Found 84 blog entries tagged as Buying Santa Cruz Real Estate.

Searching for a new Santa Cruz home is an exciting prospect for you future, both personally and financially. Not only will you be building family memories within its walls, but you’ll also be building equity that can give you financial security. Buying property has an impact on your future, so you want to ensure you make a wise decision.

Purchasing a Santa Cruz home is an emotional process; it’s easy to build your hopes up and get carried away. Keep yourself in check and prepare for this process by reviewing the property purchasing mistakes below.

• Neglecting to shop around for pre-approved interest rates – Checking into mortgage rates from different lenders could save you big bucks in the long run, especially if you have good credit. Also, getting…

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One of the first things you want to do to get your home in Santa Cruz sold is to hire a Listing Agent. Listing Agents (or what some call Seller’s Agents) are agents who look out for the best interests of the sellers, perform tasks required to sell the property and guide sellers through the real estate process.

Here are five tips to help you choose a Listing Agent to sell your home in Santa Cruz:

1. Find a Listing Agent who blogs. Reading his/her blog posts gives you a feel for who this agent is and his/her level of knowledge about the local real estate market.

2. Consider one with a CRS and/or GRI designation. CRS means Certified Residential Specialist, and GRI means Graduate, REALTOR® Institute. While this does not guarantee the agent knows more…

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You’ve heard that buying a foreclosed home is a good idea. But you’re not sure why. Below are two benefits of buying foreclosed homes in Santa Cruz.

• Foreclosures are typically priced below their true market value. How much money can you save by buying foreclosed homes in Santa Cruz?  Most sources say 5 to 15 percent is the average amount saved by buying a foreclosure.

• You can afford to get a larger or more luxurious home. Because the price is lower than the true market value, you can usually buy a larger foreclosed home for the same price as a smaller home that isn’t going through foreclosure.

There are also risks involved when buying a foreclosure. Before deciding to buy a foreclosure, ask yourself these questions:

• How much experience…

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Like any commodity, you’re going to make money if you buy Santa Cruz real estate when prices are low and sell when prices are high. So why haven’t you, and millions of others like you, bought a home during the major downturn in the real estate market?

When pushed for an answer, many potential buyers respond that they’re afraid, unsure or allowing their emotions to guide them. They’re worried that Santa Cruz real estate prices will see another huge drop. Or they’re unsure if prices have reached rock bottom so they can get the very lowest price possible.

Stop allowing your emotions to guide you. Face the facts. The real estate market is steadily improving. Those low prices are gradually moving higher and higher. It’s time to get off the fence and buy…

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You’ve found the Santa Cruz home you want to live in, you and the seller have come to terms, and you now have a signed contract. What happens next?

Here’s an overview of the things you need to do after you and the seller have signed the real estate contract:

1. Get answers to your questions: If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them. Sit down with your team of real estate professionals, including your agent, home inspector, and lender to get answers to all your questions. Keep asking questions until you completely understand every step of the process and all the paperwork.

2. Dive into the disclosure: Carefully review the disclosure documents to be sure you're aware of any past or present problems.

3. Finalize your mortgage:…

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Selling a home is stressful enough without having to worry about developing marketing strategies, showing the house and dealing with contracts. That’s where a Santa Cruz real estate agent can help.

Whether they’re helping you buy or sell property, Santa Cruz real estate agents have extensive experience and training that makes it easier to find the buyer or house that meets your standards. Using the multitude of tools at their fingertips, real estate professionals reach out to more potential buyers, have access to listing databases and can easily determine a good offer from a bad one.

Without an agent, you could be missing out on many of the following tools, resources and expertise he or she has to offer:

• Valuable Experience – From staging a…

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The closing is the final step in purchasing your Santa Cruz real estate. The closing date is set during the negotiation phase and is usually several weeks after the offer is formally accepted. During the closing, the buyer and seller complete the purchase contract and ownership of the property is transferred to the buyer.

Before the closing can occur, all terms of the purchase contract must be met. As you can imagine, problems can come up which delay the closing.  Here are seven tips to ensure a smooth and problem-free closing on your Santa Cruz real estate:

1. Communicate. Talk with all parties involved in the deal, from your agent to your lender, and discuss what to expect.  Get in touch with each of them to make sure they have everything they…

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You’ve decided it’s time to buy a new home, and you’re ready to hire a Santa Cruz real estate agent to help you through the process. Wise decision!

The agent you hire wants to provide the very best service for you.  Here are several things you can do to help your Santa Cruz real estate agent do the best work for you:

1. Share your expectations. Exactly what do you want your real estate agent to do for you? Do you want him or her to provide an update to you weekly? What’s your preferred method of communicating – phone, email or text?

2. Get pre-approved for a loan. When you’re pre-approved, you have a better chance of getting that perfect home you find because sellers prefer to work with buyers who have been pre-approved for a mortgage. You’ll…

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When it comes time to sell your home, the person who can ensure a quick sale at top dollar is your Santa Cruz real estate agent. He or she will be the primary person marketing your home, and if your professional doesn’t work hard to sell your home, it can cost you precious time and money.

Choosing the right Santa Cruz real estate agent can be tricky. To help you make a wise choice, below are five simple questions you should ask agents before making your decision:

1. How many other homeowners are you currently working with? An agent with too many properties on their plate might not give your home the individual attention it needs to attract potential buyers. However, if the agent has no listings, that might also be a bad sign.

2. Are you going to…

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Short sales in Santa Cruz are used by homeowners to prevent losing their homes to foreclosure.  When you see an advertisement for a short sale, the home is in pre-foreclosure.

What is a short sale? It is an agreement between the sellers of a home in the beginning stages of foreclosure and their lender which allows the home to be sold for less than the existing loan balance. If an agreement is reached by all parties, a short sale could save the sellers’ credit by avoiding a foreclosure.

A short sale is not a short process, however.  It is a lengthy process with many legal and financial aspects.

The basic short sale process flows as follows:

• The seller contacts the lender to discuss the possibility of a short sale.
• The seller issues a letter…

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