Lifestyle

I discovered Talega in 2002 when our friends, the Gardner’s, were looking to relocate and they wanted to check out San Clemente.  After showing them around town, my husband and I decided to come back the following day and do some exploring ourselves.

Talega landmark

The first thing that impressed me was the “newness” of the Talega area. We were so used to the pier bowl area and loved how close it was to the beach, but couldn’t see ourselves living in such close quarters to our neighbors. After driving around a few neighborhoods we happened upon an open house and little did we know that we were about to find our next home.

We assumed since it was a new neighborhood, there would be mello-roos tax, however, we had no idea about the Talega Lifestyle Corporation (TLC) Fee and didn’t even know we paid it as part of our purchase!

If you’re not familiar with the area, the TLC Fee is a fee that is paid to TLC each time a home in the community is sold. If it is a new home the fee is 1/8 of 1% of the sales price. If it’s a home that is being resold, the fee is ¼ of 1%. So, the big question is who pays the fee?  Some will say the buyer, some will say the seller. I say everything is negotiable when selling or purchasing a home. If you are a seller, make sure it’s negotiated in the contract. If you’re a buyer, make sure you’re aware of the cost and decide whether or not you’re willing to pay it.

The homeowners association (HOA) for the community is the Talega Maintenance Corporation (TMC). When we purchased our home in 2002, the monthly HOA was $125. Over the years the monthly fee has increased, and is currently $174 per month. If you purchase in a condominium complex, there may be an additional HOA fee specific to that complex.

Mello-roos tax is imposed by the city to help fund local schools, fire and police departments and other improvements for the community. Every neighborhood can have a different assessment so it’s important to find out the specifics for the community you are interested in and incorporate it in to your monthly budget as part of your property tax payment.

For more information contact me.

Adrienne Markes

Phone (714) 396-2819
Fax (949) 218-5935
Email adrienne@adriennemarkes.com
Text (714) 396-2819
Follow me on Twitter @adriennemarkes