Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee Property Tax Insights!

One of the most common issues in Temecula real estate is property taxes. I specialize in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Wildomar real estate and there are major property tax issues in all of those communities. In addition, places such as French Valley and Winchester experience much of the same. The reason is simple, these are all newly built communities or they have quite a few new housing tracts.

When a buyer is shopping for Temecula real estate or Murrieta foreclosure homes, they absolutely need to understand how property taxes work. I have had out of area agents or just inexperienced local agents not communicate the correct taxes to their buyers. They may be qualified for $250,000 but can only afford $230,000 when adjusting for tax rates.

Even when buyers are told about Temecula property taxes, their lenders often configure their payment around a 1.25% estimated tax. That will result in an escrow account adjustment or very surprising tax bill later that year. I wrote an earlier article that address how property taxes in Murrieta, Temecula can help and hurt your mortgage qualification.

The real base rate of property taxes for Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Wildomar real estate are usually 1.08% and lower. But, when the builders realized how aggressive the 2002-2007 real estate market was, they found a way to pass along these special assessments to homeowners. Bonds for expenses such as street lighting, roads, schools and the water district, road and school bonds were stacked on top of the base rate, thereby resulting in a combined tax rate of 1.9%.

During this market period, Temecula real estate was in such a state that people slept overnight in cars in order to line up for new phase releases from builders. They knew the tax rate but didn’t mind since property values were going up over $10,000 or more a month. Now those same tax rates have often risen up to 2.25% because of severe property depreciation.

As a Temecula real estate agent, clients are always asking about each property’s tax rates. The down side is that two houses can be on the same block and have significantly different tax rates if built by different builders. But here are some tips for a few areas in Central and South Temecula that can help weed through some of the lower tax rates:

• The communities of Paloma and Paseo del Sol usually are 1.5% and lower

• The communities of Morgan Hill and Crown Hill are 1.9%

• Central Temecula Community Chardonnay Hills is 1.25% and lower.

In general any Temecula or Murrieta home that is built before 2002 is in pretty good shape. And that covers a lot of communities such as Vintage Hills, Redhawk and Vail Ranch. Use a good Temecula Home Search with year built criteria to get on the right track!