00:00 Introduction to Living in Murrieta, California
00:26 Meet Your Guide: Justin Short
00:51 Why Murrieta? A Local's Perspective
01:51 Navigating the City: Map Overview
02:48 Safe and Desirable Neighborhoods
07:04 West Murrieta: Ideal for Commuters
12:08 Finding Space: Large Properties in Murrieta
15:35 East Murrieta: Proximity to Temecula
18:59 Central Murrieta: No HOA and Low Taxes
20:00 Prestigious Neighborhoods in Murrieta
24:45 55+ Communities: Affordable Living Options
26:59 Conclusion and Contact Information
All right, so this video is all about where to live here in the city of Murrieta, California. We're gonna go over the best areas and what areas you really wanna focus on so you can find the right fit for you and your family. 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 the short real estate team here at Keller Williams in Temecula. And this video is all about where to live here in the city of Murrieta. So we're gonna go over, you know, the best neighborhoods and what areas you and your family really wanna focus on, depending on what you're looking for And, and I think I can give you a really good perspective on what it's like to actually live here for someone that's lived here for a long time.
So I've lived here in the Valley for over 25 years. I do now live in the city of Temecula, but for about 10 or 11 years, maybe closer to 12, I lived in Murrieta, so I've lived all around the valley here in Winchester, in Murrieta, in Temecula, and I think I can give you a really good perspective on what it's like to actually live here and let you know kinda what my experiences were and hopefully help make the right recommendation for you and your family.
So, but before I get to all the information, you know, if you are liking real estate videos like this. You know, please do me a favor. Please sit like please sit, subscribe to the channel. Obviously it helps me, it helps my channel as we try to continue to grow it. And then we have new videos that we put out each and every week, and everything is just here, you know, real estate local, so it's about the City of Temecula, Murrieta, and Menifee.
Uh, we have, you know, from different neighborhood tours or recommendations or best school districts, or worse, worse school districts, or you know, what neighborhoods we would recommend in each city. So I, hopefully it'd be good information for you guys if you do wanna stay on top of, you know, the real estate info just for the, here, in the local market.
Um, but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna flip around the camera. I'm gonna pull up a map of the city so I can better explain kinda the different areas that I'm talking about. We'll kind of highlight it as we go through it. And so let's go ahead and pull that up. Okay, cool. Alright, so I have a map of the city of Murrieta pulled up here, and I think this will help me just kind of highlight the different areas that I'm talking about and kind of discuss them and go over with you guys.
I think it'll just let me demonstrate a little bit better. Right? Um, so hopefully it's helpful for you guys. Um, but I guess where I will start first is Yeah, I mentioned before, I've lived here in Murrieta in the Temecula area for a really long time. I lived in Murrieta, probably about, I added up, it's about 12 years or so that I lived in the city of Murrieta, lived in Winchester, lived in Temecula, and then not only you know myself living here, but I've helped hundreds of clients relocate here to the area.
Or buy and sell homes here in the area. So I, I think I can give you some really good perspective on, you know, the questions I get all the time or the things I go over with my clients all the time. And really the main question that I get and the, the first one is, you know, Hey Justin, you know, we don't know the area super well.
We just want to make sure, you know, we don't buy a home in a bad area, right? We want to get into a safe area. We don't wanna buy in a bad neighborhood, right? And so, really my response to that. The truth is, in the city of Murrieta, probably 99% of the city is gonna be a really, really nice place to live.
So there's really not necessarily a bad place. Um, there's just what it is, what would be the right area for you and your family, depending on what you're looking for. So what I, what I'm doing, I kind of brought up some examples of, you know, different. Clients that I see, you know, kind of typical scenarios, what they're looking for, what their priorities are, you know, where they're gonna be working.
And yeah, I really make recommendations off of that, you know. But the truth is, you know, the city of Murrieta, you know, we started seeing the first tract homes built probably in the late eighties, or 88, 89, somewhere right in there. And then most of the homes were built in the mid nineties, from like 95 to like the early two thousands.
So I would say 2003, 2004, right around there. And that, that's when the majority of the city was built. Right. Um, there has been new construction going on ever since then. There's still new homes that are currently being built and being constructed. So the city is still growing.
Uh, but just because it is such a new area, you know, it's not like, like, let's say LA right. Most of these homes were built back in the fifties and sixties, and because of that I think you have some real DI diversity, right? You have some real crummy areas and some, some real nice areas, right? But just because these homes are so new, the area has grown, you know, so much.
And it really, it's grown because it is such a quiet suburb. You know, Murrieta is constantly one of the safest cities in the nation and is ranked anywhere from the top 10 to top 100 safest cities across the US. So obviously that's a huge plus. Um, but just driving through, you know, as when you're here, you can see it's just such a squeaky clean suburb.
It's really well taken care of. There's a lot of pride of ownership and there's a great school district, so the Murrieta Valley School District is super, super highly rated. And because of all those reasons, those are. Those are the reasons that people decide to move here. And between that and what a heavy police presence that is here, that to help keep the area safe and clean and all, all those different types of things.
That's really why I say 99% of the area is gonna be a really great place to live. There's really not a bad area or a bad side of town, or like a crummy rundown. Just 'cause it's newer and it's so well taken care of that, that's really just not the case. Um, the one area that I will say that I do typically tell clients to stay away from, um, there is a part of town that's um, over, and I'll, I'll highlight it here on the map that's over more on the east side of, of the city where there's a lot of.
You know, quad triplexes and quadplexes and duplexes. So there's just a lot of rentals. It tends to be, they tend to be, you know, less, I guess lower income or less expensive rentals. Right. Just not well as well taken care of. And so because of that, I would say, you know, for most people I would probably kind of stay away from that area.
Um, and that's a very small neighborhood. I mean, there's maybe, you know, it's small, it's kind of right over here, right off of Murrieta Hot Springs, um, there's probably, I dunno, maybe a hundred units that are in there. So it's a pretty small area. It's like CAPA Street. Um, but there is a bunch of quadplexes and triplexes in this area, and that's probably something I would, I would avoid.
But other than that, you know, 99% of the city is gonna be a great place to live. I've lived in several different, you know, places in Murrieta. I have friends and clients all over the city and it really, I drive through all the time, you know, for work and it really is a great place. So. Uh, my recommendations are more kind of what you were looking for.
So I have a lot of clients that move to Murrieta, and if you don't know, most people do not live here locally. Most people move here to the city and then commute out for work. So you live in Murrieta, you drive to San Diego, you drive to LA, you drive to Orange County, uh, because the cost of living is so much less expensive here, uh, but you have a high paying income job.
That's out there, right? There's just not, there's not a ton of big employers out here in Murrieta. So the most common thing with people that live in Murrieta is they will make a drive and to commute to Orange County in la. And so if that's the case, if you're looking for a home, or you can have the shortest commute possible and still be in a great area.
What I recommend for those people is that it's going to be the area of West Murrieta. So I'll kind of highlight that here. Um, kind of, you know, you're looking at a map of the city, kind of general lay of the land. You have this, uh, 15 freeway, oop. Not a great circle. Uh, you have the 15 freeway, so if you don't know, the 15 freeway is the main freeway that runs north and south through the city.
Um, so if you take it south, that'll take you down to San Diego. And if you take it north, that'll take you toward, towards la, towards Corona and, you know, eventually towards la out that way. Okay. Um, then you also have this off the, off the 15 freeway. You also have this two 15 freeway. And the two 15 freeway runs more Northeast, uh, kind of runs out this way.
Uh, and that'll take you towards the city of Riverside. Okay. Um, so some people do commute out that way also, you just, the next city north is gonna be menifee. Eventually out there, you will hit towards the city of Riverside, which is a big city. Um, so those are kind of, those are the main freeways. Right.
And the reason I point those out is because if you could see, uh, these freeways create a V, right? So you have, so 15 freeway. Uh, you have the two 15 freeway and then you have this place in the middle. So, um, the way that people classify it is in three different sections for the city, Murrieta. So you have where this 15 freeway is, everything on the west side or the left, left side of the freeway would be considered West Murrieta.
Okay. Um, west Murrieta for a lot of people tends to be the most desirable part of the city for people, um, because there's a lot of reasons for that, we'll go over that here a little bit. Um, but the, the, the middle portion of the city, they actually, people actually refer to that as central Murrieta. So between the two freeways, I'll kind of get some of this ugliness outta here.
Uh, but between the two freeways, they call this. Central Murrieta. So this area is in the middle between the two freeways. So in the center of, and then on the right side of the freeway, the east side of the two 15 freeway, they would consider this to be East Murrieta. Okay. So that's kind of the general lay of the land you have: West Murrieta, Central Murrieta, and East Murrieta.
Cool. Alright, so if you are commuting to LA or Orange County, most people would highly, highly prefer to live here in the area of West Murrieta. Um, the reason for that is, there are a few things. So, one, it is, it's the most expensive part of the city, right? And so usually things that are more expensive are gonna be more desirable for a lot of, a lot of different reasons.
Um, but especially if you're making a commute north, you know, you're trying to get to Orange County, trying to get to la, um, there are. Three off ramps through. So three freeway off ramps here in the city. Murrieta off the 15 freeway. So there's 15 freeways here. Lemme clear all this out for you. So you have the 15 freeway.
Um, you have the most southern off ramp is Murrieta Hot Springs. So that runs pretty, you know, east and west. So it kind of, that freeway off ramp number one. Uh, your next off ramp is California Oaks. Uh, which is there, I'm trying to make sure I'm looking at the right thing on that. Yep, that's the right area.
And then your third off ramp is Clinton. Keith Road is your off ramp. Up this way. So you can see there's three different freeway off ramps. So if you live in West Murrieta, it is very easy to get. On and access their freeway at these three different points, right? So as opposed to if you live like where I, I used to live, this is, you can see my house here.
It's right. I don't live there anymore. It's where I used to live. Um, but to get on, to get on the freeway, it would be a quiet, long drive for me to get over on this freeway and in the morning at rush hour. You know, my time from getting to that house onto the 15 freeway to make a commute that might take me 20 minutes just to get to the freeway, right?
And so if you're already commuting or making a long, you know, commute to Anaheim or something every day to add another 20 minutes just to get from the freeway to your house, it's gonna suck, right? It's not gonna be, it's not gonna be worth it. So. If, if, if you can, if you're gonna make that commute and you can live on the west side of the freeway, uh, that's gonna really shorten your commute and make your commute a lot, a lot shorter.
Uh, not only that, but what the other thing that people like about living on the west side of Murrieta is there is. There's really, it's its own community within itself, so you can access the freeway easily. There's also a ton of grocery stores. Uh, there's the post office, there's school, high school, all the high school, all the schools are there.
So high school, middle school, elementary school, all that different type of stuff. It's all there local. It's very easy to drive around. You don't have to. Cross the freeway very often. So anytime you get on the freeway or cross over on the other side of the freeway, it's always a pain. It's gonna be, you know, there's gonna be some congestion and things like that.
So because of that, a lot of people like the idea of West Murrieta being its own town. Within a town, being able to get on the freeway will be easy, and it has a lot of the top neighborhoods in the area. So if you are commuting to LA Orange County, that would be the area most people are gonna try and focus on.
Um, and then, so I guess scenario two and kind of another thing that, another client that I deal with a lot or people that I talk with a lot is maybe you're someone that's looking for a large property, right? And so. If you're not familiar, so Murrieta, I would say probably 85, 90% of the city is gonna be, you know, your typical suburban tract home.
So a builder came in, they bought up a plot of land, you know, they subdivided and built 2000 houses and boom, there's a community and that's. That's most of the city, right? That's where your typical suburb is. Um, so that's gonna be most of the area. But if you are, you know, if you have other wants or other needs and you're actually looking for some space, uh, then there's really only gonna be a few areas in town where you can get that.
So let's say if you want a half acre, so. An acre or even up to two acres, right? Maybe you want something for a horse property or maybe you just want to have a guest house on the property like a family compound or uh, maybe you wanna have a dirt bike track out there or whatever it is.
You just want some space. The area that I recommend for most people with that in Murrieta is gonna be more in the old town area here in West Murrieta. So still part of West Murrieta over on the side, but kind of down. Uh, down here you also will see, you know, old town Murrieta pop up on a map. Uh, but you could see there's less streets, there's less congestion right here.
There's just less, you know, as opposed to like this area, right, where there's a bunch of streets and roads and things, right. But just on a map, that's because it's just, it's more spaced out. So it's. Larger lots, they're flat lots for the most part. Um, there's a lot of horse property there. People have different types of businesses that they run on their properties, things like that.
So if you are looking for space and you wanna live in Murrieta, uh, that is the area that I check that I recommend to most people to, to look into and to, you know, see if you find some decent options there, uh, that's usually gonna be the, the best fit. Um, or scenario number three. Let's say you want some space, but let's say one to two acres just isn't enough, right?
You want more space. You want four acres, five acres, up to 10 acres even, you know, what do you do in that case? Does that exist here? Yes, it does exist. Uh, that's gonna be more up in the La Cresta area. So, uh, again, we have this 15 freeway. So, uh, you have one of those off ramps that we spoke about was Clinton Keith Road.
So there's, you'll see that main road there, Clinton, Keith Road is a huge main road. It runs all the way over to that part of Murrieta and all the way out this way. So. I'll clear that out. Let's say if you get off the freeway off Clinton Keith Road and you come up, you go west, you start going up, it starts winding as you get up here, you enter a different area.
Um, and this is the area of. It's kind of cut off here, but it's the area of La Cresta and Tenaha. So, those are the areas where you'll see those big properties. Four acres, five acres, six acres up to 10. Uh, there's a couple that are even closer to 20 as well. So if you want some space, that's, that's gonna be where it's at.
Um, you know, there you are a little bit. Uh, there's pros and cons to everything I was gonna say. So you are a little bit further away from town. You know, you're a few miles away from the freeway, etcetera, but if you want that space and that privacy and you want that, you know, that much land, you know that's really gonna be your best bet if you're looking in Murrieta.
Um, and then s scenario number four or client number four that I deal with a lot is, Hey, you know, I wanna buy a home in Murrieta. I was actually looking in both the city of Temecula and the city of Murrieta, but you know, the truth is Murrieta is just less expensive. I can get more for my money. I still want to live close to Temecula to take advantage of all the business and everything that's there.
So if you don't know, uh, Murrieta doesn't have as much shopping and restaurants and, and businesses, as many businesses as Temecula does. So Temecula has the Promenade mall. Temecula has the Temecula wine country. Temecula has, you know, the Pechanga Casino. None of those, and they have a pretty real vibrant, you know, old town area.
Um, none of those things does Murrieta have as much as Temecula does. So, because a lot of people want to be close to being able to drive and take advantage of those things. So if that's the case, then if you are looking for those items, then the best place for you to live would be that area of East Murrieta.
So you have that two 15 freeway. And so over on the east side out this way. So I'll, uh, it's getting a little, a little ugly there, isn't it? But, uh, so over on the freeway, over on the east side, so like this, this area here, this area here, up, up around, over here. If you lived over on the east side of Murrieta, um, your distance to Temecula.
Like say, here's the mall in Temecula. You know, this is all. All this area is actually considered Temecula as well. Uh, it's getting a little blurry where the lines are, but most of this area, at least you're only, I would say. You know, four to seven minutes away from those things. So you're super, super close.
Um, you can easily, you know, take that trip to the mall for shopping. You can take the trip to the mall for, you know, going to restaurants. You can come down, cross over into the old town area. It's probably a little bit farther to that, maybe, you know, 10 minutes or so. Um, or even wine country. Is out this way.
This is where all the, all the wineries are, or a lot of the wineries are. Um, and you're maybe, you know, 50 minutes or so from that. So, if you want to live in Murrieta and you want to be close to a lot of the amenities that Temecula offers, east Murrieta is really gonna be your best bet for something like that.
Um, and then let's say scenario number five that I deal with a lot are, you know, say as a client that wants to buy a home in Murrieta and they like the idea of a, you know, of a safe area and a well-kept suburb, but they are absolutely adamant that they do not want to live in an HOA, they are not, will not live in an HOA, they don't want the rules, they don't want to deal with it.
They don't want someone to have their thumb on top of them. Which I, you know, which I can understand because I've lived in, you know, different, all types of different HOAs and they also maybe want to buy a home that has a low tax rate, right? If you guys aren't familiar with this area, different neighborhoods are gonna have different taxes.
So we all have the same base tax rate, but they have different special assessments, which basically means you can look at two homes. Let's say you're looking at a $700,000 home. You look at one with a low tax rate, you look at one with a high tax rate. That high tax rate home might cost you an extra 3 to $400 bucks a month.
So that's a big deal, right? I think everything is expensive nowadays, and if you can buy a home and have one cost less than the other, that's probably gonna be a lot more desirable, right? So if you are looking for something with low taxes, that's super important to you. Or if you are looking with something with no HOA, uh, the best area to focus on for that search would be the area of central Murrieta.
So we talked about the two freeways. Right. So you have the 15 freeway. We have the two 15 freeway. So this area right here in the middle, the central, central Murrieta is really gonna be the best area for you to focus on. Um, there's be. Because this area tends to be a little bit older. So you have some of those older tract homes that were built in the late eighties, early nineties before HOAs were so popular.
I guess that would be why, you know, before they were such a big priority for people. Um, and you, you tend to have, because the age you don't, you have the lower taxes and because the age you tend to not have a lot of those HOAs. So if you are looking for that central Murrieta is really gonna be your best bet.
And probably the area I would, I would direct most people to really focus on. I think that would be something to really check out. Um, and then, uh, close, I guess scenario number six. So let's say you wanna live in Murrieta, but you know, you don't want to live in just like an average neighborhood, you know, your average tract home.
Let's say you just wanna live, you wanna live in the nicest neighborhood. You wanna live in the nicest, you know, nicest homes or the nicest part of town. You know, what areas would you really focus on? What are the really the most prestigious neighborhoods? In Murrieta. So there's, there's really a handful that you're probably gonna wanna focus on.
Um, so area number one, uh, would be, again, you're right here off that Clinton Keith Road, and that is the community of Bear Creek. Uh, Bear Creek is a really high-end neighborhood. If you are not familiar with it, you can give it a quick Google search, but it's super, super pretty. Um, it is built all around a Jack Nicholas golf co golf club.
So it's a private golf club. It's, you know, it's super. Super high end. It has a lot of notoriety. It's not, it's not, it's not cheap to play. You have to be a member. Um, it is, it's, it's quite the to-do. Right. Um, but the community itself has all types of different homes. So they have from, from. Attached condos to detach condos to small houses all the way up to big, you know, custom estates.
So, um, you're gonna find something from probably 1200 square feet up to 7,000 square feet. So it just depends what you're after. It's a big range and price ranges there. But if you wanna live in the most prestigious area in Murrieta, I definitely would say it would be, it would be Bear Creek. It's in a guard G community.
It's difficult even just to drive in there. Um, you know, you have to be on the gate and, uh, someone has gonna have to check in, etcetera. So it's, it's quite the, quite the to-do, but it's definitely the most prestigious neighborhood. Murrieta. Uh, the second neighborhood that I would recommend is the Murrieta Ranchos.
Uh, so Murrieta Ranchos is also in that West Murrieta area. We've talked a lot about, and kinda what's unique about this, it's an area that has low taxes. It has no HOA, but what makes it special is it has, they have really big lots, at least for Murrieta. So they're all from one third of an acre to a half acre lots.
Um, they're all single stories. I think they all have RV parking, if not like 90% of 'em have RV parking. Um, but, and because all single stories, everyone's law's really private and it just, it tends to be. You know, it is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in town and maybe the most desirable tract home neighborhood in town.
So, uh, Murrieta Ranchos, again is in West Murrieta. It's kind of right here, a little bit north of Cal Oaks and a little bit south of Clinton Keith, uh, kind of right, right there in the middle. Um, there's not a ton of homes in there. The homes that pop up always sell quickly. They always sell for a lot of money.
Uh, they often go over list price, and it's just, it's a really, really desirable area and it's an area that most people want to live in. That's a neighborhood that I tried to move it into. Right. And, uh, when we were looking to move this last time, this is a neighborhood that was on my radar and something we, that was, uh, that was a want for, for myself.
So. Um, that's a really good place to check out. Um, another neighborhood that's really prestigious and that I think most people would really like is this neighborhood up at the top. You see the name here, the Greer Ranch. Uh, so Greer Ranch is a really nice community. It's just north of Clinton, Keith, so it's like, it's the most northern portion of the city.
Uh, what makes it so desirable is. It is also a guard gated community, so very safe, very private. Um, you can't just get in and just drive through. There's, it is more of a kind of a typical tract home. So they are nice, I guess typical is the right word, but it is a tract home community. Um, so you have some really nice houses.
A lot of 'em have views because it's built over on a hillside, so you have that. Um, some have bigger lots than others. But you're going to, it's definitely on the high end, definitely a prestigious neighborhood and definitely an area I think most people would wanna check out. Um, and then the last place that I'll mention is the neighborhood of Copper Canyon.
So Copper Canyon, again, is back over here in West Murrieta. It's kind of up this way. It's very close to a couple of other neighborhoods we talked about. So Bear Creek is right here. And the Murrieta ranches are like right there. So, um, it's very, very close. But basically you can't see it from the map here, but this is all up on a, up on a hillside.
Um, and so because that is a lot of view, lots, there's a lot of cool topography, there's a lot of cool privacy. And, uh, this area actually also has no HOA, which can be a big plus for people. And again, you're in West Murrieta. It's easy to jump on the freeway. You're right there close to shopping and schools and all that different type of stuff.
It has the best, uh, elementary school in the area in that part of town. And it's just a really, really desirable area. So, uh, that would be another prestigious area that I think most people would want to check out if they're looking at a home in Murrieta. And then the last, you know, I guess scenario that I'll go over with you guys is, you know, if you are looking to move to Murrieta and let's say you want to buy a home in a 55 plus community, you know, what areas would you look in?
And the advantage of 55 plus homes if you don't know, is. Those communities tend to be less expensive. So let's say your average home in Murrieta right now is about $750,000 or so. Uh, the average home in a, in a 55 plus community, you know, that I'm gonna talk about is probably right around that $600 to $620,000 right around there.
So it's pretty good savings for sure. Um, the number one, and I guess definitely the, the best, you know, single family home 55 plus community in Murrieta is the community of the colony. Um. The location is great. So it's right here in Central Murrieta, right here. Again, it's built around a golf course. It's a public course, so it's not quite the same as the other one, uh, but it is also a guard gated community.
They definitely have a strict HOA, but they have a lot of amenities, community pools, spa, you know, clubhouse, gym, all that type of stuff. They're always doing different types of activities. I've had. A lot of clients have lived there over the years, and it's a really, really nice community. And again, because it is 55 plus, it's just a little bit less expensive.
And those are, you know, your typical stucco tract homes. So, which are, which are nice. Um, and then the other area that I'd mentioned that's 55 plus that is actually even a little bit less expensive is the community of the knows. Uh, the reason it's less expensive is because they are manufactured homes. So they're not your traditional stick-built home.
It's more of a manufactured home, um, that is still in Murrieta. Um, but you do still own the land, which is, if you're, if you're familiar, that's not always the case. So in this area, you know, you might find your average home right around that 450 to, you know, 500,000, I would say between 400, 500,000 right now.
So, uh, but they're manufactured homes as opposed to stick built. But you're definitely your least expensive way to live in Murrieta to buy a home and own the land. And, um, you know, it tends to be, it tends to be a good option for people just because it is affordable. So those are the areas that I would recommend if you are looking for a 55 plus community.
So anyways, I hope that's good information for you guys. Try to highlight a few different neighborhoods, you know, give you, you know, some examples of conversations I have with clients and that are looking for different things. You know, everyone's looking for the right fit for themselves and their family.
So I hope that's good info. If you have questions or you wanna reach out, feel free. You can call, you can text, you can email me, and hopefully talk to you soon. Thanks.
