Wouldn’t it be nice if all the doors in your Santa Cruz home swung freely and quietly and closed with a neat “click,” just the way they should? Maybe you’ve adapted to all the idiosyncrasies of each door and don’t even notice how they add vexation to your life. But visitors will notice — especially if they’re potential buyers. In today’s market, you can’t afford to have anything working against you, no matter how subliminal. So let’s fix those annoying doors. Pick your problem:

Lock problems.
If the key to the door to your Santa Cruz home is difficult to turn in the lock, don’t try to oil it. This will only attract more dust and make things worse. Instead, get a tube of graphite powder from the key department at your hardware store. Insert the tip of…

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If your Santa Cruz home’s bathroom is looking dull and dingy, you don’t have to wait until you win the lottery to give it a facelift. All you need is a little creativity, a lot of elbow grease and a weekend.

The best part about updating your bathroom is that it’s usually the smallest room in your Santa Cruz home, which means it’ll take less time and effort to give it a makeover. Here are seven tips to update your bathroom quickly and inexpensively:

1. Wash the shower walls: You want to remove soap scum and hard-water stains.

2. Re-grout the tub: If the grout joint, where the wall meets the tub, is damaged or discolored, scrape it out. Use a grout saw to remove the top 1/8 inch of grout from between the tiles. Wash the shower again and re-grout.…

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1. Plug up any holes. Use foam and caulking to seal any cracks where drafts or summer heat are getting into your Santa Cruz home.

2. Close blinds.  Close your drapes and blinds during the day to keep the sun and heat from getting in. This will cool the house down naturally and take the strain off the central air conditioning unit.

3. Clean filters. Clean or replace your a/c filters once a month to allow proper airflow through the system.

4. Install a Programmable Thermostat. Install a programmable thermostat to keep utility costs down by raising the temperature a few degrees during the day while no one is home, and lowering it just before family returns.

5. Unplug electronic devices. Either unplug electronic devices when not in use or turn…

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Does it seem like ants have suddenly decided your Santa Cruz home is Insectopia? Don’t panic. Here are the easiest, least toxic, most affordable ways to deal with ants.

First, it’s important to know that ants are social insects; they live in colonies. An ant colony may consist of thousands of individual ants.

If you see a few ants wandering around in your Santa Cruz home, they could be scouts, sent out to find the best food source for the colony. It’s time to:

• Act fast. Smash the first few ants as soon as you see them. If those scouts don’t return to the nest, the rest of the colony will not be alerted to invade.

• Spray a vinegar solution on the area and sponge it up. This will remove the scent trail of any ants that passed through,…

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Most buyers consider bathrooms to be one of the most important aspects of a home. If you’re thinking of selling any time soon, give your bathroom a facelift to increase your Santa Cruz home’s value and help it sell faster.

Here are seven ways to fluff up your bathroom without breaking the bank:

1. Spring for a new toilet seat. Buy a well-known brand name, and spend the extra money for a quality seat material. Polypropylene, basically a hard plastic material, is a very good choice.

2. Remove old wallpaper. Rent a steamer or use the scrape method to remove old wallpaper. Paint the walls in a neutral color.

3. Lighten it up. Install updated lighting fixtures to make the bathroom in your Santa Cruz home instantly brighter.

4. Refinish your…

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The kitchen is the gathering place in most Santa Cruz homes. That's probably why it gets dirty so quickly. A dirty, messy kitchen can make your whole house feel like a disaster. It can also breed germs that are dangerous to you and your family.
Here are five cleaning tips to remove bacteria and make your kitchen shine:

1. Use a paper towel. If you need to clean up a mess from raw meat, eggs or anything likely to cause contamination, use a paper towel and throw it out.

2. Microwave your sponges. Kitchen sponges are the number one source of germs in most Santa Cruz homes. To disinfect a sponge, wet it and pop it in the microwave for two minutes. Depending on the power of your microwave, a dry sponge may catch fire so be sure to wet it first.

3. …

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You can just have fun visiting open houses when you’re not ready to buy Santa Cruz real estate.  But get serious and shop like a pro when the time is right for you to buy.

Here are tips that’ll have you shopping like a real estate pro at the next open house you attend:

  1. Preview the Santa Cruz real estate online: Don’t waste your time attending open houses for properties that don’t meet your minimum requirements.
  2. Remove the emotion: Professional real estate investors
    and agents don’t allow emotions or gut feelings to determine which property
    they should buy. Instead, focus on the facts and figures.
  3. Dig deep: Don’t fall for the fresh coat of paint and new carpeting. Peel back those layers to see what condition the home
    is in. Open under-sink…

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Whether it’s your mother’s, mother-in-law’s or grandmother’s Santa Cruz home for sale that needs work, make the effort this Mother’s Day to give her your time and make a few quick improvements. Fixing up a Santa Cruz home for sale can be overwhelming, especially if costly repairs are needed.

To give you some ideas, here are six fast and inexpensive improvements that will have your loved-one’s Santa Cruz home for sale looking better and selling faster:

1. Neutralize the rooms. Your father might take pride in his fly-fishing-inspired man cave, but potential buyers may not love it. Pack away as much of the fishing memorabilia as dad will allow, and brighten the room by painting it a neutral color.

2. Add lighting. Modern track lighting can help…

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You’ve cleaned the house, made all the necessary repairs and removed all the clutter. Now it’s time to have an open house to pull in potential buyers for your home in Santa Cruz.

Here are eight tips to help you have a successful open house:

1. Take advantage of new technology.  Advertise the open house on all the popular real estate sites.  With technology what it is these days, most home buyers start their searches online. If you’re working with a real estate agent, he or she will handle this for you.

2. Enlist your neighbors’ help.  Neighbors have friends who are looking for homes too.  Let them know about your open house and invite them over. They will be looking at your home for their friends, their kids’ friends, etc. 

3. Go paperless. …

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When selling a Santa Cruz home, the last thing you want potential buyers to focus on are projects they’ll need to complete. Even though it’s cosmetic, wallpaper — and the thought of long hours stripping it — might make many buyers start questioning whether they really want to buy your Santa Cruz home.

When preparing your home for sale, remove all old wallpaper. This project can be completed in one weekend and will greatly improve your property’s appeal. Below are five steps to get rid of wallpaper and increase your resale potential:

1. Remove the old wallpaper. Renting a wallpaper steamer is an absolute must to save you time and aggravation. It’ll make the job much quicker and is much less likely to damage the wall underneath.

2. Scrub your walls…

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