Foreclosures & Bank Owned
New Luxury Bank Owned Opportunity - Montecito Foreclosure with Great Views $3.5 Million
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Luxury Real Estate, Montecito
One of the few luxury banked owned homes to come onto the market happened this last week. The bank will be taking a look at offers early this coming week. Wonderful ocean, harbor and city views on roughly 1.3+/-acres. Currently under construction although much of the home is complete. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths with a guest home, 3 car garage which is still under construction and in the beginning stage of being converted into a 2 bedroom guest home. Can be converted back to garage or will need to submit permits to continue work. This is a true opportunity.
Further Reading:
- Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
- How is the Hope Ranch Real Estate Market Holding Up with Short Sales and Foreclosures?
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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Pros and Cons of Buying Foreclosures in Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Goleta CA.
Categories: Carpinteria, Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Goleta, Santa Barbara
As a home buyer in today’s market here in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria, you may be able to get “deals” on
foreclosures, but buying foreclosures can be risky as well. If you are looking at foreclosures as an option for a home purchase, it is crucial to understand the many potential cons associated with the one obvious “pro” of buying a foreclosure.
First, there are a few definitions of properties that are generally thrown around and become universally known as “foreclosures.” A “pre-foreclosure” for example is a home which is in danger of falling into foreclosure, but is still owned by the homeowner. An example is simply a homeowner that has stopped making payments and has received a notice of default. A true “foreclosure” is a property that has already been repossessed by a creditor or a lender to recover the amount owed on it and is being put on the open market. These foreclosures can be bought at either an auction or later on the open market as “bank-owned properties” (REO properties) from a lender.
The Obvious “Pro” of Buying a Foreclosure in Santa Barbara
The obvious potential to purchase a home at a lower-than-market-value price. DONE! That is that.
Banks are often willing to offer foreclosures at a discount simply because the longer they hold onto these properties, the more it will cost them in terms of taxes, maintenance, etc. Here in the Santa Barbara area, foreclosures can be found at all price points (starter homes, luxury homes, etc.), but the vast majority are situated in the lower end price range from about $250,000 to $750,000.
Some of The Not So Obvious Cons to Buying a Foreclosure in Santa Barbara
- Since “good” foreclosures can sometimes be offered at significant discounts, you will almost undoubtedly face steep competition and bidding from other buyers. In a town such as Santa Barbara, often these buyers are all cash and are tough to beat. But this is not always the case.
- If you buy a foreclosed home at an auction, you may also find yourself in a situation that you have to pay cash (that day!) and may not be able to do proper inspections of the home before purchasing.
- Not all lenders offer loans for distressed properties.
- Many foreclosures need serious and costly repairs. This, I personally think is the most important aspect that needs to be understood. I think many buyers (especially first time home buyers) are truly unaware of the costs to repair and update a home that needs “work”. I also believe that many uneducated real estate agents do not properly/can not properly inform their clients of these costs. Too often I hear Realtors and prospective buyers looking at general fixers and foreclosures that need a good amount of “work” and saying comments such as “But if you get this at $650,000, then all you need to do is throw in $50,000 to $60,000 and you are done.” In reality this $50,000 to $60,000 is almost always $100,000 to $120,000, if not more, plus the added stress, plus carrying cost, plus enormous amounts of time etc.
- Foreclosures tend to sit vacant for periods of time and have been neglected which can lead to major maintenance issues.
- Sometimes foreclosure buyers themselves have to start eviction proceedings and pay legal fees to get the previous tenants/owners out of the home.
- Often foreclosures are bundled around other foreclosures and thus the neighborhood home values are very depressed and will take longer to rebuild.
- Etc.
I encourage anyone who has the interest in looking at foreclosures to do so. Just be educated and hopefully work with an agent that understands the realities of these properties as well as the true reality of costs to fix up homes that need “work”.
Further Reading:
- Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
- How is the Hope Ranch Real Estate Market Holding Up with Short Sales and Foreclosures?
- How to Find All the Goleta and Carpinteria CA Short Sale and Foreclosure Statistics
- Any Great Short Sale Opportunites in Santa Barbara and Goleta CA
- Strategies to Buying a Home in Foreclosure Here in Santa Barbara CA
- Potential Negatives to Buying Santa Barbara Homes in Foreclosure
- Any Great Deals on Homes in Foreclosure in Santa Barbara
- Search the Santa Barbara MLS and More
- Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice…Your Online Real Estate Resource
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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The Secret of Santa Barbara CA. Foreclosures - Update October 2009
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Santa Barbara
Where is the real estate market today with regards to foreclosures here in Santa Barbara CA? 
The answer to this really depends on the specific areas of Santa Barbara you are talking about as well as specific price points. Santa Barbara is simply too unique of a town to pinpoint a “foreclosure label” at any level, on any certain part of our real estate market. You really have to look at the individual markets and areas within our community.
For example, lately in the national news we have been bombarded by information and statistics about how the high end luxury real estate markets are seeing a lot of distressed properties and bank owned properties. Here in the Santa Barbara area, most people would consider Montecito and Hope Ranch to be 2 of our prominent high end areas. So far since the start of 2009, there have been only a total of 10 combined short sales and foreclosures in these areas. In addition, all of these have been from the $900,000 to the $2 million price point…not what most everyone would consider our luxury market. Total Active Listings during this same period in the Montecito and Hope Ranch areas have been 392…not too dramatic of a percentage of foreclosures and short sales (roughly 2% of the market).
In Santa Barbara proper, foreclosures and short sales are spread unevenly throughout the market and are predominantly located in the lower price points of our market. For example, in the Santa Barbara MLS year to date in Santa Barbara proper, we have had approximately 55 bank-owned/foreclosure properties. Of these 55 properties, more than 85% of these listings are condos and/or entry level single family homes below the $600,000 price point. This compares to where the “average home” in Santa Barbara proper tends to sell between the $750,000 and $1.2 million price point. Additionally, there have been year to date 810 new listings this year in Santa Barbara proper. Thus foreclosures represent only 7% of our market here in Santa Barbara proper.
Where are we headed in the near future here in Santa Barbara?
No one seems to really be able to answer this question precisely. What is definite is that we will still see some short sales and foreclosures here in our area in the coming few years. Whether they will increase in numbers, stay where they have been or decrease is the golden question. Based on the last 2 years’ information, I assume that at whatever levels they come at, we will continue to see the same general areas having the most short sales and foreclosures as well as within the same general price points.
View: Current Inventory of Short Sales in Santa Barbara
View: Current Inventory of Foreclosures in Santa Barbara
Further Reading:
- Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
- How is the Hope Ranch Real Estate Market Holding Up with Short Sales and Foreclosures?
- How to Find All the Goleta and Carpinteria CA Short Sale and Foreclosure Statistics
- Any Great Short Sale Opportunites in Santa Barbara and Goleta CA
- Strategies to Buying a Home in Foreclosure Here in Santa Barbara CA
- Potential Negatives to Buying Santa Barbara Homes in Foreclosure
- Any Great Deals on Homes in Foreclosure in Santa Barbara
- Search the Santa Barbara MLS and More
- Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice…Your Online Real Estate Resource
- Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtor in Santa Barbara and Montecito CA
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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How to Find All the Goleta and Carpinteria CA. Foreclosures and Short Sales Statistics
Categories: Carpinteria, Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Goleta
Just read below…
Here are the latest statistics on short sales and foreclosures in both Goleta and Carpinteria CA.
Carpinteria Foreclosures - 2009 year to date
- In Carpinteria CA., year to date there have been 28 bank owned / foreclosures that have come to market.
- Roughly 10% of all listings in Carpinteria year to date have been foreclosures.
- The lowest sale was a 2 beds 1 bath mobile home that sold for $60,000.
- The highest sale was a 5 beds 3 baths home located at 5427 Cameo Road that sold for $700,000.
- Currently there are 6 Active foreclosures for sale in Carpinteria CA.
Carpinteria Short Sales - 2009 year to date
- In Carpinteria CA., year to date there have been 37 short sales that have come to market.
- Roughly 14% of all listings in Carpinteria year to date have been short sales.
- The lowest sale was a 3 beds 2 baths mobile home that sold for $112,000.
- The highest sale was a 5 beds 2 baths home located at 4585 El Carro Lane that sold for $555,000.
- Currently there are 11 Active short sales for sale in Carpinteria CA.
Goleta Foreclosures - 2009 year to date
- In Goleta CA., year to date there have been 62 bank owned / foreclosures that have come to market.
- Roughly 8% of all listings in Goleta year to date have been foreclosures.
- The lowest sale was a 1 bed 1 bath condo located at 5512 Armitos Avenue #45 that sold for $190,500.
- The highest sale was a 5 beds 4 baths home located at 4821 Rhoads Avenue that sold for $725,000.
- Currently there are 6 Active foreclosures for sale in Goleta CA.
Goleta Short Sales - 2009 year to date
- In Goleta CA., year to date there have been 62 short sales that have come to market.
- Roughly 8% of all listings in Goleta year to date have been short sales.
- The lowest sale was a 2 beds 1 bath condo located at 7386 Calle Real #18 that sold for $290,000.
- The highest sale was a 4 beds 2 baths home located at 5258 Calle Barquero that sold for $750,000.
- Currently there are 12 Active short sales for sale in Goleta CA.
As the statistics show, most all of our short sales and foreclosures seem to be happening in the entry level markets under the $700,000 price point.
Further Reading:
- The Secret of Santa Barbara Foreclosures
- Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
- Santa Barbara Area Photo Tour
- Any Great Deals on Homes in Foreclosure
- Potential Negatives to Buying Santa Barbara Homes in Foreclosure
- Are Short Sales a Good Path to Santa Barbara Real Estate Ownership?
- Any Great Short Sale Opportunities in Goleta and Santa Barbara CA.?
- Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtor in Santa Barbara and Montecito CA.
- Looking for a Qualified and Ethical Real Estate Agent in Santa Barbara CA?
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Real Estate
Search The Santa Barbara Area MLS
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How is the Hope Ranch CA. Real Estate Market Holding Up with Foreclosures and Short Sales?
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Hope Ranch

With the reality of the overall real estate market in the U.S. here in the last 2 years, it is inevitable that I am asked about short sales and foreclosures. Most of this though is generated from people interested in the entry level price points up to about $2 million. Here and there though I am asked by someone about the state of foreclosures and short sales in Hope Ranch and our other luxury areas here in Santa Barbara CA. and Montecito CA. Being that there is so much doom and gloom across the U.S. with the housing market and lately a lot of this effecting the high end neighborhoods, this is a very normal question.
So where are we with foreclosures and short sales in Hope Ranch?
Not too dramatic if you ask me. I have talked with many title reps, lenders and searched myself on several “foreclosure sites” to try and get an insight as to where we are at. If you look at these sites as well as talk to “informed” people, it is hard not to think that a lot more bank owned properties and/or short sales would/should be coming on the market. These sites track everything from 1st payment missed, to notice of default, to short sales, to imminent disaster and the list goes on. Yet, inevitability we are not seeing this “information” translate into numerous bank owned homes and/or short sales hitting our luxury market.
Here are the numbers from the MLS for Short Sales and Bank Owned Homes in Hope Ranch - 2 since January 1, 2008.
825 Las Palmas Drive, Santa Barbara CA 93110 SHORT SALE, Asking Price $1,975,000 sold for $1,540,000 in August 2009.
4449 Vieja Drive, Santa Barbara CA 93110 SHORT SALE, Asking Price $$2,195,000 still Active for Sale.
It is obvious that Hope Ranch and most all of our luxury market seems to so far be holding up incredibly well when it comes to short sales and bank owned properties. This is good for everyone.
View: Current Hope Ranch Luxury Real Estate Listings
- The Secret of Santa Barbara Foreclosures
- Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
- Hope Ranch Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Montecito Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Carpinteria Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Santa Barbara Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Montecito Luxury Real Estate
- The Oceanfront Area - General Description and Information
- Santa Barbara Photo Tour
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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Any Luxury Homes in Foreclosure in Montecito CA?
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Montecito

A few times a month for the last year or so I have been asked by someone about the state of foreclosures in Montecito and our other luxury areas here in Santa Barbara CA. Being that there is so much doom and gloom across the U.S. with the housing market and lately a lot of this effecting the high end neighborhoods, this is a very normal question.
So what is the state of foreclosures in Montecito and our luxury areas?
Not too dramatic if you ask me. I have talked with many title reps, lenders and searched myself on several “foreclosure sites” to try and get an insight as to where we are at. If you look at these sites as well as talk to “informed” people, it is hard not to think that a lot more bank owned properties would/should be coming on the market. These sites track everything from 1st payment missed, to notice of default, to imminent disaster and the list goes on. Yet, inevitability we are not seeing this “information” translate into numerous bank owned homes hitting our luxury market and the local MLS.
Here are the numbers from the MLS - 8 Bank Owned homes in Montecito since January 1, 2009. This translates into only roughly 1 bank-owned property per 5-6 weeks. Here is the list:
157 Loureyo Road, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,150,000 sold for $825,000 after 240 days on the market.
2166 East Valley Road, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $967,900 sold for $939,000 after 50 days on the market.
601 Alston Road, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,200,000 sold for $1,167,250 after 7 days on the market.
502 Hodges, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,299,000 sold for $1,250,000 after 65 days on the market.
300 North Sierra Vista Road, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,425,000 sold for $1,095,000 after 228 days on the market.
250 Bonnie Lane, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,587,400 sold for $1,800,000 after 9 days on the market.
940 Channel Drive, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,980,000 sold for $2,450,000 after 9 days on the market.
3060 Hidden Valley Lane, Montecito CA 93108 - Asking Price $1,504,800 still Active on the market…
The obvious thing about these statistics above is that none of these properties are in what we would call the luxury market ($3 million and above). It seems to be that owners that are in trouble in these price points are somehow finding out a way to avoid letting their homes go into default…which is great news for them and everyone.
View: Current Montecito Luxury Real Estate Listings $5 Million and Above
Further Reading:
- The Secret of Santa Barbara Foreclosures
- How is the Hope Ranch Real Estate Market Holding Up with Short Sales and Foreclosures?
- Hope Ranch Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Montecito Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Carpinteria Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Santa Barbara Luxury Real Estate Sales - Statistics 2009
- Montecito Luxury Real Estate
- The Oceanfront Area - General Description and Information
- Santa Barbara Photo Tour
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Real Estate
Search The Santa Barbara Area MLS
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President Barack Obama’s Plan to Stem Foreclosures
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned

Yesterday, in Phoenix Arizona, President Obama laid out a bold $75 billion, three-part plan that is a major step in trying to halt the huge number of foreclosures occurring nationwide. A major part of this plan is to encourage homeowners with homes that are now worth less than their current mortgages to refinance to a lower debt load. This lower debt load is part of the incentive plan thus provided to banks and lenders in hopes of stemming future foreclosures. The Homeowner Stability Initiative, which this new plan is being called by the Obama administration, seeks to address possibly the major trigger of the global financial crisis: the 2.3 million U.S. foreclosures last year which were a driving force in the decrease in home prices nationwide as well as a huge tumble in consumer confidence.
“When the housing market collapsed, so did the availability of credit on which our economy depends. As that credit dried up, it has been harder for families to find affordable loans,” Obama said. “In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen - a crisis which is unraveling home-ownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself.”
The Obama plan’s main initiatives seem to be helping delinquent and/or at-risk borrowers to get their mortgages modified by the lenders so that at maximum no more than 31 percent of their income goes toward payment of their mortgages.
For a fairly complete Q&A on Help for Homeowners for all of you here in the Santa Barbara CA area who own Santa Barbara Real Estate (as well as nationwide), you can can visit the White House Blog. Here you can learn about the plan’s goals whether you are or are not current on your mortgage. Here are a few excerpts from the plan below…
- I owe more than my property is worth, do I still qualify to refinance under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan?
Eligible loans will now include those where the new first mortgage (including any refinancing costs) will not exceed 105% of the current market value of the property. For example, if your property is worth $200,000 but you owe $210,000 or less you may qualify. The current value of your property will be determined after you apply to refinance.
- What help is available for borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure either because they are behind on their mortgage or are struggling to make the payments?
The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan offers help to borrowers who are already behind on their mortgage payments or who are struggling to keep their loans current. By providing mortgage lenders with financial incentives to modify existing first mortgages, the Treasury hopes to help as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure regardless of who owns or services the mortgage.
For information in general on Santa Barbara Real Estate, Montecito Real Estate 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 International Realty.
Further Reading:
- Foreclosures and Bank Owned Properties Articles
- Sotheby’s Int’l Realty - Santa Barbara CA.
- Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Statistics
- Santa Barbara Real Estate - General News
- Santa Barbara - The Oceanfront Areas
- Santa Barbara - Community Events
- Montecito Luxury Real Estate
- Montecito CA. - General Information
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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Bank of America Today Annouces an Aggressive Foreclosure Prevention Effort
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned
Here is a very important article that I just read about some of the processes taking place to deal with all the foreclosures going on. Bank of America just announced this today.
For information on Santa Barbara Real Estate, Montecito Real Estate 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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The Consumer Bailout For Home Owners That Nobody Seems to Know About
Categories: Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Short Sales
Here is a great article I just came across that I wanted to pass on to potentially help some home owners that are struggling right now here locally in Santa Barbara as well as nationally.
I have copied and pasted below the first section of the article exacty as it appears on the RISMEDIA website.
“RISMEDIA, Oct. 1, 2008-As congress considers various bailout proposals for the financial system, there is a little known ‘bailout’ for home owners that has already been enacted into law, according to Gibran Nicholas, Chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that certifies mortgage bankers and brokers. Section 1403 of the new housing bill that was signed into law on July 30, 2008 (HR 3221) requires mortgage servicers to modify loans for homeowners and help them avoid foreclosure as long as three requirements are met:
1. Default on the mortgage either has already happened or is “reasonably foreseeable”
2. The home owner is living in the property as his or her primary residence
3. The lender is likely to recover more through the loan modification or workout than by forcing the home owner into foreclosure
“The fact is that this law is effective immediately, and most distressed home owners are simply not aware that they have this option,” Nicholas said. Borrowers make their monthly payments to mortgage servicers, and servicers keep a portion of the payment as their profit while sending the rest to the Wall Street investors who actually own the mortgage. “This law requires servicers to act in the best interest of all their investors and obligates them to modify your loan if you can afford the modified loan terms and if they are likely to recover more for their investors by working with you than by going all the way through the foreclosure process,” Nicholas said.”
Read Full Article
Further Reading:
For information on Santa Barbara Real Estate, Montecito Real Estate 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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Strategies to Buying a Home in Foreclosure Here in Santa Barbara CA.
Categories: Buyer's Resources & Advice, Foreclosures & Bank Owned, Santa Barbara
If you are hoping to purchase a house on the cheap by buying a foreclosed property here in the Santa Barbara area, you are not alone? It is a natural instinct to want to look into this as an option as the market has slowed and the constant bombardment of negative media news regarding real estate continues.
There are some good deals out there here locally, but the process can be complicated and risky and you need to be educated on what you are getting into.
Here are a 2 Quick Points you need to know firsthand with regards to foreclosures here in the Santa Barbara area.
1) There simply are not as many here locally in Santa Barbara as perceived, based on the national news. Also, Santa Barbara often gets bundled into statistics that include Lompoc and Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County) where there are much more foreclosures to be had.
2) Most of the foreclosures here in Santa Barbara tend to be in the condo market roughly in the $250,000 to $700,000 price point, or in track homes around the $500,000 to $800,000 price point. Additionally, most of the foreclosures here locally are in Goleta and Carpinteria as of now. There certainly are others, they are just fewer and farther between.
Stages of Foreclosures: There are three different stages of foreclosure for real estate, each of these presenting different opportunities for you to buy.
1) Pre-foreclosure
When a borrower has unfortunately fallen behind on their monthly mortgage payments, the home will go into pre-foreclosure. Active buyers can find pre-foreclosures by spending lots of time diving into the delinquency notices that lenders file with the county courthouse here in Santa Barbara when a borrower has missed their payments.
Now with potential prospects in hand, you can go drive-by these homes on your own. If you see a home that you potentially would like to pursue, you could contact the owner directly to see if they want to sell.
NOTE: You will read articles here and there that this is a good way to make a profit of sometimes 30% from such places as foreclosure.com etc. Simple fact is…from what I have learned, this reality will be difficult with the current “owners” being in a very emotional state and often angry. Most likely these people will be trying to hold onto their homes and would look harshly at anyone they consider might be “sniffing around”. Granted there will be some who want relief from bad mortgages, but it can be a fine line and a way to put yourself in some stressful and potentially scary situations.
Many of these homeowners in this situation will also opt to try a short sale which at a minimum buys them time…often many months. More and more banks are seeming reluctant to many short sales with some stats showing only 15-20% of short sales ever closing.
2) Sheriffs’ sales
After a home reaches default, one option is to try and auction the home off on the county courthouse steps here in town. These homes can offer some real bargains, but the process takes a serious affinity to risk.
If you are bidding on a property, you can not inspect the property beforehand and therefore there is no telling how much work it needs. You also do not know what kind of liens there are against the home, if any, due to unpaid taxes, a contractor’s lien etc. All of this makes it very difficult to establish value. Lastly, you as the buyer need to have ready cash, sometimes 10%-20% down on the spot, and be able to come up with the rest in a matter of days.
For me, I would rather simply wait until a bank owned property is officially listed and work with a seasoned Realtor who knows the value of homes. Additionally, you will be able to inspect the property which is as important as anything.
3) Post-foreclosure
Once a lender finally takes back a house, the property will go on the market as quickly as possible and be listed as an REO (real estate owned) or Bank Owned property at a very good market value or below market value. These homes then in effect become ordinary sales, listed with a broker. Here in Santa Barbara, homes that are in foreclosure that are perceived as bargains are often getting multiple bids. If a home has been on the market for longer than a week, you as a buyer can offer a much lower price and negotiate. Generally the lender has a lowest dollar amount they will accept. If you are willing to meet this price, the home is yours. If not, then the home will stay on the market to hopefully attract other buyers.
View: Current Listings of Homes in Foreclosure in Santa Barbara CA.
Further Reading:
- Any Great Deals on Homes in Foreclosure
- Potential Negatives to Buying Santa Barbara Homes in Foreclosure
- Are Short Sales a Good Path to Santa Barbara Real Estate Ownership?
- Any Great Short Sale Opportunities in Goleta and Santa Barbara CA.?
- Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtor in Santa Barbara and Montecito CA.
- Looking for a Qualified and Ethical Real Estate Agent in Santa Barbara CA?
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
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