Santa Barbara Spotlight: A Brief History of the Music Academy of the West
The Santa Barbara Music Academy (SBMA) is a non-profit organization that has been providing music education to the community of Santa Barbara for over 50 years. The school’s mission is to provide high-quality music instruction to students of all ages and skill levels, while fostering a love of music and the arts. The SBMA was…
Why your home’s Zestimate valuation is incorrect in 2023
Zillow’s “Zestimate” feature, which uses complex algorithms to estimate the value of a home, has been the subject of much debate and controversy. Some homeowners have praised the feature for providing valuable insights into the value of their homes, while others have criticized it for being inaccurate and unreliable. So, what is the real truth…
10 tips to help you prepare your home for sale
If you’re planning on selling your home, you want to make sure you’re getting the best price possible. But, how do you make your home stand out and attract more potential buyers? Here are 10 tips to help you prepare your home to sell for more money. Start with curb appeal. A well-maintained lawn, fresh…
Buyer & Seller Perks in Santa Barbara’s Real Estate Market
Right now, the housing market is full of outstanding opportunities for both buyers and sellers. Whether you’re thinking of buying your first home, moving up to a bigger one, or selling so you can downsize this spring, there are perks today that are powering big moves for residents of Santa Barbara. Here are the top…
7 Renovation Projects to Maximize Your Home Value in Santa Barbara
Spring is in the air, and Santa Barbara residents are looking to buy homes at an unprecedented rate. If you are having thoughts of selling your home, this may be the best opportunity we’ve seen in modern history to sell. One of the key questions every Santa Barbara home seller asks is: How can I…
5 Reasons To Sell Your Santa Barbara Home This Spring
When selling a house in Santa Barbara, most homeowners hope for a quick and profitable transaction that puts them in a position to make a great move. If you’re waiting for the best time to win as a seller, the market is calling your name this spring. Here are five reasons why this is the…
The 2021 Santa Barbara Housing Market Continues To Boom
2020 will be known for a lot of things, and a record-breaking year for real estate will certainly be one of its more unexpected legacies,” prominent economist Daryl Fairweather said. And he’s right: most of us would have expected the housing market to suffer from circumstances like a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic and historic inventory shortages. But,…
5 Ways You Can “Give Back” in Santa Barbara This Christmas
It is the season of giving here in Santa Barbara, and this year our community has more needs than ever. With Santa Barbara now entering yet another mandatory lockdown, we felt this was a good time to highlight 5 organizations that are making a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable residents. Each of…
19 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your House In Santa Barbara
Selling your house in Santa Barbara can be an intensely emotional experience in any market, but it’s particularly nerve-wracking when it seems like other homes are going under contract in a matter of days while your listing lingers. In that situation, sellers can’t help but wonder if there might be something wrong with their place.…
Does The Real Estate Brokerage Matter When Selling a Home in Santa Barbara?
Anyone who’s bought or sold a house before is already aware that choosing the right Santa Barbara real estate agent can make a big difference in your experience. But what about the brokerage where the agent is affiliated — does the brokerage involved in your home transaction really affect you as a consumer? Brokerages can…
7 Reasons to List Your Santa Barbara Home this Christmas
Around this time each year, many homeowners decide to wait until after the holidays to sell their houses. Similarly, others who already have their homes on the market remove their listings until the spring. Let’s unpack the top reasons why selling your house now, or keeping it on the market this season, is the best…
Beachfront Homes for Sale in Santa Barbara
The city of Santa Barbara and its surrounding residential neighborhoods from Carpinteria to Goleta are located along one of the most breathtaking and pristine stretches of coastline in California. Nestled between the rugged foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains and the vast expanse of the glittering Pacific Ocean, these oceanfront communities are sustained year-round by…
Santa Barbara Experiencing Major Influx of Out-of-town Homebuyers
As you have been hearing from Zia Group recently, the Santa Barbara real estate market continues to be extremely active. As of now, most Zia Group listings are generating multiple offers and extraordinary results for home sellers. In part, this has to do with an ever-increasing number of “work from home” buyers leave urban cities…
4 Reasons the Presidential Election Won’t Impact Santa Barbara Real Estate
This week, Americans will decide our President for the next four years. That decision will have a major impact on many aspects of life in this country, but the residential real estate market will not be one of them. Analysts will try to measure the impact feasible changes in regulations might have on housing, the…
2 Ways Home Equity Grows Your Net Worth
Equity continues to rise, helping Santa Barbara homeowners secure a much more stable financial future. According to the most recent data from CoreLogic, the average homeowner (nationally) gained $9,800 in equity over the past year. In addition, experts project 2021 home prices to continue rising. With prices going up, equity gains will also keep accelerating.…
A Complete Guide To Selling a House With Tenants In California
It’s stressful being a landlord at the best of times, but when the time comes for you to sell your investment property and move on, the stress can feel palpable. You’ve probably spent time getting to know your tenants and have built a relationship with them, and most humans don’t deal with change all that…
Should I Sell My Vacation Home in Santa Barbara?
The travel industry is one of the major sectors that’s been hit extremely hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, it’s hard to know how long it will take for summer travelers to be back in action and for the industry to fully recover. Homeowners who rent their secondary properties on their own or through programs…
Will Unemployment Rates Impact Santa Barbara Home Sales?
Ten million Americans lost their jobs over the last two weeks. The next announced unemployment rate on May 8th is expected to be in the double digits. Because the health crisis brought the economy to a screeching halt, many are feeling a personal financial crisis. James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, explained that the…
3 Reasons Why This Is Not a Housing Crisis
In times of uncertainty, one of the best things we can do to ease our fears is to educate ourselves with research, facts, and data. Digging into past experiences by reviewing historical trends and understanding the peaks and valleys of what’s come before us is one of the many ways we can confidently evaluate any…
Surprising Real Estate Predictions for 2020 from Industry Leaders
This will be an interesting year for residential real estate. With a presidential election taking place this fall and talk of a possible recession occurring before the end of the year, predicting what will happen in the 2020 U.S. housing market can be challenging. As a result, taking a look at the combined projections from…
27 Tips To Simplify The Home Selling Process
Because your home may well be your largest asset, selling it is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. To better understand the home selling process, a guide has been prepared from current industry insider reports. Through these 27 tips you will discover how to protect and capitalize on…
What To Know Before Signing a Listing Agreement When Selling a House
When you hire a listing agent, you’ll be presented a listing agreement that outlines the duties and responsibilities your real estate broker will have in selling your property for you. In this article, we’ll explain the purpose of a real estate listing agreement, the types of listing agreements, as well as what happens when your…
Should I Fix Up My House Or Sell It As Is?
With the fall season upon us, change is in the air. For many families, children are growing up and moving out of the house, maybe leaving for college or taking a jump into the working world. Parents are finding themselves as empty nesters for the first time. The question inevitably arises: is it finally time to downsize?…
A Quick Guide To Reviewing & Accepting An Offer On Your Home
Negotiation is a fine art and typically works best when both parties get what they want. For example, you may be willing to take less money for your home in exchange for an all-cash offer or a quicker closing. Your buyer may be willing to pay your asking price, but they may ask you to…
4 Questions to Ask When Selling Your Santa Barbara Home
There comes a time in every homeowner’s life when he or she realizes: “I am not the same person I was when I bought this place.” Maybe your lifestyle or your family configuration has changed, or maybe the house just isn’t as appealing as it was when you signed that ream of paperwork on closing…
4 Considerations When Helping Your Senior Parents Downsize
Watching your parents age is never an easy thing, and helping to make life decisions on their behalf can be immensely stressful. This is one of the reasons why children who are tasked with helping their parents downsize into a more lifestyle-appropriate home often delay in doing so. And when you combine this stress with…
Host the Ultimate Open House When Selling Your Santa Barbara Home
An open house can be an ideal way to introduce a bulk of buyers to the property you’re hoping to sell them, and done right, an open house can sometimes generate multiple offers. The key, though, is “done right” — not every open house is going to be a buyer’s bonanza, and not every open…
10 Considerations When Calculating Your Santa Barbara Home Value
There’s a reason why estimating a home’s value is a specialized process that’s typically executed by a licensed professional (also known as an appraiser) — it’s not easy to determine the fair-market value of a home in a particular point in time. Dozens of factors influence how much an average buyer might be willing to…
21 Telltale Signs of a Good Real Estate Agent
Just like in any other profession, there are good real estate agents … and there are, unfortunately, subpar real estate agents, too. But how do you know if you’ve got a dreamboat or a dud handling your real estate transaction? One way to know whether you’ve got a good agent (or not) is to consider…
10 Tax Breaks for Santa Barbara Home Owners
Being a homeowner definitely has its advantages, and saving money on your taxes each year just might be at the top of the list. Make sure you’re taking advantage of these common tax perks as a homeowner: 1) Mortgage interest One of the most common tax perks, you can deduct mortgage interest for your primary…
4 Questions to Ask Before Selling Your Santa Barbara Home
There comes a time in every home owner’s life when he or she realizes: “I am not the same person I was when I bought this place.” Maybe your lifestyle or your family configuration has changed, or maybe the house just isn’t as appealing as it was when you signed that ream of paperwork on…
11 Questions To Ask When Interviewing A Realtor in Santa Barbara
If you’re in the market to sell your Santa Barbara home, OR purchase a home, there’s something you should know… all Realtors are NOT the same! Your decision to place your home for sale involves more than simply running an ad, holding a few open houses, and waiting for the sales proceeds check. And your…
How To Sell a Home During Probate In Santa Barbara
Selling a home during probate and trust in Santa Barbara has its own unique set of challenges and can be daunting for those who are unfamiliar with the process. If you or someone you know is preparing to sell a home during probate, this guide will help prepare you with a general understanding of the…
The Complete Guide To Selling A Home In Santa Barbara
This home seller’s guide is designed to help you understand the selling process before you put your home on the market in Santa Barbara, and it will help you make smart decisions every step of the way. For answers to questions about your specific situation, we encourage you to consult one of our real estate…
1031 Exchange Rules for Real Estate Investors in Santa Barbara
As an active real estate investor, there will come a time where you need to sell one investment property and buy another. Perhaps the market has appreciated and it’s time to cash out and reinvest your earnings in another deal. Great! But what do you do about the hefty Capital Gains tax you’ll face with…
Pros & Cons of Selling a Home Off-Market in Santa Barbara
Wondering if it’s time to sell your home off-market? It’s a good question to ask. Last year, 88% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker. But where did they find the home they purchased? According to the National Association of Realtors, buyers found these homes: -On the internet: 51%-Through a…
11 Things to Consider When Downsizing in Santa Barbara
Nothing lasts forever — including a home where you raised a family or lived most of your working life. And it’s a fact of life that suddenly, a place that was perfect for you a decade or two ago might start to feel cavernous and empty (or just contain more square footage than you really…
The Ultimate Guide to Buying & Selling Off-Market Homes in Santa Barbara
You have probably hearing a lot about off-market listings lately. There seems to be some confusion about whether they’re a good idea or a bad idea, so we wanted to clear this up for you. An off-market property is a home that is not listed on the MLS. Both buyers and sellers may prefer an…
February 2019 Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Update
What a wet beginning to 2019 it has been! Good thing it is “sunny with a chance of clouds” within the real estate market in Santa Barbara. Many areas are seeing positive increases like our median sales price increased 3% over January 2018 and 20% more homes were sold. Single Family Homes in Santa Barbara…
4 Reasons Real Estate is One of the Best Ways to Build Generational Wealth
Recently, David Greene, co-host of the BiggerPockets podcast and a nationally renowned author and speaker, wrote an article in Forbes explaining how investing in real estate could help build wealth. Many of the points he made also apply to a family owning their own home. Here are a few: 1. Real Estate Appreciates In Value “The rising of home prices…
7 Steps to Take If Your Appraisal Comes In Low
Appraisals that come in below the agreed-upon purchase price can kill a sale. Having a response plan can save you from losing out on all the hard work you’ve undertaken to find your dream home. Why does the appraisal matter? Mortgage lenders will only fund transactions up to a certain percentage of the appraised value…
New Reports Show It’s a Great Time to Sell your Home
We all realize that the best time to sell anything is when the demand for that item is high and the supply of that item is limited. The last two major reports issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed information that suggests that right now continues to be a great time to sell your house.…
3 Myths About Today’s Real Estate Market
There are many conflicting headlines when it comes to describing today’s real estate market. Some are making comparisons to the market we experienced 10 years ago and are starting to believe that we may be doomed to repeat ourselves. Others are just plain wrong when it comes to what it takes to qualify for a…
Handy Moving Checklist For A Smooth Move in Santa Barbara
Moving can be a very overwhelming experience because there’s always plenty to do! But this Santa Barbara moving checklist helps you stay organized and on top of your move. Enjoy! 6-8 Weeks Before Moving Request quotes & hire a local moving company Reserve a storage unit, if required Organize belongings and set aside anything you…
Home Staging Tips to Attract Santa Barbara Home Buyers
You’ve settled on a solid list price, you’ve made updates to your interior and exterior — now, it’s on to staging. Making your home look both functional and beautiful and marketing your revamped home to the right audience takes some skill. Luckily, your agent can help you find the right designers and photographers to ensure…
4 Considerations When Pricing Your Home For Sale
Assuming you price your property appropriately, your home for sale should start to gain awareness and leads within hours. But what exactly goes into setting a list price? Let’s delve into the primary factors that affect the specific dollar amount you ask for your residence. 1) Understand the local real estate market As noted, your…
5 Reasons You Need a Realtor When Selling Your Santa Barbara Home
With the advent and continual evolution of online search, you can access significant amounts of information within seconds. What the internet doesn’t offer, though, is provide detailed knowledge of the countless intricacies that go along with selling. Nearly nine in 10 sellers use an agent or broker to help them sell their homes — and…
7 Steps to Prepare your Home For Sale In Santa Barbara
Congratulations on taking that next step in selling your home! We will walk you through the process, so please look over these helpful steps, and then drop us a note to begin. Step 1: Identify Your Reason For Selling It is often more emotional to sell a home than to buy a home, and the…
The Impact Of Tight Inventory On The Santa Barbara Housing Market
The housing crisis is finally in the rear-view mirror as the real estate market moves down the road to a complete recovery. Home values are up, home sales are up, and distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) have fallen to their lowest points in years. It seems that the market will continue to strengthen in…
Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Update for Summer 2017
As we settle into 2017, and into the beautiful summer months here in Santa Barbara, we want to take a quick look back at the first half of 2017 and share a few thoughts moving into the second half of this year. In general, our market is very similar to 2016. While it has been…
Santa Barbara Real Estate Market Update for Spring 2017
Happy Easter! As we wrap up a very active first quarter of 2017, we wanted to share with you a quick snapshot of what’s happening in our Santa Barbara real estate market. Overall we ended March with about 8% more homes sold that last year and with an average sales price up 13% (when not…