Buying a home in Santa Maria

A flood zone adds a permit and an elevation certificate

The City adopted FEMA's flood insurance study and rate map for Santa Maria by reference, and inside the areas they mark it requires a development permit before any construction begins. A new home or a substantial improvement there has its bottom floor, basement included, at or above the base flood elevation. When the work is done an engineer or surveyor certifies that elevation, or the City's building inspector verifies it. Those steps belong in the budget and the timeline of a build or a major remodel on such a lot.

Sources:City of Santa Maria Municipal Code, chapter 9-68, flood damage preventionFEMA Flood Map Service Center, Santa Maria

The State's fire map is new to the city

The State Fire Marshal's map of local responsibility areas places two small Moderate zones inside the city, near the Santa Maria River and near the airport, and nothing High or Very High. The City's Fire Department told residents the State requires the City to recognize those areas by ordinance within a set period. Outside the city limits the same map shows unincorporated land, some of it unzoned local responsibility area and some of it State responsibility area carrying the State's own zones.

Sources:City of Santa Maria Fire Department, letter to residents on fire zone designationsState Fire Marshal, fire hazard severity zone map

An accessory dwelling unit here is a long-term rental

The Community Development Director approves an ADU or junior ADU that meets the City's standards ministerially, with a building permit and no hearing. The unit may be rented only for thirty days or more, it may not be sold apart from the main home, and a junior unit requires the owner to live in one of the two. The City charges no development impact fee on an ADU under its floor-area threshold, and its Building Division is assembling a list of City-reviewed ADU plans for homeowners to choose from.

Sources:City of Santa Maria Municipal Code, chapter 12-56, accessory dwelling unitsCity of Santa Maria, Building DivisionCity of Santa Maria, information sheet on its program of ADU plans reviewed in advance

Outside USDA's eligible area

USDA's map marks the city ineligible for its single-family housing programs, so a USDA loan is not among the options on an address inside the city limits. USDA says viewing the map is not a final determination of a property's eligibility, which is why an address near the city's edge still gets its own check.

Sources:USDA Rural Development, property eligibility map

Pre-qualification letter in Santa Maria

When you write an offer in Santa Maria, the listing agent reads your pre-qualification letter for the program it names and whether that program fits the house and the price. The first line to know is the county's: Santa Barbara County has its own conforming limit, so a price above it means your letter names a jumbo loan rather than a conventional one. A home inside one of FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Areas along the Santa Maria River or the city's channels comes under the federal flood insurance purchase requirement, so a flood premium sits in the payment a lender counts. The City also requires a development permit for new work there. The State Fire Marshal's Moderate zones inside the city are two small areas, near the river and near the airport, so for most addresses the fire map is not what changes your letter. USDA's map marks the city ineligible, so a letter here does not name a USDA loan. If you serve at Vandenberg Space Force Base, your letter can name a VA loan on a home you will live in. Our letter states the program and the amount your file supports, and it says plainly that it is not a commitment to lend.

Sources:FHFA conforming loan limits by countyFEMA Flood Map Service Center, Santa MariaUnited States Code, title 42, section 4012a, flood insurance purchase requirementHUD regulations, 24 CFR 203.16a, flood insurance on an FHA-insured mortgageCity of Santa Maria Municipal Code, chapter 9-68, flood damage preventionCity of Santa Maria Fire Department, letter to residents on fire zone designationsUSDA Rural Development, property eligibility mapVandenberg Space Force Base, directions to the main gate

More about pre-qualification letter

Investment property in Santa Maria

A DSCR loan is qualified on rent, and in Santa Maria the City's ADU chapter decides what rent an accessory unit can earn you. The unit may be rented only for thirty days or longer, so the rent a lender counts is a tenant's lease rent, not a nightly rate. The unit cannot be sold apart from the lot and the main home, so it adds to one property rather than becoming a second one. On a lot with an existing multifamily building, the City allows converted units inside space that is not living area and a limited number of detached units, no more than the units already standing. That is one way a duplex or fourplex here adds a rentable door with a building permit and no hearing. A junior unit is different: the owner has to live in either the house or the unit, which rules it out for a property you will not occupy. The City's Building Division is also assembling a list of City-reviewed ADU plans that a homeowner can select and build under a building permit.

Sources:City of Santa Maria Municipal Code, chapter 12-56, accessory dwelling unitsCity of Santa Maria, Building DivisionCity of Santa Maria, information sheet on its program of ADU plans reviewed in advance

More about investment property