Today we wanted to show you the Sienna Villas condo community located in Valencia. LOVE this community of condos. It has by far, one of the best locations in the Santa Clarita Valley. It's always nice to be able to walk directly across the street and be able to hit up the: Starbucks, Whole Foods, Corner Bakery, Kohl's, Valencia Town Center Mall, Wahoos Fish Tacos, Pei Wei, and so much more than I can really list here.

Living in the Sienna Villas is very affordable too. Check out the module below for current Sienna Villas listings and current pricing. The Sienna Villas are condos. They don't have larger square footage stats like nearby townhome communities (ie: Arbor Park, Las Ventanas). The location at Sienna Villas however is superior to anything nearby (in my honest opinion), and the savings you get compared to that of a larger Valencia townhome community a short distance away, is quite measurable.

The square footage of the Sienna Villas range from the upper 600's and tops out in the low 1,100's.

Sienna Villas offers multiple swimming pool locations for it's residents, a tennis court, gated subterranean parking, lush landscaping, and very neatly maintained buildings which feature nice common area walkways.

It's really a pleasure to take a stroll through. Aesthetically, it's very appealing, if not more so, than other communities in similar price ranges.

Check out our community tour of the Sienna Villas for our SCVRealEstate360 YouTube Channel.

Want to check out what's for sale at the Sienna Villas? This module is always updated, no matter when you're finding this:

Thanks to Keith Renno from The Renno Lending Team at Prospect Mortgage for sharing his insight on the upcoming FHA annual premium increase. While there is an upfront fee decrease associated with the FHA loans, it's really insignificant compared to the annual premium increase. Listen in, and watch, as Keith Renno explains what's happening. Enjoy!

Check out the new live webcam in Santa Clarita, at Old Town Newhall. From it you'll be able to check out the construction of thew brand new library being built in Old Town Newhall, as well as the streetscape project going on at Main Street. Enjoy!

I figured, instead of telling you what my top 5 favorite restaurants are, you'd rather read something I actually know about – homes.

With that said, here are my top 5 favorite housing communities in Santa Clarita, not necessarily in any particular order:

• Miramonte  - located in the Copper Hill area of Saugus, the Miramonte community is one of my favorites because of the homes. It doesn't necessarily win me over due to nearby parks, walking paths, or greenery. Nope. It's just the homes for Miramonte. These homes are huge and priced RIGHT, right now. I love the exterior construction, the largest floor plan with the turret at the front is a personal favorite, and best yet, these homes do NOT have any HOA fees, or Mello-Roos-like property taxes. Check out the map below for current listings in the Miramonte community in Saugus.

• Stratford Collection – located in the Valencia Summit area, the Stratford Collection is a community of gated townhomes, which come in two-level and tri-level models. I personally love the tri-level floor plans. My favorite part of the community are the beautiful views and nice sized backyards. These backyards are similar to those of some detached home, and the views of the gorgeous natural area and rolling hills will make you feel like you're on a vacation somewhere, when simply relaxing in your own yard. The townhomes are quite large as well. The prices aren't so entry-level however. You usually pay for what you get! Check out the map below for current listings in the Stratford Collection in the Valencia Summit.

• Mariposa Townhomes – located in the Plum Canyon area of Saugus, the Mariposa townhomes have a ton to offer, especially to budget conscience first-time homebuyers. With multiple floor plans, spanning from a small two bedroom layout to a very large three bedroom two story townhome, Mariposa has it all. The backyard sizes for most floor plans are very generous compared to most other communities in similar price range offerings. Also, all units come with a garage, and all three bedrooms come with a two car garage. Not only were they built around 2005 and 2006, and have that new feeling, but you get that piece of mind of buying something not so old and worn down, at a very affordable price. If the prices don't strike you as affordable, the HOA fees certainly will. Compared to most communities, the Mariposa townhomes have one of the lowest HOA fees around. In many cases more than half that of similar communities in the Santa Clarita Valley. Of course HOA fees can change, so please always check with a Realtor (like us) for an update. Check out the map below for current listings in the Mariposa Townhomes in Plum Canyon (Saugus).

• Happy Valley - located in Newhall, just south of Lyons Avenue, Happy Valley is a jewel, as far as housing communities in the Santa Clarita Valley goes (IMHO). I don't consider it a housing tract per-say, but more an eclectic mix of non-tract type housing in a country setting, with narrow oak tree lined streets throughout much of it. It's Newhall at it's best. There are super small two bedroom one bath single family homes, a few random tiny apartment buildings, some retro-style single family homes, and there are also incredible custom million dollar homes with lots to die for. It's the perfect place for those of you moving from an eclectic area, and wish to keep it a bit quaint and funky. I love Happy Valley. I think most residents there to do. It's something special and has been for a long time. And that isn't changing! Check out the map below for current listings in the Happy Valley community of Newhall.

• Old Orchard 1 & 2 – located in the most southern portion of Valencia, Old Orchard 1 and 2 were the first housing communities built as part of the Valencia master plan, by Newhall Land and Farm. Built around 1967-1968, one thing comes to mind when I think about the Old Orchard communities…and that's pride of ownership. Each have very well managed HOA's, and extremely low HOA fees. Take a drive through the Old Orchard communities of Valencia. Most homes there look so nice, that you'd probably not guess that they were built in the late 1960's. Homeowners in Old Orchard have made many improvements over the years to their homes. And it shows. Old Orchard offers moderate sized single family homes, most of them on cul-de-sac streets, with the Valencia paseo system accessible from the end of each cul-de-sac. Prices are very reasonable. If you're looking for freeway close, Old Orchard is a great choice. The I-5 is just a short hop away, yet you can't see it or hear it (unless you have special powers).  Check out the map below for current listings in the Old Orchard 1 and Old Orchard 2 communities of Valencia.

For help with your home search in Santa Clarita, give us a call here at The Robert & Brian Team. We'd love to help. You can reach us @ 661-964-1760, or come say hello to us over at our Facebook Page. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear what your favorite Santa Clarita communities are? Comment below, and share.

Part of episode 76 at SCVRealEstate360, we did a community tour of the Crown Villas community located in Stevenson Ranch today. The Crown Villas is a condo and townhome community. With smaller two bedrooms floor plans up to very spacious three bedroom two story townhomes, the Crown Villas community is very appealing!

Contact us for current pricing, or just visit our Crown Villas listings module below. We would love to show you what this development has to offer, and be able to help you compare to other nearby Stevenson Ranch condo communities, such as Diamond Head, or Treana.

Crown Villas consists of two separate communities, one is North, other South. One is gated. The other, is not. One has a swimming pool, the other, does not. Both communities offer nice valley facing views, and beautiful lush landscaping. Much like a park!

When your in Stevenson Ranch, looking for condos or townhomes, put Crown Villas on the list, and give us a call! Until then….watch our Crown Villas Stevenson Ranch Community Tour.

Enjoy!

 Interested in looking at what's for sale in the Crown Villas? Look no further! This module below is always updated. Call us at 661-964-1760 to look at any home for sale. Whether it's in Crown Villas, or elsewhere.

Are you approved for an FHA loan, and on the prowl for a Santa Clarita condo or townhome? If you are, you might have already found out that quite a few condo and townhome communities in the Santa Clarita Valley, and elsewhere, are not FHA approved. What does that mean? It means that FHA won't insure any loans in those particular communities. Which is a nice way of saying, you can't buy your dream home, in there.

Yep, seems a bit unfair, I know. If you have fallen in love with a particular community, and are only eligible for an FHA loan, you'll more than likely have to save up quite a bit more money for a larger down payment (10% down, 20% down), in order to do a conventional loan. And even then, conventional loans generally have stricter requirements, such as minimum FICO scores, etc., in addition to the larger down payments.

There may be help, yet, for your dreams of owning a home, by way of getting an FHA insured loan, in a non-FHA approved community. How? Well, a little bit of hard work, and a smidgen of patience.

Enter a hard working lender, such as Mitch Milat at Augusta Financial, and a few persistent agents, such as The Robert & Brian Team, all working on your team toward one goal, it's possible to get a community that's not FHA approved….approved!

Recently Mitch was helping one of our FHA homebuyers out, and went to battle for them, by trying to get the Mariposa townhomes in Saugus approved. Our clients were first-time homebuyers, and they had fallen in love with the Plum Canyon Mariposa community. They had written an offer on the Mariposa condo, it was accepted, then the seller and their listing agent agreed to let our buyers' lender do the hard work of trying to make the FHA loan work. After about 3 weeks into our 45 day escrow, Mitch @ Augusta Financial received FHA approval, enabling our buyers purchase to go forward. We then closed escrow about a week after the approval came in. They're so happy living there now. And consequently, so are many other FHA homebuyers who can now purchase their home at the Mariposa townhome community.

Other communities have the possibility of becoming FHA approved. Some of them have been in the past, but are no longer. Whether it's a condo or townhome community in Santa Clarita, or not. It is possible. Certain conditions have to be right, and cooperation is needed from third parties, such as HOA's. Don't give up hope, if you have fallen in love with a community that isn't FHA approved. With a little hard work, patience, and good professionals working on your team, anything can happen!

Watch this interview I did with Mitch Milat of Augusta Financial: 

FHA Approved list – CAN CHANGE AT ANY MOMENT! – PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST DOES CHANGE AND CAN BE REVISED ANY TIME, ANY DAY, ANY HOUR. Some communities once approved, can lose approval. What a mess! But it's what we deal with in order to match people to homes, and buyers to sellers.

For help with your Santa Clarita home loan, contact Mitch Milat @ 661-810-3362

Find Mitch on the web, at www.MitchForLoans.com

Email Mitch @ Mitch@MitchForLoans.com

And of course, when you're ready to house hunt in the Santa Clarita Valley, contact us here at The Robert and Brian Team!

Sometimes shit things happen. And this was no exception. We were recently contacted by the buyers of a transaction that closed escrow not too long ago, in which we represented the seller, and only the seller. No dual agency situation here (not a fan!).

The buyers found a few things that needed to be repaired with the home they had just purchased. This is normal. Things go wrong in homes, especially older ones. But the new ones aren't immune to dysfunction either.

Even though we represented the seller, we were more than happy to help them look into their home warranty policy. They could have contacted the agent that represented them in the purchase, but I believe they felt comfortable contacting us since we were the local agents, and the agent who helped them was from out of the area.

We proceeded to look at their contract to find the information on the home warranty company. Uh oh! We found out that they did not have a home warranty after all. Why you ask? Well, for starters they (their agent) didn't ask for the seller to pay for one in their purchase contract that the buyers agent had issued to us, and additionally they didn't elect to pay for one themselves, either. Often times when a seller refuses to pay for a home warranty, the buyers will elect to pay for it themselves, just in order to have one! It's pretty customary in the Santa Clarita real estate market for the seller to pay for the one year home protection plan.

Understandably so, the buyers were quite upset that they did not have a home warranty to utilize for the items that needed to be repaired. I don't blame them for being upset one bit. There was nothing we could really do for them, though. We represented the seller. They were represented by a different agent and brokerage. It was that agents job to make sure his/her clients got what they wanted.

This could have been avoided. And you should avoid this type of situation too! When you're ready to buy a home, make sure that if you intend to get a home warranty, you ask your agent how to get one. It doesn't matter if the seller pays for it, or you, the buyer. Someone has to pay for it though if it's going to exist! A good agent will negotiate on your behalf, and try to get the seller to pay for it. As mentioned before, thats not hard to do, since it is pretty customary. But at the very least it must be included in the purchase contract. That would probably fall under the Real Estate 101 category.

Listen in, and watch as Brian explains the situation, here in our SCVRE360 episode 75!

 Call us @ 661-964-1760 if we can help you with any of your Santa Clarita real estate needs.

Today we wanted to tour the Diamond Head townhome community in Stevenson Ranch. This is by far one of the best buys in the Santa Clarita Valley for condo and townhome buyers. Especially popular amongst first-time homebuyers due to the affordability of the Diamond Head community, it's a great place to start, when living in Stevenson Ranch is at the top of your priority list.

From two car garages, large patio spaces, to very generous floor plan sizes, the Diamond Head community has a lot to offer, and that includes beauty! The landscape is gorgeous, and meticulously maintained.  

Check out a bit of what we saw, when visiting one of our favorite townhome communities, in Stevenson Ranch.

Diamond Head Townhomes – Stevenson Ranch

 Interested in what townhomes are for sale in the Diamond Head community? Well check out the map below! It's ALWAYS updated!

Today Brian interviewed Keith Renno, of The Renno Lending Team. The interview subject was about buyers closing costs, and breaking down some of the most frequent and important questions we get from homebuyers.

If you're looking into buying a home in the Santa Clarita Valley, and you'll be financing your purchase, you will need to learn more about closing costs. The good, and the bad. Well, I suppose there is nothing good about closing costs, when I think about it.

Enjoy the interview. If you have any questions about searching for a home, contact us at The Robert and Brian Team. If you have questions about closing costs, and financing your Santa Clarita home purchase, contact Keith @ The Renno Lending Team.

Welcome to the Mariposa Townhomes! This is one of the nicest, and most affordable townhome communities in the Santa Clarita Valley (price per square foot).

The Mariposa townhomes are located in Saugus, in the area called Plum Canyon. All areas of course, fall within the Santa Clarita Valley. We do a good amount of business in the Mariposa tract, and that's because buyers are naturally attracted to Mariposa.

Benefits of living there:

• Large sq ft floor plans
• Backyards large enough for patio and grassy areas
• 2 car garages available with direct access to unit
• Outside reserved carport parking available for 2 bedroom models in addition to a 1 car garage
• Low HOA fees
• Modern touches, there were built around 2005/2006
• Modern floor plans, big closets, large bathrooms
• Laundry rooms/areas in each floor plan
• Beautiful recreation room
• Gorgeous pool area
• Children's playground
• In a quiet bedroom type community (Plum Canyon/Saugus), away from freeways, but not too far

Most of our first-time homebuyer clients always want to look at Mariposa townhomes for sale. It's no wonder, when you consider some of the above benefits. Many condos and townhomes in other communities, are hard-pressed to offer half of that list. Usually the low HOA fees are a closer, since many other communities in Santa Clarita have HOA fees that hover well above $200 a month. The Mariposa Townhomes are well below $200 a month, as of the date I'm posting this here at this blog.

Have a look, at our lil' community tour for the Mariposa Townhomes:

 Interested in Mariposa Townhomes? Call us at 661-964-1760. Have a look at what's for sale in the Mariposa tract below (always updated):