Taste for Justice Event, Santa Maria, CA Legal Aid’s Annual Taste for Justice Wine Tasting Event is coming around again. The event will return to the Loading Dock in Orcutt. Last year, we held it at the Discovery Museum in Santa Maria and it was a blast. We also introduced the first Gourmet Gavel food competition and beer tasting. Both new elements were a huge success and we are going to continue them. Allan Hancock College culinary students will compete and be judged on a challenge dish they prepare. Local restaurants will provide appetizers, local breweries and wineries will pour, and a live auction will be held. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. The event this year will be held on Saturday, March 6, 2009 from 1pm – 5pm. If you would like to buy a ticket, give me a call at (805) 878-9879 or click here and buy tickets online.
Mint Properties is an event sponsor of Taste for Justice. Those of you who know me know of my commitment ot Legal Aid and the work they do here in our community. I currently serve on the Board of Legal Aid and hold the office of President Elect. In this economic downturn, Legal Aid’s work is even more vital and the needs of the community it serves have increased. Legal Aid fills the gap in legal services to victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, and housing discrimination. Now that resources are stretched thin, it is even more important for the community to come together and support Legal Aid. Since this event is such a pleasure, it is a great opportunity to have some fun, visit with friends, and do some good for the community. I hope you will join us.
In July 2006, Mint Properties opened an office in the Mission Creek Plaza on Santa Maria Way. Tni’s stated aim is to offer the highest quality representation and professional service to her clients. Independence affords her the ability to avoid a volume driven approach; the result is prompt, reliable, individualized service coupled with straightforward advice. Indeed, she brings the same level of professionalism to real estate as she did to the law.
Currently, there is intense competition among buyers in the Santa Maria market. If this is a buyer's market, it sure doesn't feel like it anymore. Indeed, with the banks calling almost all the shots in the under $300,000 market (short sales and foreclosures), it certainly feels like a sellers market.
There are 295 active and pending homes and condos in the Orcutt zip code of 93455. Of those 295 properties, 41 homes are foreclosures (13.8%) and 113 are short sales (38.3%). So currently, over 50% of the Orcutt market is either a bank owned property or a short sale. Average asking price overall was $337,392, asking prices for foreclosures was significantly lower at $256,678, and for short sales it was $269,678.
I’m afraid the days of 100% financing for everyone are gone. Unless you are a veteran with a VA home loan benefit, or buying in a rural area through the USDA loan program, there are not many 100% financing options. (Santa Maria does not qualify as a rural area, but in the past, Guadalupe and parts of Nipomo have qualified).
