All right, so this video is all about the five worst things about living here in the city of Murrieta, California. And I'm gonna give you some perspective from someone that's lived here in the valley for a really long time. I think it's a great place to live, but it's not necessarily gonna be perfect for everybody. So let's go ahead and get into the video.

Hey guys. Hey again. My name is Justin Short. I am a realtor and team leader with the short real estate team here at Keller Williams in Temecula. And this video's all about the five worst things about living here in this. City of Murrieta.

So I've lived here in the valley for a really long time, so it's over 25 years now. I've lived in Temecula, I lived in Winchester, we lived in Murrieta for about, I think it's like 12, 13 of those years, about half of my time. So I think I can give you some really good perspective from what it's like to actually live here. And really what the worst parts are about living here in the city.

So I'll, I'll give you the disclaimer. You know, I think this is a great area to live. You know, this is where my wife and I are raising our family. You know, we have two young kids and it's where we plan to stay for the next, you know, 20 plus years, maybe forever. But I think it's a great place to live. However, it's just, it's not gonna be perfect for everybody, right? Not everyone is gonna. Gonna like all the same things that you like or have the same priorities. And there are people that come here that just decide, you know, living in Murrieta is not the perfect place for them.

So I'm gonna give some perspective, really kind of what the downsides are and what the worst parts are of actually being here. I think they're manageable, but hopefully they'd be good information for you guys. Uh, but before I can get into the information, you know, if you are liking real estate videos like this. Please do me a favor, please hit like, please sit, subscribe to the channel. Obviously it helps me and it helps my channels. We try to continue to grow it. And then we have new videos that we put out each and every week. So it's all local based real estate info like this, so you know, best parts of town, worst parts of town, best neighborhoods, you know, best, best school districts, all those different types of things. So if you want more of that, like I said, please hit subscribe and you'll see new videos each and every week.

And then if you guys have any real estate questions, you can feel free to reach out anytime. So you can see my information either down below or at the end of the video. You're gonna see my name, my phone number, my email, uh, you can feel free, you can call text, you can email me. Happy to answer any questions you may have. I'll point you in the right direction. Or of course if I can help you out with the real estate search, you would love to be a resource for you. So that's how I earn a living. So I would love the opportunity to help. So. Cool. Alright. And, uh, let's go ahead and we'll get into my list.

So again, we're gonna talk about the five worst things about living here in the city of Murrieta. And like I mentioned, I've lived here for a really long time. I think it's a, it's a great place and I, I guess first I'll, I'll give you some, some positives. You know, people decide to come here to live in Murrieta. Because we're in Southern California, you are in southwest Riverside County. Um, you, so you can stay in southern California, you can be in a relatively newer area. That is a very safe area. Murrieta specifically is consistently one of the top 100 safest cities in the country. So they've been anywhere from, I think they were at number two at one point from the top 10, top 20, top a hundred. Uh, but they're consistently a very, very safe area to live in.

Also, you know, compared to other parts of Southern California that's really affordable. So you can buy the average home in Murrieta, you can buy for about $750,000. And if you compare that to the other areas, like say San Diego, LA, Orange County. The average homes there are all over a million dollars. Not only that, you know, that million dollar home in San Diego is probably gonna get you like a thousand square feet, 1200 square feet, uh, and it was built in the sixties or something like that, as opposed to, you know, the average home in Murrieta is probably like 2,800 square feet or bigger. Uh, you know, it was probably built like 2002, 2003. So that means, you know, tile roofs, newer plumbing, you know, all, all types of different things. It's also part of a great school district and it's a safe area. So there are a lot of reasons that people decide to live here, including myself and my family.

Uh, but I wanted to give you some of the, you know, some of the negatives and kind of what the worst parts are of actually living here. So, uh, number one on my list, and I think most people would agree, probably the worst part about living here in Murrieta. It's gonna be the heat in the temperature. So a lot of people think, you know, Southern California, it's all just, uh, you know, cool, be beach weather and we're, we're pretty inland. You know, we are only about an hour, 45 minutes to an hour away from the beach. So we're not super, super far. It's really easy to make a trip out there, but, uh, we do not have the same temperature.

So, uh, the. Throughout a lot of the year, probably, you know, nine months of the year, including, including winter. The temperature here is really, really nice. It's gonna be somewhere, you know, from the mid seventies to mid eighties on average. So it's super pleasant outside. But in the summer it definitely gets it, it gets hot, and the two hottest months of the year are gonna be August and September. The stats show the average temperature during those months is about 91, 92 degrees, however. You know, as someone that's, that's lived here, I think that's, that, that feels a little bit low. Like some, like if you ask me, I, I would think the average temperature's like 95, 96, but. Um, so, so it feels like it's a little bit warmer and it seems like we constantly are seeing higher, higher numbers than that.

Um, and we we're gonna have heat waves, and you're definitely gonna have heat waves over a hundred degrees. So on a heat wave, you can get up to a hundred, a hundred, 100 and 203, and occasionally even up to 104, if, if it gets that hot. That's like super, super miserable. Even for me. Someone's been here for a long time, but they, they do happen. Um, and so over a hundred is gonna be, it's hot. I'm warm blooded. I've lived here for a long time. Like that is, it's hot. So on those hot days and, and during those summer months, really you're just, you're, you're staying inside, you know, during the, the afternoon time, you'll go outside. In the morning, you'll go outside later in the evening, but in the afternoon, you know, from 11 to three, like it, it's hot. You're gonna come inside, you're gonna get, you're gonna get in the ac, you're gonna. Crank the AC in the car, you're not gonna spend a lot of time outside in the afternoon unless you're out at the pool or, or something similar.

However, what is really nice here, and this is not the case in most hot areas, well, even if we'll get a nice heat wave, it gets up to 102 degrees in the afternoon by the evening. It is a usually really cool and comfortable outside. So you can get up to 102 degrees in the afternoon and it'll come down to 73, 74, 75, uh, even, you know, 70, 69 degrees. In the evening by about, you know, six o'clock or so. Uh, and the reason for that is because, you know, we are not that far from a, from the coast, you know, as, as a crow flies and as a straight line, right, as they say. So what happens is later in the day, we do get a nice breeze that comes up over the mountain range, comes down into town, and cools off all that hot air and makes it really cool and comfortable. It's also very dry. There's not much humidity out here. So because of that. You know, it makes for really nice, comfortable evenings and it is still really nice outside, so I think it's palatable. Right. But there's a couple months a year, it's pretty hot.

Um, I definitely, you know, I have some clients that take a lot of vacations in the summer 'cause it's hot and kind of can be a little bit miserable during the day, but the fact that it cools down, I think is a big plus. Especially, it is so rare compared to like so many hot areas, like say like Palm Springs or, you know, Las Vegas or Arizona or anything like that, where it gets. You know, scorching hot out there and it never, never stops, right? You can go outside there at, you know, midnight and it's still 99 degrees out there in Palm Springs. Like that's, it's miserable. It's a different type of heat for sure. So, uh, but that, I would say that's definitely number one for most people, especially when they're moving from other parts of Southern California and they're used to that mid seventies weather all the time.

Uh, number two, uh, is second worst part about living here and this, I think this is number one on a lot of people's list is gonna be the traffic. Um, so although we, we are in Southern California, I think most people kind of have an understanding and have heard, you know, Southern California traffic is, is severe. There's a lot of it, and we are not as bad as the, the big cities like, you know, LA primarily, or even San Diego for that matter. Uh, but there is a good amount of traffic, especially at rush hour. And if you're a commuter on a daily basis, that can really eat into your quality of life. So, um, most people, they are making a commute out of town. We'll kinda talk about that here in a minute. But most people do live here and commute.

Uh, most of 'em go south towards San Diego, but some people do go, you know, toward Orange County, towards LA they go up towards the city of Riverside. Uh, but a lot of people are on the road on a daily basis, and that average drive time is anywhere from 45 minutes. To an hour and 15 minutes is what most people have, and that's each way. So, uh, you know, if you're lucky enough, you have a flexible schedule, you can go early, you can go later, you can dodge some of that, you know, terrible traffic time. You know, but, um, if not, you're gonna be stuck in that rush hour traffic. And it definitely is getting worse and worse each and every year as the area continues to grow.

So if you are a commuter, then this is probably number one your list, you know, the traffic and that commute drive time can really suck. Like there's just no really get it, getting around it. And then even on the weekends, you'll see the traffic. You know, the freeway will jam up a lot of people heading outta town. People heading out to the beach or down to the city or wherever it is they may be going. Um, so, you know, there. There is a pretty good amount of, of traffic that's here in the area. So although we are here in Southern California, I think that's a pro, right? You're about an hour away from all the other cool stuff that Southern California has to offer. So that's like downtown San Diego, you know, the beach, you know, Disneyland, getting close to some parts of la you know, out to the desert. Um, you know, with that traffic it can make a difference and will definitely add up.

Okay. Uh, number three on my list of the worst parts about living here in Murrieta . It's gonna be the lack of local jobs.

So when, when I say this, I gotta give some, some caveat, but most people, most, I would say primary income earners for their household do not work locally and will either, they work, work remotely, so they work from home, or they will end up commuting to work, uh, for their, for their daily job.

The, when I say this, there, there is, uh, it kind of makes it sound like the city's super small, and that's not the case in Murrieta. There's over a hundred thousand people that live here, and then in the surrounding areas, just the surrounding couple cities, there's over $500,000 people. So it is a grown area, like there's a ton of shopping centers and doctor's offices and yeah, there's multiple Costco’s and schools and all those different types of things. So it's not like this small dinky area. There's just not a lot of big employers, right? There's not like, uh, these big mass employers that employ, you know, a large portion of the city.

And although there are a lot of like conveniences, like shopping centers and grocery stores and doctors and all the hospitals and all those types of things. Um, there's not like that big, the big industry I would say. So because of that, people, they work here and they, they commute or unless you're lucky enough to be able to work from home. So, um, you know, and it kind of ties in, right? If there's not those local jobs, that means you're gonna be on the freeway sitting in the traffic, dealing with the, you know, the rush hour traffic. So those kind of play, play together.

Um, now there. Is a ton. There are a ton of local jobs, restaurants, and, um, you, I, I said doctor's offices and hospitals and, you know, nursing jobs and, um, all those different, you know, schools and yeah, education, jobs, all those different types of things are here. But, um, you know, I would say most people, at least one of the, if, if there's, if a working household, at least one of the spouses end up making a commute, unless you're lucky enough to be able to work from home.

Um, number four, as far as worst part about living here in Murrieta, I'll kind of tie this together. Just all, just overall California politics. I think it can be a little bit frustrating. Um, I'm, you know, I don't think you should really care and to say what my political beliefs are, but there can be some frustrations in, in, uh, downside to living in the state of California was some of the things that, that are, that, that are out there.

So, uh, like for example. High taxes. You know, we have high taxes on a lot of different things. There's a lot of different fees, registration fees, um, all types of different things that are out there that California has at most, or if not all other states do not have. Uh, there's also high income taxes here in the state of California. So if you live, let's say in Arizona where there's no, in state income tax, if you move to California, there is a 13% income tax. So that, that is a big difference in quality of life, right? You gotta think about that if you are relocating to a different area.

And, and all this I would kind of tie into, you know, the California politics would be just the overall, you know, red tape that, that you'll find. Um, there's high cost to develop if you're trying to build something and try to do construction, you know, there's a lot of hoops and steps that you have to jump through that aren't necessarily there in other areas. And each of those hoops in steps tend to cost more money. Right? There's some survey and some, uh, inspection. They have to have in a lot of homes, there's a lot of things that come into effect and that do cost money. So because of those things that can be a real downside, um, and things that maybe people don't want to deal with and they might be used to maybe living in Texas where, you know, they don't, they don't have to deal with that.

So, um, you know. That there's just, those are things to keep in mind if you are gonna be moving to California, if you already live here, you know, that's probably not much of a concern. You're probably already kind of aware of what, of what that looks like. Uh, but there is a, definitely a sunshine tax that's in place from extra costs, extra red tape, and just extra taxes in general. Right.

Um, and then the last one on my, on my list is number five is the overall cost of living and really cost to purchase a home in this area compared to the rest of the United States. So, uh, we talked about price points. So your average home in Murrieta right now is about $750,000. You can buy a single family home for, you know, somewhere $625,650. You can buy a condo or town home in the mid fives or even under $500 for like a true condo. So you can find things that are more affordable.

So compared to the rest of Southern California, I think it's pretty good deal. Right? I think it's pretty good value. I think, you know, buying a. Small single family home in Murrieta for $650,000 compared to a million dollars down in San Diego. I think it's a really good value. I think it's probably a nicer area to live in. It's a safer area to live in and a better school district. I think there's so many good things there.

However. If you are moving from another state that is quite a bit less expensive, it can be really hard to make the jump to coming to live in the city of Murrieta, right? The average priced home throughout the US is about $440,000. That's the last number I saw. So if you're going from four 40 to. The low end out here is six 50. The average is like seven 50. Right? Um, that, that's a, that's a big swing. Not only that, you gotta factor in, you know, you have the income taxes that are coming. Some other, you know, other taxes that are gonna be in place here a little bit higher. Property taxes. Depending where you're coming from, there's just a lot of factors.

So it can be really difficult for, for people to move from other parts of the country to myriad of California because the cost to live cost of living is so much higher for the cost to purchase a home, just, you know, overall home price plus all those other things to talk about, you know, income taxes, you know, fees, etcetera.

So, uh, for me, those are my top five. As far as the worst parts about living here in Murrieta, it's the heat, it's the traffic. Not a ton of local jobs, uh, the overall California politics and taxes and fees and, you know, cost there. And then, you know, the average price point being so much higher than the rest of the us.

So anyways, I hope that's good information for you guys. And I guess I'll, I'll again, I'll give that caveat. Given all those things, I still think this is a great area to live in. This is where I plan to live long term, and I think there's gonna be pros and cons to anything. I think these are all things that, that are worth it to live here in Murrieta, and I do think it's a great place to live in. Uh, but you know, feel free to reach out if you have any questions and hopefully talk to you soon. Thanks.