Kelly Knight, a long-time Santa Barbara real estate broker and founder of Knight Real Estate Group, an affiliate of Village Properties, has received two prestigious awards from the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors (SBAOR).
A full-time, licensed real estate broker since 2005, Knight received the Howard Gates Award for coordinating the sale of a property gifted to the nonprofit Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara (SFSB), the nation’s largest community-based provider of college scholarships.
The association judged the sale as the most “challenging and intricate transaction” of 2023 that demanded “exceptional perseverance, determination, diligence, patience, and expertise.”
Knight has been a SFSB governing board member since 2017.
Knight, who is dedicated to serving her clients as well as the community at large, also received SBAOR’s Realtor Community Service Award for her philanthropic and volunteer work serving the Santa Barbara community.
Knight lends her time, expertise, and financial resources to SFSB, and her real estate team at Knight Real Estate Group contributes regularly to the Village Properties Teacher’s Fund campaign and other local nonprofit organizations.
“My education and legal background have given me much throughout my life, personally and professionally,” Knight said. “I believe it’s a fundamental responsibility – as well as my greatest joy – to give back to our beautiful community.”
The sale that won Knight the Howard Gates Award involved a piece of land that was partially gifted to SFSB 24 years ago and had nine additional owners, some of whom had passed and left shares of the property to adult children.
The gift to SFSB was intended to help the foundation fulfill its mission of awarding college scholarships to low-income students. But the complexity of trying to sell the property made it difficult for the foundation to move forward.
Knight’s involvement changed that. As a former lawyer who worked for a top Santa Barbara law firm, she had expertise in dealing with the nuances of complex real estate contracts, and an ability to understand and explain the ramifications of a purchase or sale in a way that many agents cannot.
Knight volunteered to serve as agent to all 10 owners, even though it meant she would not be compensated for her time.
She guided all the owners through the legal technicalities of the sale, which occurred within five months, and at a price of 6% more than the lot’s assessed value. This allowed SFSB to establish an endowed $400,000 scholarship using the proceeds.
“Kelly never lost hope, stayed on top of every detail, and repeatedly followedup on contacting all the parties with exceptional diplomatic and effective communication skills,” Mary Dwyer, SFSB’s interim president and CEO, wrote in a recommendation letter.
“Her style along with her legal background and superior knowledge of real estate transactions served all parties exceptionally well and resulted in the sale of the property,” Dwyer said.
SBAOR presented Knight with the two awards at its Annual Awards and Installation Ceremony Dec. 1 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
“I take immense pride in having provided the vision, commitment, and determination required to facilitate the sale of the property to attain this noble objective,” Knight said after receiving the Howard Gates Award.
“I hope that this Santa Barbara real estate sale success story serves as an inspiration to fellow Realtors, motivating them to explore opportunities to leverage their skills for the betterment of our community,” she said.
Knight is the founder and associate broker for Knight Real Estate Group, a boutique Santa Barbara real estate team. The group was the No. 1 producer in Village Properties’ Santa Barbara office for 2022, and the No. 3 producer company-wide with over $150 million in sales since 2020.
Knight works with associate Gabe Grandcolas covering all aspects of the buying and selling process in Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch and Goleta.
For more about Knight Real Estate Group, visit https://knightrealestategroup.com/ or call 805-895-4406. Learn more about Village Properties at https://villagesite.com/ or email info@villagesite.com.