Currently, the market for bank owned properties in Santa Maria CA and Orcutt CA is very competitive. In the last couple of weeks, I placed offers for well priced listings where there were at least 10 other offers. REO listings fly off the market with multiple bidders in just a few days when they are offered in good condition and at the right price. You will tend to see the most intense competition where the bank-seller chooses to fix up properties before they list them. Not many are doing this - but it is happening more and more. "Fixing up" can be as simple as recarpeting and repainting a home. And even though these finishing touches don't cost much they can set a cash strapped buyer's heart on fire as most foreclosure listings need paint and carpet at a minimum. Good asset managers kn... 02/02/2009

According to Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur as interviewed on LouDobb.com on CNN.com, if your lender tries to foreclose on you, hire an attorney and fight back!  Stay in your house, do NOT move out. In this CNN clip called "Fight Foreclosures: Be a Squatter!", check out the video here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/01/30/griffin.mortgage.squatting.cnn (I guess I need to learn how to insert the entire video into my blogs, don't I!) NOW, before you get all riled up and "squat" in your house, BE SURE YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY HELP YOU!  And do it BEFORE the foreclosure sale date -- AT LEAST 2 weeks before. Yes, there are companies who are knowledgable and have retained top attorneys to assist homeowners like yourself.  I can refer you to one of these top companies which ... 02/01/2009

Are you looking for a local church in Santa Maria. The following list includes addresses, telephone numbers, and websites if available.   Calvary Chapel 2620 Santa Maria Way Santa Maria, CA 93454 805-922-1822 www.ccsantamaria.com   Pacific Christian Center 3435 Santa Maria Way Santa Maria, CA 93454 805-934-3491 www.pacifichristian.net Unity   Chapel of Light Corner of Stubblefield & S. Broadway Santa Maria, CA 93455 805-937-3025 www.unitysantamaria.com   Orcutt Presbyterian Church 993 Patterson Road Santa Maria, CA 93455 805-937-4974 www.orcuttpresbyterian.com   Temple Beth El 1501 E. Alvin Santa Maria, CA 93454 805-928-2118   Cross Point Community Church 1265 W. McCoy lane Santa Maria, CA 93454 805-928-1810 www.crosspointonline.com   Santa Maria Presbyterian Church 200 W. Cook Santa Ma... 01/21/2009

What is the best way to teach children your values and pass on a legacy?  Celebrate family dinner!  Dinner is a good time for spiritual reflection, and for planning upcoming family events.  In fact,  wealthy families wisely use this time to teach their children and pass on their family values.  How to ensure your family is benefitting from family dinners? Pick a day of the week to plan family meals for the upcoming week.  Sunday evenings are a perfect time to plan and shop for the week's meals together. Encourage your children to create menu ideas and participate in the meal preparation.  Ask each child to make dinner once per week, allowing parents to give one-on-one attention, guiding and directing them, and passing on important values as you work together. During dinner, turn off the... 01/18/2009

Somerset Gardens Both the Villas at La Ventana and Somerset Gardens townhomes were built by a well respected local builder, Inland Pacific, who is currently finishing the Pacific Crest development in the Westgate Ranch area. The townhome floor plans offered in each community are virtually identical. There are three basic floor plans in each. These upscale townhomes offer no maintenance patios, gas fireplaces, and two car garages. The standard features in these communities were very generous, so even units that were not upgraded maintain a very elegant feeling.     The Villas at La Ventana Plan A, the only one story unit, is approximately 1600 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and features a "great room" kitchen / family room combination. Plan B, the most popular floor plan, is about... 01/14/2009

A total of 1230 single family homes (condos, PUDs and manufactured homes excluded) sold in Santa Maria CA and Orcutt CA in 2008. Forty three percent of those home sold in 30 days or less. The average asking price was approximately $300,000, average selling price $292,500, and average size of those homes was 1696 square feet, with an average price per square foot of $172.44. Of the 1230 sales, 157 were short sales, and 789 were REOs (bank owned properties). So, 64% of the closed sales were foreclosures, and 12% were pre-foreclosures (short sales). This market was and continues to be thoroughly dominated by foreclosure activity. If you would like a list of Santa Maria CA, or Orcutt CA foreclosures, send an email to me at tni@MintProp.com, search on one of my websites: www.iLoveOrcutt.com,... 01/10/2009

From a business and economic perspective, I believe so.  This my personal opinion, but I'm sure there is data to support my opinion.  There needs to be some catalyst to fuel economic growth and and stabilize the housing market.  Today's rate is 5.1% for a 30-year fixed.  Some rates are sub 5%.  These historically low rates are attracting refinance and purchase interest.  The Feds plan on spending $500 billion to purchase mortgage-back securities, aimed to lower the price of mortgages and make more loans availably.  Lower interest rates is one of many ways to make home purchase more affortable.  I read a real estate article stating a 1% drop in rates amounts to 500,000 to 700,000 more home sales.   Lower interest rates makes sense, as this makes it possible to clear inventory, as home pr... 01/08/2009

Great opportunities do not come along often, and when they do, the wise person looks for opportunities.  There is no denying 2008 was a challenging economical year with unprecedented home price decline, tighter credit standard, drop in consumer confidence, official declaration of a recession, unemployment surge, and the list goes on.  But the bright spot is affordability housing, historically low interest rates, a buyers market, abundant inventory, and favorable terms from home owners and banks.  In Santa Maria, CA homes prices have declined in some area 40-50% since the market apex in 2005.  Not good news for home sellers who have lost equity; an opportunity for buyers who were priced out of the market 3 years ago.  A 40%-50% discount or purchasing at .50 cent for the dollar cannot be ... 01/08/2009

  Lighthouse Tower at Lavigna Pool Lavigna is a new gated community of detached townhomes in the southwest part of Santa Maria referred to as the "Westgate Ranch" area. There is a lot of recent building in this area: Pacific Crest, Harvest Glen, St. Claire (now rental apartment homes), and Siena (planned). Recently, the City of Santa Maria built out Battles Road which improved accessibility to the area greatly. There are also plans to build out Carmen Lane which will further unite the Westgate Ranch area with the south end of Santa Maria. Even without the Battles and Carmen build out, the area offers great accessibility to Vandenberg AFB with a straight shot out Blosser/Skyway to Highway 135/Broadway.     Lavigna Community Lavigna offers a community pool with a Lighthouse tower, tot lot... 01/07/2009

The Traditions & Classics homes in southeast Santa Maria were built from 2003 - 2006, and are surrounded by newer shopping in the Bradley Square area, as well as other newer home developments. Classics were meant to be the more affordable of the two developments with smaller floorplans and smaller lots, although that distinction blurred during the housing boom as prices zoomed upward. The Traditions offer 6 floorplans, 3 two story models, and 3 one story models, and the floorplans begin at around 2000 square feet and end around 3000 square feet. These homes are within walking distance to shopping centers which include popular new restaurants such as Panera Bread, Starbucks, Natural Cafe, and Yanagi Sushi. Also close are Albertsons, Food Maxx, Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The Traditions and ... 01/05/2009

After having a discussion with my lender associate, I gleened some of his insights in the financial market and found the information very insightful.  I pass his insight and give my spin on the current housing and financial markets.  As you factor in your plans in 2009, keep in mind the following information.                 Could we see 4% in the future for mortgage rates?  YES, in fact they are there now. The Federal Reserve has announced plans to push mortgage rates lower in order to stimulate demand in the housing market - more on that later in this letter.  If rates drop any lower, it may start a refinance frenzy that will slow down the time it takes to get loans approved.  If you are considering a refinance, it's wise to start the process now and "float" until it reaches a rate yo... 01/04/2009

Based on homes sold listed on the Central Coast MLS statistic, residential, SFR Sick Built, Santa Maria/Orcutt, sold between 12/1/08 to 12/31/08, supports many compelling reason to purchase in Santa Maria now, rather than later. Between December 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 there were 143 homes sold, a low $109,000, high $820,000, median $250,000 and average $259,084. Fifty-six percent sold between 0-30 days, 18% sold between 31-60 days, 7% sold between 91-120 days, and 1.4% sold between 91-120 days and 17% sold 120+days. Note, 56% sold of the 143 sold in less than 30 days and 74% sold in less than 60 days in December 2008. In comparison, a year prior, between December 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007 there were 64 homes sold, a low $184,000, high $1,770,000, median $327,000 and average $3... 01/04/2009

Introducing one of Santa Maria's newest community, Lavigna is one of four new Westgate Ranch communities: Siena, Lavigna, Mattei's Landing, and the The Marketplace.  Lavigna offers a secure gated community a community recreation area, junior Olympic-sized pool, hot tub, private playground, private park, generous community parking for your guests, private streets(no through traffic), charming streetlights, professionally landscaped common areas.  www.lavignahomes.com (Models and community info) LAVIGNA SALES OFFICE 805.922.9100  Terri White, Community Sales Manager  The Lavigna communnity offers plenty of amentities and competitive pricing.  Based on a Lavigna's phase 1 pricing effective December 20, 2008, brand new three to four bedrooms/2.5 to 3 baths vary in price from $299,000 to $33... 01/04/2009

  Looking for a a brand new contemporary flat for lease?  Look no further, St. Claire Apartments offers spacious three bedroom, two baths and two bedroom plus den with two bath floor plans.  In home washers 7 dryers, ceramic tile entries, designer selected fixtures, gourmet kitchen, appliance package, rejuvenating pool, barbecue & picnic area, children play area, resident clubhouse, reserved covered parking, near 101 freeway, close to shopping & dining, and coming soon: relaxing spa, health club and wifi cyber center. web: www.lyonstclaire.com (view photo gallery, virtual tour, floor plans, schedule a visit) email: stclaire@newhome1.com office: 866.802.0824 or 805.928.4000 1735 S Biscayne St, Santa Maria, CA 93458 RECEIVED A $500 DISCOUNT AND A $35 APPLICATION FEE WAIVED PER PERSON.  ME... 01/04/2009

Well  2008 is now behind us and many  of us have a sigh of relief.  2009 is a fresh start and for most of us it is needed.  If you work in the real estate or financial industry and you are still here to talk about it - you are definitely a survivor. It is interesting chatting with folks in different  industries . . . some feel the worse is over,  others feel we still have some rough spots ahead.  Regardless, we must move forward and do our best in our  industries!  Getting back to basics is the key: Using "common sense" in our finances, both for personal and business. DO NOT spend more than you earn.  As a matter of fact, spend less! In marketing and prospecting efforts for your  business, I have a theory, "LEAD BY REVENUE".  If the marketing budget is tight, then it is time to go FACE ... 01/04/2009

Santa Maria is hour north of Santa Barbara in the northern tip of Santa BArbara county.  We have seen a massive  amount of REO business this past year. In  October, the  total # of sales were 181 (single family residence) with 121  of those sales being REO properties.  Roughly 95% of the remainder of sales were short sales. November  saw a slow down in the # of  total sales - 143 with 103 of those properties being  REO's.  We have seen the Notice of Defaults being recorded  slow considerably but that is due primarily to the banks not filing those NOD's. If you would like more information on the markets in Santa Maria or San Luis Obispo counties, please call me. Cheryl Tolan  805.441.0221     12/13/2008

For many home owners, this is not the right time to sell.  Perhaps your home has declined in value due to the economic downturn and you do not want to sell until prices rebound.  Maybe you simple do not want sell your home during economic uncertainty.     On average,  homeowner sell every 5-7 years and they sell for various reasons including up-sizing, down-sizing, divorce, employment relocation,  estate sale, and other reason dictating a necessity to sell.  There are some things to keep in mind when you decide to sell your home.This is a great time to prepare your house for sale.   In time, the market will shift again to favor sellers.  No one knows for sure when this change will occur but some possible shift signs includes decreasing inventory and days on the market, price stabilizati... 11/29/2008

There are currently 528 single family homes for sale in the Santa Maria CA (and Orcutt CA) area. Approximately 250 of those homes are short sales where bank approval is necessary to complete the sale. About 141 of the remaining homes are bank owned / foreclosure listings. Thus, approximately 50 percent of the Santa Maria inventory is short saled, and about 25% is bank owned (REOs). You can search for short sales and REO Santa Maria homes at www.iLoveSantaMaria.com and www.iLoveOrcutt.com. Contrary to what many buyers expect there is a great deal of actiivity on the market. Although it is most certainly a buyers market there is a great deal of competition in the market. About 250 homes are currently under contract, and since November 1, 2008, 92 Santa Maria & Orcutt CA homes have sold, 1... 11/28/2008

CORT has reported 148 properties transferring in the Santa Maria area in July. Once again that is a very good number. Historically, that certainly beats the numbers posted in July for the last couple years. Many of the sellers again are banks and that is more terrific news. As the inventories of foreclosed properties continue to be sold off there will be less of those properties competing with other home sellers. The lenders that appear to be active in this area selling off their properties are Bank of New York, HSBC Bank, Indymac, US Bank Nat Assoc, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, and the big winner with 22 properties sold was Deutsche Bank. There were a couple of properties that sold for over 1 million, and a handful of properties that actually sold for less than $100,000. T... 09/12/2008

I am not quite sure how to interpret the fact that in July the number of Purchase Loans recorded in Santa Maria outnumbered the Refinance Loans. Let me compose myself and think this through. Here are some of the facts. The purchase market in Santa Maria has been going gangbusters The median home price has been declining Lending standards have increased significantly Interest rates remain low O.K. I think I've come to my senses. Refinancing is hard to accomplish in this area for a number of reasons. A couple of the biggest reasons are that there is no equity in their homes and documenting of income has made it more difficult to qualify. With respects to the purchase market, I don't think I'm saying anything too awfully revealing when I say "The market is back!". Even though many of the s... 09/04/2008