Now is the Time to Sell in Santa Barbara

"For potential sellers who have been contemplating selling their properties, the recent bounce in local prices may represent the best chance for selling that we will see in the coming few years. Rates remain relatively low, prices have risen from the lows, and inventories are very low. These conditions may not remain for long and properties — even in Santa Barbara — can take time to sell."

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/craig_allen_rising_rates_selling_real_estate_20130825

Santa Barbara on the rise

As analyzed by NerdWallet, Santa Barbara is the #13 city on the rise in the United States... and it shows!

Full article: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2013/top-10-cities-on-the-rise/

Top 10 Famous People Connected to Santa Barbara

1. Oprah (TV personality) : owns a home in Montecito

2. Ty Warner (Businessman) : owns San Ysidro Ranch, Four Seasons Biltmore, Montecito Country Club, Rancho San Marcos Golf Club, Ty Warner Sea Center among others

3. Charlie Chaplin (Actor) : frequent visitor, started the Montecito Inn in the 1920s

4. Katy Perry (Singer) : born in Santa Barbara

5. Chuck Liddell (MMA Fighter) : born in Santa Barbara

6. Charles R. Schwab (Businessman) : grew up in Santa Barbara, owns a local home

7. Jack Johnson (Singer) : attended UCSB, owns a local home

8. Charles Manson (Criminal) : lived in Santa Barbara with other members of his cult

9. Elizabeth Short (Victim) : posthumously known as the Black Dahlia

10. Jennifer Aniston, Ed Asner, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Kirk Douglas, Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, other (Actor/Actress) : all own homes in the area

Huguette Clark's $307 million Santa Barbara estate may be sold

The late Huguette Clark's $307 million hilltop Santa Barbara estate, which she left in her will to become an arts foundation to house her collection, may be sold. That is the topic of debate in New York as about 60 lawyers and 19 distant relatives are debating over what to do with the estate.

The property itself is estimated to be worth over $100 million; it sits with magnificent views of the ocean, city, and mountains. Ms. Clark passed away in a New York hospital in 2011.

Full article here: http://independent.com/news/2013/aug/16/clark-mansion-may-be-sold/

UCSB New 2013-14 Rankings

• #35 World University Rankings, #51-60 World Reputation Rankings, Times Higher Education

• #5 Most Applicants, #8 Highest-ranked Applicants, #7 Best Use of TAs, #3 Hottest Girls, #3 Hottest Guys, #4 Most Scenic Campus, #455 Coldest Winters, College Prowler

• #5 Happiest Students, #9 Best College Newspaper, Princeton Review

• #10 Most Fun Colleges, Business Insider

• #96 Best College, Forbes

• #10 Greenest University, Smart Planet

• #10 "Coolest Schools", Sierra Magazine

Each August, scholarly pundits from around the country and world rank individual colleges based on any number of things, from how green a campus is to how well prepared its students are upon graduation, all the way to how pretty the student body is.

Our local university, UC Santa Barbara, has placed high once again on a number of ranking lists. Here is just a sneak peak of the many lists that our esteemed school places on. Great job!

Santa Barbara: One of the Happiest Places in the US

"Results from a study of geotagged tweets have determined that Santa Barbara, California is one of the happiest places to be in the United States. According to a recent report, “researchers scored more than 10,000 words on a positive-negative scale and measured their frequency in millions of tweets across the country, deliberately ignoring context to eliminate experimental bias. What emerged was significant regional variation in happiness by this calculation, which correlates with other lifestyle measures such as gun violence, obesity and Gallup’s traditional well-being survey.” See more at: http://www.santabarbaraview.com/santa-barbara-one-of-the-happiest-places-in-us42525/

Santa Barbara Fiesta 2013

Historical Parade Showcases Santa Barbara's Fiesta Spirit

Fiesta Days at Santa Barbara was held over the weekend, where thousands flocked downtown to experience a historical look and admiration for Santa Barbara's Spanish colonial and Mexican ranchero past. Check out this article in Noozhawk to read more about it!

Santa Barbara featured in Where to Retire magazine article: “Chasing Bargains in Dream Locales”

Santa Barbara was one of eight cities featured in this month's Where to Retire magazine as a city where retirees are flocking to because of its warm weather coupled with reduced real estate prices. Check out what the Santa Barbara Independent has to say about it.