Found 892 entries about Santa Cruz Real Estate.
| Trends At a Glance | Jun 2009 | Previous Month | Year-over Year |
| Median Price | $522,258 | $470,000 (+11.1%) | $605,000 (-13.7%) |
| Average Price | $571,824 | $508,121 (+12.5%) | $683,464 (-16.3%) |
| No. of Sales | 183 | 139 (+31.7%) | 154 (+18.8%) |
| Pending Properties | 261 | 262 (-0.4%) | 196 (+33.2%) |
| Active | 741 | 746 (-0.7%) | 1,271 (-41.7%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 97.8% | 98.0% (-0.2%) | 97.7% (+0.1%) |
| Days on Market | 82 | 92 (-11.1%) | 90 (-9.3%) |
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It can happen to even the best Santa Cruz home. It has great curb appeal and the interior shows well. So, why isn't it selling?
Even if your home is the best home in the neighborhood, it can still end up languishing on the market as others around it sell. So, what can you do to get your home sold?
Check Your Price
Being over priced, even by a relatively small amount, is the most common reason homes don't sell. The wrong price can prevent potential buyers from even looking at your home. Keep your emotions out of the calculations. Of course, you love your home and think it's very valuable. But, you need to look at it as an impartial outsider. Examine the facts and figures presented by your real estate agent, and take his or her expert advice. …
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You’ve finally decided you want to buy a piece of Santa Cruz real estate. What do you do now? Here are a few tips for getting the best deal for your money:
Check Out Your Credit
The first thing you’ll want to do is order a copy of your credit report from the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Look for inaccuracies in:
• Name
• Address
• Creditors
• Late payments
• Delinquencies
After you’ve reviewed your credit report and know your credit score, you’re ready to make improvements to your report, if your credit score is too low. Send a written “Notice of Correction” to the credit bureaus. It can be up to 200 words. If needed, you can explain why you fell behind on a particular debt, and every time a lender accesses the…
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There are many wonderful reasons to want a home of your own. Right now is an excellent time to pick up a great deal on Santa Cruz real estate. It's definitely a buyer's market where you can purchase homes at historically low prices. To be sure the time is right for you, answer a few simple questions for yourself:
Are you ready to stay put for more than three years?
If you move around a lot, have a job that sends you to different locales all the time, or just haven't found the area you want to settle down in, it can be a bad time to buy Santa Cruz real estate no matter how great the price. Selling a home and moving is much harder than just switching apartments or other rental units. However, if you are ready to settle in a spot for a number of years, the…
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Making an offer on a piece of property is nerve wracking; especially if your offer is a little (or a lot) lower than the asking price. You can make your offer more appealing with a few simple additions that are good ways to cinch a Santa Cruz real estate deal.
Get Approved
It's easy to add a contingency to a bid that the offer is only valid when you get financing. But that means you're keeping the seller waiting on pins and needles to find out if you qualify for financing. If your offer is low, the seller may be unwilling to accept the double whammy of a financial contingency and a low offer. Getting pre-approved for a loan is a much better incentive for a seller to accept a lower offer.
Increase Your Earnest Money
A larger amount of earnest money…
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There are a few misconceptions about buying Santa Cruz real estate for sale by owner (FSBO).
Seller Isn't Serious
Some buyers think that the seller isn’t serious about selling the house, that they’re just testing the market. While this is true in some cases, most sellers will accept an offer that is close to the asking price at any time.
Sometimes Santa Cruz real estate for sale by owner will sit on the market for a while. This may be because the owner is not open to negotiations on the sale price. More often, it’s because the owner doesn’t have the experience showing homes to potential buyers that a real estate agent does. A typical owner isn’t likely to have the time to properly market the house. If there aren’t enough buyers looking at the…
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In spite of problems in the housing market, experts agree this is a great time to buy Santa Cruz real estate. First-time home buyers can take advantage of the many tax breaks allowed by the stimulus plan, and everyone can benefit from the fact that the stimulus package includes help for banks so that they can provide mortgages. There are other reasons the current market is good for new home buyers, too.
Mortgage Rates
Because so few mortgages were being issued, the rates are very low. This gives home buyers, especially those with good credit, a big advantage. Just a two point difference in mortgage rates can mean saving several hundred dollars a month on payments.
Low Prices
If you're considering buying Santa Cruz real estate, act now so you can take…
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Sometimes the motive for selling your home isn't about upsizing, it's about downsizing. Downsizing isn't necessarily about spending less money. Just as frequently, it's about increasing your home's amenities while decreasing the work and responsibilities involved in a larger home. There are a lot of excellent reasons for downsizing your Santa Cruz home.
• The kids have grown up and moved away
• You want less work inside and/or out
• You just want to enjoy your home without hassle
• You want something smaller and greener to save energy and the environment
• You want community amenities such as golf and tennis
• You want luxuries like a granite countertop, stainless steel appliances, whirlpool tub, pool and spa
• You want less responsibility so…
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Thanks to the current stimulus plan, it's a great time to buy a Santa Cruz home. Buying a home is an exciting time, but it can be a little scary too. Here are some smart ways to protect yourself from potentially falling prices while you wait for the market to rebound.
• Know how much you can afford to spend ahead of time and then look for homes in areas that reflect those prices. Choose homes on the lower end of the average home values in that area so that even if the housing market slumps a little bit before it recovers your Santa Cruz home is unlikely to sink below its current value.
• Look for homes that aren't on busy streets or highways.
• Don't buy a home directly across from a school or park. While that can be great if you have young kids, it…
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