I have known Chris since 1980 when we met on the street we were both living on, Scenic Drive, while I was walking my dog. I lived in England from 1983 to 1987, but when I returned, we saw each other sometimes around town, and in 2005 we found ourselves in Richard McLaughlin's yoga class and saw each other every week. Chris and Teriana came to the potluck celebration in October 2008 when I married Gerard from Holland, and we continued to connect in yoga class. Teriana is Chris's deepest love, and it shows in the photo I took of them in 2014. I will miss Chris forever, miss his big hugs and warm heart.

Christopher,

How very fortunate we were to have grown up at the time and place that we were blessed with, for this amazing journey we were about to take growing up in the 50s was so unique and special. The times were prosperous for the country, opportunities were boundless and we got to participate by just showing up.

We started horsing around together 65 years ago! Remember Kindergarten? It was much different then. Don’t know if I learned much between naptime and recess, but there’s no question that we learned life’s  lessons.  Remember the time the whole school had an outdoor assembly? And our surprise was riding through the east playground gate, the one and only Montie Montana! It was the simple things.

Elementary School was the time of school bussing. How fortunate for us that we were all brought together as young children. We all played together, learned together, talked together, shared together, and moved forward together. It gave us a head start in the events to come and the life altering 60’s.

Was it you that invented the skateboard? I seem to remember you nailing a metal skate to a piece of 2x4. It sure helped develop those coordination skills that came in handy at Laguna Beach when we spent those endless days body surfing. I can still feel that cold breeze on my face and the hot sun on my back. Brushing off the dried sand and running up the hill for the nice lunch that Julie had waiting.

How about that Skim Board you made out of a piece of plywood? Carefully filing down the sharp edges. You throwing that round disc into the receding  wave and running like hell, you jumped onto this creation and skimmed

along the beach.

It was time for Junior High School. (I think its Middle School now days). Sports, sports and more sports. Tackle football on your neighbors front lawns, three yards, I remember. And basketball in Mac’s driveway, until much too late. Bicycling took us out of the neighborhood and into new adventures and new discoveries. The money from our paper routes didn’t hurt either. No more collecting returnable bottles at Eliot for a package of cupcakes.

We were in the CHPs.

Then came the real milestone. One day I found you in the yard with Art, putting together some plywood, tubing, wheels and a lawn mower motor. It became a “Go Cart” – and we were off. Flying down the street 3” above the asphalt. More learned skills that would be tested in the High School years, after all, you did have the coolest car on campus. That beautiful, British racing green MG. Top down – how sweet was that ride? (I did get some rides when those cheerleaders weren’t hanging around. Just kidding.)

We soon lost you for a short time as soon as you moved north to your beloved city by the beach, Santa Barbara. I’ve sometimes reflected on your story of a very, very early experience as a child, a misunderstanding and an event that formed part of your adult life. One of always reaching out to help, to engage, to support, to volunteer for your charities. You set the bar pretty high, but you taught by example.

I can say that I will miss your calls and our excursions, but I will not be sad, because you will always be with us.

Love Roger, Rufina, Jennifer and Stephanie

We're so happy that we got to know Chris better over the last few years.  We first met him about 18 years ago when our son, Jay, met Chris's step-daughter, Celeste, who ultimately became his wife.  Over the years we've had many family celebrations, gatherings and events in Santa Barbara as well as in the Bay Area, where we live, but we didn't really get to know Chris until about 3 years ago when we were in SB for Christmas.  The night before we left to head home we had dinner with Chris and Teriana at Olio E Limone and shared life stories and felt like we had established a friendship, rather than just a connection through family.  After that Chris and Teriana came to the Bay Area a couple of times for Jer's volleyball tournaments and we cheered with him in the stands and shared dinners in the evening.  The photos I posted were taken this July at one of those dinners in Jay and Celeste's backyard, (though sadly they weren't there because they were in NY).  We had a wonderful summer evening together, sharing the joys of our family and the grand children.  Chris was so happy.  Sadly, this was the last time we saw him.  We're so grateful we became closer during the time of his illness and got to witness the opening of his heart as he fully embraced life, love and the connection of family and friends.  We'll miss you Chris.  Love, Linda and Bart

In 2009 I started my final career by taking John Nisbet's Real Estate Principals Class at Santa Barbara City College. For extra credit I wrote a paper about the Real Estate Industry. I attended church with Chris and viewed him as a role model. This is the paper I wrote. After 8 years I can't think of much more that I could add. Thank you and bless you Chris

Lessons from a Real Estate Professional

A Morning with Chris Casebeer 

Gary Welterlen; Real Estate 101 Principals of Real Estate

11/16/2009

The lessons Chris Casebeer, a Santa Barbara Real Estate broker with 30 years of experience, shared with me  on the recent Caravan of Homes Tour.

I have known Chris Casebeer, casually, for over 10 years. He struck me as always personable and cordial, going out of his way to make people at ease in any number of social occasions we found ourselves together in.  I knew of his professional work only from what I had seen in the local real estate trade publications or from what I had heard from others how have known Chris. When I approached Chris about getting together for lunch to discuss this assignment, he suggested instead that I accompany him on the Caravan of Homes; tour of open houses that following Thursday. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

 8:30 Thursday, November 5. I’m standing outside the Cabrillo Arts Pavilion waiting to meet Chris for the monthly breakfast meeting of the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors®. Each first Thursday of the month Real Estate Professionals and those associated with the real estate business meet to exchange information, share stories and to pitch their wares to Santa Barbara Association of Realtors ® members.  Brokers, sales associates, trainers, appraisers, lenders, and other service providers took the podium for a few brief minutes to make people aware of their services and offerings.

 Chris arrives and we go inside. We approach a table with a number of pamphlets, and brochure representing the product and services of sponsors and people serving the Santa Barbara market. Chris directs me to this week’s tour of open houses. I pick up a pair of four page computer generated lists of this week’s homes. Chris quickly reviews the list, making notes for future reference.  As we enter the meeting we are greeted by a number of business associates, each making introductions before quickly entering into small talk and professional banter. It is apparent this is a business of relationships, trust built up over the years by working deals together. Chris mentioned that he did not view other brokers as competitors for listing or for sales rather, he viewed everybody in the room as a potential partner in an upcoming opportunity.   The meeting lasts about an hour; we make our goodbyes and find our way to our car to reconvene at Chris’ office.

 Chris is a sole practitioner and manages a select number of both sellers and buyers. I asked him was there an optimum number of clients to be working with and he said, “It depends.”  He went on to say that can never was too many opportunities but it is always better to work with those how are committed to work with you and who are committed to closing their deal. Sellers need to be committed to wanting to sell their house and be willing to review and act on reasonable offers and requests from their broker. Buyers need to be committed to work with a single buyer’s agent and not enlist the services of others. Chris will ask early in the process for the buyer to agree to a 90 day Buyers Agreement. This ensures a level of understanding of the buyer of their responsibilities and obligations to Chris and to their search for a house.  At times this results in a buyer not engaging Chris, but he feels that is probably for the better, as the test of commitment hasn’t been past. I felt that the most valuable commodity of a Real Estate professional is their knowledge and their time; and spending it with clients who have this understanding. We discussed the needs of good record keeping and the retention time for escrow files. Chris felt it was a best practice to keep escrow records beyond the time period prescribed by law. It also said it was a best practice to keep those records in a consistent and orderly manner so that information could be made readily available in the case of an inquiry or an audit.

 Chris said it was time to go and asked to see the list of homes on today’s tour.  The notes Chris had taken earlier in the morning were for houses had not yet previewed or those that had changed hands recently.  Chris mentioned the importance of knowing your inventory and keeping it current. Chris said it is important to know what’s on the market so that you can start matching up your buyers with the inventory available at any point in time. He also said you need to know the streets and roads of Santa Barbara. Yes, a GPS can help, but a prospective buyer has confidence in an agent that can find his or her way around town.

 We started off to preview ten houses that morning, starting on the Eastside and Riviera, continuing on to San Roque and the Westside. Chris seemed to know each agent at each home after 30 years you really know the people you work with.  He listened attentively to the information of the house as we walked through each room taking mental notes of details that were unseen to the untrained eye. A load bearing wall, a room plumbed for full bath, the kitchen with a southeasterly exposure. A garage converted to a study. An overly steep driveway or cracks in a foundation. He asked a few more questions, such as when was the roof last replaced or when was the kitchen remodeled, filling in the blanks that were missing. Chris always made a positive comment about the house then thanked the agent before moving on the next home. Chris never expressed his personal opinion of whether he liked the property. He felt his opinion didn’t really matter that each property had merit and interesting qualities and that eventually buyer and seller would get joined at an agreeable price and terms and a deal would be done.

 We continued on our tour. Chris mentioned that it is not uncommon for him to see homes on a tour that have been turned over three, and in some cases four times since he has been in selling homes in Santa Barbara. That is why the tour of homes is so important. Even if you think you know a property from the last time it was on the market, in all likelihood it has changed significantly and the knowledge of your inventory is so important. Chris mentioned the changing demographics in Santa Barbara. The recognition and desirability of Santa Barbara means that buyers can be from anywhere on the planet and it is not out of the ordinary to be marketing your home to someone in Europe, Latin America or Asia. Likewise our domestic buyers will start to reflect the increased mobility of upscale American buyers, primarily baby boomers as the general population ages as they begin to seek smaller home in more urban places to live, like Santa Barbara. In Real Estate the only constant is change.

 I asked Chris about how he got started in Real Estate and why he stayed in the business. Chris entered the business over thirty years ago. A 40 year Santa Barbara resident,  I learned from his website,  http://www.chriscasebeer.com ,  that “Chris was first licensed with Pitts & Bachmann Realtors of Santa Barbara in 1974.   He learned his craft from the best, David Pitts.    Specializing in homes, condominiums and buildable sites gave Chris a broad knowledge of the Santa Barbara market.   Later in 1980 he opened his own firm, Casebeer & Company, Inc.” Chris stressed the importance of working for a “good broker”, a mentor who takes a personal interest in your success. Chris felt he was fortunate to work for someone like Dave Pitts who helped him learn the ropes of the business and when was he was ready, to encourage Chris to open his own company. Chris said good mentors can be found in companies large and small, so it was worth the investment of time and energy to seek them out. They can make all the difference in your career.

 As we completed the tour Chris left me with this final thought. If you choose Real Estate as a profession you need to be “all in” or you won’t be successful. He felt you can’t represent your seller or your buyers well unless you are committed to the profession. This meant to Chris that you had to be doing this as full time job and not as a part time avocation. Chris said that if he asked a buyer or a seller to be committed to him; that is the least they can expect of him. He said take the profession seriously, keep up with your professional training and give back to the profession when are asked to mentor others in the business. “I love what I do. It has provided me a good living and a great life, and where better than in Santa Barbara!”