Waiting to hear back from a seller on an offer you made on a Santa Cruz home for sale can be nerve wracking.  Since sellers aren’t obligated to respond immediately, you may spend time waiting anxiously by the phone.  When your agent finally calls you, it’s with the news that the seller has a “counter” out on the property already.  What does that mean?  Is your offer out the window?

Not exactly.  In some states, a seller is allowed to counter or respond to as many offers to buy their home as they want.  If the seller has responded to a buyer’s offer with a counter-offer and then receives an offer from a second buyer that is better, the seller does not have to accept the first buyer’s offer.  The seller simply takes back the counter-offer and accepts the…

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Today’s home buyers have a big advantage over buyers from a decade ago:  the internet. You can search for homes for sale online as well as find pricing data and instructions on how to buy a home.  So, why would you possibly want to hire a Santa Cruz real estate agent to help you buy a home?

Here are four surprising and not-so-surprising reasons why hiring a Santa Cruz real estate agent will save you time and money when buying a home:

1. Paperwork - Today's real estate contracts run 10 pages or more, and will take you hours to read, comprehend, process and file. One miniscule mistake or omission could land you in court or cost you thousands.  Experienced agents handle the paperwork and legal issues for you, minimizing your hassles, headaches and…

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