Santa Barbara is pretty perfect. But don’t take my word for it. Check out what Rob Lowe, Andrew Firestone, Cat Cora, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Shaun Tomson, Zach Gill (go Falcons!), and Jay Ferguson say is their perfect day in Santa Barbara.
Just closed escrow on this income property in downtown Santa Barbara, near by Cottage Hospital. The property has 2 homes on the lot – the front home is a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom, and the back unit is a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom. There is also a 2 car garage, laundry room, and nicely manicured lawn between the units. This was a short sale, and my buyers had been under contract since last September 2012! We were not getting cooperation from the sellers or the listing agent throughout the entire transaction. It was a nightmare. But in the end, my buyers were troopers and they stuck through the difficulties, and ended up getting a great deal on this income property. They closed at $675,000 and the property brings $4,125 in monthly rental income.
I listed this stylish Contemporary home in Montecito and within 10 days, I had 3 all cash offers. It was listed at $3,200,000 and sold for $3,450,000. We closed escrow in 2 weeks. Boom!
This market has changed a lot since last year. Inventory is slim, and buyer demand is very high. This is creating multiple offer situations and bidding wars with many listings that come on the market. Follow these 5 steps to prepare and give yourself the best shot at getting your offer accepted.
1. Talk to a lender – get prequalified at the least. Better yet, get pre-approved. This will make less work for you and your lender down the road. And it will give you a very clear sense of your affordability, monthly payments, etc. You will also know the strongest offer you can comfortably make in a multiple offer situation.
2. Review the Purchase Contract even before finding a property to write an offer on - spend some time with your agent and review the contract because in many cases you will need to get an offer together quickly. I’ve been with clients showing them property at 3 PM and find out the seller is reviewing offers at 5PM that evening. It’s much easier to stomach putting an offer together quickly if you’ve already familiarized yourself with a contract.
3. Follow listings on a web portal - ask your agent for access to the MLS portal so you can follow listings in your price range. The more houses you see, the better informed your decision when writing an offer. Because these listings are selling fast, you’ll feel more comfortable and confident writing a quick offer if you’ve been keeping tabs on the market. You’ll also educate yourself on values. Some agents are drastically under-pricing listings (i.e. seller is facing imminent foreclosure), which will ultimately create a bidding war and the accepted offer will be well above the listed price. This can be disconcerting for buyers who don’t understand why a full asking price offer won’t get it done. If you follow the market and inventory, then you will know yourself when a listing is under-priced, over-priced, or correctly priced. Sites like Zillow and Trulia can be used to follow listings; however, they tend to not be 100% accurate. If you’re gonna use these sites, use them in conjunction with a MLS portal account to check accuracy of data.
4. Don’t just focus on new listings - look at listings that have been sitting on the market, or that have just fallen out of escrow. You’ll eliminate the frenzy, and might be able to negotiate with a motivated seller.
5. Find out the details of the listing - who is the seller? how are they handling offers? what terms are they looking for? In a competitive situation, you will want to cater your offer to the seller’s preferences as much as you can, so they look at your offer more favorably than the others.
Extra Credit - Do as Mitt Romney said and ask your parents for money. You’re competing with cash buyers/investors in many of these cases. Beef up your funds and strengthen your offers.
To call the views breathtaking would be an understatement! Even my photoshopped pictures don’t do the views justice. You really have to be there to experience the dramatic ocean and island views shimmering from virtually every room. At dusk, be mesmerized as the sun sets over the Santa Barbara Harbor.
Located in the premier Pepper Hill neighborhood of Montecito, this stylish Contemporary home enjoys peaceful, secluded privacy on approximately 1.01 acres. The home offers a generous 6,200+/- square feet of living space. The East Wing offers two master suites and four additional bedrooms are in the West Wing. 5 fireplaces add to the warm, cozy ambiance. There is also central A/C to cool you in the summer. This gracious house also boasts an astounding room (upstairs) which could be used as a media room, screening room or dance & exercise facility. The West Wing also includes a “Nanny suite” or guest quarters. Relax by the pool for expansive “birds-eye” views of the city and harbor below. This home is spectacular for entertaining!
The blend of panoramic views coupled with convenience is a rare find in Montecito. Pepper Hill enjoys close proximity to all that Montecito offers – just minutes from the Upper and Lower Village, as well as shopping and fine dining along Coast Village Road. In addition, the world-famous Four Seasons Biltmore Resort, Coral Casino and Butterfly Beach are mere minutes away. Offered at $3,200,000.
This is a sad day for Santa Barbara. Not only was Barry Berkus one of the most accomplished architects in Santa Barbara (and one of the top 100 best architects in the world according to Architectural Digest), but he gave so much to our local community. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak about architecture and design, and his thoughts on how Santa Barbara “should be” in the future. We then shared a table for lunch and talked about some of the micro apartments in Europe, boats, sailing, etc. He had such a pleasant demeanor, and was never condescending or pretentious; just an overall great guy. He will be sorely missed by the Santa Barbara community. Here is some of his work around SB:
Padaro Lane home
Just Sold this extensively remodeled bungalow in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. First time buyers – nurse at Cottage Hospital and a paramedic Important people to keep in the community. Sold for $499,000.
Just Sold this 1960s Upper East home, just below the Santa Barbara Mission and Rose Gardens. 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, with a spacious 3,250 square feet of living space.The house looks straight off the set of Mad Men #throwback . Couple moved from Monterey to get away from the cold mornings. They love the Santa Barbara weather! Sold for $1,575,000.
Last weekend was the annual Santa Barbara International Marathon & 1/2 Marathon. Thousands of people came from all over the country, as well as overseas, to fill the streets and run their hearts out. The race started at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta and ended at Santa Barbara City College near downtown. I got a call 24 hours before the race. My buddy’s relay team had someone drop out last minute. So they call me (who has done zero training since the Carpinteria Triathlon back in Sept) to run the longest leg (9 miles) of the relay. I warned them that I was not in running shape, but for them, I was a better option than being booted from the race. So I did it. And it hurt. And my legs still hurt. But it was an awesome experience, especially since I’d never done the SB Marathon before. Maybe next year I’ll actually train, and try to catch the Kenyan dude who always wins…(yeah right).
smoke plume seen from Funk Zone in Santa Barbara
As I was leaving an appointment in downtown Santa Barbara, on my way to vote, I saw something that instantly made my stomach drop. It’s only been a few years since the devastating Tea Fire and Jesusita Fire ripped through Santa Barbara and Montecito. It’s still fresh in our minds. So seeing the plumes of smoke made me understandably anxious. As I got to my polling station on the Upper Village of Montectio, I saw people standing in the parking lot looking at the smoke grow. Now the flames were visible. It looked to be on the Cold Springs Trail (a very popular hiking trail in Montecito). As the story developed, we learned that there were hikers on the trail, trapped by the fire, but they managed to get to safety. The fire scorched about 3 acres of brush, and luckily that was it. Big thanks to our firefighters for their quick response to the blaze. There is a suspect in the fire who is in custody and will be questioned.
View from Upper Village in Montecito. Helicopter flying over the fire
