LATEST & GREATEST...
In This Issue:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
In case you noticed a new name on our newsletter
(along with some other changes too...)
that is because DeAnn is now officially
Mrs. DeAnn Wilson.
SANTA BARBARA
REAL ESTATE SNAPSHOT:
This is a look at statistics provided through the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Service over the past month. They include single family residences and condos, from Carpinteria to Goleta.
New listings: 149
Price Improvements:134
Pending: 99 break down:
under $1million: 71
$1-2M: 16
$2-4M: 11
$4-8M: 1
$8M+: 0
Closed: 71
Off Market: 84
Back On market: 28
**The "low end", under $1 million in Santa Barbara real estate lingo, has turned and is now considered a seller's market, with multiple offers on many of the properties after just a few days on the market. Many agents have commented that bank owned properties, aka REO's, are being priced 10-15% below market value and counting on the multiple offer frenzy to bid up the purchase price.
Others noted that banks are now coming back to buyers in escrow and demanding more money to close the transaction or they will not continue forward with the escrow. The world of short sales and REO's is the wild wild west with not a lot of rules or regulations but definitely a lot of patience needed for the buyers! The name, "short sale", does not mean a short escrow, rather that the sellers owe more than what they will get for selling their property. Sellers have to qualify for a short sale and must speak with their lender (and their accountant) about their options and the financial and credit repercussions.
GREEN NEWS:
In Historic Move, California Building Standards Commission
Approve New Graywater Standard
A collision of world views was in full evidence at the California Building Standards Commission hearing yesterday on HCDs proposed new graywater standards. Highly qualified stakeholders spoke passionately for and against the adoption of the new standards as the hearing roller-coastered dramatically to it's conclusion. The commissioners are to be congratulated for their leadership. It is always more work to set up a new system than to fit into an existing one. It would be a lot easier to stand aside as legal buildings continue waste resources and pollute the environment.
However, in the face of deeply entrenched, powerful
opposition, the commission is rising to the challenge of revising all of California's building codes to allow/ require better building systems...besides its emergency approval of the new graywater standards yesterday, the BSC is also revising California's Green Building Standards to include many new mandatory and voluntary measures to reduce negative impacts and increase positive impacts of California buildings.
Dawn of a new era: "On August 4th, 2009, California can legally install simple laundryand single fixture systems without a permit. For the first time, licensed
professionals can legally help with the 1.7 million existing graywater systems in the state. "
-Art Ludwig, graywater researcher and educator.
"Where's Your Bag" Event:
Friday Aug 28th (Tomorrow)
"Where's Your Bag" is a comprehensive voluntary single-use bag reduction program. The City of Santa Barbara's Environmental Services Division, in conjunction with local partners Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Choose to Reuse, Tri-County Produce, and the California Grocer's Association, has worked to create an effective single-use bag reduction strategy and we're proud to announce the rollout of the "Where's Your Bag" program. In the coming weeks, we'll be training participating store staff and management and distributing several types of signage designed to remind shoppers to bring their bags with them into the store. These items include parking lot signs, window decals for customers' cars, in-store placards and buttons for grocery employees.
When: The "Where's Your Bag" program will be launched on Friday, August 28, 2009 at De La Guerra Plaza from 2:00 to 5:00pm. We'll have
entertainment by the "Banana Slug String Band," art projects for kids provided by Art from Scrap, informational tables, giveaways from local non-profits and much more!
Why: Plastic bags are causing huge problems in our oceans - animals like sea turtles die when they mistake them for food and the plastic breaks down into small bits that end up in the fish we eat. They are also a large source of unintentional street litter. The average person uses over 500 paper and plastic bags per year and our goal is to dramatically reduce that number. Paper bag production is extremely energy intensive - far more than plastic bags. Only a small percentage of each type of bag is recycled.
"Where's Your Bag" aims to educate the community about the problems associated with single-use bags and an easy solution - bringing reusable bags whenever you shop.
How: We're partnering with local chain and independent grocery stores, providing them with starter kits of "reminder signage" and in-store employee training sessions. We'll also be tabling at community events and in front of participating stores on Saturday, August 29th as well as other dates.
To share your outreach ideas or ask questions about the "Where's Your Bag" program, please contact Kathi King at: kathibking@cox.net
Harding Elementary School, Westside!
We are pleased to announce the launch of our newest local farmers market, which will be located every Wednesday from 3:00pm-dusk at Harding Elementary School (this replaces the La Cumbre market). An exceptional array of fresh local produce, flowers, plants, nuts, sprouts, eggs, whole chickens, pies, breads, and much more! The seasons very best peaches, berries, citrus, tomatoes, green beans, corn, apples, peppers and melons will all be available!
Sat: 8:30am-12:30pm DT: Santa Barbara and Cota Sun: 10am-2:00pm Goleta: Storke and Hollister Tues: 4:00-7:30pm summer 500 & 600 blocks State Wed: 2:30-dusk Harding Elementary School 1625 Robbins
Thurs: 3:00-6:00pm Goleta - 5700 Blk of Calle Real Thurs: 3:00-6:30pm Carpinteria - 800 blk of Linden Fri: 8:00-11:15am Montecito - 1100 blk of Coast Village Road
GET INVOLVED:
The Community Environmental Council:
Since 1970, the Community Environmental Council has led the Santa Barbara region - and at times California and the nation - in creative solutions to some of the toughest environmental problems. We are often referred to as a "think-and-do tank" - deeply analyzing a problem and then applying creative, real-world solutions to it. About five years ago, CEC launched a bold new mission - eliminating the use of fossil fuels in our region in one generation. Today we are singularly focused on this one mission, and are applying to it all that we have learned over the last four decades. Become a member. Make a positive difference.
How CEC is creating a "fossil free" community
Changing public policies
* A CEC-led coalition of architects, builders, and others worked closely with the City of Santa Barbara to draft an ordinance that requires all new and renovated buildings to be more energy efficient, with the goal of being carbon-neutral by 2030. In 2008, the Santa Barbara City Council unanimously passed the ordinance - making Santa Barbara's building energy code one of the most progressive in the nation. We are now working to take similar ordinances to Goleta, Carpinteria and Ventura.
* We played an integral role in the California Public Utilities Commission's decision last fall to set a goal for all new homes in the state to be "zero net energy" by 2020 and commercial buildings by 2030.
Promoting solar and wind energy
* We helped streamline permittingprocesses with the City and County for solar projects, so that installers can now obtain over-the-counter permits in most situations.
* We helped catalyze community support for the first wind farm in Santa Barbara County -- a 100-megawatt project near Lompoc, which was approved by the County Board of Supervisors in February 2009. When finished, this project will generate about 10 percent of the entire electricity needed in our region. Learn more.
* We contracted a study by UC Berkeley, which found that about 290,000 gigawatt hours of electricity could be generated from on-shore and off-shore wind - more than 100 times our current electricity needs. We are now developing processes and tools that will lead to environmentally, economically, and socially sound on-shore wind
projects, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Center and more than a dozen environmental groups and government agencies.
Getting the word out
* We host, organize and sponsor more than a dozen events each year. Our largest and most successful - CEC's Earth Day Festival - began in 1970, has been consistently running since 1990, and attracts over 10,000 people and 250 exhibitors.
* Our personal-action campaign, Get Energized, helps individuals and businesses make lifestyle changes using local resources. To date, more than 1,700 people have taken the Get Energized pledge. If all the pledges are fulfilled, our region would save
over $2.1 million and about 10 million kWh - enough to power just over 1,680 homes a year. www.CECsb.org
