It took four years, but one family finally achieved their dream of buying a home in Loomis.

“The search was a bit frustrating. We just waited until the time was right,” said new resident Elena Wilson.

“It has everything that we need,” said her husband, Dave.

The Wilson family, who owned a Rocklin home that was in the Loomis Union School District, had dreamed of owning their own spread where their three boys could run and where they could have animals.

Inflated real estate prices kept the family hunting for years until recently when they purchased a bank-owned Loomis home on five acres that included a barn, pool, fruit trees and even a chicken coop. The Wilson’s got a good deal on the bank repo, but a major renovation was required before they could move into the neglected home.

“The house needed a lot of work, but it has good bones,” said Elena.

Dave said he worked on a lot of the remodel himself. He and his brother-in-law, Britton Brown of Ophir, put new wood flooring in the house. The home also underwent a kitchen and master bath remodel, plumbing and electrical work.

“I was raised in Ophir, so having property again is great,” Dave said.

Kari Jo Clark is a local Realtor who partners with her Realtor mom, Gail Hargus.

“The long overdue adjustment period in the real estate market is being drawn out by short sales and foreclosures,” Clark said.

Clark said there are deals to be had and that the investment buyers and those looking to refurbish and “flip” homes have returned to the market. Those buyers tend to look for distressed homes to purchase, she said. Homes that are not distressed are also competitively priced.

In October of 2008, Clark was the Realtor on the purchase of a $3 million, 8,500-square-foot home in Loomis, which garnered the highest sales price in Placer County in the last 24 months. According to Clark, 15 Loomis homes have sold in 2009 with prices ranging from $99,000 to $1.45 million.

Mortgage broker Ed Wacaster, a member of Placer County Association of Realtors, said the good news is that there is a lot of loan money available. But those loans are provided by fewer investors, since many of the financial institutions went out of business or have quit their wholesale loan division. He said there has also been a “tightening up in the underwriting guideline.”

He said the creative financing options are gone, as are loans to those with low credit ratings. Those seeking to purchase real estate as an investment for rental, now have to show that they can afford to pay both mortgages, whether there is a renter or not, Wacaster explained.

“What we saw was that people were purchasing second homes saying they were going to rent them, then they’d move into it themselves and default on their original mortgage.

“The bright news is that the Sacramento area is supposedly the second hottest real estate market in the country. I think we’re starting to tip up, we hit bottom, now investors are coming in and buying homes,” he said.

The Wilson family continues to work on their new dream home. Soon, they’ll get baby chicks for the coop and they can’t wait to harvest fruit off of their own trees.

Loomis home sales as of 4/17/2009:

Total 2009: 26

Range: $99,000-$1.3 million

Now for sale: 63

Range: $159,000-$2.5 million

Pending sales: 22

Current short sales: 24

Placer County highest sales price in 24 months: Loomis home for $3 million in Oct. 2008

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of three stories on the impact the economic downturn is having in the Loomis Basin.