The easiest way to compare the cost of renting versus owning is by looking at the following example:
*note: the #’s below are for example, these do not necessarily reflect all Santa Barbara real estate values

Own:

Purchase Price of house:  $500,000  (3.5% down payment, $482,500 loan amount at 4%)

Monthly payment:  $2304 mortgage payment + $500 property tax +$65 Insurance = $2869

Monthly housing expense after tax deductions: $2869 – $588 = $2281

Rent:

Monthly payment: $2300

Monthly housing expense (no tax deductions): $2300

There is often a misconception that it is impossible to own property in Santa Barbara, but as you can see from the example above, that is not the case.  If you are interested in investing in a Santa Barbara home, don’t hesitate to contact us.  We’re here to answer any questions and be your Santa Barbara Real Estate Guide!

I’m completely into healthy food, but I guess I hesitated because I thought the prices were a little high for a bowl of fruit that seemed like a simple thing to make at home.

Well, I was WRONG!

I finally got to experience their delicious fruit/granola/yogurt bowls the other day when a friend suggested we go there for lunch.  I got the “green” bowl and it was SO good that I can’t wait to go back.

Here’s where I was completely wrong:

First of all, the Green Bowl is not something I would be able to make easily at home.  It had a glob of frozen green stuff in the bottom which had the consistency AND taste of ice cream – yet it was made with a blend of spinach, broccoli, banana, ginger and lime juice (plus I asked them to add hemp milk).  This was topped with some great tasting hemp granola (I’m not even sure what ”hemp” is but eating it makes me feel really healthy).  Top that off with organic strawberries, blueberries, and Goji berries – voila!  A super healthy meal that would take several trips to different stores to get all the right ingredients, and it’s all done for me.

The second place where I was wrong is with the cost.  When you look at the serving size (HUGE) two people can easily split a large bowl ($8.25) filled with healthy, local, organic fruits and vegetables.  All that organic food doesn’t come cheap.  So when you look at it that way it seems like a bargain.

And the best part?  My son will eat his veggies!

Part of my job being a Santa Barbara Realtor includes recommending great places to eat, so I wanted to share this family-friendly dining recommendation!

Doesn’t this look like a guy who likes his green bowl? 

Way to go Backyard Bowls – you ROCK!

My favorite one by far is the Realtor.com app.  It has many cool features to help consumers get tons of information about a house before ever going to see it.  And all of this can be done from where ever you are, all on your mobile device.

Here are my favorite features of this app:

Area Highlighter

Being able to draw with your finger on the map with the exact area you want to live is very cool.  It is helpful because sometimes there are neighborhoods that you might be interested in with the exception of a few streets that you want to leave out.  With the area highlighter, you can do exactly that!

Area Scout

The area scout shows all the homes near where you are in any given moment.  It continues to refresh as you drive to a different area.  So if you drive by a home for sale and want to know the asking price or how many bedrooms it has, the area scout will pin point all the listings around you, making it easy to find the one you want.

Street View

Checking out the street view is important because you might notice something about a house that you can’t otherwise tell from viewing the listing details or photos.  For example, the house is on a corner lot and you hate corner lots.  Or the house is on a busy street and sits across from a gas station.  Those things wouldn’t be advertised in the listing details.  By viewing the street view, you can save yourself a trip by finding out some details ahead of time that might change your mind about a house.

Save favorites

By signing up for a free account, it is easy to save your favorite listings and view them at a later time on a different device.  You can also email them to a friend to get someone else’s opinion of the place.  Under the “settings” button you can save your agent’s email address which makes sending listings as easy as clicking one button.

Searching for a home has never been easier!  Download the app today.

Like what you see?  Read more about Goleta North (the area that lies on the mountain side of the freeway) or Goleta South (ocean side of the freeway).  Contact Marie Sue Parsons or Stephanie Young to search homes in this area today!

The building tour was led by Michael Harris, Emergency Operations Chief, who is obviously proud of his new “home” which will serve the County for decades to come during various emergency situations.

The 11,000 square foot building contains 1,000 cubic yards of concrete and a massive steel structure and was constructed according to strict “essential services” requirements.  Not only does this new facility contain state-of-the-art communication and computer systems, it boasts incident management rooms,  a joint information center for public information in the event of an emergency, and much more!  All the while it was constructed with environmental considerations in mind.  From the 166 solar panels, recycled content flooring, low VOC paint, and low energy lighting, to the pervious concrete parking lot, drought tolerant landscaping, and retention ponds for storm run off, everything was done with the utmost thought and planning in mind.

Santa Barbara should be proud of what the County has achieved, as thanks to a sizable donation from the Orfalea Foundation, and contributions from the Department of Homeland Security, we are the recipients of a nine million dollar building, for which the County of Santa Barbara paid five million dollars!  From this visit, I believe that it was money well spent.  For more information check out the construction photos  on the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services facebook page.

A food forest is a human-designed forest, which mimics a natural forest, yet not only takes care of itself, but also takes care of us.

The one that I walked past is designed with Canopy Trees of Tipuana tipu, Understory trees and shrubs, all supported by ten yards of Santa Barbara county mulch laid out in such a way as to decrease run-off and to keep water from pooling against key areas of the house.  At the beginning of the rainy season the front yard will have additional densely planted perennial edibles which will have the entire rainy season to become established.  Other newly installed plants under the canopy include sweet potato, Okinawan Spinach, Banana Passion Fruit vines, Dragon Fruit cactus and a Jelly Bean Palm.

Stop by this home at 915 Randolph Road to take a look at the front yard, and see a food forest under “construction”…replacing what was once a 32×44 foot front lawn.

Browse Mountain View School homes for sale

Read more about Santa Barbara neighborhoods or search homes for sale in Santa Barbara.  Contact Marie Sue Parsons or Stephanie Young to start looking at homes for sale today!

Today I’d like to tell you about some neat apps that you can download that will help you with finding everything from the nearest Home Depot to the best local restaurants.

Continue reading to learn more about these helpful Santa Barbara real estate property search apps.

Santa Barbara Property Search Apps That Make Living in Santa Barbara Even Better

Here’s a brief overview of some of the apps that I have found quite helpful while living here in the Santa Barbara area, along with the typical cost for these apps:

Crumbs: This app allows you to share and discuss various local topics with people who you add. Users can add Twitter friends and check out their recommendations for local places to visit. They can also leave “crumbs,” which are social recommendations, comments and questions, for friends and the public.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
• Cost: FREE

myAgent: This app allows Santa Barbara home buyers to look for active MLS listings in the area more easily. When working with a Santa Barbara real estate agent, you can even enter their “IDX Agent Code” to have access to all the active MLS listings in that agent’s service area. My IDX agent code is #01712844.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later
• Cost: FREE

NeoReader: This helpful app is a universal barcode scanning application that allows you to access mobile content by scanning codes from print ads, publications, and more! NeoReader can scan all the standard code types (Data Matrix, QR codes, Aztec Codes, EAN, UPC, and Code 128) making it all the more easy for you to get information on any product you want without having to navigate search engines and browsers.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or late
• Cost: FREE

TourNarrator: This Santa Barbara real estate app allows Santa Barbara home buyers to browse properties that they’ve already seen, along with notes that they may have taken about what they liked or didn’t like about the house. This will save Santa Barbara home buyers both time and money because they’ll have all their notes of all the Santa Barbara homes that they’re interested in right in one place.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later
• Cost: $1.99

Light: This app uses the LED light on your iPhone 4 and fills your screen with bright white light to help you illuminate your surroundings. This app even includes fully customizable special effects such as Strobe Light, Trippy, S.O.S., Yin-Yang, Halloween, Candy Hearts, Holiday Lights and more!

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
• Cost: FREE

Home Depot: Not only will this app tell you where the nearest home depot is, but it will also allow you to research more than 235,000 products from your phone. This app will also let you check store inventory, scan QR and UPC codes and even buy now and pick up in store.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
• Cost: FREE

Google Earth App: The comprehensive app will help you navigate the entire world with just a swipe of your finger. Using this app, you browse millions of photos from around the world, view geo-located Wikipedia articles, and search cities and businesses from around the world with Google Local Search.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
• Cost: FREE

Redbox: When you’re in the mood to watch a movie, be sure to bring up this app! The Redbox app allows you to browse and reserve movies, games, watch trailers and even find the nearest Redbox kiosk from wherever you are.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
• Cost: FREE

CoPilot Live: This increasingly popular GPS navigation app includes such high-quality features as turn-by-turn voice-guided directions, clear 3D and 2D driving views with speed-variable zoom, millions of pre-loaded Points of Interest, and much more!

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
• Cost: $9.99

Gas Buddy: GasBuddy keeps you from paying too much at the pump by telling you where to find the cheapest gas in your area. Using this app, you can both locate gas stations near you and see their current gas prices.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
• Cost: FREE

Yelp: This app will help you locate all the local places you care to visit, including local restaurants, bars, gas stations, stores, parks and more.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
• Cost: FREE

Home Buying Power: This App will help you calculate your buying power on the Santa Barbara real estate market by factoring in your current debt and income.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later
• Cost: $1.99

Photo Measures: This app helps you save measures and dimensions directly on to your phone. This will certainly come in handy if you’re an interested Santa Barbara home buyer and you want to remember how big various rooms in a prospective Santa Barbara home area. That way, you’ll be able to figure out later if it’s the layout you want and if all your furniture will fit in the new home.

• Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
• Cost: $4.99

Santa Barbara Real Estate Experts

It truly is amazing how many apps there are out there that help make life easier for us. I hope I was able to tell you about an app today that piqued your interest.

As your Santa Barbara real estate expert, I pride myself on being able to provide Santa Barbara home buyers with all the information they need to make informed decisions on the Santa Barbara real estate market.

These apps can certainly make your life easier as you navigate the Santa Barbara real estate market.

Have any questions about the Santa Barbara real estate market? Then contact us, Stephanie Young and Marie Sue Parsons! We’ll be glad to help!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Another Santa Barbara home sold by Marie Sue Parsons and Stephanie Young!

This one was tricky!  A few hurdles in the escrow nearly prevented it from happening.  But we never gave up!  We got creative and overcame all the challenges that we ran into.  Here are a few of the problems that we solved:

• The buyers had two weeks to find a tenant for their current home to qualify for the new loan.  We managed to get a short term tenant to satisfy this lender requirement.
• The sellers needed to put money into the deal in order to sell because the current market value was less than the balance due on their mortgage.  They agreed!
• The appraisal came in less than the purchase price which meant that the sellers needed to come up with even more money to close the escrow and sell the house.  We negotiated a way for the parties to put in some funds to make it work.  The seller came up with the extra money and even got the sellers on their replacement property to help with some cash to make it work!

Against all odds we got it done!  The real estate climate is more complicated than it once was.  It takes an experienced Realtor (or two!) to work through the challenges that come up in today’s home sales.  Marie Sue and Stephanie never give up!  We will think outside-the-box to solve your real estate goals.  Let us know what your goals are – we would love to help!

Marie Sue Parsons and Stephanie Young recently sold this beautifully remodeled condo, located in the prime San Roque neighborhood for $520,000.  “We were thrilled” said Stephanie.  “It turned out that the buyer and seller knew each other, and both were happy.”

The two story condo has a remodeled kitchen with stunning black granite countertops, maple cabinets, tumbled marble backsplash and tile floor.  The living room has newer maple hardwood floors, a nice fireplace, and dual paned windows and sliding door to the back patio.  The upstairs features new carpet, paint, large bedrooms, mountain views.  The patio is a great conversation starter, painted in a mural-like fashion.  Many people hadn’t even realized that it was concrete rather than the tile that it appeared to be!