Best Buys In Ojai/Team Deckert – Our daily blog spotlighting the best in Ojai Valley real estate!

September 24, 2026

Quote of the Day

When one bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made.

~ Anonymous

This Day in History

September 24, 1875: Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time. On this day in 1875, Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning a reputation as an outlaw and murderer and a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders.

The exact details of Billy the Kid’s birth are unknown, other than his name, William Henry McCarty. He was probably born sometime between 1859 and 1861, in Indiana or New York. As a child, he had no relationship with his father and moved around with his family, living in Indiana, Kansas, Colorado and Silver City, New Mexico. His mother died in 1874 and Billy the Kid – who went by a variety of names throughout his life, including Kid Antrim and William Bonney – turned to crime soon afterward.

McCarty did a stint as a horse thief in Arizona before returning to New Mexico, where he hooked up with a gang of gunslingers and cattle rustlers involved in the notorious Lincoln County War between rival rancher and merchant factions in Lincoln County in 1878. Afterward, Billy the Kid, who had a slender build, prominent crooke d front teeth and a love of singing, went on the lam and continued his outlaw’s life, stealing cattle and horses, gambling and killing people. His crimes earned him a bounty on his head and he was eventually captured and indicted for killing a sheriff during the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang for his crime; however, a short time later, he managed another jail break, murdering two deputies in the process. Billy the Kid’s freedom was brief, as Sheriff Pat Garrett caught up with the desperado at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881, and fatally shot him.

Although his life was short, Billy the Kid’s legend grew following his death. Today he is a famous symbol of the Old West, along with such men as Kit Carson, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, and his story has been mythologized and romanticized in numerous films, books, TV shows and songs. Each year, tourists visit the town of Fort Sumner, located about 160 miles southeast of Albuquerque, to see the Billy the Kid Museum and gravesite.

[Some people say he was also fond of whistling sad ballads. – Ray]

Ojai Weather

Mostly sunny – High 91 / Low 58

Total precipitation for the season – .04 inches

Lake Casitas water capacity – 95.4%

Thursday, September 24, 2026

10:00 a.m.

There are four new listings on the market:

1275 Mariano Drive – $1,200,000

505 S. Ventura Street – $1,450,000

909 Grandview Avenue – $1,349,000

2175 Maricopa Highway – $1,295,000

Pic of the Day

I doubt this sign is necessary

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

9:45 a.m.

No new listings have come to market since Friday, but a previously expired listing is back on the market:

501 W. Eucalyptus Street – $1,500,000 (this had expired on 8/31).

Pic of the Day

The Employee of the Year moves into their new office

Friday, September 18, 2026

9:30 a.m.

There are three new listings on the market:

800 Oak Grove Court – $2,495,000

711 Drown Avenue – $1,400,000

1885 Maricopa Highway #17 – $399,000

Pic of the Day

So you say the motorcycle comes *with* the house? Is that set in stone?

Thursday, September 17, 2026

9:45 a.m.

There are no new listings on the market, but a previously expired listing came back on the market:

757 McNell Road – $1,685,000 (this had recently expired on 8/31).

Pic of the Day

“My Momma always said life was like a box of….is it just me, or is it hot out here?”

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

9:45 a.m.

One new listing has come to the market since Friday:

2045 S. Rice Road – $1,639,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

12400 Ojai Santa Paula Road – $3,995,000. (This isn’t new, rather additional acreage was added to the listing that was previously separate.)

Pic of the Day

To sustain its high metabolism, the humminghorse must consume twice its body weight in calories each day.

(I realize this might be a donkey, but “hummingdonkey” didn’t have quite the same ring to it.)

Friday, September 11, 2026

11:15 a.m.

There are four new listings on the market:

479 W. Lomita Avenue – $979,000

601 Foothill Road – $6,200,000

1230 Foothill Road – $2,095,000

(This property was already in escrow when it was listed in the MLS)

Calle Moreno land parcel – $1,200,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

1225 Shippee Lane – $10,900,000 (this had recently been cancelled on 9/8). As of this writing, there are no photos for the current listing. Here’s a link to the old listing that has photos.