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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…

In this economy, every leg up on other sellers will help your home sell faster and at the price you want.  If you’re not getting the offers you want on your Santa Cruz home, here are nine ideas to get things moving in the right direction:

1. Get an appraisal.  Knowing what a professional appraiser thinks your home is worth gives owners a reality check. It also helps you determine the best price for your home.

2. Get a home inspection before listing your home.  Find out the hidden problems with your Santa Cruz home and correct them in advance. If you get your home inspected and find problems but elect not to repair them, be sure to include the problems on the property condition disclosure form.

3. Consider offering a home warranty. …

Mortgage lenders are primarily concerned with your ability to repay your Santa Cruz real estate mortgage.  They will consider your credit score, debt-to-income ratio and how much you have for a down payment before telling you what you can afford to spend on Santa Cruz real estate.

Credit Score

One of the first things your lender will review is your credit score.  Credit scores range from a low of 350 to a high of 850.  In this case, the higher, the better.  The lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate and points will be, and the lower the amount of home you’ll be able to afford. If your score is too low, you may not qualify for a mortgage. If your score is low, you may need to take some time to improve your credit score before…

You’ve cleaned the house, made all the necessary repairs and removed all the clutter. Now it’s time to have an open house to pull in potential buyers for your home in Santa Cruz.

Here are eight tips to help you have a successful open house:

1. Take advantage of new technology.  Advertise the open house on all the popular real estate sites.  With technology what it is these days, most home buyers start their searches online. If you’re working with a real estate agent, he or she will handle this for you.

2. Enlist your neighbors’ help.  Neighbors have friends who are looking for homes too.  Let them know about your open house and invite them over. They will be looking at your home for their friends, their kids’ friends,…

When selling a Santa Cruz home, the last thing you want potential buyers to focus on are projects they’ll need to complete. Even though it’s cosmetic, wallpaper — and the thought of long hours stripping it — might make many buyers start questioning whether they really want to buy your Santa Cruz home.

When preparing your home for sale, remove all old wallpaper. This project can be completed in one weekend and will greatly improve your property’s appeal. Below are five steps to get rid of wallpaper and increase your resale potential:

1. Remove the old wallpaper. Renting a wallpaper steamer is an absolute must to save you time and aggravation. It’ll make the job much quicker and is much less likely to damage the wall…

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…

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…

You’ve probably heard the terms real estate agent, broker, REALTOR®, listing agent and buyer’s agent. But do you know what they mean and the differences between them? 

Here are the definitions of terms you may encounter on your Santa Cruz real estate agent search:

1. Real estate agent: Agents are licensed sales people. They are not real estate brokers. In fact, they must work for an employing broker and cannot work independently. An agent works under the broker's guidance and legal protection. Real estate agents are required to undergo education pertaining to real estate law and ethics.

2. Real estate broker: A real estate broker has more education than an agent, they can work independently, and they can hire other real estate agents.…

When considering whether you should purchase a new Santa Cruz home, you want to take into consideration the five-year rule. That’s the minimum number of years many experts believe you need to own a home in order to break even on it when you sell it.  Some experts are now suggesting seven years, but in this article I’ll be talking about the five-year rule.

What happens if you own your Santa Cruz home for less than five years? Often, you’ll lose money because:

1. You pay thousands of dollars in closing costs each time you buy property. That money does not build equity or increase the value of your home in any way.

2. In the first five years of your home loan, a much higher percentage of your monthly mortgage payment goes toward interest…

With the first day of spring rapidly approaching, get in the spirit and do a little spring cleaning — especially if you’re putting your home on the market. It’s important for Santa Cruz real estate to be clean and clutter-free in order to show better and sell quicker.

Whether you’re still living in the home or have completely moved out, there are many things you can do before the first open house to ensure everything is showing at its best. Below is a list that every real estate agent would love to see when they first evaluate Santa Cruz real estate.

• Paint walls neutral colors. If your house has a ‘clinically white’ feeling or is on a psychedelic color spree, you’ll need to paint the rooms a neutral beige, tan or gray. Even if…