Many of you are considering renting a condo or single family home here in the Santa Clarita Valley. You know, something outside of an apartment complex, where it’s individually owned. In today’s real estate market, both locally here in Santa Clarita, and nationally, you need to be concerned as a would-be renter about the financial condition of the owner, you’re thinking of renting from.

There’s actually very little out there to enable to figure that out. However you can find out if the home you’re considering renting out, is in the preforeclosure process. The last thing you want to see happen is, you moving in, and subsequently moving out shortly down the road after finding out the owner you’re paying rent to each month, just got foreclosed on.

Luckily foreclosure data is public record, and we here at The Robert and Brian Team, your local Santa Clarita Realtors, want to help you. We have a tool at our Santa Clarita real estate website, called Foreclosure Radar. From this tool, you can utilize a map and list to find out which homes are in the foreclosure process, in the neighborhood you’d like to rent in.

Our Santa Clarita Foreclosure Radar Tool

If you see that there are Santa Clarita homes in the foreclosure process on the street you’ve been considering, simply hit the inquire button for the particular home you’re curious about, and we’ll get right back to you with details on it. Perhaps it’s the home you were thinking of renting out? That might be something you’d want know before moving forward? Right?

Already in a rental home and concerned that the owner is letting it go into foreclosure?

We can help you, too! Either use our Santa Clarita Foreclosure Radar tool to figure it out, or simply shoot us a message with your address, and we’ll let you know if we see any public record of the home being in the foreclosure process.

Remember! It could be 3 or more months after NOT having made any payments, before any home shows up as officially being in the preforeclosure process. If a homeowner only missed one or two payments, we likely would see no record of that.

It’s smart to do your homework, before renting out your next home. We’ve seen way too many good people (renters) have to prematurely move out due to the home they were renting out, getting foreclosed on. When all else fails, contact a good Santa Clarita real estate agent to help you investigate.

Need help? Ask! We’re here for you at The Robert and Brian Team.

The Appraisal Institute just came out with a new appraisal addendum, which will enable an appraiser to more accurately give credit for and analyze Santa Clarita homes with ‘Green” upgrades. It’s all about energy efficiency these days. Sellers love to tout their upgrades like, energy efficient windows, solar paneled roofs, and Energy Star appliances. It will be much easy now for your Santa Clarita home to get the credit it deserves, and possibly receive a higher home value, due to this new addendum.

Listen to the tips below, on how to best use this addendum, and don’t forget to click the link below to print up the addendum for yourself!

Looking for energy efficient “Green” homes in Santa Clarita? We can help you. Contact us here at The Robert and Brian Team to get started on your home search.

Click this link to print up or review the Appraisal Addendum for Green Homes

We just launched our new Santa Clarita home search website, that’s mobile! Use it from your iPhone, your Droid, or whatever…just use it! It’s full of awesome, and we think you will like it. Don’t forget to turn on your phone’s GPS and get good use of searching for homes, with the mobile site’s GPS feature. There’s nothing like finding out all the information you need about homes around you, with the touch of a button. Don’t you just love real estate technology?

Ah Realtors. There’s quite a few of them. But who do you chose? How do you decide? And do you really want to use the Realtor that your parents or relative swore did a great job for them back in 1985? It’s time go high tech, new school, and rogue with your choice of agents.

We have us in mind, of course. After all, this is our blog. Despite the bias, we know what you need as a homebuyer in Santa Clarita. Whether you’re a first time homebuyer in Santa Clarita, or seasoned homeowner looking for a move-up purchase, we have an array of real estate tools to enable your home buying experience to be successful. I mean, put a WOW on your face, successful. What we offer you as a homebuyer is second to none.

What you need:

1) Information

2) Tools to deliver you information

3) Accessibility to your agent to consult you on the information

Without giving you an entire course on the tools we have at our disposal to WOW you with when buying a home in Santa Clarita, we’ll just narrow down the best ones right here. See below.

5 Reasons To Hire The Robert and Brian Team When Buying a Santa Clarita Home…

1) The Robert and Brian Team iPhone/Smartphone app:

The Robert and Brian Team iPhone app - for Santa Clarita real estate

With this app you’re able to search for homes from your iPhone, or any other Smartphone (Android, etc). It uses your phones GPS. Imagine driving through a neighborhood, you’re curious about a few For Sale signs you come across…well, just pull out your phone, map closest homes for sale to your position, and wah-lah – there’s the information. Right in your hand. To download The Robert & Brian Team app for your phone, just text SCVHOME to 87778. Go head. We’re waiting…

2) We’re mobile ready:

Screenshot of TheScvAgents.com Mobile

This is a no brainer, and we’re leading the way with this option. Our app is one thing. Our website is another. Ever visit a website that just didn’t look right or navigate well, when browsing it from your phone? You know what I mean. Zoom in Zoom in, and zoom in some more just to see the tiny options you need to click on. Well, you won’t have that problem at our main Santa Clarita home searchng website, TheScvAgents.com. Go ahead, try it. Go to your laptop, or desktop computer, and type in www.TheScvAgents.com. Ok. You see it in all of its awesomeness. Now, go ahead and break out your iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, or whatever you have…go to the same site. =) Pretty cool huh? Totally different experience and you can even use your phone’s GPS to search for homes from there, as well. Just like with our app.

3) Auto Listings Website:

Auto Listings Portal

You’re own website? But you’re just a homebuyer? Right? Yep! But we give you one anyway. We call them Portals actually. An Auto Listings Portal. Your very own place on the web, to view listings on the market, tailored just for your preferences. When we learn about the type of home you’re looking for, and your various criteria, we go to work, and set it up for you. It will send you notifications about the new listings that hit the market, direct to your inbox. We can set yo up to be notified as they happen, in the AM, in the PM, or once a week – it’s you’re choice. Most of our clients enjoy the email once a day though. It keeps them in the loop about what’s hitting the market, and it ensures no homes slip through the cracks. We’re making you successful, and giving you the information to crush the other home buying competition.

4) Foreclosure Radar:

Foreclosure Radar screenshot of preforeclosures in the SCV

Now this is super cool, and very high-tech. More than that, its filled with information most consumers don’t have access to. We splurged and have granted you access to the information from Foreclosure Radar. Ever wondered what homes are about to be foreclosed on? Want to make an offer on a home, but it’s not yet on the market? Think it may be in foreclosure? Enter Foreclosure Radar to answer all of these questions. Simply visit our website TheScvAgents.com, click on Foreclosure Radar, and click on an area you’re curious about. All of the pre-foreclosures, auction homes, and bank owned homes in Santa Clarita will populate. Want more information on a home? Just send the request to us through the submit button and we’ll get back to you real quick-like.

5) Market Snapshots:

Market Snapshot Inquiry Form at TheScvAgents.com

Rounding out all the coolness that are some of the top real estate tech tools we provide you, is none other than our Market Snapshot service. Now, this isn’t just for homebuyers. Actually it’s a tool that’s excellent for homeowners and buyers. It will provide you with a monthly report on home values, comps, and listings information for your neighborhood/zip code. Sellers and homeowners alike love it because they can keep tabs on what’s happening around them, and buyers can keep track of an area that most interests them, and review data filled reports that is…wait for it…information RICH!

Remember, information is king. You need it to be successful. You need access to it. But access isn’t enough. It needs to be in a format that works for you. With a hint of being use friendly. You’re busy. You don’t need to land on a website that’s not optimized properly for your smartphone. You need to get to work, and find that home.

We make all investments in our Santa Clarita real estate tools with one thing in mind. You. What works best for you?  What will really help you? This is what we ask ourselves, when setting out to add new tools to our arsenal over at TheScvAgents.com. We love making our customers happy and enabling their experience of buying or selling a home in Santa Clarita to be second to none.

Next time you’re in the market for a home in Santa Clarita, or considering selling, swing by TheScvAgents.com, and see what’s happening!

Auto Listings Portal screenshot

Just what you need, more emails! If you’re slightly curious about real estate in Santa Clarita, this is something you may want to think about. It’s best for those with some sort of a trimmed down criteria for an SCV home they’d like to buy, or better yet, homeowners in Santa Clarita that care about listings and sold homes in their neighborhood.

Receive Santa Clarita Home Listings Direct To Your Inbox!

It’s effortless. It’s our Auto Listings Portal. It’s hooked up direct to the Santa Clarita MLS, and as such, all info comes straight from the source – the Southland Regional Board of Realtors (SRAR). There is no middle man information with this tool we leverage to you.

Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia…they “got nothin” on this. Receive emails with listings daily, as they happen, monthly, in the AM, or in the PM. It’s really tailored for your preferences. As your criteria, or interests change, so can your Auto Listings Portal that we set up for you.

Care to be in the know? This is the tool. Homeowner, know what’s happening in your hyper-local real estate market. Buyers, know what’s for sale – first!

We here at The Robert and Brian Team & The SCV Agents site, are arming you with every tool necessary to be the most informed, about Santa Clarita real estate. Notice, I don’t say LA, or SFV, or etc. We focus on Santa Clarita. The SCV. This is where we’re from. This is where we live. This is where we work.

We look forward to hearing from you. Sign up for your very own Auto Listings Portal below! Don’t forget to call us with any questions. Or better yet, just visit us at our Santa Clarita Real Estate page on Facebook.

Screenshot of TheScvAgents.com Mobile

Our hub for Santa Clarita real estate, that is, TheScvAgents.com, is now mobile ready. And by mobile, I mean it’s optimized for your smartphone. Whether you have a Blackberry, iPhone, Android, or anything else, you’re now able to search for Santa Clarita homes in style, over at TheScvAgents.com. Over the years, our little website has improved and improved, and become  a super popular destination for homebuyers entering the Santa Clarita real estate market.

Times are changing, and so have we. More and more homebuyers utilize their smartphone and mobile internet connection to find the information they’re looking for, on the go.

We’re a part of this trend, just as much as our clients. Before this change to TheScvAgents.com, one would visit our site on their iPhone for instance, and have to zoom in, zoom in, and zoom in some more, just to see some of the applicable search fields, when home shopping. No longer is this the case, and you’re experience will now be so much better.

Shop from your laptop, and you get the full site experience, while information gathering. Shop from your phone, and you get the trimmed down user friendly experience to get the 411 on Santa Clarita homes for sale, while you’re out and about (or sitting on the couch).

Check it out. Go to TheScvAgents.com from your desktop computer or laptop. Ok. Now, go to the same URL from your smartphone. Pretty cool, huh?

We are the first Realtors in the Country to offer you this product from a Word Press based website, thanks in part to our partners over at RealtyTech, Inc.

Our tools are contstantly changing here at The Robert & Brian Team. We’re always innovating and bringing you our A game, to improve your home buying or selling experience. One thing won’t change, however. You can always expect the best, from us.

Now, go search for homes in style from your phone…www.TheScvAgents.com.

Ps – We also offer an App for your iPhone, Android, or other smartphone. It’s GPS based too, and pretty darn cool. Download it by texting SCVHOME to 87778.

Use your iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, or any Smart Phone to search for homes! Our app uses the GPS from your phone, to search and locate homes for sale in the Santa Clarita Valley. It will also find homes for sale in many other parts of the country!

Imagine driving through a neighborhood that interests you. Imagine. Just for a moment. You take your iPhone out. Click – Map Closest Homes – then, like magic, all homes around your exact position, populate on a map. From there you can view all details about these homes, photos, and even comparable sales to get an idea about what the neighborhood market values are. Pure real estate tech heaven (thanks to Smarter Agent for assisting us with the app).

We’re making it easier to find homes for sale, and the overall experience better, for homebuyers. This app, is just one of those tools that enables us to do that.

Watch our promo video, and the lovely Rachael Rini, as she tours you through it all. Want to download it? Just Text: SCVHOME to 87778. As always, call on us here at The Robert & Brian Team for all of your Santa Clarita Real Estate needs.

Enjoy!

Right about now, I’m really thankful for my home warranty. In fact, I’m reaaaaaaaaally thankful. I’ve already got some use of it over the last several years since buying this house. Usually though, my claims have been quite small in nature. Always leaving me to ponder, come renewal time, whether I should renew it again, or not.

After last night and today, I will no longer struggle over that question. My water heater went out last night. It didn’t just go out, it leaked out, corroded the stand on which it sits, and screwed my family and I out of hot water. And at times, any water. I must admit, it was old, and probably had a good long life of service. With that in mind, I should expect these sort of things. My house isn’t so new-ish.

When you own a home, there’s no landlord to call. No one to comes to your rescue in the name of customer service. Fortunately for us, we did renew our Home Warranty with Fidelity National Home Warranty just a month or two ago. It’s about the third or fourth time we’ve renewed it. Each time, it has cost us about $300 to $400 to renew, for the annual insurance policy.

We noticed the leaking last night, at about 10pm. Fidelity National Home Warranty had an after hours call center open to take the emergency call. I explained to the nice woman the situation with my water heater, and the urgency that surrounded the matter. She then proceeded to contact the on-call staff member at Fidelity National Home Warranty. Several minutes later, the on-call staff member called me, and we arranged for a plumbing technician to be at my house to repair everything, this morning. Saturday.

The kicker:

My particular policy is covering the complete replacement of my water heater, and the disposal of the old one. It covers all permit costs. And up to $250 in upgrades needed in order to meet certain building codes. That’s well over a thousand dollars in expenses I would have incurred, were it not for my home warranty. The only thing I had to pay was the $55 service call fee, and the nominal amount my particular upgrades necessary went over $250. To say the least, I’m thankful, and happy. The home warranty is really saving me money.

If you have a home warranty, it’s probably different. Your home warranty, could cover some things that mine doesn’t, and likewise mine may cover something that yours does not. If you’re in the process of searching for a Santa Clarita home to purchase, or you’re about to, please ask your Realtor about home warranty options. Realtors don’t get paid by home warranty companies. We just want you, as a client, to be served well, and to work with a reputable provider. You don’t have to buy one through Fidelity, like I did. There are several very reputable companies that I have experience with. Often times, the seller will pay for your home warranty too.

Moral of the story:

Home warranties are cost effective and can be totally worth the cost if you’re the one buying!

Looking for Santa Clarita homes for sale with a high Walk Score? Don’t know what a Walk Score is? Using the Walk Score is a great way to look at how pedestrian friendly any address or community is. This is of course very useful when it comes to buying a home for sale, if you’re not too familiar with the area already. If you’re a seller, you should know how your home ranks with the Walk Score! We’re seeing buyers start to search for homes via the Walk Score. 100 is the best Walk Score there is. At our Santa Clarita real estate search website, we provide you with an MLS tool where you can search specifically, by the Walk Score.

Our Walk Scores for our homes aren’t good if you like walking!

Walk Score for Robert’s house: 15!

Walk Score for Brian’s house: 25!

What’s your home’s Walk Score? Check here: Walk Score

We live on the fringe of the Santa Clarita Valley, I suppose. Personally (Robert here), I’m rethinking my location! Know a good Realtor? =)

Below is a list, showing homes for sale in Santa Clarita with a Walk Score of 80, or more. I couldn’t find any for sale that were close to a score of 100. Perhaps we need to be in a big city to find some of those? Like New York City, or Chicago?

Showing properties 1 - 10 of 17. See more Google Walk Score 80+ in SCV.
(all data current as of 2/5/2012)

1. $70,900 : 18820 Mandan Street #408, Canyon Country
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 635 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
2. $72,000 : 18808 Mandan Street #314, Canyon Country
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 635 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
3. $280,000 : 18602 Tibetan Court, Canyon Country
   
   3 beds, 3 full baths

   Home size: 2,015 sq ft

   Lot size: 37,887 sq ft
4. $110,000 : 18830 Mandan Street #107, Canyon Country
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 860 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
5. $319,900 : 18714 Wellhaven Street, Canyon Country
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,595 sq ft

   Lot size: 7,577 sq ft
6. $60,000 : 18806 Mandan Street #213, Canyon Country
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 652 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
7. $69,000 : 27240 Luther Drive #509, Canyon Country
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 652 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
8. $69,000 : 27240 Luther Drive #512, Canyon Country
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 635 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.33 ac
9. $87,600 : 18752 Mandan Street #1016, Canyon Country
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 850 sq ft

   Lot size: 4.19 ac
10. $69,900 : 18820 Mandan Street #414, Canyon Country
    
    1 bed, 1 full bath

    Home size: 635 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

My favorite communities with high Walk Scores in Santa Clarita are located off of Del Monte Drive, in Valencia. These communities are the Siena Villas and the Santa Fe condos. These two communities are located right in the heart of Valencia, which offers terrific pedestrian friendly walking trails and paseos, top notch shopping and dining, and even attractive jobs. Imagine not having to drive around town, here in Santa Clarita? Walk to eat, shop, work, and mail out a package…it’s ideal for many. And that’s what Walk Score is all about.

I really look forward to more communities and homes in the Santa Clarita Valley achieving higher Walk Scores in the future. For that to happen, homes need to be located closer to parks, shopping, dining, schools, etc. Santa Clarita is still growing. Some communities will indirectly get closer, as time passes, to the necessities of life.

My favorite Santa Clarita communities with high Walk Scores:

Siena Villas Condos in Valencia:

Sorry, but we couldn't find any results in the MLS that match the specified search criteria.

Santa Fe Condos in Valencia:

Sorry, but we couldn't find any results in the MLS that match the specified search criteria.

When attempting to make an offer on a Santa Clarita home that’s for sale, I’d say knowing what kind of conditions that could lead your offer to being rejected, are just as important as knowing some of the important conditions that can help your offer get accepted.

First, Know The Market

Santa Clarita has a dynamic real estate market. All real estate is local. Some parts of the Santa Clarita Valley real estate market are hot. And some parts, are not. Where you’re looking at buying, is it a hot market? Is it ice cold? Is it a buyers market? Is it a sellers market? It is a combonation of both? Ask your Realtor. They can help you to paint a clear picture as to what’s happening, in the neighborhood(s) you’re searching in.

Once you’ve determined what kind of a market you’re shopping in, and you’ve found the home you want to pursue, it’s time to format the offer.

Today we’re going to discuss, the top 3 ways your offer could get rejected. Obviously, something you don’t want to happen, should you really be interested in the home you’re making an offer on.

If you want to be aggressive, check out: Top 5 Terms To Negotiate When Making An Offer On A Santa Clarita Home

Top 3 Ways To Get Your Santa Clarita Home Offer Rejected:

1) If a home is listed at it’s real market value (analyze with your Realtor), you make an offer at 5% or more, below the asking price.

2) Your earnest money deposit (aka initial deposit) offered, is less than 1% of your offered purchase price.

3) You request that your loan contingency stays in effect, until said loan us funded. In other words, a permanent loan contingency.

When we help our Santa Clarita homebuyer clients, we try to educate them on the winning ways to get a home under contract, and the losing ways. We start from a position of trying to understand how badly the client, actually wants the home. This helps us to map out the offer. Regardless if it’s a buyers market, or a sellers market, a buyers need to have a particular home, could trump all logic. Emotions are always at play, in real estate.

I recommend sitting down with your Realtor the next time your in the market for a Santa Clarita home, and do a thorough review of the neighborhood you’d like to buy in, the market conditions overall, and your particular needs and wants. From there you can structure your offer properly, once you’ve found the home of choice.

Need a Realtor? Want advice? Contact us here @ The Robert and Brian Team. Call us @ 661-964-1760, or just visit us at our Santa Clarita real estate search site.