Every now and then we like to check in on which listing takes the cake, when it comes to being the best priced condo for sale in Santa Clarita. On this fine day, January 5, 2012, the winner is a 1 bedroom 1 bath (usually is), 588 sq ft bank owned listing. We looked at only regular or bank owned sales, since their pricing is true.

For just $69,900, you could be the proud owner of this hot item!

21226 Trumpet Dr #101, Newhall, Ca

Details are available below, while the home is still available for sale:

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # F11151676 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

House bargain hunting? In the Santa Clarita real estate market, just as in any market, there are homes for sale that are over priced, fairly priced, and there are those that are great buys.

If your goal is to buy a home in Santa Clarita, and buy on the cheap, then one of the best methods and sure-fire ways to ensure you’re looking at potentially great bargains, is to look at the total days on market (DOM).

Days on market is just that – how many days a home has been listed for sale. It can get tricky and information isn’t always what it seems. It’s best to always consult with a Realtor prior to forming any final conclusions about a particular deal. For instance, when a home has been listed for sale for 30 days, then enters escrow, but then subsequently falls out of escrow 45 days later, it may be possible that the days on market will reflect much higher, than the actual real amount of days the home has been for sale (available). In that situation, the seller won’t likely be as ripe to discount from their asking price, as other homes that have actually been sitting, for real, much longer.

So what are these 32 homes?

Running a simple search that any Realtor can do for you, I found 32 bank owned homes in Santa Clarita, that have been listed for sale, for at least 90 days. And you know what? All but one home, of these 32 homes, have had their price reduced. I suspect many of them will sell for less, than their current asking price, too.

That’s right, bank owned, they want to sell, and have wanted to so for at least 90 days! Homes like this, should draw the attention of any Santa Clarita house hunter that’s out for a bargain.

Typically, bank owned homes in Santa Clarita tend to be priced fairly, at market value, or somewhat below. The great thing about bank owned homes is that there is no one living there. The seller (bank) must sell! There are holding costs, such as property taxes, hoa dues, maintenance issues, and other liabilities that these banks incur while the home is owned by them.

Take the above info, and imagine how antsy a bank gets, when their home listed for sale sits for 30, 60, or even 90 days. They usually begin reducing the price after 30 days. For sure by day 60. And by day 90…they usually begin replacing their listing agent with a different one! They need it sold!

There are multiple other ways to find deals in Santa Clarita…the above method, is just one of them.

Here’s the list of Santa Clarita homes I found today that have been listed for at least 90 days, and are bank owned!

CLICK HERE FOR SANTA CLARITA BANK OWNED HOMES LISTED FOR 90+ DAYS

Homes Bank of America foreclosed on 12-13-10

We will almost certainly see some sort of an increase of Santa Clarita bank owned foreclosures as we head into 2011. This is a positive development for homebuyers. A negative development for sellers and homeowners who don’t want to see any deterioration in values. It was announced on Thursday, and put back into action today, that Bank of America would resume its process of foreclosing on homes, and evicting occupants of already foreclosed homes.

This resumption of foreclosure sales (trustee sales), which was halted back in early October has been expected. It appears though, that they’re mainly focusing on foreclosing those homes that are either vacant, or have been in the foreclosure process for an extended amount of time and options have run out for the homeowner(s).

Bank of America states that in they are prepared to move forward with approximately 16,000 foreclosure cases, this month, December 2010.

The extent to which this might actually affect the Santa Clarita real estate market, is of course unknown. It is pretty obvious though, that sales have slowed down considerably, overall, and any new inventory, especially bank owned inventory, could present with it downward pressure on home values. All real estate is local. Many neighborhoods will fair better than others. However those with already high inventory levels, will feel the negative impacts of more foreclosure homes, the greatest.

Assuming interest rates remain where they are, I believe any measurable, and or significant increase in inventory levels will spark another round of interest from first-time homebuyers, who are so crucial to the Santa Clarita housing market. First-time homebuyers enable the move-up homebuyers to sell their home, and like their name says, move-up. Buy something larger.

First-time homebuyers have really dwindled in numbers, since the expiration of the Federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers ended in April 2010.

A larger inventory of foreclosure homes, means more deals. More deals, should mean more buyers coming off the the sidelines. Not just first-time homebuyers, but also investors. And not just the flipping kind of investor. Those who wish to buy rental properties will start to show themselves. They want that cash flow!

Will you be buying in 2011? Let us know. It will be a pivotal year. We’re looking forward to guiding you through the issues that affect our local Santa Clarita real estate market.

Lets break down the 800#lb gorilla in the room, that are, the Santa Clarita pre-foreclosure homes. In total, there are approximately 2,050 homes in pre-foreclosure status, in the Santa Clarita Valley. That may actually be an exact number, as I’m basing it off of data from ForeclosureRadar.com – a very reliable source.

2,050!?

That’s quite a few. It represents a large number of homeowners that are in trouble. Hopefully many can refinance and or get some sort of a loan modification. It also represents potential homebuying opportunities for those of you looking. Buyers want deals. These homes just may be the source of those deals.

2,050 – that’s almost double the amount of homes that are actually on the market, for sale, as of today. We’re currently at just above 1,200 homes for sale. Some of the 2,050 homes in pre-foreclosure within the Santa Clarita Valley, are currently for sale. Most, as short sales. But the majority of them are not on the market. Yet.

If they were to hit the market, they’d likely be a short sale. If they were to be foreclosed on at the Trustee Sale, then they’d either become corporate owned foreclosure or bank owned foreclosure listings.

A pre-foreclosure is a home that currently has a notice of default filed against it, from one, or more of the lien holders. Generally, once a home becomes at least 90 days delinquent on mortgage payments, a lien holder will issue a Notice of Default. Thereby making it a pre-foreclosure. People will refer to pre-foreclosures usually as: Pre-foreclosures, or Auction homes. When someone says Auction home, or Auction status, that usually means that it’s (the home) is in the final stages of foreclosure, and has an auction date to sell, at the trustees sale.

Here’s how the Santa Clarita Valley pre-foreclosure population breaks down by zip code:

91384 - 206

91381 - 165

91321 - 177

91355 - 206

91354 - 245

91350 - 317

91390 - 140

91351 - 264

91387 - 330

Once new census data comes out in the coming year or two, it will be interesting to see how these pre-foreclosure  statistics compare to current population levels of each area. That’s another blog post, for another time.

Check out these charts, provided by Foreclosure Radar, which show the amount of foreclosure filings in various Santa Clarita areas in August 2010.

All charts are for August 2009 – August 2010:

Castaic Foreclosure Filings -

Stevenson Ranch Foreclosure Filings -

Newhall Foreclosure Filings -

Valencia Foreclosure Filings -

Saugus Foreclosure Filings -

Canyon Country Foreclosure Filings -

Contact us here at The Robert & Brian Team. Let us know how we can help you with your next Santa Clarita real estate transaction.

At  The Robert and Brian Team, we utilize Foreclosure Radar. We use this tool for our own purposes, to better help our clients, and we enable you to use it freely for whatever your needs may be, when searching for real estate in Santa Clarita, or beyond. It works for the entire state of California, and a few others. Quite literally, it will show you every single home that has a notice of default or trustee sale notice against it, or those that are bank owned but not yet on the market.

Find Santa Clarita homes that aren't on the market for sale yet.  That's what we think you should be doing to gain the upper hand against all the other homebuyer competition. And we know there is quite a bit of that out there, especially under $500,000. Perhaps you've already experienced the effects of a low inventory of homes for sale? Santa Clarita only has about 700 some-odd homes for sale!

Our Santa Clarita Foreclosure Radar is an incredible tool, and it's free, to you. If you haven't already checked it out – go to our Santa Clarita real estate website now, and give it a whirl. Listen in to Brian Ends, below, and see what he has to say about it.

Sean O'Toole, of Foreclosure Radar, posted this video today to YouTube. It's an excellent source for details on where the foreclosure market was at, as of February 2010, in California.

Foreclosure Radar is just that…radar for foreclosures! It's cool, and we offer it for free, to you, at our Santa Clarita real estate website. Check it out! But first, check this video out:

For those of you considering a home purchase in the Castaic area, here is the current inventory of Bank Owned Homes located in Castaic.

Contact The Robert and Brian Team for all of your Castaic, and Santa Clarita Valley real estate needs!

Check out our newest foreclosure listing in Saugus! It’s located in Plum Canyon’s Mariposa Townhomes. Call us at 661-964-1760 with any of your Santa Clarita real estate questions. The Robert & Brian Team is here to help you.