The New Expansion of Luxury Townhomes and Condos in Santa Barbara CA.
Categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Real Estate News, Santa Barbara
In the last 3-5 years, Santa Barbara has seen several small mixed-use style projects consisting of 2-10 residential townhome units sprout up within shouting distance of State Street and the downtown area. Most of these projects finished development before the market started to soften in early 2007 and therefore had no problem finding buyers.
The Paseo Chapala project located on the Corner of Chapala Street and De La Guerra Street was the first major development in the last several years that unfortunately got caught in the downturn of the market and presently still has 7 residential units up for sale. Even with this news, the appeal for developing high-end townhomes and condos in the downtown area does not seem to be subsiding anytime soon.
The newest batch of upscale top notch granite and marble laden townhomes are nearing completion toward the end of 2008 and into early 2009 and are mostly on the larger scale such as Paseo Chapala. The current major projects that are on the horizon are:
- Paseo One located at the corner of Chapala and Gutierrez Streets. This project was taken over by Don Hughes in early 2007. There looks to be 35 units coming up for sale with possibly 7 of these already having been reserved.
- A planned 53-unit development located on the corner of Carrillo and De la Vina streets.
- The roughly 100 units proposed by Bill Wright above Cabrillo Boulevard on the corner of Garden Street and Yanonali.
View Current List of Luxury Condos for Sale in Santa Barbara and Montecito CA.
Although most all of these developments have some form of affordable units, the bread and butter market rate for these upscale projects seem to have price points in the $1.5 Million to $2.75 Million range. The continued proposals for these upscale construction projects seems to indicate that most developers have an optimistic forecast for both business and tourism.
“When the city did the master plan for Chapala Street, they really sent a message to property owners and developers that they wanted to increase the density of mixed-use projects along the Chapala corridor, and the property owners and developers listened,” says Steve Cushman, president of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce.
For many residents, the Chapala style projects make sense where they are: along a main transportation corridor and close to businesses, shopping, entertainment and buses.
“The baby boomers are all starting to retire … and are coming with a pocket full of money,” Cushman said. “They can pay cash for a million dollar condo and that’s what’s happening and is going to continue to happen because Santa Barbara is so popular around the world.” Despite the residential slump in certain areas and price points, developers seem to keep pusing for housing projects located near the downtown corridors.
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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Santa Barbara CA Schools Hard Hit With Budget Cuts
Categories: School Information
Members of the Santa Barbara School Board came together this last week to deal with the unfortunate and hard issue of the historic statewide budget cuts for our public schools. Ethan Stewart wrote an article in The Independent this week that summed up what took place during the meetings. With the magnitude of this issue, KEYT news also has been covering the story as well as shown in this video posting.
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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Are Short Sales a Good Path to Santa Barbara Real Estate Ownership?
Categories: Buyer's Resources, Carpinteria, Goleta, Seller's Resources
At the beginning of 2008, I wrote a few articles about short sales and foreclosures in our local areas here in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria. At that point, we had only seen a handful of foreclosures in our areas and most of these were in the entry level condo market from the $300,000 to $650,000 price point as well as track homes from the $590,000 to $800,000 price point. Short sales were also just starting to creep up in our local areas within the same market and price points.
Now in the last several weeks, we have started to see a definite increase in short sales with many sellers looking at short sales as a great opportunity to attempt to sell their home and many buyers looking at short sales as a great opportunity to get into the market here in the Santa Barbara area.
Here is the Catch: Not all short sales are actually going to be sold…in fact most won’t from what we are seeing. Ruth Simon and James Hagerty have written a very informative article in the Wall Street Journal talking about this fact.
I myself have now represented both buyers and sellers with short sales here in that last few months and here is what I can recommend:
1) You have to be patient. Start to finish can take 3-4 months or more and offer many headaches.
2) Look at what the seller currently owes on the property. If they currently owe a lot more than the asking price (for example $650,000 and they are trying to sell if for $550,000 and you write an offer for $500,000), most likely the investor that buys up the loan from the lender will not accept your offer.
3) There is a definite difference if the seller has only a 1st or a 1st and a 2nd on the property or has refinanced the property or owns the property as a second home / investment.
4) If you are currently an active buyer, continue to look at properties for sale and don’t just count on the one property that you have an offer in on if it is a short sale. You don’t want to pass up 6-10 weeks of properties coming on the market to then learn that your offer is not going to be accepted.
If you have any questions…I would be happy to talk and share what I know.
Further Reading: Any Great Short Sale Opportunites in Santa Barbara and Goleta CA?
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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The Positives of FHA Loans Here in the Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria Areas
Categories: Buyer's Resources, First-time Home Buyers
Here is a great list of positives about an FHA mortgage that I picked up from First Capital that I felt buyers should know about…
- Common sense underwriting
- Maximum loan amount $729,750
- No declining market appraisal issues. Lenders are not reducing the loan to value if a home is in a “declining market” whereas all traditional loan programs are being cut by 5% loan to value
- Buyer can put as little as 3% down of which all may be gifted
- Seller may contribute 6% credit to buyer - 3% for closing cost and 3 % for down payment
- Buyer may not need money out of pocket with some assistance programs
- An employer / parent may co-sign and qualify for the loan as a non-owner occupant co-borrower
- Flaws in credit history are allowable
- Debt to income ratio of 31% / 43% or higher
- Interest rates are generally at or below market - full documentation required for most loans
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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Santa Barbara Luxury Property Sales Continue to Set Records Year After Year
Categories: Montecito, Real Estate News, Santa Barbara
One market that has not been effected by all the negative national news with regards to the credit crisis and sub-prime fallout is the high-end homes and luxury estates in Montecito and Santa Barbara CA, particularly along the coastline.
This high-end real estate market is referred to as property sales in excess of $10 Million.
To illustrate the pace and volume of these sales, I have included some statistics below that show the year over year increase in sales.
- 2002 reported in the MLS approximately $42 Million in sales
- 2003 reported in the MLS approximately $65 Million in sales
- 2004 reported in the MLS approximately $72 Million in sales
- 2005 reported in the MLS approximately $94 Million in sales
- 2006 reported in the MLS approximately $219 Million in sales
- 2007 reported in the MLS approximately $255 Million in sales
View Current Montecito and Santa Barbara listings of high-end properties in excess of $10 Million
In my humble opinion, having traveled much of the world, Santa Barbara will always rank as one of the most beautiful places to live. Once you arrive here it is not hard to understand this conviction. Seemingly encapsulated in a relatively perfect maritime climate, Santa Barbara is an oceanfront resort like community with wonderful architecture, clean air and limited traffic, long stretches of gorgeous and accessible coastline and an abundance of outdoor activity including surfing, golfing, hiking, rock climbing, sailing, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking and much more. For people wanting more than just an active community, Santa Barbara also boasts a wonderful mix of art, culture, live performances and dining.
On the real estate side of the equation, this quality of life that Santa Barbara and Montecito offers will continue to drive high-end property values. What the above statistics simply show is that the wealthy have located Santa Barbara and Montecito as a desirable place to both live and own property. Movie stars, industry titans and the newly rich circulate around Santa Barbara without attracting much attention and without dressing up. Multi-millionaires are able to maintain a relatively private existence here that can often allude them in other areas. This along with Santa Barbara and Montecito resident’s casualness to this vast wealth is part of the allure for the wealthy.
Further Reading: The Secret of Santa Barbara and Montecito CA Oceanfront Property and Estates, The Luxury of Santa Barbara and Montecito Oceanfront Real Estate, Montecito CA Homes For Sale - Market Update March 2008
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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Search the Santa Barbara, Montecito and Goleta CA MLS for Free
Categories: Buyer's Resources, Goleta, Montecito, Santa Barbara, Seller's Resources
Searching the Santa Barbara, Montecito and Goleta area MLS is now easy and free. 
More and more buyers and sellers are wanting to start there search for real estate on the Internet, in the own comfort and privacy of their homes. If you are looking for the MLS here in Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta CA and surrounding areas, you have found the right place.
SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice provides you with all the tools you need to start your information gathering about real estate in our area for free, with no obligations or sign-ups. You can search via any of the single criteria below as well as any combination of criteria:
- price
- cities as well as neighborhoods
- style of housing (condo / single family etc.)
- beds and baths
- schools
- zip codes
If you see any homes of interest, you can request information about the particular listing(s). After searching on your own, if you would like to then be personally set up to receive listings as soon as they are listed in the MLS that meet only your specific needs, contact me as well or sign up.
Further Reading: Search the Santa Barbara MLS and More
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Who Else Wants to Buy Into Montecito CA Real Estate?
Categories: Market Statistics / Updates, Montecito
I was not real surprised when I saw this latest chart of real estate values here in Montecito CA., but sometimes you do have to just sit back and be in awe. The Pacific coastal gem that we know as Montecito CA continues to impress with ever increasing real estate values. Framed by coastal mountains and gorgeous beaches, the lifestyle here in Montecito offers its residents wonderful cultural entertainment, plenty of outdoor recreational activities, fine dining, warm weather, ocean breezes, sunsets and an overall relaxed atmosphere.
Montecito real estate is filled with grand and luxurious estates, many of which were inspired by the architecture and homes that are found in the countries of France, Spain, and Italy.
If you are interested in learning more about Montecito CA and all that it has to offer, please feel free to contact me.
View Current Inventory in Montecito CA for Prices $ 10 Million and Above.
View Current Inventroy in Montecito CA for Prices $ 5 - 10 Million.
View Current Inventory in Montecito CA for Prices up to $ 5 Million.
Kevin Schmidtchen - 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.
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