Santa Barbara is often referred to as “The American Riviera” thanks to its breathtaking coastline, world-class resorts and proximity to some of California’s finest wine country. But Santa Barbara is not just for the rich and famous. It’s also a college town (Go Gauchos!), home to the historical Santa Barbara Mission and boasts a range of affordable living options in its surrounding burghs of Ventura to the south and Santa Maria to the north.
Now Santa Barbara is also home to Redfin real estate agents! People in Santa Barbara and its surrounding communities can now work with Redfin agents to buy and sell homes from the super-lux mansions of Montecito to the charming Spanish bungalows in Midtown Ventura. They can also use Redfin.com and its mobile tools to search for every home for sale in the Santa Barbara metro area, in both Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
Redfin agents spend all of their time working with clients and zero time looking for new business, since most Redfin customers discover us through our website. As a result, Redfin operates very efficiently, and we can pass along savings to our clients.
Redfin charges sellers a 1.5 percent listing fee, instead of the typical 2.5 percent, while still providing a beginning-to-end home selling service that includes everything from pricing and staging advice to professional photography. Someone selling an $850,000 home with a Redfin agent would save $8,500. For buyers, Redfin refunds part of the buyer’s agent commission. For example, someone buying an $850,000 home with a Redfin agent in Santa Barbara would receive a refund of more than $5,500 at closing.
Like other Redfin agents, our real estate agents in Santa Barbara earn salaries and receive health care benefits, along with other great perks. We ask every customer to review their agent and every review — the good, the bad and the ugly — is published on Redfin.com. Redfin agents are then paid bonuses based on their customer’s satisfaction, not commission.
To grow the brokerage locally, Redfin brought seasoned real estate agent John Venti to Santa Barbara. John joined Redfin in 2010 as a real estate agent, where he became one of the top-performing agents in the company and in the community. Los Angeles Magazine recognized John’s accomplishments by naming him among the top 1 percent of all Los Angeles real estate agents five years in a row. In 2014, John was promoted to Area Manager, overseeing the brokerage’s operations and growth in the local market. John brings 25 years of experience as a real estate agent and positive reviews from the more than 150 customers he has helped buy and sell homes in Southern California.
John and his wife Mirella, also a licensed real estate agent with Redfin, will work together as a team to help people buy and sell homes in Santa Barbara.
“As a SoCal native, the shops on State Street, Refugio State Beach and all of Santa Barbara’s wonderful amenities have always been right in my family’s backyard,” said John.
“Mirella and I have always admired the Spanish revival architecture and California bungalows, and it’s been a long-time dream of ours to live in and work with Santa Barbara’s amazing homes. We feel so fortunate for this opportunity to bring Redfin to a town we love and to use our personal service and technology to make a difference in this competitive real estate market.”
John and Mirella are already touring homes with buyers and guiding them through the offer, negotiation and closing processes, as well as helping people sell their homes. If you’re thinking about buying or selling, feel free to connect with John or instantly book a home tour.
Redfin.com and the Redfin mobile apps also offer several ways to find out about homes for sale and about the local market, even if you’re just dipping your toe in the water, including:
- Book It Now: Ability to instantly schedule a home tour with a Redfin agent with a single click from a browser, iPhone, iPad or Android app.
- Redfin 3D Walkthrough: High-resolution, interactive views from every angle inside homes listed with a Redfin agent.
- Redfin Matchmaker: Software that recommends unexpected listings to Redfin clients.
- Redfin Estimate: A highly accurate automated calculation of the market value of an individual home, driven by Redfin’s data, cloud computing power and comparable homes on the market.
- Deal Room: A real-time guide through the closing process, including milestones, deadlines and tasks.
- Instant Updates: Smartphone or email notifications when new homes are listed or when prices drop.
- Tour and Offer Insights: Real-time statistics and notes from Redfin agents about thousands of homes and offers.
- Redfin Open Book: A resource for buyers and sellers that includes reviews of lenders, inspectors, title companies, handy-people and stagers, as well as feedback from Redfin agents.
We’re looking forward to meeting you! Stay tuned for an announcement about our first free home-buying class in Santa Barbara.
Download the Redfin app and follow Redfin on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn to keep track of what we’re up to.
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