About Santa Barbara County, CA

At 12:01am, in both Edwards and Festival Cinemas. Reminiscent of Star Wars, lines are forming NOW! I will be there, waiting anxiously for the second movie in the Twilight Saga-New Moon. This is crazy and silly and SO MUCH FUN!! I'm sure I will see some of you out there this evening!

With a caravan on our listing in the morning, I am going to need some french press espresso!!

Santa Maria Loans - Mortgage Interest Rates Fall/Not many homes to sell

Interest Rates for Home loans rates fell last week to their lowest level in nearly six months. On the average, 4.83% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, down from 4.9% two weeks ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

But even though interest rates for home loans have come down so much, applications for home loans have fallen for six straight weeks. The index that measures mortgage applications for home purchases also fell 8% from last week.

Refinance applications for home loans were also down 1.4% from last week. Refinance applications accounted for nearly three in four total applications.

A forecast by Fannie Mae projects that residential mortgage originations will fall by 30% next year, as rising interest rates on home loans will lead to fewer re-financings, even as home purchases are expected to improve somewhat.

Mortgage rates regarding home loans have fallen even after Congress passed and the president signed an extension and expansion of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. FHA-backed loans accounted for nearly half of all purchase applications last month, the highest level in nearly two decades.

All of this being said, with interest rates so low and single family residences prices low as well, it is a great time to buy a house.

If you have any questions about buying a home or a loans in Santa Maria, CA or on the Central Coast or other real estate related questions please contact me by visiting my website: http://geneperez.net

Buying or selling property in Santa Maria CA, or on the Central Coast, my goal is to provide you with resources you need. I can also help in getting the financing for your home. If you have any suggestions or questions in how I can provide more or better information please let me know. Gene Perez DRE 01321588

This is a hot topic and I don't think it will be going away any time soon, not for the next several years sorry to say. But the number of Santa Maria Foreclosures are unbelievably low and I get asked all the time where are all the homes? The reality is that there is a shadow inventory and only the banks truly know the number of foreclosures that are out there as well as the number of foreclosures that will be hitting the market. The banks have gotten much, much smarter and with the help of the govt. those that recieved TARP funds can even profit now from a foreclosure.

The inventory of foreclosures in Santa Maria and the nieghboring areas is extremely low as soon as something hits the market there are multiple offers on those homes and it can get very competitive. In 2008 the banks flooded the markets with homes but at the same time with new lending guidelines no one could really afford to buy the homes since they did not qualify in the first place. So homes would first come out with what was owed, and sit there and new homes would hit the market until the prices dropped and the market could pay for the asking price.

Banks have figured out that if they hold on to homes and let a few out at a time you get more bids and the bid price gets higher and even some cash offers since it seems that there are no homes out there, so simple supply and demand. In Santa Maria alone til the end of the year as I write this in Nov, 19th , 2009 there are appox 100 homes to be auctioned at the trustee sale. To think that there are few Santa Maria Foreclosures would be correct but only because the banks want it that way. Most of the Trustee Sales get postponed and delayed due to loan modifications or short sales etc. as well as the bank just requesting it to be postponed.

Something that most people are unaware of is that the banks that recieved TARP money get reimbursed from the losses they incur at foreclosure. By allowing the homeowner to continue living in his home for a year plus those missed payments & interest get added to the loan balance so that way when it comes to actually take the loss, in reality they do not. The banks do know what they are doing when you hear of someone still in their home for a year plus.

If you plan on buying a foreclosure in Santa Maria or anywhere CASH will always be king, but my best advice is be patient and be reasonable. Homes today are much, much , much cheaper than they are 3-5 years ago but they are not free make a reasonable if you want to be in the game. Last but not least you want a decent loan but when it comes to getting a loan realize that rates are very low waiting to get any lower is just insane. Shopping for the lowest rate can also kill you, what is important is finding someone that can get you approved. Loans are tough now a days you have your choice to work with "1-800 I will never meet you or see you". Or work with someone that lives in your community one thing is to buy a t-shirt over the internet another thing is to know who you are dealing with when making one of the biggest decisions in your life.

As for Santa Maria Foreclosures and foreclosures period they will be here for some time but buying a home will still be one of the biggest investments most people ever make in their lifetime.

Buying or selling a home or property in Santa Maria CA, or a Santa Maria foreclosure, or a property on the Central Coast, my goal is to provide you with resources you need.

Gene Perez, DRE 01321588,805-448-7101

Mark Schneipp, Director of the California Economic Forecast, and located in Santa Barbara California, recently sent his email newsletter for our review and consideration. The discussion was around the quesiton of how one might plan for the next 12 months. Does he have a crystal ball?

No, but many of us who were reading this missive felt that he not only has good news to share, but news that we by and large agree with.

If you are a potential home buyer: Buy now! Don't wait! We know that the inventory in the low end is defintely smaller than it has been all year and the prices are at an all time low. In my market, the low end is under $900,000 and well-priced properties are involved in multiple offer situations. Additionally, interest rates are at the lowest they have been for many years and the time to take advantage of them is when they are low, i.e., NOW You can't time that market!

The front page of the Los Angeles Times, October 21, stated:

The slowdown in foreclosures observed over the last 6 months is reducing the inventory of REO homes, enabling selling values to reflect more conventional home buying rather than distressed home sales. Values are rising. This will help voth real estate developers and real estate flippers. Wannabe home buyers should not wait a second more to buy their home.

We all know that Real estate is LOCAL and I am happy to share that our median price in Santa Barbara is now back up to a healthy $950,000 for the month of October, after falling to around $740,000 in months previous. Our low end is in recovery, and is the fastest selling segment of our market. Our upper end has had some good sales progress as well. (That's a subject for another blog!)

The stats I review tell me that the South coast Santa Barbara market is improving and most likely hit bottom in March of 2009. Our sales board tells me that our market is improving. My manager posted the % of improvement, dollar-volume wise, for our 140 agents from 2008 to 2009 incomes, and over half are having a better year than in 2008 and some by over 100%. We have had to work harder and smarter to earn our commissions and those of us who are still around, are that much wiser and seasoned to help the customers who ask for our help.

Kathleen Barnato - Realtor since 1988 - Santa Barbara California resident since 1974!

Prudential CA Realty www.kathleenbarnato.com 805-570-3366

The Senate this week passed an extension of the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit for new home buyers and added on as a "kicker" to the plan a $6,500 bonus for those who are buying a new home and have lived in their old home for 5 of the 8 previous years. From everything that we are hearing and reading, The House of Representatives is expected to pass this new bill and the White House has also given every indication that they will sign it once they receive it.

So what does it mean to us here in the Santa Barbara area?

Here are the details...

Read Full Story

Further Reading:

1. $729,750 Conforming Loan Limit Extended into 2010
2. What do Buyers and Sellers Want Most from Their Santa Barbara Realtor?
3. Is Zillow's Zestimate a Reliable Guide to your Santa Barbara Home's Value?
4. Working with a Blogging Realtor - Advantages
5. Are Trulia and Zillow the Best Place to Search for Santa Barbara Real Estate?
6. Buyer's Resources for the Santa Barbara area
7. Seller's Resources for the Santa Barbara area

For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.

Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any thoughts.

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