Found 45 blog entries tagged as buying a home.

How long have we been hearing that the Santa Cruz real estate market is either stagnant or in decline? Well, many economic experts are predicting that things might be looking up this year and we may see an increase in both home prices and sales.

These changes will affect both buyers and sellers in the months to come. It is essential that both parties are aware of how they may be affected. We’ve outlined some of the ramifications below.

Buyers:

• Interest rates could remain low. Interest rates are lower now than they have been in years, which can make purchasing a home more affordable.
• More buyers will be competing for homes. More buyers looking for property could mean bidding wars on homes with more than one interested party. Be sure to take…

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Moving everything in your house to your new Santa Cruz home can be an overwhelming task. You never realize how much stuff you actually own until you try to fit it all into boxes and move it somewhere new.

When you are packing up your things to relocate, here are some helpful tips to make your moving experience much easier.

Start packing in advance
You don’t have to wait until the day before you move to start packing everything in your house! As soon as you find out that you are moving, you can start packing the items you don’t often use, such as your seasonal decorations, photo albums and family keepsakes. If you pack a few items per week, you’ll have almost everything packed by the time you are ready to go except for the essentials you use every…

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When you are purchasing property, you will likely take a look at many different Santa Cruz homes for sale before making your final decision. Unfortunately, when real estate buyers go to view a house, they often make some crucial mistakes that usually don’t work out in their best interests. Below are a few pitfalls buyers make and how you can avoid them.

Looking at the décor and not the house

Keep in mind that furnishings and décor can make a mediocre house look amazing or an excellent house look merely average. Some buyers are turned off by unattractive or dated décor and then miss out on a great house hiding underneath. When viewing Santa Cruz homes for sale, ignore the owner’s choice of wallpaper or area rugs and focus on what really counts — the…

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An older Santa Cruz home can offer a lot more charm and character than the newer houses of today. They boast gabled roofs, crown moldings, hardwood floors and antique fixtures. Buying an old house is like buying a piece of local history. Its beautiful period features can give it a timeless beauty and grace that is hard to resist.

However, sometimes buying a house from another era is an endeavor fraught with potential problems. Older houses are not necessarily built to the same electrical or plumbing standards of today. If they have not been maintained correctly through the years, they can turn into a serious money pit or a potential hazard.

Here are six tips that you should keep in mind if you are considering buying an older Santa Cruz home:
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Getting rich quick in Santa Cruz real estate is always a gamble. However, if you’re in it for the long run, then it’s almost a guaranteed good investment. So drop the “instantly wealthy” scheme and plan to get into it for far-in-the-future benefits. Below are expert tips for developing significant property wealth down the road.

• Investigate the community. Just because there’s a nice house for a steal doesn’t mean you should buy it. If it’s in a down-and-out part of town, then it’s not worth the deal. Check out the community and homeowner’s association. You want to make sure the neighborhood’s and the home’s future property value will still be desirable in 30 years.

• Commit to long-term ownership. By keeping Santa Cruz real estate for several…

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Happy New Year! Now that the champagne corks have been popped and Auld Lang Syne sung, the clean slate of a fresh year may have you busily writing up resolution lists of 2013 goals.

Top of the list for my goals is to continue providing exceptional customer service to my clients!

Whether you’re a long-standing client I've seen through several purchases or a first-time home buyer considering taking the plunge, I want to make sure you're as happy as you can be with your Santa Cruz home.  I always welcome suggestions on how I may be of more help, so please connect with me and share your thoughts.

If you're like many Americans, your resolutions probably involve ways to become healthier and happier. Buying your first Santa Cruz home or moving to a home…

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Buying your first home can be exciting. You’ve saved up a down payment, interest rates are at an all time low and you’ll finally be building equity and putting down some roots. While these are all positive aspects of purchasing Santa Cruz real estate, you also need to do your research and ask the right questions to avoid buyers’ remorse. Below are a few important and uncommon questions all first-time buyers should ask.

• How much did the sellers pay for it? If you’re paying considerably lower than what the current owners paid, then the home value is likely to go up. This is beneficial information if you plan to upgrade homes within the next five to ten years.

• What major repairs have been made? While a disclosure form is supposed to provide…

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Homebuyers have many choices to make when purchasing a Santa Cruz home and one of those choices has to do with the length of the loan.  There are pros and cons to both the 15-year mortgage and the 30-year mortgage and the answer may not necessarily mean that one is “better” than the other is; it simply depends on what the homebuyer’s needs are.

The 15-Year Mortgage

If you choose the 15-year mortgage, your monthly payments may be higher than a 30-year loan would be, but your interest rate will be lower.  Additionally, by going with the shorter loan, you will build equity faster than if you went with the longer loan. 

Equity simply means the amount of ownership in your Santa Cruz home.  If you have 25% equity, you own 25% of your home.  You pay a…

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Buying Santa Cruz real estate can be exciting.  It also can be somewhat daunting, even if you’ve done it before.  You will deal with mortgage options, credit reports, loan applications, contracts, points, appraisals, change orders, inspections, warranties, walk-throughs, settlement sheets, escrow accounts, recording fees, insurance, taxes...the list goes on.  No doubt, you will hear and see words and terms you’ve never heard before.  Just what do they all mean?  Here are the ABC’s of some typical real estate terms and their definitions:

Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM)

A mortgage in which the interest changes periodically, according to corresponding fluctuations in an index.  All ARMs are tied to indexes.

Amortization schedule

A table which…

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There are many reasons to consider downsizing your Santa Cruz home. Obviously, if the kids have left the nest, or you’re recently widowed or divorced, moving to a smaller home can simplify your life in many ways. But even if the size of your household has not changed, there are still benefits to living in a smaller house.

• Maintenance will be easier. Take a lesson from monks: The more possessions you have, the more demands they make on you. It’s no different with your Santa Cruz home. It’s easier to clean 1,000 square feet than 3,000 square feet or more. The more plumbing you have, the more chances that something will go wrong with it. The bigger your roof, the more expensive it is to replace, and so on.

• It’s easier to age in a small home. Small…

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