River Oaks is a community of newer homes for sale in northeast Santa Maria. The neighborhood offers a secluded feeling and borders the Santa Maria Riverbed ad walking trails. At the center of the neighborhood is Ida Redmond Taylor Elementary, and directly behind is a community park which includes a lake, playground, and picnic area. These homes were constructed between about 1999 – 2003. Because many of the homes were sold new during the beginning of the housing boom, many if not most of the current and recent sales in the development are foreclosures or distress sales. In the past 6 months, there have been 6 sales in the River Oaks Development, 3 were foreclosures, and 1 was a short sale, and 2 were regular sales. The average sale price was $290,167 compared to an average list price of $290,965; average price per square foot paid by River Oaks home buyers was $149.15, with 77 days on market.
So, sellers are receiving about 99.7% of their asking price in the River Oaks development, indicating that the community has much appeal for buyers. There is currently 1 pending home sale in the River Oaks homes for sale in Santa Maria. There are five contingent short sales currently, with a median asking price of $280,000. At present, there are 6 active properties in River Oaks, indicating that there may be some bargaining room for buyers due to the increase in available inventory in this neighborhood. The median asking price of available homes is $252,500, and the average is about $256,000, which is noticeably lower than the sold average in the past 6 months. So, there appears to be some softening in prices in this neighborhood. This may also be due to the fact that majority of homes sold in the Santa Maria River Oaks development continue to be distress sales at this time.
River Oaks is a charming community that offers a real retreat feeling to Santa Maria home buyers. Other newer home communities in Santa Maria include Essex at Willow Creek, La Ventana, Sculptures, Villaggio, and Cherry Blossom Ranch. If you are looking for a home in one of these Santa Maria or Orcutt developments, call me today for an appointment (805) 878-9879.
*Based on the information from the Central Coast Regional MLS. The Association, the Multiple Listing Service, nor Mint Properties guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market
These homes are within walking distance to shopping centers which include popular new restaurants such as Panera Bread, Starbucks, Natural Cafe, and Yanagi Sushi. Also close are Albertsons, Food Maxx, Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The Traditions and Classics developments are at the center of some of the best new shops in Santa Maria. Both Homeowners Associations have a relatively low association fee under $200 per year, and the community is also host to a new fire station, Robin Ventura Field, and Rotary Centennial Park. The Bradley Square area is truly a great place to live on the Central Coast of California.
With the majority of single family homes and condos being listed as "short sales" in the Santa Maria CA and Orcutt CA market, buyers are considering this type of listing more often. A "short sale" is a property listing where the owner owes more than the homes' current value, but still desires/needs to sell. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon position for sellers in Santa Maria CA.
There is a common scam run on websites (Craig’s List in particular, but not exclusively) whereby properties that are listed for sale with an agent are fraudulently advertised for rent. Typically, the person running the rental ad tells potential renters that they are overseas working (in the armed services or as a missionary, etc.) and they advertise very cheap rent. They ask the potential tenant to send a cashier’s check for the first and last month’s rent and/or a prepayment of several months of rent in exchange for them mailing the keys at a later date. Unfortunately, once your money goes out of the country, there is very little you can do to recover it. These people are very clever; they will access property records and create fake email accounts with the real property owner’s name.
