Archive for February, 2008
Santa Barbara Neighborhoods - San Roque
categories: San Roque Neighborhood
San Roque - Santa Barbara
Few residential neighborhoods of Santa Barbara can boast the rich historical background of the San Roque and Rutherford Park areas. Ten thousand years ago the area, bounded by Ontare Road, Foothill Road, Alamar Avenue and State Street, was an open expanse of treeless grassland, sloping up to the knees of the foothills and bisected by the jungled course of San Roque Canyon. Now a built-up, economically stabilized suburb, it is admired for its sweeping curved streets, its luxuriant landscaping, and its harmonious blend of many architectural themes - Spanish Colonial, English Tudor, French Normandy, California Redwood, Italian and American Colonial, mostly built since 1925. San Roque features older, custom homes with charm. For many, San Roque is Santa Barbara’s quintessential family neighborhood. The entire area is relatively flat and great for walking or biking. Most homes have views of the mountains.
Learn more about San Roque, San Roque Schools and San Roque Real Estate
Further Reading: The New Expansion of Luxury Townhomes and Condos in Santa Barbara CA., Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - Samarkand, Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - The Mesa, Santa Barbara Neighborhoods - The Upper East, Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood Specialist in My Area?, Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtors…Santa Barbara and Montecito CA., Santa Barbara Homes for Sale with a Good WalkScore, Search the Santa Barbara MLS and More, The 2 Major First Steps in Buying a Home in Santa Barbara CA.
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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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California State and Regional Home Sales and Price Information for 2007
categories: Market Statistics / Updates
The C.A.R. (California Association of Realtor) today reported a snapshot of their statistical information for homes sales here in California for 2007. From what I understand, most of this information is collected from a group of around 90 Realtor Associations statewide.
Further Reading about Market Statistics and Updates for the Santa Barbara Area
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
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Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - Mission Canyon
categories: Mission Canyon Neighborhood
Mission Canyon
- Santa Barbara
Mission Canyon, which with the Old Mission complex and the area bounded on the south by Mission Street, making up Santa Barbara’s “Mission District,” is unique. No residential neighborhood in the city boasts a richer historical background, or offers more relics and landmarks of Old Spanish Days Fr. Junipero Serra, when he helped found the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara in 1782, intended Santa Barbara’s Franciscan mission to be built in El Montecito near the present site of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church on East Valley Road. But four years later, when his successor, Fr. Fermin Lasuen OFM, arrived to establish our mission, he decided that Montecito was too infested with grizzly bears and renegade Indians to risk building a mission so far removed from the protection of the presidio soldiers, so he looked elsewhere.
Learn more about Mission Canyon, Mission Canyon Real Estate, Mission Canyon Schools
Further Reading: Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - The Mesa, Santa Barbara CA Neighborhoods - San Roque, Santa Barbara Neighborhoods - The Upper East, Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood Specialist in My Area?, Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtors…Santa Barbara and Montecito CA., Dreaming of Ocean View Homes and Estates in the Santa Barbara and Montecito Areas, Santa Barbara Homes for Sale with a Good WalkScore, Search the Santa Barbara MLS and More, The 2 Major First Steps in Buying a Home in Santa Barbara CA.
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
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How Green is Your Santa Barbara Home…and Realtor?
categories: Green Living, Santa Barbara Architecture
As the Santa Barbara real estate market has slowed in the last 18 months, it makes sense that some Realtors are trying to stand out with niche marketing efforts. One of these niches seems to be Realtors marketing themselves as eco-friendly and green. While I am 100% supportive for anyone with an eye on environmentally conscious action (real estate or otherwise), make sure your Realtor is not using ”basic green talk” as cursory knowledge of green building simply as a marketing ploy in a tougher market.
Again, I loudly applaud any Realtor that is going out of their way to learn about solar, energy-efficient appliances, geo-thermal pumps, earth friendly design and products, improving indoor air quality, tax credits for energy saving improvements from a homeowner etc. I think intuitively that people who share strong values of being environmentally and socially responsible will often align themselves with others that share the same beliefs. If these beliefs are then shared amongst parties involved in a real estate transaction, all the better.
For myself as a Realtor, I try to promote all that I can about green building and am always trying to learn more and understand what truly constitutes green with respect to real estate. Our industry needs to follow suit with a lot of other industries that are now making strides with sustaining our environment. Example: If a client buys a home that has older wood floors that can be easily sanded and refinished, doing this is in my eyes is potentially more green than buying new Bamboo flooring. At first thought, many people respond that Bamboo is a rapidly renewable material and therefore promotes green development. Yes, but if this is shipped all the way across the world from China, the “greener decision” would probably be to just sand the old wood floors.
As a start for everyone, some of the most basic green actions you can take as a homeowner are using non-toxic paint, trying to used locally sourced materials if you are remodeling (hopefully recycled), adding insulation, installing quality good windows, and using energy efficient appliances and light bulbs.
Further Reading: Green Living, Are $5 Gas Prices Effecting Santa Barbara CA Realtors and/or Their Clients?, Santa Barbara Leads the Way in Greenhouse Gas Emission Studies, Here is a Method that is Helping Make Santa Barbara More Eco-Friendly, 5 Easy Tips to Free Up Your Time and Vanish Your Junk Mail, Santa Barbara Races Ahead on Energy Efficient Real Estate Construction Guidelines
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Tour of California comes to Santa Barbara Again
categories: Lifestyle / Things to Do, Santa Barbara
Once again the Amgen Tour of California will make its way to the Santa Barbara area, with the individual time trial this Friday the 22nd of February in Solvang and the beginning of stage six starting in Santa Barbara the following day.
Many locals are extatic each year to see the race come through our neighborhoods. Over the last many years with the fame of Lance Armstrong, the Santa Barbara area has become a biking destination and training area for many professional riders. I myself have viewed the race twice and was overly impressed. One year we lined oursleves on the sprint down in front of Shoreline Park and were truly overwhelmed at the speeds reached. Another great aspect of the race is the few hours preceding the start of the stage the following morning. You can gather down on Cabrillo Boulevard and for the most part engage riders with some small talk and questions, gaze at equipment, take some pictures and simply experience a good amount of what goes on with the team’s preparations.
The time trial begins at noon on Friday and is expected to take most riders about three hours to complete.
The 105-mile stage six of the tour is a long stage beginning in Santa Barbara on Cabrillo Boulevard between Garden Street and Calle Caesar Chavez on Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. For the first time in 3 years, the stage will wind through downtown Carpinteria as well.
The eight-day tour started in wet weather this year in Palo Alto on Feb. 17 with the prologue going to Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina. The final stage concludes Feb. 24 in Pasadena.
Links: Amgen Tour of California, Tour of California - Solvang (shows many of the best viewing spots for the time trial here locally)
Further Reading: Support Turning the Tide on Ocean Pollution Here in Santa Barbara CA., Summer Art, Culture, Festivals in Santa Barbara CA., Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival Kicks Off, The Secret of The Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Your Santa Barbara Weekend Home Getaway
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
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The Secret of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands
categories: Lifestyle / Things to Do
Hop aboard Santa Barbara’s The Condor Express, schedule a trip with Santa Barbara Adventure Company or hitch a ride on a local fishing boat…Good Luck!! However you manage, schedule a trip out into the Santa Barbara Channel and the Channel Islands.
One of the most scenic and enjoyable natural features of the Santa Barbara coastline is the local Santa Barbara Channel Islands. Located approximately 25 miles from Santa Barbara, the islands provide you with a great experience each and every visit. Unless you have your own boat though, you are pretty much sequestered to the 3 main Islands of Santa Cruz (the largest), Santa Rosa and Anacapa.
The crossing itself is filled with adventure and almost a guaranteed sighting of dolphins. Depending on the season, spotting whales in their natural migration is also very common. Once you reach the islands themselves, there is plenty to offer for the first time visitors from kayaking in sea caves, to nature hikes, to snorkeling and diving, to studying nature, to overnight camping.
Lined with seabirds, seals and rocky shores, kayaking the local Santa Barbara Channel Islands provides for a great adventure filled day. Personally, this is my favorite adventure at the Islands. I have kayaked several times on both Anacapa and Santa Rosa and recommend them both highly. Unless you are a very experienced kayaker, take a guide with you. Currents are strong and can and do change. A one-day trip is plenty for a first time visitor and usually starts around 8 a.m. and finishes around 5 p.m.
Further Reading: Support Turning the Tide on Ocean Pollution Here in Santa Barbara CA., Summer Art, Culture, Festivals in Santa Barbara CA., Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival Kicks Off, Amgen Tour of California Comes to Santa Barbara Again, Your Santa Barbara Weekend Home Getaway
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
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Your Santa Barbara Weekend Home Getaway
categories: Community Events, Lifestyle / Things to Do, Santa Barbara
For those longing for the feeling of getting away from Santa Barbara for a few days, a favorite weekend away for many has been El Capitan Canyon. This “luxury campground” is located only about a 25 minutes north of Santa Barbara CA and 15 minutes north of Goleta. The picturesque and semi rustic location in a seaside pocket on 300 plus acres on the Pacific coast, the nature lodging experience at El Capitan Canyon was created for those needing a few days to unwind, relax and touch base with nature.
The combination of many traditional resort amenities with the minimalism of the overall experience, El Capitan Canyon has created a pure comfort form many couples as well as families to come to enjoy. A small rustic home away from your Santa Barbara home, El Capitan is a return to many of life’s simple beauties.
Starting in April and continuing through early October, the Saturday night canyon concert series is one of my favorite excursions out of Santa Barbara. The intimate “concerts” are held in a great open-air venue in El Capitan Canyon that is extremely kid friendly with a huge outdoor fire pit and lawn area. You will find children roasting marshmallows over the open fire, people talking and dancing, while others are stuffing their bellies from the huge BBQ that is grilled up each time. You are also allowed to bring your own personal pick-nick baskets and drinks.
Further Reading: Support Turning the Tide on Ocean Pollution Here in Santa Barbara CA., Summer Art, Culture, Festivals in Santa Barbara CA., Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival Kicks Off, The Secret of The Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Amgen Tour of California Comes to Santa Barbara Again
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
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.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
| Discussion: No Comments »
