If the thought of buying a Santa Cruz  home in 2011 has even so much as flitted through your mind, here are six New Year’s Resolutions you should consider making:

1. Review your credit reports.  To determine the interest rate and terms of your mortgage, lenders pull credit scores from each of the three credit reporting bureaus:  Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union.  You need to go through all three credit reports and dispute any credit report errors.

2. Establish a good credit rating.  To take advantage of today's low interest rates, your credit score needs to be above 760. The higher, the better.  To improve your credit rating, fix all errors in your credit reports and practice good credit behavior by paying your bills on time and in full each month.

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When you fell in love with your new Santa Cruz County home and then got a “yes” from the sellers, you were probably on cloud nine for days. Getting approved for a mortgage on your new Santa Cruz County home went without too many hitches. 

Now, you are lying in bed—sweating. You only have a few days until closing and you toss and turn with visions of mortgage payments dancing in your head.

Take heart, you are not alone. It is a familiar scenario that happens to just about everyone faced with signing on the bottom line for a new home and 30 years worth of payments. It's called buyer's remorse. It is the equivalent of a soon-to-be bride’s cold feet.  Even though she knows she’s found her perfect match, the idea of a happily ever after forever—FOREVER, is…

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Times change but not always for the best.  Consider the change we’ve seen in attitudes toward Santa Cruz real estate over the last few decades. 

Owners used to love their homes because they were their safe havens.  Many now only worry about whether or not their houses will appreciate enough in value to allow them to refinance to buy luxury vacations in Hawaii or a new car.

What’s your stance on the Santa Cruz real estate you own or wish to own some day?   Is it a house or a home to you?  There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, simply a varying point of view.

It’s a house if you:

• Bought it because you want to build equity
• Value it most because of its monetary value
• Worry primarily about it because it might lose some of its value in…

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House flipping is still a profitable way to invest in Santa Cruz County real estate, if you know what you’re doing. I’m going to share one of the biggest mistakes prospective home flippers make and how to avoid it.

Choosing the Wrong Santa Cruz County Real Estate to Flip

Nothing will make your venture into the world of house flipping a bigger nightmare than a finished product that will not sell. To avoid this, learn all you can about what’s currently selling the fastest and for the most money in your real estate market.

It doesn't mean you have to pick expensive homes in up-scale neighborhoods.  In fact, those may be the worst properties to try to flip, depending on your market.  Typically, there are houses you can flip for profit in every price…

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FHA loans are mortgages issued by qualified lenders, including traditional lenders like Citigroup and Wells Fargo, and insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  The popularity of these loans are skyrocketing and for good reasons.  They feature low down payments, low closing costs and are easier to qualify for.

Despite this popularity, there are many misconceptions surrounding FHA loans.  Here are just a few myths and the facts behind them.

Myth #1: FHA only loans small amounts to buyers of Santa Cruz homes. 
Fact:  To help stabilize the real estate market, the government recently raised the maximum loan amount from its original cap of $362,790 to $793,750. The FHA loan amount a buyer can borrow varies by state and county.

Myth #2:  FHA…

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To find the perfect holiday gifts for new Santa Cruz County home owners, consider gifts that will keep on giving efficiency, convenience and luxury for years to come.  To help with your shopping, here’s my list of seven great holiday gifts for new Santa Cruz County home owners:

1. Gift card to a local home store.  This is the easiest gift to give, and often the most popular with home owners.  It can help finance their bathroom remodel or purchase of a large item like a riding lawn mower.

2. Fireproof safe or lockbox.  A small fireproof safe is the perfect place to store important items such as mortgage papers, home owner’s insurance information and receipts for home repairs.

3. Luxurious bath towels.  You can never have too many big, thick bath…

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Buying a home used to be celebrated. It was a sign of growing up and “getting somewhere.” Yet, tell someone you bought Santa Cruz County real estate now days and you might just get wide eyes and a gasped, “You did WHAT?”

If you’re still trying to decide if buying Santa Cruz County real estate is for you, consider all the reasons why people are still buying homes.

Well, first, you have the reasons that have stood the test of time:
     • Once you buy a house, it’s yours until you decide to sell it.
     • You experience pride of ownership.
     • There’s also a sense of security in owning your own home, which is something missing in renting.

While those traditional reasons are tried, tested and true, there are others:
     • Mortgage rates hit an…

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Don’t you just love it when the evening news finally shares some good news?  I do too!  So, I want to do my part and share some good news with you today:  Santa Cruz County homes and homes nationwide are becoming more affordable.   In fact, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, housing affordability is close to reaching an all-time high. 

Big Benefit to Buyers

Exactly how does this benefit the buyers of Santa Cruz County homes?  A typical buyer can pay much less in mortgage costs for the same home, or buy a better home without increasing their monthly payment.

Reasons for Improvement

There are several reasons housing affordability is improving:

1. Lower mortgage rates.  The primary reason Santa Cruz County homes are now more…

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With all the talk of the great deals you can get on foreclosures in Santa Cruz, you may be tempted to step into the investment market. Or, you may get the idea that buying a foreclosure is your best bet for a great deal on a home. Well, it’s possible, but remember that the foreclosure market is full of perilous pathways and competitive investment pros who know what they’re doing.

Whether you’re considering purchasing foreclosures in Santa Cruz as investments or as your personal residence, here are a few tips that will help you get a great investment and avoid a bad disaster.

• Gather a Team of Professionals:  Your team of professionals should include a home inspector, a real estate agent and an appraiser.  You may also want to include a professional…

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Searching for the right home takes time and patience. Before you start looking at Santa Cruz homes on the market, you need to know exactly what you want in your new home.

Create a list of the features you want in your new home, so you make the most of your time by looking only at Santa Cruz homes that meet your criteria. Here is a quick guide to help you create a checklist:

1. Must Have. These are deal breakers; features that you cannot live without. Do you need a certain number of bedrooms? Do you work from home and need an office, or maybe even an outside entrance to your home office? Perhaps you have small children or large dogs and need a fenced yard. Decide now what you must have in your new home.

2. Like to Have. Features you would “like to…

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