No More Zoning Report Needed for Condos / Townhomes in the City of Santa Barbara

As of January 1st, 2011, the City of Santa Barbara no longer requires a zoning report for condos and/or townhomes located within the city limits.  This is a big change with regards to real estate transactions. What is a Zoning Report? For each real estate transaction within the city of Santa Barbara, the seller is required to get a zoning report to give to the prospective buyer.  The goal of the zoning report is to see if there have been any illegal additions and/or... Continue Reading >

March 2011 Santa Barbara County Real Estate Market Update – Pulse of the Market

Here are the latest statistics for the real estate market with regards to median and average list price vs. sales price.  It is a good informative graph that presents in a few different ways the amount of sales here in Santa Barbara.  If you have further questions and / or would like to see some different graphs on your particular neighborhood, please feel free to be in touch.    Further Reading: Sotheby's Int'l Realty - Santa Barbara and Montecito Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood... Continue Reading >

San Roque Real Estate Update – Santa Barbara CA.

Where are we with the real estate market in the San Roque Neighborhood here in Santa Barbara CA? Here is a good overall update for San Roque here in the last 12 months. Current Inventory As of today there are a total of 26 Active Listings for Sale ranging from $420,000 to $1.75 million.  Of these 26 listings, 7 are condos and 19 are single family homes. As of today there are a total of 12 Pending Sales ranging from $550,000 to $2.1 million.  Of... Continue Reading >

What is the Pulse of Real Esate Here on The Mesa in Santa Barbara?

How is the real estate market in The Mesa Neighborhood here in Santa Barbara CA? Here is a good overall update for The Mesa Neighborhood here in the last 12 months. Current Inventory As of today there are a total of 18 Active Listings for Sale on The Mesa ranging from $499,000 to $3.95 million.  Of these 18 listings, 3 are condos and 15 are single family homes. As of today there are a total of 6 Pending Sales ranging from $720,000 to $1.2 million.  Of these 6 listings, all are... Continue Reading >

Low “Good Inventory” in The Heart of The Montecito Real Estate Market

Where is all the "Good Inventory" in Montecito?  This is what a lot of agents and their clients are asking themselves with regards to the guts of the Montecito Real Estate market right now.  These days the entry level price for getting into Montecito real estate is around $1.1 to $1.6 million.  There are a few lower priced homes that come on the market, but only here and there and often these are almost "tear downs" or smaller older homes on or right... Continue Reading >

Are You an Expert Real Estate Agent in Santa Barbara? Know Your Community!!

Be a True Real Estate Expert! When looking for a great real estate agent, most buyers and sellers are not looking for someone to simply guide them through the A to Z process of paper work when it comes to real estate.  This is in fact simply a given...but buyers and sellers (especially out of town buyers and sellers) are mostly looking to their agent as a knowledge source of the local schools, the local cultural scene, the "good and great"... Continue Reading >

Happy Homeowners Around the Miramar Hotel in Montecito?

The latest "New Miramar Hotel Plan" has been recently approved by the County this last week.  Current owner of the property, Rick Caruso went back to the board with a reduced size after getting approval from the Montecito Planning Commission earlier this year.  After hearing comments from the board and the community, Mr. Caruso essentially took the following steps...eliminated the tennis court, reduced the gross square feet of the project by 120,000, reduced the total rooms from 192 to 186... Continue Reading >

February 2011 CORT Reports for Santa Barbara and Montecito Real Estate CA.

Here are the latest CORT reports for the Santa Barbara and Montecito area for the month of February 2011. Further Reading: Sotheby's Int'l Realty - Santa Barbara and Montecito Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood Specialist? Articles on Luxury Real Estate Articles on The Oceanfront Areas Articles for Foreign Buyers/Sellers Sotheby's Int'l Realty Tops in Sales 2010 Thank you for reading.  I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any thoughts. For more information on... Continue Reading >

How Difficult Is It To Get A Loan These Days To Buy A Home? It Depends…Really

So where are we with lending these days?  The answer to this question is obviously now a huge part of real estate and has become for many the provincial thorn in the side with regards to a real estate transaction.  We all read plenty of stories online, in the newspapers and magazines and hear our fair share of first hand accounts about the realities of lending these days.  So here are my 2 cents based on personal experience with clients... Continue Reading >

Most Significant Luxury Montecito and Santa Barbara Real Estate Sales in 2011…So Far

2011 has started off the year once again with the upper end of our market feeling fairly active.  There seem to be a bunch of buyers looking around above the $3 million price point, with several homes going into escrow.  So far in 2011, we have had our share of significant closed sales here in the upper end in Montecito, Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria. Montecito Sales 770 San Ysidro Lane, Montecito CA 93108.  Listed price $6,300,000.  Sales price $5,650,000. This 6... Continue Reading >

Santa Barbara Real Estate Cort Reports January 2011 – Santa Barbara and Montecito

Here are the latest CORT reports for the Santa Barbara real estate market for the areas of Santa Barbara proper and Montecito CA.  Further Reading: Sotheby's Int'l Realty - Santa Barbara and Montecito Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood Specialist? Articles on Luxury Real Estate Articles on The Oceanfront Areas Articles for Foreign Buyers/Sellers Sotheby's Int'l Realty Tops in Sales 2010 Thank you for reading.  I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any... Continue Reading >

So What Does $1 Million Buy You in Today’s Santa Barbara Real Estate Market?

As the Santa Barbara real estate market has come down in price over the last few years, it is interesting to now compare certain benchmark price points such as what $500,000 buys or $ 1 million or $2 million etc. Overall in the last 12 months we have been relatively stable on prices with a small overall drop...so there has not been a huge change in the last 12 months.  Nothing at least compared to 2007 - 2009 where we dropped... Continue Reading >