While some agents are milking Montecito’s connection to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, others are treading carefully with a buyer pool unfazed by celebrity and looking for privacy.
Can the mere mention of Harry and Meghan’s name help sell a home?
Ever since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave up their royal titles and came to the celebrity-rich enclave of Montecito, California, to live, listings inviting buyers to become “neighbors” with the royal couple have been popping up all over the place.
Paula Lopez | Coldwell Banker Realty
Immediately dubbing Montecito the couple’s “new hometown,” news articles rounding up addresses within range of the heavily-guarded $14.7 million, 18,000-square-foot estate purchased by the couple last summer have also been prevalent. In many cases, the word “neighbor” is both an accurate and misleading way of describing anyone who shares a 93103 or 93108 zip code.
The Santa Barbara enclave has been a refuge for celebrities and the uber-rich for decades precisely for its gated nature and extreme privacy. A median listing now goes for $5 million while Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Costner, Drew Barrymore and Ellen DeGeneres have all maintained properties in Montecito at different points in time. Almost every house is hidden from view, heavily guarded and otherwise protected from neighbors or curious onlookers eager to star-gaze.
But with a…
