California's Ventura County includes seashore communities and bedroom communities that are building out into farmland.

Ventura

"Located by the sea, about an hour north of Los Angeles and just below Santa Barbara," says Realtor Micki Greco Shillito. "You will find seaside cottages, hillside ocean view homes, condo/townhomes, mobile home parks, and country homes. Small town living- yet close to everything."

Shillito continues, "I attended a seminar yesterday where the speaker noted the market may be fraying a bit. I thought that was an interesting comment and perhaps he's right. But,he also talked about this being a strong investor market. I have personally seen this. Stock market investors have pulled funds from their stock portfolios and are investing in income property. Whether condo or single family house or 1 to 4 units, Ventura has become the place to invest. The good news is that a starter condo can still be found under $200,000.00 and homes can still be found near the $300,000.00 price range, depending on the area. But no matter what price range you are in, Ventura makes for a good investment, as I see it."

She advises, "Because properties are selling within days of coming on the market and usually have multiple offers, seller's agents are requiring that prequalification letters from your lender accompany any offer you may make. A prequalification letter states that the loan officer has received your paperwork, run a credit check and has approved you for a loan up to a certain amount which will need to be stated in the letter. If you have a house to sell before you can purchase, I would suggest you begin that process. Getting a seller to take a house sale contingency is quite difficult if not impossible today. However, if your house is already in escrow, a seller may be willing to accept this as a contingency. It will really depend on how your offer compares to other offers coming in. And this is key, how do you make your offer stand out!"

East Ventura County

Realtors Dennis and Meg Chobanian say the Chobanians, "Moorpark is a town becoming a city. Growth is coming to this area as it expands to the south with quality homes and facilities. This is a bedroom community replacing it's agricultural past. A good place to settle and grow with."

"The cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks regularly trade the distinction of being the "Safest City" in the USA, as determined by FBI statistics," say the Chobanians. "The surrounding areas of Santa Rosa Valley, Somis, and Moorpark also enjoy quality life-styles. The variety of properties available; hillside, valley, urban, country, agricultural, horse/ranch, estate & private enclaves, including blends of these give a very desirable "flavor" to this eastern-most area of Ventura County."

Advise the Chobanians, "Area real estate prices, unit sales, population, employment, are all up. An important indicator, mortgage interest rates, have recently started to move up. While not a good trend, they are still near their historical lows. Residential building's low activity levels and high variance make these stats vague. Seek out a REALTOR® in the location that interests you to get focused insight on the specific activity in that area. The limited supply of available homes in combination with other factors makes this a seller's market. Yet many owners are not selling, preferring to "sit tight" avoid and yet benefit from upward housing prices. This puts the home buyer in the position of having to act with precision and decision make the best of current trends work in their favor."

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Published: October 28, 2002

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