What Mistakes Do Homeowners Make When Selling Their Home in Santa Maria CA?

"I should fix it up first, then call an agent." It sounds sensible, and it's often the most expensive sentence in the whole sale.

With 179 homes for sale in October, up from 109 last November, buyers can afford to be picky. So your mistakes cost more than they did a year ago. Here are the four I'd watch for.

If some of the paperwork terms are new to you, my plain-English guide to real estate terms explains them.

Many Santa Maria homes were built between the 1950s and 1980s. Sellers look at the old kitchen and think that's the problem. Often a buyer cares more about the roof, the electrical panel, the plumbing, or what's under the house.

I like to walk your home as a contractor before you spend anything. If you're open to it, you get a Fix/Skip list, so your money goes only where it changes your price or protects your sale.

The MLS has Orcutt addresses filed under Santa Maria, and those homes made up about a third of the area's sales last year. So a "Santa Maria median" of $683,750 blends a Bradley Square home with a custom home in the Orcutt hills.

Online estimates pull from the same mix. Ask for the recent sales that truly compare to your home, within your part of town.

Santa Maria has plenty of manufactured homes, and they follow different rules. Whether you own the land or rent a space changes who can buy, how they finance it, and what it's worth.

House comps won't get you there, so I look at manufactured-home sales, not house sales. Here's how I sell manufactured and mobile homes.

The median hit $710,000 in June and came in at $683,750 in October. Homes that sold in May averaged 26.5 days on the market, and October's averaged 43. A neighbor's spring sale may have faced a very different field of competition than you will.

Sellers who price right are still doing well, at 99.3% of list price in October. Your price has to reflect the homes on the market now, not the ones that sold in May.

Start with the walkthrough, not the to-do list. You'll know what to fix, what to skip, and what you'd net. Your EPIC Report gives you three prices with the tradeoff of each spelled out, so you can pick the plan that fits your move.

I'm Lisa Bognuda with Move805, a REALTOR® and licensed general contractor. See more about living and selling in Santa Maria.

You stay in control of the final decision. Call or text me at (805) 868-6126, or send me a note here.

Numbers are residential sales from my local MLS, November 2025 through October 2026, pulled November 4, 2026. MLS records update, so ask me for the current figures on your street.