Santa Barbara is world renowned for its gorgeous coastline and stunning beaches as well as its luxury real estate. Santa Barbara has an extremely limited number of homes directly on the beach or on the bluff top thus making those lucky enough to own them part of a truly exclusive group. There are just 28 oceanfront properties currently for sale in Santa Barbara. Click here to view them: Santa Barbara Oceanfront. Two oceanfront estates are now in escrow. The first is an 8 acre Mediterranean Estate in Hope Ranch complete with pool, cabana, tennis court, guest house, putting green, and path directly to the beach. Definitely your own private resort! This Hope Ranch Property came on the market in February at $28,500,000 and was reduced to $23,500,000 in June. It went into escrow in September. The other oceanfront estate in escrow is in the gated community of Sand Point. It is a gorgeous Cape Cod style beach home with a pool and guest house on 1.5 oceanfront acres. It had been on the market for over a year when it went into escrow in August. Its original list price was $15,900,000 prior to a price reduction to $13,800,000. If you would like to know the final sales prices of these properties or want further information about Santa Barbara real estate please contact me at patsaraca@gmail.com or 805-560-9951.Oceanfront estates in Santa Barbara have been selling at 50% off original asking prices so now may just be the perfect time for to buy a Santa Barbara home.

The first half of 2010 has shown to be an active one for the Hope Ranch real estate market as the number of sales compared to the same time frame in 2009 increased by an impressive 42%. The price range for home sales in Hope Ranch went from $1,600,000 on the low end to a high of $7,300,000 with 4 being under $2,000,000, 3 over $5,000,000 and the remaining 3 in between. This compares to 2009 when there was just 1 sale above $5,000,000 and also just one below $2,000,000. Hope Ranch is a beautiful area of Santa Barbara (click here for a quick view of Santa Barbara Real Estate for Sale) consisting of approximately 750 properties.  Hope Ranch has a private beach, tennis courts, a country club with golf course, and equestrian trails meandering thru-out the community.  Most lots are in excess of an acre affording lots of privacy. Views are quite varied and can be panoramic taking in the mountains, Laguna Blanca Lake, the golf course, and ocean and islands, too! There are currently 28 properties for sale in Hope Ranch starting with a 4 bdrm ranch on 1.5 woodsy acres priced at $1,895,000 up to one of the most spectacular oceanfront estates in Hope Ranch for sale at $29,000,000.  The incredible 14 acre grounds will take your breath away – like being in your own private park surrounded by towering oaks and redwoods.  The estate is gated of course and includes a 6 bedroom, 10 bath residence, exquisite  pool & pavilion, volley ball court, sprawling lawns and 1000 ft of  bluff top ocean front.  If Oprah is looking to expand her real estate portfolio this would be a wonderful addition!

Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Hope Ranch have some of the finest examples of George Washington Smith architecture as he spent many years living in the Montecito area. Born Feb 22, 1876  George Washington Smith was raised in Philadelphia & studied painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  Later Smith attended Harvard University to study architecture.  

Around 1911, Smith married Mary Catherine Greenough and moved to Europe.  He traveled around the continent painting landscapes.  Just a few years later, Smith traveled to California where his paintings were on display in the Palace of Fine Arts at San Francisco’s Panama Pacific Exposition.   While in California he traveled south to visit friends in Montecito.  He loved the area so much, Smith decided to stay and build a home.  He modeled his Montecito Estate after farmhouses he had seen in Andalusia during a trip to Spain in 1914.
 
The home built in 1917 called Casa Dracaena was successful.  Neighbors were asking for him to design houses just like his.  Soon he stopped painting and took up architecture full time in Santa Barbara.  He remained in the Santa Barbara area until his death in 1930.  At that time George Washington Smith (GWS) designed over 80 estates in the Santa Barbara Area.   Since then Smith has been credited as being the father of Spanish Colonial Revival Style.   Many of the homes George Washington Smith designed are now a part of the National Register of Historic Homes. His “Casa Del Herrero” in Montecito was just designated a National Historic Landmark in January 2009. George Washington Smith’s vision has shaped Santa Barbara’s history and style. Estates designed by George Washington Smith are extremely limited in availability and quite coveted.

There are currently about a half dozen GWS estates for sale in the Santa Barbara area.

One particular estate currently for sale is Robledal. It was built in the early 1920′s for Milton Wilson. Wilson was one of the three partners credited for developing Hope Ranch Park.  Robledal is one of the finest homes created by George Washington Smith. It has incredible views of the Pacific Ocean & Channel Islands.  Robledal is a fantastic example of GWS architecture with his signature detailing such as wrought iron sconces, chandeliers, grates, tiled stairs, fireplaces, fountains, carved wood doors and ceilings. The beautiful oak studded estate (the Spanish translation of Robledal is oak grove)  In addition to the magnificent  main home there are two attached guest-apartments, and one detached guest cottage, a five car garage and staff apartment with two extra multi-use rooms. This rare offering consists of 8 acres with an adjacent parcel that could also be purchased. It is an equestrian’s dream as the trails lead right to the beach for oceanfront horseback riding! This is truly one of the prime Hope Ranch estates!For additional information on this exquisite George Washington Smith estate go to  http://estateinhoperanch.com

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2009 (SBIFF) runs in Santa Barbara, California from January 22 through February 1. Along with its idyllic Mediterranean climate and setting, the SBIFF has put Santa Barbara, California on the map, providing notoriety to Santa Barbara as a resort destination. Even through today’s market conditions, Santa Barbara view, oceanfront and estate properties have proven to be prime real estate holdings, including Montecito Estates, Oceanfront Properties, Hope Ranch Estates, and Santa Barbara Estates. Many in the film industry call Santa Barbara and Montecito home or have vacation homes in Santa Barbara.

Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara

This year there will be over 200 films screened including 21 World Premieres. This year’s festivities include the presentation of awards to Penelope Cruz, Clint Eastwood, Mickey Rourke, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Kate Winslet. Roger Durling of Santa Barbara, California is the SBIFF Director. This year’s theme is”Discover by Day and Be Dazzled by Night” promising a fun time of films, events, and parties. The SBBIFF 2009 guest director is David Fincher. He will discuss his films including his most recent work “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” starting Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attended last year’s film festival in Santa Barbara where Angelina Jolie was presented with Outstanding Performance Award for “A Mighty Heart”. The films and events will take place at various venues throughout Santa Barbara including the historic Arlington Theater. There is speculation as to part time Montecito resident Oprah Winfrey making an appearance! Oprah purchased her Montecito Estate for $42,000,000  in 2000 and it is estimated to now be worth over $90,000,000. A testament to the relative strength of Santa Barbara and particularly Montecito real estate values even through down markets, which currently present a new round of buying opportunities.

Below is a list of 19 Hope Ranch properties for sale currently available. All are witnin Hope Ranch and have the associated amenities, such as Hope Ranch private beach, horse trails, country club etc.

Most of the amenities provided only to Hope Ranch inhabitants, began the 1930’s. They included cabanas at the exclusive Hope Ranch beach club on the coast of Hope Ranch, polo fields, archery and a skeet-shooting, tennis courts along with a beautiful 30 mile of bridle trail. There was also, a lavish clubhouse built on “La Cumbre,” or the high point of a hill just east of the Laguna Blanca lake within Hope Ranch, giving rise to the name Le Cumbre Golf and Country Club, the championship 18-hole course and facility. Privately offered, the club is still the hub of Hope Ranch society life today.  

With residents conscientiously guarding their independence, Hope Ranch continues as a place of hidden estates, lifestyles, beach festivities, and a horse lovers paradise. As such, Hope Ranch real estate remains a coveted prize with continued value apprciation.

Click this link or the list below for a detail page of all 19 Hope Ranch properties for sale. Updated daily.

Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Montecito estates, Hope Ranch estates and the signature property Santa Barbara properties market, is one which requires well informed local expertise and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estates. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates information and anaylsis of Santa Barbara CA homes for sale, is available at this site and http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, with specialized resources and knowledge of unadvertised Santa Barbara properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates property investors. For exclusive comprehensive analysis and information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates, Santa Barbara estates, or the Hope Ranch properties, inquire here.

The following is a email we received from Don Dishion, senior loan consultant, and long time mortgage advisor which we wanted to post as it provides insight into the current home mortgage market here in the Santa Barbara real estate market place.  To search current Santa Barbara properties available, use this customizable search to fit you needs.

To my friends and business partners, I am sure you have heard that the merger between Bank of America and Countrywide has been finalized. This is great news for our industry as two powerhouses in real estate loans with a combined nationwide market share of 18% have gotten together with the goal of obtaining a 25% market share!  The only way that will be accomplished is to provide highly competitive programs and underwriting in the future and let the loan consultants do their job. What we do have now is the Countrywide management team in place keeping the same loan origination system that has made us number one in the South Coast Santa Barbara real estate market.

As you know underwriting guidelines have changed considerably. The most recent news in this regard is that Ben Bernanke did not outlaw the origination of stated income loans as we feared from the rumors we had heard in Washington and in the press. He did forbid the use of stated income loans for sub prime borrowers which was good, but fortunately did not mentioned anything along those lines regarding prime mortgage borrowers. This is fantastic as we all know that in the Santa Barbara real estate market, we would have a very tough time fully documenting all borrowers in this high priced community of entrepreneurs. Now we just need to get the secondary mortgage market to start purchasing these loans again now that home prices are stabilizing. Therefore the few lenders that are originating stated income loans have got to hedge their bets and price them high enough to insure that they will not be under water when the market loosens up. For loans to $417,000 the pricing for reduced documentation is still excellent. With home prices softened, buyers for these loans are getting easier to find. More good news is that jumbo and super jumbo loans are definitely available with Countrywide and most of the major lenders. Well qualified borrowers with a good down payment have these loans available. Also with in house processing the ability to close transactions in two weeks from start to finish if needed is available. This may help if a buyer’s first choice for a loan has not worked out.

In the early eighties, buyers were finding other ways to finance purchases besides going directly to the lenders as rates were as high as 16%.  Things are definitely better than that era but due to tight money I think other options should be considered in addition to borrowing directly from conventional lenders. An obvious idea that has probably been ignored over the last few years is to explore the availability of seller financing. Other ways that deals were put together were through contract sales, wrap around mortgages (most of these if presented to the lenders would not be approved however), and making higher offers with sellers paying as much as 3 points to buy down the borrower’s rate making the payment more affordable.  I am sure all of you know about these methods so for the short term it might be good to explore them again and find other creative ways to save your transactions if conventional financing is not available. The good news is there are great buys out there and where there is a creative will there is a way. 

Don Dishion, Senior Loan Consultant, Countrywide Bank, FSB

Thank you Don