How many houses are for sale in Santa Maria right now? I get this question all the time. Many buyers feel as if there are no houses for sale in Santa Maria. When I surveyed the MLS this morning, there were 163 houses listed for sale in the Santa Maria and Orcutt CA area. Of those 163 homes, 29 were foreclosures (REOs) and 45 were short sales. It is interesting to note that the average list price of the these active listings was $377,000, which is much higher than the average price of homes sold in Santa Maria in 2009 ($218,000), and also higher than the average price of homes sold in Orcutt in 2009 ($333,000). So, it appears that most of the available houses for sale in Santa Maria and Orcutt are at the higher end of the market. So, that may explain why most buyers feel as if there aren’t any homes on the market.
In addition to the 163 houses for sale in Santa Maria there were 162 contingent listings. Twenty were contingent REOs (foreclosures), and 138 were contingent short sales. A contingent REO is a foreclosure listing where the bank has verbally accepted an offer and they are waiting on the parties to complete the contract paperwork. A contingent short sale is a short sale listing where the owner has already accepted an offer and they are waiting on the bank to approve that offer so they can begin the escrow period.
If you are interested in buying a home in the Santa Maria or Orcutt area in the near future, please call me today at (805) 878-9879 to schedule a buyer consultation. Or, send me an email and request a list of available properties in the Santa Maria and Orcutt areas.
*Based on the information from the Central Coast Regional MLS. Neither the Association, the Multiple Listing Service, or Mint Properties guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
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.
I've recently found a company that I feel good about referring people to for credit repair. I am often asked for credit repair referrals from prospective buyers. However, until recently I never felt confident sending people anywhere except off to a local book store to learn how to do it themselves -- which is a lot of work. For those who want assistance with their credit repair, please give me a call and I will provide you with contact information for this company. I feel confident referring people to them because they are using local representatives who have long standing relationships with the local community who can provide testimonials of people helped by the service, the price is reasonable at $500, and they offer a performance based gurantee.
The majority of foreclosure activity in Santa Barbara county centers in the Santa Maria and Lompoc markets. Most of the time, banks demand that their own contracts be used when selling foreclosures. In a typical real estate transaction, the parties use the forms produced by the California Association of Realtors. However, bank sellers have special issues they want to address in their contracts and they use their own team of lawyers to draft their contracts.