November 23rd through November 29th, 2009:
New Listings: 12 (at this time of year, many sellers choose to wait until after the holidays to list)
Price Improvements: 12
Pending: 21 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 13
$1-2 million: 4
$2-4 million: 2
$4-8 million: 3
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 15
Off Market (expired, canceled withdrawn): 10
Back On Market: 0
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to you and to your family.
I hope that you have a restful, filling and wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Monday, November 23, 2009
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot: 11/16 - 11/22
November 16th through November 22nd, 2009:
New Listings: 31
Price Improvements: 27
Pending: 22 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 15
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 0
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 31
Off Market: 16
Back On Market: 4
*According to NPR, existing home sales are at their highest levels, nation wide since 2007!
New Listings: 31
Price Improvements: 27
Pending: 22 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 15
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 0
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 31
Off Market: 16
Back On Market: 4
*According to NPR, existing home sales are at their highest levels, nation wide since 2007!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Green Gala's Waste Audit Results
Thank you to all who joined us for CEC’s annual Green Gala on October 17. The evening began with delicious greentinis and music on the patio by Palmer Jackson, Jr. and John Simpson, and was followed by dinner inspired by local, organic purveyors, and dancing with Area 51. Guests received Greenpoint raffle tickets for all that they are doing to become fossil-free – with the winners collecting elegant, fabulous gifts. A huge thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, and guests for helping us party for the planet and further our mission of Fossil Free by ’33!
The Green Gala 2009 produced approximately 458 pounds of total waste. Due to careful planning and detailed waste management strategies, approximately 415 pounds of the total waste, or 90.75%, will be recycled and/or composted, leaving only 10% actual trash. These numbers far exceed waste management practices of any standard event and are exemplary even for an event striving to be considered “zero waste.” The remaining 10% trash resulted in large part out of the necessity to package delivered food.
These numbers are derived from a waste audit supervised by trained staff from Merryl Brown Events. There was little to no contamination of each of the three waste categories due to cooperation of event planners, staff, caterers, and participants.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
November Santa Barbara EcoBroker Newsletter
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot: 11/2 - 11/15 2009
November 2nd through November 15th, 2009: (2 weeks as I was out of town)
New Listings: 72
Price Improvements: 72
Pending: 53 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 37
$1-2 million: 12
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 42
Off Market: 25
Back On Market: 21
New Listings: 72
Price Improvements: 72
Pending: 53 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 37
$1-2 million: 12
$2-4 million: 3
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+: 0
Closed: 42
Off Market: 25
Back On Market: 21
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Main Event: Cancer Center of Santa Barbara
Yesterday Nate and I attended the "Main Event" which was a celebration to benefit the Julie Main Endowment. Established in honor of Julie Main, who turned her breast cancer diagnosis into a positive community effort and helping launch the Cancer Well-Fit Program, the Endowment will fund future Well-Fit Program groups for cancer patients in Santa Barbara.
Guests enjoyed an afternoon of fine wine and hors d’oeuvres with music by the Leslie Lembo Jazz Group. The event also includes a silent and live auction at the beautiful home of Elizabeth and Kenny Slaught in the hills of Montecito.
The food, catered by Elements was delicious and the guests were very generous in their silent and live auction donations. I bid on many items and thankfully was outbid by others;) Although we did end up taking home a party for 20 by Elements...looking forward to that one!
It was a gorgeous day, an amazing house and fantastic turn out for a woman that touched many lives and continues to inspire all of us everyday.
For more information about these programs or to make a donation, please visit: www.ccsb.org
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Teacher's Fund & Village Properties
Teacher's Fund
Village Properties has established The "Teacher's Fund" to help local public and private K-12 school teachers buy the supplies and books they so desperately need. DeAnn & Elizabeth donate part of their commissions to this wonderful fund that helps the whole community and you can too!
Please see this link for more details:
http://www.villagesite.com/company/teachers_fund.php
Village Properties believes in the power of education. In 2002, Renee Grubb and Ed Edick established the Village Properties Teacher's Fund to help local Santa Barbara public and private elementary school teachers get the tools and materials they needed but could not get due to budget cuts.
In April 2006, a generous donation from the Orfalea Family Foundation and the Orfalea Fund allowed the Teacher's Fund to expand so they could include grades 7 and 8.
In 2007, thanks to another generous donation from the Orfalea Fund, the Teacher's Fund celebrated another expansion adding North County schools.
In April of 2009, the Teacher's Fund is once again expanding to include grades 9 - 12 for all Santa Barbara County public and private school teachers.
Our teachers' requests are for the most basic materials: books, art supplies, dictionaries, printer cartridges, software, etc.
The Teacher's Fund is a way for everyone to help enrich the lives of our children through education. 100% of the donations go directly to our teachers. When you help our kids acquire a better education you're making an investment in all of our futures.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Weekly Real Estate Snapshot: 10/26 - 11/1 2009
October 26 - November 1, 2009:
New Listings: 21
Price Improvements: 29
Pending: 36 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 26
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 2
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+:1
Closed: 24
Off Market: 31
Back On Market: 8
New Listings: 21
Price Improvements: 29
Pending: 36 breaks down to:
under $1 million: 26
$1-2 million: 6
$2-4 million: 2
$4-8 million: 1
$8 million+:1
Closed: 24
Off Market: 31
Back On Market: 8
Friday, October 30, 2009
Senators agree to extend $8,000 housing tax credit for first-time buyers
The lawmakers also OK offering a tax credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years.
Associated Press
October 29, 2009
Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a smaller credit to some repeat buyers.
The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November.
Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.
Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash.
Senators in both major parties were hoping to add both tax provisions to a bill that would give people running out of unemployment insurance benefits up to 20 more weeks of federal aid. The Senate could vote on the overall bill as early as today, but lawmakers were still haggling over several unrelated amendments Wednesday evening.
Popular bills like the one to extend unemployment benefits often attract amendments that would have a difficult time passing on their own.
Republicans were demanding the opportunity to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the community activist group ACORN and to require that people receiving unemployment benefits be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.
The Senate's majority Democrats have blocked the proposed amendments.
If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have said they support extending the tax credit for home buyers.
Lawmakers didn't release a cost estimate for extending the tax credit, though similar proposals were projected to cost about $10 billion.
About 1.4 million home buyers have qualified for the existing credit through August. The National Assn. of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not otherwise have bought their homes.
The government said Wednesday that new-home sales fell 3.6% last month. Some builders blamed the drop, the first since March, on uncertainty about the tax credit.
It takes 45 days to 60 days to close the deal on a house, making it unlikely that a sale made today would be consummated by the end of November.
The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November.
Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.
Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash.
Senators in both major parties were hoping to add both tax provisions to a bill that would give people running out of unemployment insurance benefits up to 20 more weeks of federal aid. The Senate could vote on the overall bill as early as today, but lawmakers were still haggling over several unrelated amendments Wednesday evening.
Popular bills like the one to extend unemployment benefits often attract amendments that would have a difficult time passing on their own.
Republicans were demanding the opportunity to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the community activist group ACORN and to require that people receiving unemployment benefits be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.
The Senate's majority Democrats have blocked the proposed amendments.
If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have said they support extending the tax credit for home buyers.
Lawmakers didn't release a cost estimate for extending the tax credit, though similar proposals were projected to cost about $10 billion.
About 1.4 million home buyers have qualified for the existing credit through August. The National Assn. of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not otherwise have bought their homes.
The government said Wednesday that new-home sales fell 3.6% last month. Some builders blamed the drop, the first since March, on uncertainty about the tax credit.
It takes 45 days to 60 days to close the deal on a house, making it unlikely that a sale made today would be consummated by the end of November.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
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