As a Realtor and a local landlord, I've never had a vacancy problem in Santa Maria. And, most of the landlords I deal with do not report a vacancy problem in the local area. The military base provides an excellent and constant source of renters.

When I google this question, I come up with between 3 - 4% vacancy rate in Santa Maria/Orcutt per bestplaces, and AOL real estate. DataPlace puts this as high as 4.4%, for the entire County, and rates it as a low vacancy area: http://www.dataplace.org/area_overview/?place=x69424

And rates in Santa Maria are estimated at being even lower at 3.2%: http://www.dataplace.org/area_overview/Santa%20Maria,%20CA

Hope this helps. If you are thinking of buying a rental, I'd be happy to assist you.

Please check out my bio at: http://tnileblanc.com,
or search for properties on my site: http://SantaMariaRealEstateSearch.com,
or check market info on my blog: http://SantaMariaRealEstateBlog.com

Tni LeBlanc
Broker/Owner
Mint Properties
2880 Santa Maria Way, Suite D8
Santa Maria, CA 93455
(805) 938-9950
tni@mintprop.com