Meet Yolanda.
I’m a lifelong resident of the Santa Barbara area and serving my real estate clients has been my full-time avocation for over 20 years. My passion for this area revolves around our very unique lifestyle.
I am fortunate to call this my home as I love the outdoors! Our beautiful environment and weather is perfect for the activities I enjoy and that Santa Barbara is best known for: hiking, cycling, beach walks, wine tasting, live music, experiencing unique restaurants with friends, exploring farmers markets and entertaining. I am the living expression of the Santa Barbara lifestyle with homes in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Los Olivos, where I am a fledgling wine maker. (see here: www.TableOak.com)
Raised and educated locally, I attended area schools in Montecito and Carpinteria, and graduated from UCSB. This intimate area knowledge provides me with deep insights and nearly a half-century of perspective that’s simply unobtainable from someone who lacks local roots with hundreds of local family and lifelong friends.
My family and several relative-families emigrated from The Netherlands in the late 1960s and together, we are largely credited for establishing and building the wholesale cut flower industry in the area. My family continues in this agricultural business legacy and the Van Wingerden family is widely celebrated for their decades of contributions to the local economy as well as their generous philanthropic activities.
With nearly 100 local relatives, I’m often made aware of real estate opportunities that are brought to my attention prior to being publicly listed for sale. This access represents a unique opportunity for my clients. Like few others, I know this area, all it has to offer, and the myriad details of all the hidden pockets and unique neighborhoods.
Experience:
I developed strong negotiating skills in the rough-and-tumble world of the international commodities business, followed by a successful sales and marketing career in the wholesale cut flower industry.
My demonstrated skills in negotiation, sales and marketing, combined with my deep roots in the community, were the ideal platform from which to launch my Real Estate career in 2001.
As a reflection of representing hundreds of delighted clients (see: Testimonials), I have earned and have been awarded the prestigious Chairman’s Circle Gold or Chairman’s Circle Platinum year after year, and remain in the top percentage in real estate sales performance in the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors, and nationwide.