In This Issue:
LATEST & GREATEST... We have a new addition to the Green Team! Nate and Elizabeth Wagner are thrilled to announce the birth of their son,
Wyatt Nathaniel Wagner
born on August 30 , weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19.5 inches tall. Mom and baby are doing great and he is adorable!
SANTA BARBARA REAL ESTATE SNAPSHOT:
August 16 - September 21, 2010
New listings: 229
Price Improvements: 277
Pending:106 Closed: 106
(break down:)
Sub $1 million: 79
$1-2M: 16
$2-4M: 8
$4-8M: 2
$8M+: 1
Off Market: 207
Back On market: 55
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.
Top 10 Reasons To Own A Home: Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership, here are 10 reasons why it's good to buy a home.
1. You can get a good deal. Especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have now vanished, as the tax credits on purchases have just expired. We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern history. And prices have come down a long way– about 30% from their peak, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices in 20 big cities. Yes, it's mixed. New York is only down 20%. Arizona has halved. Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You'll never catch the bottom. It doesn't really matter so much in the long haul. Where is fair value? Fund manager Jeremy Grantham at GMO, who predicted the bust with remarkable accuracy, said two years ago that home prices needed to fall another 17% to reach fair value in relation to household incomes. Case-Shiller since then: Down 18%. Brett Arends discusses why he thinks now is a particularly good time to buy a home. 2. Mortgages are cheap. You can get a 30-year loan for around 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth. If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again in your lifetime. And if we get deflation, and rates fall further, you can refi. 3. You'll save on taxes. You can deduct the mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains–if any–when you sell. Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll only get the income tax break if you itemize your deductions, and many people may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The breaks are more valuable the more you earn, and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these tax breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting. 4. It'll be yours. You can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension–zoning permitted–or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible. You'll feel better about your own place if you own it than if you rent. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Mrs. Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants. "You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy." It was a small sign that said something big. 5. You'll get a better home. In many parts of the country it can be really hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks. Once again, this is a case by case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. But few places are so favored. Generally speaking, if you want the best home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying. 6. It offers some inflation protection. No, it's not perfect. But studies by Professor Karl "Chip" Case (of Case-Shiller), and others, suggest that over the long-term housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young and raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years. In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds, or TIPS, offered an easier form of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast. 7. It's risk capital. No, your home isn't the stock market and you shouldn't view it as the way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real estate prices will head up again, too. One lesson from the last few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities–for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy–if it happens–and still managing to sleep at night. 8. It's forced savings. If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? A lot of people won't. Most, I dare say. Once again, you have to do your math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline. 9. There is a lot to choose from. There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak, but well above typical levels, and enough for about a year's worth of sales. More keeping coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice, as well as great prices. 10. Sooner or later, the market will clear. Demand and supply will meet. The population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes. Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed–either deliberately, or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured the housing slump in western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict. And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2010, 4:33 P.M. ET
Politics: Vote NO on Prop 23!!
Proposition 23, primarily funded by two Texas oil companies, will effectively kill California's landmark greenhouse gas reduction measures. Join us, and your neighbors in opposing the Dirty Energy Proposition, by signing the Santa Barbara Clean Energy Pledge below. For more information on Proposition 23, or how you can help, visit the Community Environmental Council webpage here. You can also voice your opposition by finding us on FaceBook at No on Prop 23 Santa Barbara or http://www.facebook.com/NoOnProp23?ref=ts&v=wall. The oil companies' Prop. 23 would allow polluters to avoid our state’s clean energy standards, kill competition and jobs from California's clean technology companies, and keep us addicted to dirty fossil fuels.
WE WILL VOTE NO ON PROP 23!
Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff
Hosted by The Sustainability Project October 7, 7pm at Marjorie Luke Theater Join us for a lecture and discussion with Annie Leonard - author, activist, and the creator of The Story of Stuff documentary. See how our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities and our health; and learn how we can change this. Lecture to be followed by a discussion with a panel of local experts and a book signing with Annie Leonard. To ensure a seat, buy your tickets online here. The Community Environmental Council's Green Gala October 8, 2010 at the Doubletree
You are cordially invited to attend the eco-chic party of the season as we celebrate the Community Environmental Council’s 40th Anniversary! For more information click here or please contact Kathi King: kking@cecmail.org Habitat For Humanity's 2010 Tour of Green Homes October 9th from 10-4pm. This tour will showcase the latest in green building techniques and materials employed at homes in Santa Barbara and Montecito as well as the Habitat for Humanity affordable housing site. Demonstrating ways that envionrmentally friendly construction methods and materials can be incorporated into any project depending on the goals and budget of the homeowner, tour patrons will enjoy a wide range of home styles from modest to grand, from craftsman to contemporary.
Green Drinks and Sol Food: Lobero Theatre Courtyard, historic, outdoor and the perfect venue for Green Drinks $10 donation at the door: gets you one complimentary drink ticket (and lots of karma) No RSVP required. Just show up and be green. Live music, tasty food samplings from locavore devotees and local farmers, Local wines and beer! Meet new friends too!
Home energy rating system (HERS): A way to measure the home's energy efficiency. The evaluation rating is on a scale from 0 to 100, and the score is called the HERS (Home Energy Rating Scale) rating. A "0" means the home uses an infinite amount of energy (not a good thing) and 100 means it uses almost no energy (a great thing), and the average home built to code minimum usually has a rating of 80. A HERS report is required in order to get a green mortgage.
Cool Website of the Month:
After you’ve looked up an address on Walk Score, you can now get a summary of commuting options, including the time it would take to get to your work, school or other location by car, bike and foot and to see nearby public transit stops and routes. The customized commute report also includes a visual representation of the hills between your home and work to better understand how bikable or walkable the route may be. |  | Tonight! September 21, 2010 6-8pm - Lobero Theatre Courtyard, historic, outdoor and the perfect venue for Green Drinks
- $10 donation at the door: gets you one complimentary drink ticket (and lots of karma)
- No RSVP required. Just show up and be green.
- Live music
- Tasty food samplings from locavore devotees and local farmers
- Local wines and beer
- Meet new friends
Save The Date For Next Month: Tuesday, October 19th 6-8pm Location TBD to join email:
 SOLD:
1230 Manitou Lane Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Sold for $1,050,000
(multiple offers)
Wonderful compound 1.4 acres! Home and artist’s studio offers many possibilities. Studio + oversized bedroomm and loft with 1/2 bath. Main house 2bed/ 2.5 bath, very large "L" shaped light filled living room. Surrounded by botanic garden like grounds with protruding boulders, winding paths, rock walls, decks and viewing sites. Canyon/mountain feeling by Hendry’s Beach, the Mesa and Elings Park!
LISTED & SOLD:
1509 Mountain Ave, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Listed at $699,000 Sold for $680,000
Double lot with updated and charming house on one of the best streets on the Westside! Gorgeous well maintained two bedroom, 1 bathroom home with fireplace, hardwood floors, and mountain views from the deck.
Light and bright with many French doors to the peaceful outdoors – great for indoor outdoor living. Fabulous yard filled with fruit trees, mature landscaping even a secret garden.
 JUST LISTED: 10 San Marcos Trout Club
Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Listed at $979,000 Relax and enjoy the views in the San Marcos Trout Club. This 2/2.5ba 2 story cedar log home was built in 1992. This property boasts high ceilings, lots of wood, granite countertops, a masonry fireplace and custom cabinets. The decks and Jacuzzi have sweeping ocean and city views. The Trout Club offers acres of community space and access to a creek that flows year round. All of this and only 10 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara. Contact DeAnn for Appointments
PENDING: 1010 Belmonte Drive Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Listed at $1,599,000
Beautifully remodeled (2006) craftsman. Hickory hardwood floors throughout this 4000+/- sq. ft. home with 5 bedrooms & 5 full baths, bonus room could be media room or 6th bedroom. French doors open to pool with patio and lawn. In the New Harding University Partnership School District that is now associated with UCSB.
PENDING:
309 Cordova Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93109 Listed at $1,349,000
A remodeled and spacious Marine Terrace Mesa home with ocean and island views. Boasting a spacious upstairs master suite complete with ocean views and a fireplace, updated bathrooms throughout, gourmet kitchen, and an entertainer's back yard are just the beginning of the many amenities found in this home that is just a few blocks to the beach. The Mesa lifestyle is perfected in 309 Cordova Drive. |
