You’ve found the perfect home for sale in Santa Cruz and a mortgage loan with the best interest rate you can find. What’s next in the home buying experience?

Closing.

It's time to sign the contracts, ensure the contingencies are covered, and pay your portion of the closing costs.

But what exactly are closing costs?

These are the most common closing costs in Santa Cruz real estate (click for a full description of each):

• Title Fees
• Recording Fees
• Appraisal Fee
• Mortgage Application Fee
• Inspection Fees
• Points
• Brokerage Commission
• Underwriting Fees
• Property Tax

Understanding Home Buyer Closing Costs

While working with a real estate agent comes at no cost to you as a buyer, there are still fees you may be

When buying your first home, it's easy to get caught up in the various new terminology for things.

Some things like insurance, interest rate, conditions, home inspections are fairly straightforward, but escrow may be a whole new term to you.

To ease any confusion, here's a quick summary of what an escrow account is and how it differs from the escrow process when buying your first home. 

What Is An Escrow Account?

Escrow accounts are sometimes called "impound" accounts. These accounts are set up to help manage payments of property taxes and homeowner's insurance.

Depending on the individual requirements of the lender, you may be asked to pay as much as one-quarter of these upfront and they will be put into the account for the

The homebuying process can be difficult.

When looking for a home, there are so many things to consider, such as location, homestyle, and budget. And another important aspect to consider is whether you want to buy resale or new construction.

Santa Cruz real estate has a generous mix of both resale and new construction homes, giving homebuyers plenty of choice.

But what’s the difference between one and the other? Which is better?

Believe it or not, there are crucial differences between the two home styles—all of which could make you rethink what’s best for you.

Here are the differences between buying a resale vs. new construction home in Santa Cruz, CA:

Energy Efficiency and Green Building

Energy efficiency is becoming a high

Recently, Santa Cruz was named one of the five least affordable real estate markets in the United States of America.

A median home in Santa Cruz would run someone approximately $650,000. Over 100 percent of a families wages would go towards paying their mortgage. With all this negativity towards purchasing homes in Santa Cruz, we’re going to bring a little positivity to the process. You might be asking yourself, is there affordable housing in Santa Cruz?

The short answer? Absolutely.

Here are the top five most affordable communities in Santa Cruz to buy homes:

Watsonville, CA

Located at the southern end of Santa Cruz County, Watsonville is known for its rich agricultural heritage. Moreover, it is a hotbed for berries. This “small” town

Short-term vacation rentals are a great source of income for homeowners in Santa Cruz. However, the city council is starting to crack down on many properties that don’t necessarily follow all the rules and regulations for short-term vacation rentals. Although the industry for vacation rentals is not largely regulated, changes could be on the way that could make a big difference to your vacation rental property.

Here are some tips for setting up a legal vacation rental in your home:

Do the Proper Research

Before renting your vacation property, it’s important to do the proper research and determine if you are allowed to rent it out. Check with the city and county codes for any notices on short-term vacation rentals. A good way to do this is by

With housing prices continuing to climb in the region, many first-time buyers have had a hard time breaking into the Santa Cruz real estate market. To help alleviate some of the financial pressures these buyers are facing in the Silicon Valley , Housing Trust Silicon Valley is helping home buyers with a new Homebuyer Empowerment Loan Program (H.E.L.P.), which will become available to help households with incomes that are up to 140% of the area's median income to buy a market-rate home.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest loan program for first-time home buyers in Silicon Valley.

Funding Assistance For Your First Home in Silicon Valley

The Homebuyer Empowerment Loan Program will assist middle-income earners looking to buy

After much anticipation and excitement, you’ve finally closed on a home for your family – but now what should you do? Here are 10 important things you should do during your transition into your new abode.

Make Copies Of Important Documents & Store Them In A Safe Container

Have copies made of your home’s important legal documents and put them in a very safe place, like a safety deposit box at the bank. As much as you don’t want to think about fire, flood, earthquakes or otherwise, accidents do happen and you’ll thank yourself later for being proactive.

Change The Locks

Who knows how many keys the previous owners had made that are floating around out there. Before moving into the home, change the locks as soon as you can. You can opt for

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

Buying your first home is one of the most exciting purchases you’ll make in your life, but before you start to comb through the listings to find the home of your dreams, you’ll need to find out how much you can borrow. If the idea of buying a home is even minutely interesting to you, it’s never to early to get your financials in check so that when the time comes, there’s nothing to hold you back.

Here are some tips from some national mortgage pros to help you be mortgage-ready when the time comes to buy a home in Santa Cruz County.

Clean Up Your Credit Score

Your credit score and history are two of the biggest factors that lenders consider when processing your mortgage eligibility. Before you apply for your mortgage, request a free credit report

The 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