Santa Clarita Condos for Sale

What to Consider When Buying a Condo

If you have ever lived in an apartment, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to look for when planning to buy a condo. However, if you've never lived in anything other than a house, there's much to consider. See below a few suggestions about what to look for when searching for a condo.

• Multi Dwelling Structures - Unlike a single family home, when living in a condo you'll have neighbors living next door, separated by a common wall. Depending on where your condo is situated, you could have neighbors above, below and on each side.
• Condos or Townhomes? - Sometimes you will find condos that are more like townhomes or even houses. This can be confusing and it all depends on what the title says. Often, a townhome is a duplex. Usually, a condo building uses common walls to divide up space between multiple residents.
• Size of Units - Nowadays, some newer condos can be quite large, but generally you can expect to find mostly 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom units commonly sized around 1000 sq ft. Look closely at the floor plans. Some architects do a better job than others at making best use of space in smaller units. You'll need to adapt you possessions to fit the available space. Generally, when buying furniture, think smaller.
• Storage Space - In most cases, there is no garage so be sure to verify if a separate, storage cabinet or locker is provided.
• Parking - Parking can be a problem in condo communities. Usually, each resident has at least one covered parking space and perhaps one other space. What about parking for visitors? If visitor parking is important to you, make parking a primary consideration when searching.
• Security - Some condo communities in Santa Clarita are gated and others are not. Add this to your check list.
• Site Maintenance - Look closely at the community and amenities. Everything should look clean and fresh.

Living in Peace and Harmony
In our experience with everything we've seen, the condo communities in Santa Clarita are very well maintained. When visiting communities we notice lots of friendly smiles and residents appear to be enjoying their homes. The crime rate here in SCV is quite low and we have outstanding medical services. We also have plenty of award winning schools.

What if you have a disruptive neighbor?
Unlike an apartment building filled with renters, a condo owner cannot be as easily evicted. Yes, legal action and liens can be taken, but condo owners and their neighbors must depend on each other to live in peace and harmony.

Condominium Communities in Santa Clarita

There are many condo complexes or neighborhoods in the area and little by little we're compiling lists with a map for each location.

• Maps to Condo Complexes in Canyon Country
• Maps to Condo Complexes in Saugus
• Maps to Condo Complexes in Valencia
• Maps to Condo Complexes in Newhall
• Stevenson Ranch - Coming Soon
• Castaic - Coming Soon

The best way is to find condo community locations is by viewing the current condo listings. If you see something you like, contact us for further information about the specific location. Since our family has been here since 1976, we probably have, or can easily find the info you need.

There are a wonderful assortment of condos available throughout all the communities of Santa Clarita but unless you are familiar with the facility, you never quite know what you're getting into until you're moved in. We hope to help you out with that.

We especially like the townhomes in the Village Walk community. Another popular community is at the Villas at Town Center. An old favorite condo community can be found at the Siena Villas. The Madisons and Villas at Town Center are located in the same general area in Valencia, right across the street from the Valencia Town Center. The Siena Villas are just down the street.

Link to Santa Clarita Neighborhoods

See our community page for links to popular areas and neighborhoods of Santa Clarita. Each page contains extensive information about homes for sale, lifestyles and demographics.

Condo Community Amenities

Most condominium buyers expect to live in a well maintained community filled with amenities such as a clubhouse, swimming pools, hot tubs, sport courts, exercise rooms and more. Keep in mind, this is not always true with all communities. In fact, there are a few condo communities in Santa Clarita with none of the above. Usually, there will be a pool, hot tub and perhaps a play ground for the children. If it's a larger complex there may be multiple pool locations.

Don't trust what you read in the condo listing description and always verify the amenities and amounts before making an offer to buy.

Common Areas
Typically, the common areas include the building exteriors, gates, walkways and landscaping throughout the community. Basically, anything except the interior of each condo.

Monthly HOA Dues

When living in any condo complex the monthly HOA dues are usually quite steep, so you'll need to verify exactly what is included. What happens if your unit springs a roof leak or your sink drains are plugged up?

One of the benefits of living in a condo is you don't need to worry about maintaining a yard, roof or the exterior of your home. Generally, the HOA pays for any maintenance or upkeep outside the condo and the residents pay for any repairs or maintenance inside the units.

There are always exceptions and gray areas such as, the air conditioning. Usually the condo owners are responsible for the air conditioning units. All exterior painting, roofing, landscaping, irrigation and security is the responsibility of the homeowner's association.

ALWAYS VERIFY - It's very important to verify the monthly and/or annual HOA costs and exactly what included and what is NOT included. You might be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised.

Home Loans for Condos

Many first time home buyers purchase a condo using FHA financing! This is a great way to keep your downpayment low, to about 3-1/2%. Be sure to verify the entire condo complex is FHA approved BEFORE making an offer to buy. It can be a very frustrating experience to find out the condo of interest is NOT approved for FHA financing. Condo buyers can avoid this roadblock by working with us. We keep a complete list of all FHA approved condos. If we know you intend to utilize FHA financing, we'll show you exactly where to look.

Thankfully, we provide a current and complete list of condos in a communities approved for FHA financing.

More About Condo Financing

By the way, condo facilities must be approved for VA loans too. Also, if there are ongoing litigations with the HOA, that could also affect any type of financing.

There are a number of unique challenges associated with financing any condo and having a proactive real estate agent/lender team can be a tremendous boost. If you are serious about buying a condo, we can help. We have extensive experience providing representation to buyers and sellers and we can help you as well.

Most likely, our first step would be to set you up an introduction and meeting with our popular lending associate. Between both of us, we can develop a strategy to help you find and buy your condo while utilizing the right loan to fit your needs.

Matt & Meray Gregory
661-713.4799
info@gregoryrealestategroup.com