Living the Craftsman Lifestyle

The Craftsman architectural style has a long, well appreciated history in Santa Barbara, and was a dominate feature of the residential landscape until the earthquake of 1925. The earthquake that leveled almost all of the downtown and commercial buildings of Santa Barbara also set the stage for its rebuilding in the Spanish Revival style that has become the popular theme of our current structural identity. Fortunately, several estate and bungalow pre-1925 Craftsman struct...

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Historic Val Verde

Santa Barbara is rich in gardening history and is resplendent in work by a collection of internationally renown landscape architects, arborists and horticulturalists. Alice Keck Park Garden, Francheschi Park, the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, and Madame Ganna Walska’s Lotus Land are some of the best known public venues for exotic specimens and landscape design. Private gardens grace all neighborhoods from the low chaparral of the Riv...

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The Big Picture

“Why would anyone sell or buy a home in THIS market?” We get that question all the time, and with all the bad press in the media, it’s a good question. The people who consistently do well in “down” markets - the Warren Buffetts of the world - understand that there are two sides to every story, and how you look at the “upside” makes all the difference. Mr. Buffett has been quoted as saying “You can’t...

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REOs

Bank-owned (REO) properties provide two unique opportunities for a buyer: (1) The seller is a financial institution that manages the sale of real estate from the basis of an asset vs. liability strategy. (2) Bank-owed (REO) property is priced based upon a Broker Price Opinion (BPO), prepared by a real estate agent specializing in such properties, which most often reflects the real-market time to sell a property within 30-90 days. Therefore, REO transactions are base...

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