When you begin your search for the perfect house it usually starts with a search for the perfect Santa Cruz real estate agent. A good agent can help you with every aspect of buying a home.

They know the proper price ranges, what properties are available that match your needs and all of those pesky legal details required for closing. Your Santa Cruz real estate agent will keep things moving and make sure deadlines are met and everything goes smoothly.

Here are four tips to help you choose a real estate agent:

Meet Them Face to Face

Perfect harmony should be as instantaneous as love at first sight. You simply know you hit it off with someone, or you don't. Don't fight the feelings if you have doubts. Even the best Santa Cruz real estate agent isn't…

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We’ve all had to deal with problem neighbors near our Santa Cruz homes.  The trouble might be a loud late night party or a dog that is always barking at odd hours.  It can be hard to fix the problem without causing a lasting rift in the neighborhood.  Here are a few tips for getting a peaceful resolution:

Bring it Up Gently

It may be that your neighbor doesn’t realize there is a problem.  Try to wait a day or two after the problem occurs and tactfully bring up the trouble you are having.  Be sure to speak in a calm and reasonable manner. 

If your partying neighbor is not receptive to making a complete change, suggest that they let you know ahead of time when a party is scheduled.  Sometimes being able to plan for a disruption can make it easier to…

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During a slow market, buyers have the biggest advantages of all. That’s why now is a great time to buy Santa Cruz homes. You can haggle without feeling guilty because you have the upper hand. Then, as the market bounces back, you get the extra bonus of rising prices making your home worth more than it was when you bought it.
Even in this buyers’ market, you need to be a strong buyer. Otherwise, you could crumble when faced with negotiating prices or needed repairs.

Three ways to be a strong buyer of Santa Cruz homes:

• Walk in to any home for sale with a set idea of the value of property in the area. This means taking a little time to do your homework.  When you know the prices of the area, you can't be run over by a forceful seller who is determined to…

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If you're anything like me, you've driven through neighborhoods, admiring the Santa Cruz homes and immaculate lawns.  You've pictured your dry, brown yard, wondering how these homeowners managed to get their lawns looking so great. 

Here are a few tips and tricks that can help achieve that plush, green grass that everyone hopes for:

1.  Choose a type of grass seed that's right for your climate zone. 

There are three climate zones:  Warm, transitional and cool.  Warm season grass is better for lawns in the South, cool season for the North, and transitional for Central.  The best bet for the transitional zone is either a mixture of warm and cool season grass or using the same seeds as the warm zone. 

2.  Plant at the right time.

Throw grass seed on…

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Technology has improved our lives over the last ten years, but it’s also caused some problems along the way for Santa Cruz real estate buyers.

As a buyer, you naturally want to take advantage of every tool and service available to make it easier to find the home of your dreams. However, the Internet, which is one of the most common places for people to shop for Santa Cruz real estate nowadays, has also become a place where the unscrupulous hang out.  You can’t believe everything you read online, even when it comes to shopping for homes online.

If you’re trying to find a home, here are two things you need to be aware of:

Home Valuation Sites
Many potential buyers find an interesting home and then research the home value. This is commendable and just…

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If the thought of spring cleaning your Santa Cruz home doesn’t bring a smile to your face, you’re not alone.  To help you (and me) get going now, I’ve come up with this short list of the 6 essential, in my opinion, spring cleaning chores:

1. Store winter clothes:  It’s time to pack away your winter clothes. Coats, sweaters, and your heavy winter clothing need to be inspected, cleaned if needed and packed away.  Don’t skip the step of cleaning, or, when you get your clothes out of storage next fall, you might find that they’ve been damaged beyond repair by insects or set in stains.  Where should you store your clothes?  Somewhere clean, cool, dark and dry. 

2. Wash window treatments:  Spring is the perfect time to inspect and clean the window treatments…

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“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.” – Arthur Brisbane

One photograph can have a bigger impression on an individual than an entire essay. With the number of potential buyers searching for Santa Cruz homes for sale online, vivid photographs have sprouted everywhere. In fact, good photography can make that slight difference between having your home passed over and selling it.

If you’re considering adding your home to the online list of Santa Cruz homes for sale, you need to think about photos – and those photos need to be good. Just like the home itself, the photos need to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few tips:

Talk to your agent about what’s “hot” right now. Obviously, your strongest selling points are what buyers are looking for now.…

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The government’s first-time and repeat-buyer tax credits gave homeowners with Santa Cruz homes for sale a lot of hope. The potential for getting their homes sold seemed infinitely higher. The credit expires at the end of this month though, and many homes are still on the market. If yours is one of them, what should you do?

Don’t Panic!
The first inclination for many homeowners with Santa Cruz homes for sale is to panic.  Often, it’s during the hard periods of life that something miraculous happens. You find the job of your dreams after searching for two years for any kind of job at all. Your life has been plagued by bad relationships so often that you’ve quit looking and then – out of nowhere – your soul mate walks up. You need to sell your house, money…

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You've gotten your financing, your offer has been accepted and you just have to wait the few weeks until your closing date and your new Santa Cruz real estate is all yours. Nothing can go wrong, right? Wrong!

Technically nothing is likely to go wrong in that period of time, when it comes to the actual process of the property transfer. However, people often make critical mistakes that cripple their deals in that tense time right before closing.

Things You Shouldn't Do Before Closing

Buy a new car: Don't buy a new car or any big ticket item that might flag your loan company. Your credit will be continuously under review and your Santa Cruz real estate loan can be turned down at any time up until closing, even after it was accepted. Keep that in mind…

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If you’re like me and other real estate agents, home sellers, homebuyers and homeowners, you’re always looking for a great resource for information on the Santa Cruz real estate market. You have questions and you want answers.

• What are the mortgages like in this area?
• What are the current selling prices for homes?
• What’s a specific neighborhood like?
• Is there anything besides the economy affecting the Santa Cruz real estate market?

For instance, you want to know current market trends. Are they stabilizing? Are things still sliding down hill? Is there a buying trend sellers can take advantage of to market their homes? While a professional real estate agent will help you sell or find a home, it doesn’t hurt for you to do some research on your own…

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