Before and After

As a real estate agent for 15 years, It has been my experience here in Santa Barbara that a properly staged home typically sells quicker than an empty or poorly furnished home and for a higher sales price.

“Real Estate Staging is the act of preparing and showcasing residential or commercial property for sale. It is a systematic and coordinated methodology in which knowledge of real estate, home renovations and creative design principles are applied to attract a buyer.

Preparing property involves all or part of cleaning, decluttering, updating and repairing, while showcasing is the process of arranging furniture, accessories, art and light.

Whether the property is owner-occupied, or vacant, staging is recommended before listing a property.”

Statistics from the Real Estate Staging Association “found that homes, not staged, were on the market 166 days, before the homeowners decided to have them professionally staged. After staging, homes, on average, sold in 32 days. This equates to a total of 198 days.”

“When staged first (prior to listing), homes averaged 26 days on the market.”

All information taken from a guide published by the Real Estate Staging Association which can be found if you Click Here for your personal review.

Good day all! I wanted to inform my budding buyers of a wonderful article I read, written by Mr. David Kim, President of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors for Noozhawk. In this article I learned of a new program I’d like to share with you all, called the South Coast Workforce Homebuyer program from the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County valued at $2.5 million. If you can come up with 3.5% of the purchase price of your new home the program will help you with another 16.5% (Up to $100,000) to come up with a total of 20% down! That is great! For more information check out Mr. Kim’s full article below.

“In response to the housing crisis, the Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County has announced the start of a $2.5 million South Coast Workforce Homebuyer program.

The program will provide low-cost down payment loans up to $100,000 to qualified working families and individuals in south Santa Barbara County.

The idea is to keep high-quality local employees in town by aiding them in the purchase of their first home. Local businesses have acknowledged that homeownership is an important economic and social need for a vibrant community.

The Housing Trust Fund will provide qualified first-time homebuyers with a low-cost down payment loan up to 16.5 percent of the home purchase price, or a maximum loan of $100,000. he homebuyer must contribute 3.5 percent or more of the home purchase price.

The Housing Trust Fund secondary loan combined with the homebuyer’s resources will achieve a 20 percent down payment and enable the homebuyer to purchase an entry-level, single-family home or condominium with conventional financing, thus avoiding expensive FHA mortgage insurance.

The down payment loans are interest-only and repaid by the homebuyer at the end of 10 years by refinancing or taking out a home equity loan, based on the pay down of their first mortgage and increased equity in their home.

The Housing Trust Fund loan makes homeownership more accessible and affordable to local working families and individuals.

The Housing Trust Fund held its launch event Sept. 27 at the Yardi headquarters in Goleta. Capital for the program was provided by a consortium of lenders, including American Riviera Bank, Community West Bank, Montecito Bank & Trust, Rabobank, and the Housing Trust Fund.

The city of Goleta and other local funders provided key operational support over the past several years, which enabled the nonprofit Housing Trust Fund to develop this program.

I work closely with many friends and clients who are first-time buyers, and I am thrilled to know there are programs in our local community designed to help people who are making the biggest purchase of their lives.”

— David Kim, Santa Barbara Association of Realtors President for 2017

1. HIGHER NET WORTH – The Federal Reserve Bank report that home owners have a substantially higher net worth when compared to renters. Equity, appreciation, reduced taxes, stable monthly payments, higher credit ratings are the primary reasons for this very important ‘wealth gap’.

2. REDUCED TAXES – Interest payments and property taxes are legal deductions against your income and can legally lower the taxes you pay for as long as you own your home. PLUS sellers can exclude gains up to $500,000 every two years. Governmental policy clearly encourages home ownership! (Consult with your tax advisor).

3. STABLE MONTHLY PAYMENT – Your monthly payments are consistent over the life of your conventional loan. Rents have dramatically increased, and the demand will likely push them even higher over the years to come. PLUS interest rates are at historically low levels!

4. INCREASING PRICES – Property appreciation belongs to the homeowner and California home prices have increased for 60 of the last 70 years … PLUS you’ll be paying off your loan with every payment (instead of your landlord’s property!)

5. HIGHER QUALITY HOME – You can customise YOUR home and decide the quality/finish of the appliances, flooring, wall treatments and yard. You can not do this with a rental.

6. TAX CUT & JOBS ACT – Permanent corporate and long-term individual tax cuts is allowing consumers to spend more on housing; calls for repatriation of $3+ trillion in US corporate income held overseas and will be used for infrastructure investment also benefiting housing.

An article written by Mathew Burciaga of the Santa Maria Times caught my eye this week so I thought I would share it with you. It talks about the growth of the northern county of Santa Barbara, and how people who might not be able to afford living in the southern Santa Barbara cities like Santa Barbara and Goleta are flocking to Santa Maria and it’s more palatable prices. If you are reading this and thinking you may like to take a look in the area, please let me know and I can assist you in your search.

Here are a few excerpts from Matthews article:

“Fueled by residential, commercial and retail developments, Santa Maria has grown roughly 40.1 percent over 19 years, surpassing Santa Barbara as the County’s largest city, according to the California Department of Finance and U.S. Census Bureau.

Its rapid growth is mirrored by population increases in other North County cities: Buellton and Guadalupe experienced a more than 30 percent jump in population, Solvang grew by 8.23 percent, and Lompoc saw a 6.07 percent increase.

Chuen Ng, Santa Maria’s community development director, said new housing developments after a six-year slump in building will help support Santa Maria’s continued growth.

“We’re growing at a slightly faster pace than some other coastal cities,” he said. “Some areas in California are very vulnerable to market forces, [but] I think the growth we’re seeing in the city is a healthy growth.”

As more residents relocate to North County cities for their relatively lower cost of living, the demand for housing is growing…”

You can also read the full article here as well as this article about the revamp they are doing of Downtown Santa Maria by Nathalie Vera of KEYT as well. Very good things happening there if you are finding Santa Barbara is not in your budget.