best places to live in santa cruz county if you love to hike

From clean Ocean air to the cascading slopes of the coastal mountains, Santa Cruz has everything an outdoor enthusiast could ask for. This area is home to some of the best hiking trails in the great state of California, which could be just minutes from your home in the Santa Cruz area! Here’s your exclusive guide to where you should live in Santa Cruz County if you love to hike.

Boulder Creek

This small mountain town is an idyllic escape from the busy city and your gateway to endless hiking trails with everything from easy walks to multi-day trips. Just one hours from Silicon Valley and half-hour from Santa Cruz, residents are immersed in an autonomous community where the past comes to life with unbeatable charm. The downtown consists of…

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Aptos townhome for saleConvenient, comfortable, and carefree, this beautiful townhome in Aptos is perfect for students, working couples, and retirees alike.

Nestled on the tree-lined landscape of Aptos, this beautiful townhome offers privacy and a unique park-like setting that can be hard to come by in a multi-family complex. This townhouse complex was developed in the late 1980s but has been very well maintained and frequently updated since then to include desirable features like hardwood flooring, new cabinetry, and a modern color palette which really brightens up the space, and a charming fenced backyard with lush trees and plenty of greenery.

The surrounding community mostly consists of other townhouse neighborhoods as well, and there are only two roads that lead in…

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One of the most stressful things for UC Santa Cruz students in trying to find a place to stay during their studies. As if tuition isn’t enough, it doesn’t help that rents are still incredibly high compared to what they used to be. In June, the average rent in Santa Cruz was around 2,600 per month, an increase of 4.3 percent over last year. While this might not seem like much, it means that renters are paying about an extra $100 a month more than they were in 2015.

So with August right around the corner, students are starting to look for places to stay for the start of their semester. If you’re one of those who are feeling pressured by the housing squeeze, then listen up! Buying a home in Santa Cruz just might be a better option, especially if…

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Buying or selling a home can be a daunting process, but it can also be a very personal experience too. It’s important to find a real estate agent who isn’t just competent, but empathetic, supportive, knowledgeable, and understands your needs as if they were their own. From the very first conversation to narrowing down your priorities and touring open houses to ironing out the contingencies, it’s important that you and your agent have a solid relationship, because they better that they understand you, the better they can do their job. So, in an area like Santa Cruz, how do you decide which real estate agent will best represent you?

Here are some tips and questions you can ask that will help you find an agent that’s reliable, competent, and…

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Santa Cruz County is widely revered as one of the best places in the world for surfing. No matter where you live, it’s somewhere everyone in the surfing community dreams about visiting one day, but to actually have the chance to live here would be a dream come true for many. Santa Cruz’s waves are great for all levels of surfers, whether you’re just starting out or are already braving the monster waves. If you’re looking to move to Santa Cruz County , here are some of the best places to live where you can make the best of the sun, surf, and sand, just seconds from your doorstep.

Downtown Santa Cruz

Live right in the middle of it all. Downtown Santa Cruz has the beachy vibe you want and the shopping, nightlife, and conveniences of a downtown…

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No matter what age you are, buying a home is always one of the most exciting times in your life. If you’ve been in your current home for several years, it’s probably been while since you purchased your last home. This is where many Baby Boomers are at nowadays; the kids are all grown up with families of their own, and it just doesn’t make sense to keep maintaining a large home anymore. Whether you’re looking to downsize or move into your dream retirement home, there are a few things about buying a home in 2016 that might be different from the last time you entered the market.

Start Your Home Search Online

Years ago, the first step to buying a home was to hire a real estate agent, because back then it was seemingly impossible to find the right…

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How to buy your first homeThe Santa Cruz real estate market is still simmering from its red-hot year in 2015. Prices remain high, inventory is low and the demand for homes is still remarkably high. So where does that leave first-time homebuyers? With rental prices at an all-time high, it may be time to ask yourself the tough questions. Are you ready to buy a home? Can you picture yourself spending the next few years here? Are you financially and mentally ready to commit? If you can honestly answer those questions with a yes, then you’re nearly halfway there.

1) Ask All Of The Questions

Ask your friends, family, coworkers, web forums, industry professionals, essentially everyone and anyone you can to find out more about things like financing, the buying process, home…

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What Is A Second Mortgage & Why Would You Need It?

What are second mortgagesA second mortgage is essentially an additional loan that’s taken out on your home or property that’s already mortgaged. Homeowners choose to do this for a variety of reasons, but is always comes down to needing a large sum of money to pay for something, be it home renovations or expensive fixes to the property. Since mortgage rates tend to have a lower interest rate than other forms of credit, like credit cards and car loans, some people choose to consolidate their debts by using a second mortgage to pay off everything else.

Homeowners with good credit and have at least 20% equity in their current home can often receive a home equity line of credit. These interest rates tend to be fairly low.…

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Parking can affect home prices in Santa CruzOut of all the prerequisites that are typically on a homebuyers ‘must-have’ list, parking is almost always a big priority. 

A recent study by Realtor.com recently discovered just how much people are paying for each additional parking space on average across the country, and the numbers are quite surprising. It also greatly depends on what kind of parking is being included, whether it be above ground, sheltered, built-in garage, on-street, or otherwise. Across the United States, most homes include two parking spaces, but can range anywhere upwards of that, for a premium. 

The study compared single-family homes for sale between January 1 and October 31 to get a sense of the average cost for each parking spot. What’s surprising was the 11.45% price…

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Rental crunch has Santa Cruz city officials looking for new solutions.

There could be some new regulations coming from the Santa Cruz City Council in regards to secondary dwellings on your property. Often referred to as 'in-law suites", these detached homes are built with the intention of having somewhere for guests and extended family to stay when they visit, but many homeowners have discovered that they also make great income properties for short-term rentals too, like Airbnb. They're currently unregulated, but the city is considering changing that based on the current need for longer-term rentals.

The Council is concerned that these short-term rentals are leaving fewer and fewer options for long-term renters, like students and newcomers, which…

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