Some people have asked me if they should buy in Temecula.  It's cheaper there, after all.  Some of my subscribers live in Riverside County, and have asked for more coverage of that area.  So here is my continuing series of areas outside of San Diego.

First, there is a reason it's cheap.  Go in the summer, and you'll think you're in Phoenix, it's so darn hot.  Add $400/month for air conditioning bills, and remember you won't want to go outside much.  It's also very far from the beach and San Diego, so you spend hours every day commuting to work.

Second, although Riverside County is getting hammered, there are no good deals.  The prices there are going to fall much much lower than in the main cities. 

So if you buy in Temecula, add those air conditioning costs, the gas, and of course all those homeowners expenses of repairs, maintenance, and property taxes, which will add $700/month over the rent you are now paying.  Your entire tax deduction is used up by the property taxes, but your mortgage is double your rent, you have those gas and A/C bills, you have home improvements to make, and your property is losing 10% a year for the next 7 years.  So you saved on taxes, but you spent $250K on lost equity.  Sounds like a bad trade. 

Riverside County is getting slaughtered.  Usually in spring, sales rise. But in April, Riverside...read more here

 On the link above, you can see the large original maps of Temecula foreclosures and REOs, by clicking on the thumbnail.   This is a teaser, it cannot be enlarged...go ahead, try...

Each red dot is an REO.  Temecula has lots of them...the market is so bad, that the homes are not even selling at the auction...it is so bad, that banks are not able to sell their listings fast enough, so they start piling up.

Will Temecula be a good place to buy though, because prices there are lower than in San Diego?  Click here to find out more.