Where California's redwood forests meet the shining sea, just east of Santa Cruz, you'll find the charming community of Aptos climbing the hills above the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful beaches, boutique shopping, and secluded villas await here in this paradise on the sea.

The community of Aptos is bisected north to south by the legendary Highway 1, aka Cabrillo Highway. To the west of this route are winding streets with single-family homes in various beachy styles. Clustered around the highway itself are various condo and townhome complexes, cascading down the hillsides to provide outstanding views to their residents. And east of the highway, nestled in the surrounding hills, are Aptos' luxury homes in Mediterranean, and Ranch-modern styles.

The

With the increase of so many ways to safely and efficiently rent a property, more homeowners are considering buying a vacation home.

Owning your own vacation spot is an obvious advantage to investing in an additional property, as well as the possible opportunities that come from renting it out to others. Whether you are able to do that or not, there’s still ways to make and save money with a vacation home.

Renting a vacation home has been a popular choice for people, especially in a beautiful coastal community like Santa Cruz. What’s been steadily rising in popularity is the end of renting a vacation home with the intent to buy, and there are many reasons why.

Especially with the help of the professional, dedicated, and award winning Lauren

There are many factors home buyers prioritize when moving to a new community.

Top of that list for families is knowing there are great schools in the area for their kids at every step of the way. From elementary school, to middle school, to high school, and onwards, parents need to know their children have access to the best education.

Some households look for the best public schools in their area, while some look for religious schools, and others are hoping for private and charter schools. The City of Santa Cruz, California has all of these options, including post-secondary institutions for students looking to continue their education in their hometown.

When looking for a home to buy in Santa Cruz, families often seek out a property in the

Buying a Santa Cruz investment property can be a great long-term investment.

If you do your research and get help from an expert real estate agent, you can make passive income, as well as a positive return on your investment.

But, before you dive head first into Santa Cruz investment real estate, ask yourself these 5 important questions to make sure you’re ready:

Can You Afford an Investment Property?

This is the first question you should ask yourself before taking the plunge on an investment property in Santa Cruz.

Usually, mortgages on rental properties require a larger down payment than primary homes. In fact, they’re usually 20% or more.

Also, mortgage rates are typically higher on investment properties because they’re seen

Situated along the sun-soaked shores of Monterey Bay, Capitola is a stunning beachside enclave of approximately 10,000 residents. Bursting with color and nautical appeal, this exclusive and close-knit community represents the best of beachside living. With resort roots, Capitola retains a vacation-style ambiance to this day, drawing in buyers with an optimistic idea of the coastal California lifestyle. If you're looking to live in a quintessential beach town with charming old-fashioned amenities, stunning natural beauty, and friendly neighbors, Capitola real estate is the place for you.

Capitola, CA At A Glance

The first things that stand out about Capitola are the rows of candy-colored buildings that line the shores. These multihued structures

Santa Cruz, California is one of the most beautiful areas in the entire country.

Not only are there long stretches of sandy beaches, beautiful ocean views, lush plant life, and incredible architecture, but the majority of the days here are sunny.

It makes perfect sense for there to have been so many notable film shoots here in Santa Cruz. The communities here explode off of the screen!

These are the key reasons why Santa Cruz has consistently been a popular place to shoot a movie. For these same reasons, it’s also why people love to live here.

Santa Cruz has had this reputation for decades, and it’s why the community has thrived for so long and continues to do so. So many movies have used the beautiful setting of Santa Cruz to set their

 Golf is a way of life in California, and Santa Cruz has some of the best courses in the state.

With year round weather that’s fantastic for golf, it makes sense that golfers love it here. Plus, with the changing terrain of ocean views, awe-inspiring cliffs, palm trees, rolling hills, and redwood forests, every course is beautiful.

And for the non-golfers, these popular courses are still a great source of inspired views and impressive clubhouses with a wide array of services and amenities.

People travel from all over the world for a Santa Cruz golf trip, and the residents in these communities have access to them whenever they want.

Here are a few of the top golf courses in the Santa Cruz area.

Pasatiempo Golf Club

Santa Cruz
20

One of the reasons why so many people choose to move to Santa Cruz is so they can be close to its world-class surfing waves and white-sand beaches. When you live in Live Oak, you can’t get any closer to the action!

Located between Capitola and Pleasure Point, Live Oak is known for its incredible beaches. In fact, the neighborhood has such phenomenal waves, they’re often used for professional surfing competitions throughout the year.

People from across the nation flock to the area to lay on the sand at Twin Lakes or hit the waves at Pleasure Point.

Among all the fun and excitement around the community are lovely condos, townhomes, and single-family homes, perfect for all kinds of homebuyers.

Discover everything this beach-side community has

Selling your home in a highly desirable market can be an exciting feeling, but a nervous one as well. You want to take full advantage of the hot market and get the most money you can from selling your home.

Even in a white hot market like Santa Cruz, there are still things every seller and REALTOR® needs to know before listing a property. There are a number of ways to maximize your return when selling your home, and by missing a few of them, you might not make as much money as you could have.

Lauren Spencer is a REALTOR® with nearly 35 years of experience selling homes. She knows the real estate game and the Santa Cruz market, which gives her a unique perspective and well-earned reputation for knowing the best way to sell your home in a seller’s

Whether it’s your first home or your fifth, people need someone they can trust to help sell it.

Trust comes from talent, experience, and knowing exactly what tools and strategy a property specialist will use to help sell your house.

Listing and selling a home in today’s competitive Santa Cruz real estate market is an art form, and one that Lauren Spencer is incredibly skillful at. In addition to her negotiation skills, she has fine-tuned her marketing techniques over the last 35 years to be able to net the absolute highest price for every one of her clients.

Here are some of the specific ways that Lauren Spencer is able to market your Santa Cruz home.

Pre-sale Cosmetic Consultation of the Home

The cosmetic consultation of the home is a