Searching for the right home takes time and patience. Before you start looking at Santa Cruz homes on the market, you need to know exactly what you want in your new home.

Create a list of the features you want in your new home, so you make the most of your time by looking only at Santa Cruz homes that meet your criteria. Here is a quick guide to help you create a checklist:

1. Must Have. These are deal breakers; features that you cannot live without. Do you need a certain number of bedrooms? Do you work from home and need an office, or maybe even an outside entrance to your home office? Perhaps you have small children or large dogs and need a fenced yard. Decide now what you must have in your new home.

2. Like to Have. Features you would “like to…

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Buying a new home takes a lot of preparation. Without knowing what you are walking in to, you are bound to run into road blocks. A good Santa Cruz real estate agent can help you understand the intricacies involved in purchasing your new home. Some of the most common problems that buyers run into are avoidable.

Buying the Best is Nice… but

If you’re looking at the most expensive house in the neighborhood, in the city or in the state, you’re asking for problems.  The chance that it will go down in value, be difficult to make payments on if anything changes in your lifestyle, or be hard to sell in the event of a foreclosure is high, which makes it tough to get a mortgage.

If you must have the most expensive home, pay the most you can as a down payment. …

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The biggest barriers to selling your home are often those you create yourself by wanting a quick sale or not learning all there is to know about presenting your house to its best advantage.

When you first begin to think about selling your Santa Cruz home it seems easy. Put a sign on the lawn and list it. Once the shine wears off of the desire to do it all yourself, you might need some tips to help sell your home:

Clean It Up

That's the first and foremost advice. Nothing deters a real estate sale faster than a messy house. Living in your home while trying to sell it makes it difficult to keep it clean, but if you're serious about wanting to sell your home, it's worth the extra effort.  You may want to learn how to clean your home fast for those times…

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The national and Santa Cruz real estate markets are constantly fluctuating, falling somewhere between more inventory and lower prices and less inventory and higher prices. People are often frightened when the home inventory rises, but a declining real estate market may just be the perfect time to find your next home.

Here are 4 reasons why you should consider buying Santa Cruz real estate in a down market.

1. Inventory. When the market is down, more homes are for sale. This means you have more homes to choose from, which makes it easier to find a home in your dream neighborhood or closer to work or school.

2. Negotiation. There’s a reason down markets are called “buyers’ markets.” Sellers want to sell their homes, and they are often willing to do…

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De-cluttering your Santa Cruz home is an important part of preparing it for sale. Buyers want to be able to imagine themselves and their belongings inside your home. However, this idea isn’t limited to the inside of your home. It also applies to your garage.

Cluttered, over-crowded garages turn buyers away. Fortunately, sprucing up your garage is easier than you think. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Start with a list. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t even know what’s inside your garage. Take a pencil and paper and walk through your garage, writing down everything you see. You don’t need a detailed list. For example, screws, bolts, and nails can be listed together as hardware.

2. Reduce the list. Cleaning your garage means…

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Many real estate agents say, “Stage your Santa Cruz homes for sale!” If you have no idea what that means, you might Google it, read a few articles and get the idea that you throw a little rented furniture into your home and call it done. If you read a little bit more, you might add a mirror or potted plant here and there. However, if you really dig into it, you’ll find that staging Santa Cruz homes for sale take a whole lot more than that.

Test Your Knowledge
Did you know…

• Smaller furniture in small areas makes the space appear bigger.
• Carefully arranged plants bring warmth to a living area.
• Rugs and artwork add depth and dimension to a room.
• Sunlight shining through a window makes a room feel warm and inviting.
• A staged bedroom is as important as…

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