Are There Any Deals Today?

Being asked the question about getting a good deal on a piece of property these days always seems to turn the conversation to foreclosures and bank owned properties.

These bank owned properties are better known as REO's or Real Estate Owned. I decided to do a little homework on the REO's in Santa Barbara County. The properties I decided to check out were the ones where a deed had been recorded making the foreclosing lender the new owner of the property.

I found that there were 203 properties in January and February that the banks had taken back. Of these 203 properties here is how they broke down by city

Buellton 1
Carpinteria 4
Goleta 8
Guadalupe 5
Lompoc 36
Los Alamos 2
Orcutt 1
Santa Barbara 13
Santa Maria 130
Santa Ynez 2
Solvang 1

It doesn't take a degree in mathematics to look at these numbers and see that Lompoc and Santa Maria are where most of the foreclosure activity is. Nearly 82% of the properties are in those 2 areas.

The South Coast has a little over 12% of the properties that went back to the foreclosing lender in January and February. The remaining 6% are spread out amongst the Santa Ynez Valley and the smaller cities in the North County.

The types of properties that are now owned by the bank break down like this
Condominiums (Residential) 21
Multi Family Units 8
Residential Agriculture 2
Single Family Residence 170
Vacant Land 2

Single Family Residences continue to be the types of properties that are being foreclosed on. Maybe next month I will take a look to see how many are second homes or primary residences. Either way these properties are putting a drain on the residential market.

Some specifics about the loan amounts that were foreclosed upon are these
Average Loan Amount $409,129
Highest Loan Amount $1,348,319
Lowest Loan Amount $15,000

These loans that were foreclosed on have some interesting characteristics. The oldest loan was taken out on December 3rd 1997 for $88,738 on a single family residence on Lockwood Dr. in Santa Maria. The most recent loan was taken out on April 27, 2007 for $181,000 on a single family residence on Concha Loma Dr. in Carpinteria.

I find this information all pretty fascinating, but does it help answer the question about there being any real deals out there when you are looking for property. I don't think it does. I don't think it will, but at least you are now armed with hopefully more than you knew before about the properties that have been taken back by the lender.

If you would like more information on these properties click here and you will be taken to a map of the county showing these 203 properties. Good Luck in your search.