city around in the area. Again, I mentioned before the city does a lot to keep the area kid friendly, et cetera. And I think building all those parks is a big part of that. So they now have over 52 parks. I think they're working on another one right now. They're revamping one of the big rec centers as well and installing a big public pool, et cetera. So that's something that I'm sure that number will continue to grow over the coming years as well. But that wraps up my list. That's the 15 things that you didn't know about living in the city of Temecula. Hopefully it's some good information. Hopefully it probably kind of drowned out a little bit. Got a little bit long on you, but hopefully it's good information. If you guys have any questions, you can feel free to reach out, you can call, you can text, you can email me, and hopefully I will talk to you soon. Thanks.