A house in Murrieta can look perfect at 2 p.m. on a Saturday. The street is quiet, the open house has cookies, and the drive in from the freeway took eleven minutes. Then you move in, and Monday at 6:15 a.m. tells a different story.
Before we write an offer, I ask every buyer the same question. Have you driven to work from this house, on a weekday, at the time you'd actually leave? Most haven't. They tour on weekends because that's when they're free, and that makes sense. It also means they're judging a 30-year decision on the one day of the week when traffic barely exists.
Here's what that looks like in real life. A lot of buyers looking in Temecula and Murrieta work in Orange County. On a map, Murrieta to Irvine is roughly 55 miles. On a weekday morning, the 15 north past Lake Elsinore and into the 91 interchange in Corona can turn that into a two-hour crawl. Same house. Same job. A very different life.
So do the test run. Set an alarm, leave from that street at your real departure time, and drive to your office. Then drive home at 5:30. If you'd actually pay for the express lanes on the 15 or the 91, use them and write down what it cost. Looking at two homes? Run both. One morning drive has talked more than one buyer out of a house they were ready to overbid on.
My opinion, and plenty of agents disagree with me: a shorter commute is worth more than an extra bedroom. Buyers will stretch for square footage they use at Thanksgiving, then lose ten hours a week in the car. I'd rather see you in a smaller place in Corona or Riverside with your evenings intact than in a bigger place an hour farther out that eats them.
The whole point of living out here is having time for the good stuff. Car shows on the weekend. The night markets. A simple bonfire at the beach with the people you want to spend it with. You can't do any of that from the 91.
Investors, this applies to you too. Your tenants run the same math, and a rental 20 minutes closer to a job center tends to rent faster and turn over less.
One morning drive. It's the cheapest inspection you'll ever do.