One of the side effects of living in your Santa Cruz home is the traffic your driveway sees.  Your cars and the cars of your friends and family may be leaving behind evidence they were there in the form of oil stains.  Not only are oil stains an eyesore, they are notoriously difficult to remove. 

Here are a few suggestions that will have the driveway of your Santa Cruz home sparkling again:

• Soak up any oil left standing on the driveway.  Most people use a fine gravel cat litter or sawdust.  You can use baking soda, flour or any other absorbent material that you have on hand.  Whichever material you choose, needs to be left on the stains for a couple of hours to absorb the excess.

• Wash the stain.  Use dishwashing soap on the area first.  If the…

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You may not know it, but you can take out a second mortgage on your Santa Cruz condo, if you have equity in the property.  A lender may offer you a home equity loan (HEL) or a home equity line of credit (HELOC).  Which one is right for you?  Here are a couple of tips to help you decide:

• A home equity loan is commonly referred to as a second mortgage.  Expect the process to be similar to getting your primary mortgage.  Your home will have to be inspected, and you’ll need to arrange for another appraisal.  Home equity loans frequently have a higher interest rate than primary mortgages because the lender is at a greater risk of you defaulting on the loan.

• The HEL can be a fixed-rate mortgage, which means that your interest rate and payments are fixed…

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Is a home warranty necessary when you buy a Santa Cruz home? Isn’t it just an extra expense added on to an already expensive purchase? Not exactly. There are a few things to consider before deciding yes or no.

Type of Home
For example, the type of home you plan to buy makes a difference:

• Are you buying a newly constructed Santa Cruz home? Any newly built home should already be covered by the builder warranty, at least for a specific timeframe.
• Are you buying an older home? If so, a warranty might be the right thing to have.
• Are you buying a foreclosure? In this case, a home warranty is an excellent idea.

Homeowners Insurance vs. Home Warranty
Homeowners insurance is different from a home warranty.  Insurance covers the home if there’s a natural…

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You have a for sale sign in front of your Santa Cruz home. Even though the real estate market is slow, you still see other houses being bought. What’s the matter with yours? Why is your home still sitting on the market? Is it you? Is it your home? Is it your agent? It may just be your online marketing (or lack of it).

Do Upload Photos
The internet is one of most popular places for homebuyers to do their initial shopping.  If your Santa Cruz home isn’t online, it needs to be there. If it is online, it needs pictures. If it has pictures, pay attention to the following issues:

• Dark or grainy pictures
• Images with closed windows, drapes and/or blinds
• Photos of rooms with clutter
• Only one photo, and it’s of the front of the house
• Images that haven’t been…

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Are you buying Santa Cruz real estate chiefly as an investment or as your primary residence? Does it need a little updating or a big overhaul? When you consider that buying Santa Cruz real estate is a major purchase, no matter what the reason, it’s always a good idea to look at the potential pros and cons.

Pros of Buying a Fixer Upper

Location – The fixer upper you’re considering could be in a great neighborhood. It might even be on the best street. But, because it needs work, you could get a home in a location you might otherwise not be able to afford.

Cost – It’s almost always cheaper to buy something broken than to buy something that works. Well, the same can be true for any kind of real estate investment. Buying a fixer upper may be a good…

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If your Santa Cruz home for sale has a big kitchen and you haven’t marketed this feature, you may be in luck, thanks to a recently noted trend.

With the staggering economy, the national unemployment rate is still sitting above 9%. Many young adults just out of college are having trouble find jobs. In fact, the age group hardest hit seems to be between 16 and 24. As well, there are a number of people without homes due to foreclosure. How are Americans weathering the economic fallout? Many are doing so by consolidating multiple generations into one home.

2 Things That May Change How You Market Your Santa Cruz Home for Sale
A Pew Research Center study on living conditions and an Associated Press - iVillage poll on dinner habits may change how you market…

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If you’re looking for a Santa Cruz home for sale and you’ve never bought a home before, you might think, “This won’t take much time.” Typically, just the opposite is true.   Buying a home frequently takes quite a bit of time.

Of course, the whole home buying process will go much faster (and smoother) if you do things the right way. If you’re a first time buyer looking for a Santa Cruz home for sale, take some lessons from the pros. The following tips will help make the buying process fly:

1. Weigh the Benefits - Before you actually go house hunting, weigh the pros and cons of buying a home. Can you really afford it? Is it a good idea, or are you caving under pressure from family, friends, your doctor and the next-door neighbor?

Make sure that you’ve…

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Buyers are becoming more concerned about their personal environment, from eco-friendly carpeting to energy efficient appliances. If you’re looking for an eco-friendly home for sale in Santa Cruz, but aren’t sure how to find it, here are a few tips on what to look for:

1. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) – Although the number is growing, only a few builders are employing eco-friendly practices during construction. However, those that do can qualify for the EPA Indoor airPlus designation. These homes are designed for better IAQ, which means a healthier home for you. Rest assured, if a builder meets this designation they’ll tell you about it. However, just in case – ask!

2. Energy Efficient – If it qualifies for the EPA Indoor airPlus designation, the home for…

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The point of having your home for sale in Santa Cruz is to… well, sell it, isn’t it? I mean, it makes logical sense, right? Yet, too often, home sellers seem to think that selling is as easy as “hire agent, put sign in front, sold.”

This attitude, especially in a slow real estate market, has left many a seller empty-handed. They say “no” when they should have said “yes.” They have all these reasons why they won’t “A, B or C,” rather than just doing “A, B or C” for their home for sale in Santa Cruz.

What am I talking about? Well, here are just a few of those “don’t say no” things:

Buyer Incentives
Listen – a slow market or not, you do have competition. What does this mean? You may have the best house on the block, but if your neighbor’s house has higher…

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August 2010

Lauren Spencer
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Aptos
7979 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA 95003

Dear Lauren:

Elite. Exceptional. Unparalleled. These are the words that come to mind as I think of your performance during the last three months, which has resulted in you placing at number 920 among NRT's Top 1,000 Sales Associates for the second quarter of 2010. To put this accomplishment in perspective, you rank among the top two percent of the company's 45,000 sales associates. In light of continuing market challenges, this is nothing short of remarkable.

I am so deeply impressed with your commitment to service which undoubtedly contributes to your success. Thanks to a dedicated corps of agents like you and your esteemed Top 1,000 colleagues, Truly…

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