Fallbrook

Points of Interest

Beverly Mansion House

Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens and Nursery

Grand Tradition Estate and Gardens

Fallbrook Art Center

Kenny’s Strawberry Farm

Big Plus

Eclectic, artistic community that is surrounded by natural beauty. Painters and photographers have no trouble finding inspiration from the peaceful setting.

If you have horses or a desire for wide-open spaces, this is your spot. It’s rural, calm, and provides all the essential amenities—without the hustle and bustle of a big city. Though removed from the major metropolitan areas, you can still drive to many of the major West Coast cities in two hours or less.

The slower pace and quality schools draw many military families to the area, especially those looking for larger homes or lots of land.

The homes in Fallbrook are considered to be affordable. Many of them are older but have been well-maintained.

If you work on the far eastern side of Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook is just outside the gate. It’s also not a bad commute to Mainside.  

In the summer, you’ll find the temperatures about 15 degrees cooler than Temecula. Fallbrook is also much more lush and green than its desert neighbors.

Things to Consider

Fallbrook is considered by most area residents to be “out in the boondocks.” Most of the town is about 6 miles from a major freeway, and amenities are limited to just the essentials—causing locals to venture into Temecula for shopping and dining.

Though it is cooler here than in the desert plains, it is still warmer than the coast. Go ahead and add 10 to 20 degrees to the breezy beach temps that your neighbors on the other side of the base will have.

Fallbrook is just on the eastern side of Camp Pendleton, and the Fallbrook Gate makes for easy access. However, if you or your spouse will be commuting to the western side of base, it could take up to an hour to traverse this vast installation. Because of its location, Fallbrook is also not recommended for those who might be stationed at another San Diego base after leaving Camp Pendleton.

Fallbrook is rural, and available houses are somewhat scarce. There are several desirable neighborhoods, but the homes typically pass through “word-of-mouth” transactions. The market here is aggressive, and you need to be positioned to move quickly if you’re purchasing a home.

Be sure to identify whether or not your potential home has air conditioning. The home cooling situation applies to both on and off post housing, so just keep in mind that utility bills for homes off post can routinely exceed $300. Living near the coast will afford you the coastal breezes, so most people say that not having A/C here isn’t a deal-breaker. Pay close attention to this as you move farther inland with your search.

How’s the Market?

The median home value for single family homes in Fallbrook is $527,000 according to the Zillow Home Value Index.

Home Values are forecasted to increase by 2.2% in the coming year.

According to Zillow’s Rental Index, the median rental rate for single-family homes in Fallbrook is $2,408.

There is a tax called Mello-Roos, that you’ll need to get acquainted with if you’ll be buying a home in California. Long story short, some communities have the designation of being a Community Facility District (CFD), and they impose an additional property tax to help pay for schools, roads, utilities, and services like police and fire protection. This Mello-Roos tax is above and beyond your typical property tax, and pair that with potentially multiple HOAs, and you could be priced out of some neighborhoods before you know it. Not all neighborhoods are CFDs and HOAs can be for the neighborhood and the city as well. Do your research before you set your heart on a house! The fees add up, and you could be spending well above what BAH allows. An experienced AgentHero can help tremendously.

School Scoop

Fallbrook contains 13 schools. One of the best schools is Fallbrook Homeschool Academy (FHA), which has a rating of 9 according to GreatSchools.org. It is important to note that this school offers a non-traditional educational alternative that combines on campus instruction with homeschooling, as the name implies. The public schools in Fallbrook are in Fallbrook Union Elementary School District or Fallbrook Union High School District.

Both Fallbrook Union Elementary School District and Fallbrook Union High’s have an average rating of 7. Interestingly, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District governs schools that are kindergarten through 8th grade, while Fallbrook Union High governs the area high schools.

There are also some addresses in Fallbrook that are zoned to the Bonsall Unified School District, which is another very popular district according to the spouses we asked.

The California Department of Education offers open enrollment and intradistrict choice, meaning your child can attend any school inside or outside their district upon approval and space availability. Students at low-performing schools can attend a different school in their district. Children can also attend any of the highly sought after charter or magnet schools.

Fallbrook Union High School District along with Bonsall Unified School District are a part of a consortium of four other school districts created by the University of Southern California for an initiative called Welcoming Practices. The program recognizes the unique needs of military children in school transitions and has the stated goal of ensuring “that district and school staff members have access to the tools they need to create welcoming and effective transition procedures that give students a successful start at their new school.” We think this deserves massive kudos!  

Highlighted Areas

East Ridge