Selling your home takes more effort than simply listing your Santa Cruz County home for sale in an MLS and placing a For Sale sign in the front yard. You have to showcase your home in a way that makes potential buyers desire it.

One of the best ways to create this desire is to stage your home so that buyers can see themselves living in it.  Here are the 10 most important things to do when staging your Santa Cruz County home for sale.

1. Remove personal touches. Buyers want to picture themselves in your home, not you and your family. Remove family photos, memorabilia and collections.

2. De-clutter. Clear the bathroom and kitchen counters. Take knickknacks off the shelves. Pack away half of the kids’ toys.

3. Organize your cabinets and closets. Take…

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Whether you’re planning on selling soon or just want a comfortable home to live in now, here are five projects that increase your Santa Cruz home’s comfort and value:

1. Uncover hardwood floors.  Is there a hardwood floor lurking under your Santa Cruz home’s carpet?  If you're not sure, pull up the carpet in an unnoticeable corner and investigate. If you find wood floors, you’ll probably need to refinish them, but that’s a lot less expensive than installing new hardwood flooring.

2. Add ceiling fans.  Everyone likes to save money, and adding ceiling fans can reduce your electric bill considerably.  Central air conditioning costs about 70 times more to run than a ceiling fan.  In the summer, fans can make you feel 3 to 8 degrees cooler, allowing you to…

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You’re going down the checklist just before your agent puts your Santa Cruz County real estate on the market:

Curb appeal: check
Tasteful fall decorations: check
No major repairs needed: check
Minor repairs fixed: check
Clutter gone: check

You’re pretty sure you haven’t forgotten anything. However, one of the many selling mistakes both big and small that people make is forgetting to check all the nooks and crannies of the property.

How old is your Santa Cruz County real estate?
The older a home is the more chance there is of having an easily forgotten, seldom seen crawlspace. The problem with crawlspaces is you never know what they might be crawling with – and neither does the potential buyer until they ask to see it.

What are the challenges with…

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If you want to freshen up your Santa Cruz County home’s kitchen, redoing the countertops might be a good choice.  It’s quick and easy to install new laminate, and you’ll have almost limitless styles to choose from.  Here’s how to install new laminate on your kitchen countertop:

Measure Countertop
Measure your existing countertop in your Santa Cruz County home’s kitchen and total the results.  Add a few inches to the side and bottom measurements to give you a little wiggle room.  You’ll need to buy contact cement, a putty knife and a utility knife at the home improvement store at the same time as the laminate.

Prepare the Area
First, you’ll have to remove the old laminate.  Leftover laminate and adhesives can make it hard for the new laminate to properly…

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A survey conducted by “Money” magazine and Lowe’s found that out of 21 common projects, energy updates gave DIYers the most satisfaction, given the time and money.  Get some satisfaction this week by implementing one or two of these easy energy savers at your Santa Cruz County home:

1. Add dimmers: If every home in the U.S replaced two standard light switches with a dimmer, we could save $1.5 billion in electricity.

2. Recycle rechargeable batteries, plastic bags and compact fluorescent lights (CFLs):  It’s as easy as taking them to your local Lowe’s Recycling Center.  Simply drop the items in the bins near the store’s entrance.

3. Stop energy leaks:  Seal all holes and cracks in your Santa Cruz County home.  Add weather stripping or caulk to leaky…

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If you’re looking for ways to save money this Thanksgiving, I have a few tips for you.  As an added benefit, you’ll also be helping the environment when you implement these ideas.

1. Bring in the outside:  A lot of people in your Santa Cruz County home, plus the heat from the oven, can make even a November day uncomfortably hot.  Instead of turning on the A/C, open some windows to cool your home down.

2. Buy only a few organic foods:  Organic food is usually more expensive than conventionally grown food.  Instead of buying a lot of organic groceries, purchase only key organic items that are most likely to transmit pesticides to you.  Check out the Dirty Dozen list to discover the produce you should consider purchasing from the organic section for your…

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Those who have never had Santa Cruz County homes for sale before often think selling is as simple as hiring an agent and putting a sign in the yard. It’s not, however, as you’ll soon discover.

The Inside of Your Home
The exterior of Santa Cruz County homes for sale is the first up-close impression buyers get.  So, when buyers make it inside, they’re one step closer to actually buying.  However, if the interior is a mess, it could blow the whole deal.

Here’s a checklist to make your home’s interior buyer ready:

  1. Make sure the front door doesn’t stick
  2. Test windows to ensure they open and close easily
  3. Wash windows inside and out
  4. Move pets and pet supplies to a temporary home
  5. Fix leaky faucets
  6. Update fixtures on your cabinet…

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When you have a home for sale in Santa Cruz County or elsewhere in the nation, you have to know the competition is fierce. Many home sellers think they have all their ducks in a row when a potential buyer comes to view the house, only to have a minor, forgotten issue blow the deal.

The Outside of Your Home
Your home’s exterior is the first thing potential buyers see up close. Online, you may have images of the front yard, back yard, kitchen and other rooms, but pictures can’t do justice to your home for sale in Santa Cruz County. 

To prepare you home for that first up-close viewing, here are 17 outside tasks:

  1. Power wash your siding and windows
  2. Fix broken siding
  3. Give the exterior a fresh coat of paint if it needs it
  4. Paint the door and…

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Selling your Santa Cruz home is a stressful experience for most people. It’s certainly not easier during the holidays, but selling your home during the holidays doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

Here are 6 tips to help you sell your Santa Cruz home during the holidays:

1. Decorate. Holiday decorations are beautiful and make your home look inviting, especially traditional decorations displayed tastefully throughout your home. Just keep the decorations simple and uncluttered.

2. Bake. Go ahead and bake your own pies this year. You’ll have your pies ready and fill your house with the welcoming scents of spices to entice buyers.

3. Create warmth. Keep the thermostat set at a comfortable heating level. Buyers won't stay in a house if it's cold.

4…

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It’s a war out there. If you’re still sitting in your robe and slippers, sipping a cup o’ joe while you casually read the Sunday comics – with the absolute knowledge that your house is going to sell – you haven’t been paying attention. The percentage of Santa Cruz homes for sale versus qualified potential buyers has made this an extreme buyer’s market.

It’s time for some tough love, sellers – some straight talk.

If you’re not ready to do more than spruce up your lawn a little, you won’t win the battle. You won’t even win a skirmish. In short, if you’re not doing everything you can (or pushing your agent about him doing everything he can) to get your home taken off the list of Santa Cruz homes for sale, you’re not a motivated seller.

Motivated sellers…

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