orcutt homes

Central Coast Investor Tip — 20% Down Payment Required

For those looking to buy your first rental property, or pick up an extra one now that prices make sense again, be aware that lenders have rolled back the down payment requirements for investment property. Most lenders I polled recently say that a 20% down payment is required for an investment property. Many of us remember when lenders required a 30% down payment for investment property, and I wonder how long it will be until we are back to those days. Lenders slowly but surely increased the down payment requirement for investors during the housing boom and have slowly but surely increased that obstacle again.
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The Santa Maria Real Estate Market is Hot!

I know the media is saying that the real estate market is in the dumps. And I guess if you were hoping to get housing boom level prices for your home, it is. But if you are a Santa Maria or Ocutt home owner who needs to sell your home, you should know that the Santa Maria real estate market is hot! Why do I say that? Because homes that are priced in line with today's market that are not short sales, sell in less than a week. I feel as if this is a hidden secret of today's market place. Everyone believes that it is hard to sell your home right now, but even short sales that are well priced are receiving multile offers right now.
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Can I find 100% Financing in the Central Coast market?

I get this question all the time forom buyers looking to jump into the market. For the most part, the answer to that is no. There is a program through the USDA that provides 100% financing for rural properties. I'm told by a local lender that this applies to some areas of Guadalupe, and also some areas of Nipomo, but I haven't been able to verify it. There is also the Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Program which offers 100% financing to qualifying veterans. But unless you have some military service under your belt, you are not eligible. Other than that, right now I don't know of any 100% financing program available to buyers.
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Buying Central Coast Foreclosures: Pre-Qualification Blues

Home buyers focusing on central coast foreclosure properties are running up against lender pre-qualification requirements when bidding for bank owned properties. Many of the bank owned (REO) property listings require that potential buyers get pre-qualified with their company in order to place a bid on the property. Countrywide, Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae (Express Path) listings frequently have this requirement.
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Santa Barbara County Property Tax Informal Assessment Review Requests Due March 15, 2009

For those who wish to request an informal property tax review from the Santa Barbara County Assessors office, the deadline to apply is March 15, 2009. It appears that the dealine for an informal review has moved up two months, as the previous year's form had May 15th as the deadline to apply for informal review. By applying, you can submit comparative sales to help the Assessor's office come up with a reasonable value for your property for tax assessment purposes.
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Buying Central Coast Foreclosed Properties at Auction

I attended a foreclosed home property auction hosted by Hudson & Marshall in Ventura last evening. Fortunately, my client was successful in his bid so it was worth the trip down for both of us. He was also able to save about $80,000 off the list price of the property. It was an exciting event and we were both still on a high while we waited with the other winners to sign contracts. All the winning bids are subject to investor/bank approval which will take about 5-7 days to obtain, so we will know if the deal will stick in about a week.
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#1 Agent in Number of Residential Sales Transactions (2016)
in Santa Maria (per CCRMLS)

$125 Million in Career Sales

REALTOR® of the Year (2014)
(voted by Santa Maria Association of REALTORS®)



Tni LeBlanc, REALTOR®, J.D.
Mint Properties
(805) 878-9879 (mobile/text)
Contact Us Online

Lic #01871795





Certified Military Housing Specialist

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