Saturday, November 14, 2009

New Listing: 2309 Vista Madera, Santa Barbara


Spacious and private townhome that feels like a house with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (ground floor master), attached 2 car garage and large fenced backyard with spa and fruit trees (including Mexican lime, Blood & Valencia orange, and tangerine).

Many upgrades, updated kitchen and baths, convenient location on a quiet and private street.

Very low maintenance.
Association dues are currently $275/month.

Please call Emily McBride at 805.252.2773 for a showing.

Proudly offered at $835,000.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Information on the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit

Here is some important information from Mortgage Market Guide's Weekly report regarding the extension of the home buyer tax credit. Your local and national Realtors have been pushing to extend this tax credit, including myself, and we are very happy that this extension has been granted. The data has shown that this has really helped home buyers to get into the market, and I have seen this impact my own clients.

Tax Credit for First-Time Homebuyers

FTHBs (that is, people who have not owned a home within the last three years) may be eligible for the tax credit. The credit for FTHBs is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000.

Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

Tax Credit for Current Homeowners

The tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence some additional reasons to move to a new home. This incentive comes in the form of a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years.

Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

What are the New Deadlines?

In order to qualify for the credit, all contracts need to be in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and close no later than June 30, 2010. Those in the military do have some special extensions on the timelines available.

What's So Great About a "Tax Credit"?

The benefit of a tax credit is that it's a dollar-for-dollar benefit, rather than a "tax deduction", or reduction in a tax liability that would only save you $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a first-time homebuyer who qualified for the entire benefit were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for a tax credit of $8,000, she would owe nothing.

Better still, the tax credit is refundable, which means the homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little or no income tax liability. For example, if a first-time homebuyer is eligible for a tax credit of $8,000 but is liable for $4,000 in income tax, she can still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!

Higher Income Caps

The amount of income someone can earn and qualify for the full amount of the credit has been increased.

Single tax filers who earn up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers who earn $145,000 and above are ineligible.

Joint filers who earn up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers who earn $245,000 and above are ineligible.

Maximum Purchase Price

Qualifying buyers may purchase a property with a maximum sales price of $800,000.


*As always, please contact your CPA, financial planner, or attorney when making financial decisions.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Upcoming 1st Thursday Event (& mention of my painting group .. )

Yes, that's right. 1st Thursday is here again, and it's happening next week (November 5th) all over downtown. Come stop by Eden at 17 W. Ortega from 5-8p.m. to see my most recent oil paintings, hear live instrumental music by The Refreshments, and have some refreshments (local wine, etc.). It will be a good time with good people. You can grab a 'Passport' from Eden that you can use as your guide through downtown for the evening.

Speaking of my recent oil paintings, I want to mention my amazing painting group and say that I would not be painting if it weren't for them. I have been a part of this group for over six years now, and we are all so different, and we all paint such different things, but somehow we work really well together. We give encouragement and feedback, fun conversation, and as you can see from these somewhat blurry photos, a lot of joking around. (Anne Wright attacked me with red paint after I started laughing at her for having green paint all over her mouth.) I tend to paint really large pieces these days, although I do all sizes, and others paint very tiny and detailed pieces. Some are detailed and others are impressionistic, and that's what creates all the chemistry, because no one is trying to compete. Lots of love to my group!

See you next Thursday...

Monday, October 26, 2009

Be Informed ~ Get The Santa Barbara Skinny

There are a couple tools every Santa Barbara local must have to be informed about the latest deals, treasures, and events going on in Santa Barbara.

First we have LoveMikana.com ~ and seriously ~ you will Love Mikana. Every day you can learn about Arts/Culture, a way to Be Active, the Green Scene, Style Files, Wine & Dine, and the Weekend Guide. Sign up on their website. You'll love the content... It takes about 10 seconds to read.


Next we have SBClick.com. Some friends started this new application. You can get it at the iTunes store for free. Go to SBClick.com to set up your profile & preferences. Then you can use the live application to find local deals based on your preferences to save money, find popular spots, or decide what you'll do for entertainment tonight.


Have fun being in the know and enjoying our beautiful city!


~ Emily

Weekly Snapshot Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

Beginning the week of 10/19/09-10/25/09:

41 new listings
49 price changes
28 sales pended (23 of these were under $1M, four $1-2M, one $2-4M)
29 closed
24 off market (12 expired, 8 canceled, 4 withdrawn)
14 back on market

*The percentage of sales over $1M this week was 18%.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

California Median Home Prices Since 1970

Monday, October 19, 2009

Weekly Snapshot Statistics - Santa Barbara Real Estate Market

Beginning the week of 10/12/09-10/18/09:

41 new listings
41 price changes
(lowest numbers in the past 4 weeks, which is a good thing)

44 sales pended (36 of these were under $1M, four $1-2M, four $2-4M)
(highest number in 4 weeks)

31 closed
35 off market (13 expired, 13 canceled, 9 withdrawn)
14 back on market

Beginning the week of 10/5/09-10/11/09:

58 new listings
47 price changes
43 sales pended (30 of these were under $1M, nine $1-2M, one $2-4M, two $4-8M, one $8M+)
29 closed
37 off market (21 expired, 10 canceled, 6 withdrawn)
15 back on market

*The percentage of sales over $1M has been bouncing from 20-30% of the local sales.

*Our median price for Santa Barbara South County Real Estate was $825,000 at the end of the first quarter for 2009, $840,000 at the end of the second quarter, and $840,000 at the end of the third quarter. Yesterday's Santa Barbara Newspress Real Estate section stated that this is 'stability.'