Village People

Jett, Jim, Josh, Mike, and Fabian of Village Auto Repair by Nicholas Schou

805 969-1995 Luxury Vacation Rentals Short or Long Term Coastal Hideaways Inc. L ast week – in the middle of the mess of coronavirus-related closures and several days of seemingly nonstop rain – the inevitable happened: I got a flat tire.

The tire pressure light on my Prius had been on for a few days, so I did what any sensible busy person would do and swung by a gas station to fill the tire with air. Of course, an hour or so later, in the middle of a downpour, I found myself on the side of the road, replacing the once-again completely flat tire with a spare. This time, I did the smart thing, and drove my car over to the Village Auto Repair, which is almost invisibly tucked away in Montecito’s Upper Village, at the far end of a parking lot above Montecito Village Grocery.

Unless you’re already aware of its existence, the only hint that there is such a place as Village Auto Repair is a small wooden sign at the side of a driveway leading uphill from the grocery store’s parking lot. (In fact, I only knew about the shop because my wife had her car serviced there last year.) “It’s really hard to see us up here,” confirms Josh Gospodnetich, Village Auto Repair’s general manager, who has worked there for six years. “You have to know about us to get up here. Jett, Jim, Josh, Mike, and Fabian at Village Auto Repair

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There are people who come up here all the time saying, ‘I’ve lived here for thirty years, twenty-five years, whatever, and I never realized that you guys were here!’”

Along with Josh, about five mechanics work at Village Auto Repair, including Mike and Jim who have worked at the shop, which first opened in 1965, for 30 and 35 years each, respectively. So far, they say, the shop is taking the coronavirus scare in stride, but business is slow: usually the crew works nonstop all day, fixing about 70 vehicles per week. Now, Josh estimates the volume of work has dropped to at best a third of that volume, and most of the jobs are small.

“It’s been a big drop off,” Josh says.

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“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” – John Barrymore “It’s usually packed, but not now. And it’s all little things, people coming in and asking for washer fluid and then they take off. I get that, but part of the problem is people just don’t know we’re open.” To fight that, Josh has been sending out email blasts to local customers reminding them that they are open through the pandemic as a so-called “essential” business. “It’s great,” he says. “I’ve been getting a lot of responses saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were open; I will bring my car right up!’” Of course there are also the folks who call the shop thinking it’s the hardware store; most of those callers inquired if the shop had any toilet paper available.

The only time anyone can remember Village Auto Repair closing was after the January 9, 2018 debris flow. For a few weeks before the disaster, during the Thomas Fire, Josh says, Village Auto Repair doubled as the Montecito Fire Department’s mechanic yard because the department’s chief mechanic had just retired. “Jim and I were out here helping them out for a few weeks,” he recalls. Fortunately the shop was spared any major damage during the debris flow because the creek which flows right next to the shop goes underground and the debris was thus diverted to either side of the shop. “We were lucky,” says Josh. “We couldn’t get back in for two months and had to be escorted in by the Fire Department.”

Compared to that disaster, Josh adds, the coronavirus crisis doesn’t seem nearly as bad. “It’s just another disaster to us at this point,” he says, laughing.

While my tire is being replaced, Mike shows me around the back of the shop. “We do everything from simple oil changes to major electrical diagnostics,” he says. “We stock all the filters for Priuses, Toyotas, all the recommended oils and coolants, plenty of wiper blades and all the filters we need for all manufacturers. Whatever they call for, we always use the proper types of oils and antifreezes. We keep on top of all of it so we are doing what we are supposed to be doing as far as manufacturer specs. It’s a pretty good, all around useful business up here. We even have sanitized pens so people can be comfortable when they come in they don’t have to grab a dirty pen.” After my brief tour, while I’m waiting to pay up, another customer who is just leaving waves goodbye to everyone.

“See you, Mike,” the man says. “We’re shutting down, so I’m working remote, until I get the word to come back in.”

“Yeah, we’re essential,” Mike responds optimistically, “so we’re staying open.” “You are essential,” the man agrees, smiling. “You’ve always been essential!” •MJ

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We’re all in this together

Our thoughts are with those affected with COVID-19, as well as medical professionals, government officials and organizations working tirelessly on caring for those in need. Sotheby’s International Realty supports social distancing so our teams are operating from home, working diligently and leveraging technology to ensure our clients and agents are fully supported. A Group Effort Sincerely Grateful Our sincerest gratitude goes out to those working tirelessly to keep our communities safe, especially first responders and medical professionals. Collectively, we are all in this together, so please do not hesitate to reach out for help.

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All but one of Montecito’s hotels or resorts are closed for business. As of press time, the San Ysidro Ranch was the only hotel still welcoming guests, despite full closure of both restaurants on site. The Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore closed last week, while the Rosewood Miramar Beach closed its doors earlier this week, sending their remaining guests to the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta. “Closing the resort in its entirety was the right thing to do given the current climate,” said Rick Fidel, resort manager of Rosewood Miramar Beach. “We have no reopening date currently scheduled, and we are committed to containing the Covid-19 virus, as everyone else is.” The Copus family of the Montecito Inn and Coast Village Inn made the decision earlier this week to close both hotels until April 15. The family was preparing to open their new restaurant, in the space formerly occupied by Montecito Café and then The Monarch, in early April; those plans have been postponed.

“We can’t wait for the day that everyone’s shop fronts will be open once again. Until then, we are in this together,” Ludwick said. Montecito & SB Real Estate Update Amid Covid-19

It goes without saying that the last few weeks have been a tumultuous time for everyone, and the global pandemic and associated social distancing and quarantines have had far reaching consequences for nearly every type of trade or commerce. The local real estate market in Santa Barbara and Montecito is no exception; here’s what’s happening in Montecito and beyond.

Many sellers have chosen to pull their listings from the MLS, either withdrawing them temporarily or canceling them completely. There have been 61 homes/condos canceled or withdrawn since March 1 in the South County (Carpinteria to Goleta), with 23 of them in Montecito, ranging in price in the 93108 from $1.3M to $42M. We’ve seen several closings in the past three weeks as well, and fewer sellers are listing their homes in this time of uncertainty. This has created an even tighter level of inventory for buyers who are still actively looking. As of this writing, there are 455 active home, condo, and PUD listings from Carpinteria to Goleta, with 148 of those in Montecito. Before the pandemic took hold in the United States, the number of active listings in the South County hovered in the mid-500 range.

Buyers are still actively looking and submitting offers, thanks in part to record low interest rates. Seasoned buyers who are locked into their rates from earlier this year are trying to solidify a home in order to benefit from the dip; while new buyers may be finding that interest rates have increased slightly from two weeks ago. The volatility in the stock market has bled into the mortgage market, and mortgage lenders report that rates are fluctuating not just daily, but sometimes hourly.

There have been 57 homes that have gone into escrow since the beginning of March, with a median list price of $1.2M. That is about 64% of normal activity; in the same time period last March (March 1-March 24), 88 homes went into escrow. In Montecito alone, we’ve seen 10 homes go into escrow, ranging in price from a $1M Fairway condo to a nearly $12M estate on Cold Spring Road, which had been on the market for over 500 days. In the same time frame last year, there were 14 homes that went in to escrow, so we are at 70% of what we would consider “normal” activity in Montecito.

Some homes in the lower price points in Santa Barbara and Goleta have gone pending with multiple offers, which we were seeing a lot of before the pandemic crisis. At this point we cannot surmise how this crisis is going to affect sales prices. Once the homes currently in escrow are closed, we will have a greater understanding of how our median home price has fared during this unprecedented time.

We are seeing a handful of listings come on the public market via the Multiple Listing Service every day; 21 listings have come on the market in Montecito since March 1, compared to just 16 that came on the market in the first three weeks of March in 2019. In the entire South County, there have been 109 new listings since March 1. Last year in the same time period there were 131, which is a 17% drop overall. There are many listings that are being held “quietly” by local agents, so as not to accrue days on market and not visible to the market at large, including on websites like Zillow and Redfin.

The California Association of Realtors has mandated that agents no longer hold brokers’ tours or open houses, and are strongly suggesting that all showings are done via video chat. The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow lenders to utilize “desktop” and exterior appraisals only, lessening the requirements of traditional appraisals. Last week, the California Association of Realtors also released a Coronavirus addendum/ amendment, which can be used in both new transactions and existing transactions, if agreed upon between both seller and buyer. The form offers sellers and buyers the ability to clarify what will happen to their transaction in the event that the coronavirus crisis causes either party to be unable to close escrow as planned. It also allows both parties to agree to cancel the agreement if the buyer is unable to obtain a loan due to new financial circumstances related to the crisis. Needs at Unity Shoppe Unity Shoppe (Unity) is offering free food and other essentials to Santa Barbarans who are now unemployed or unable to work due to the spread and impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. To meet the overwhelming need, Unity has consolidated its offerings to food distribution alone and now estimates it is serving more than three times the number of families that came in for services prior to the pandemic. As daily layoffs continue and vulnerable populations begin to run out of groceries, Unity anticipates that it will go through larger quantities of food and other supplies than ever before to keep up with the growing demand.

Donations from the public are needed immediately to purchase both fresh produce, and canned, jarred, and boxed staples with longer shelf lives, as well as masks and disinfecting wipes to keep Unity staff and the public safe.

“We are living in unprecedented times,” says Tom Reed, Unity’s Executive Director. “Hourly employees, whose work hours and wages have been scaled back dramatically or have been let go, either cannot work or must work skeletal shifts are finding their food supplies dwindling. The closing of their children’s schools and daycare centers are further complicating their lives. Our area’s seniors and disabled folks, who live on fixed incomes, or have compromised immune systems, who might be homebound or have trouble getting around, are wondering how they’ll possibly get through this alone.”

Over the next six to 12 months, Unity anticipates that its services will be utilized to capacity much like they were during the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow.

If you are in need of food or other essentials, call Unity’s main number at (805) 965-4122 for assistance. Unity Shoppe Food Distribution Services is located at 1401 Chapala Street, Monday through Friday, 1 pm to 4 pm, until further notice. To make monetary donations, go to unityshoppe.org or mail checks to 1209 State Street, Santa Barbara 93101. Donations of nonperishables can be dropped off at Unity’s side entrance: 110 West Sola Street, Monday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm. •MJ