Found 25 blog entries tagged as buyers.

When you watch the national news, it is very confusing. You will hear that the market's going down, the market's going up, the interest rates are going up, the interest rates are going down, and that's all true. It does change all the time and up and down are the new normal. We tend to look at these larger pictures and then we apply them to a smaller area, which would be ours. But I will caution you not to do that.

I found a website and I was using it during the pandemic because I really wanted to understand who was coming here and where people were moving. You might have already been on it. It's called How Money walk, http://howmoneywalks.com. Click on data and then look at the map and go to California and go to Santa Cruz. And you will see we have…

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What happens to homeowners when the market crashes? Well, that's an interesting idea and it's certainly a question that's being asked because it was a very popular topic being asked for on Google. So what do, what do people think? Do they think that when the interest rates go up, that people are going to be having their homes foreclosed on because the interest rates are up? It's an interesting quandary that people would think that because interest rates are going up, that people are going to start losing their homes. Let's go back in time and understand in the last couple years, the interest rates have been so good that so many homeowners refinanced their loans, I know I did. I refinanced my house and my rental. I would certainly be okay because of the…

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Have you ever wondered if you should tent your house for termites? They are a thing here in California. Why? Well, we took lead out of our paint and turns out that the termites didn't like the lead either. So we started painting all our houses with unleaded paint and the termites went, Hey, guess what guys? Party is on. We get to eat all this free wood and it's everywhere.

So what are the differences between the termites? Because you're going to hear about termites whatever stage you're in. If you've already purchased or you're purchasing or you own, you're going to hear a couple things. There are wood termites, and they fly around a couple times a year. You will notice a couple times a year there will be a big exodus of them and they're all blowing…

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Market update for August 2022 Santa Cruz edition

Do you think the real estate market is cratering? Interest rates going up and the buyers are going to be able to get a screaming deal and sellers missed out and it's terrible! Now as a buyer you can just do whatever you want. Like the wild west, you could just go make low offers and sellers have to take your offer, right? Well, I am here to set this notion straight. Currently I have a few listings and I have buyers. It is good to have both buyer and seller because you really get the perspective of what's truly going on in the market, not just from being a listing agent but being an agent representing buyers too.

I have four examples of where a buyer wrote an offer on my listing and thought that the…

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Cost of Living Santa Cruz:

I Googled cost of living here in Santa Cruz, and there are these numbers, national average numbers, and they take all these numbers, and they distill them and pop 'em out and they do not take the area into consideration. So I thought I would go over just a few items such as cost of gas, cost of groceries, shopping here, an overview and discuss that this area gives back a bit too. There are work arounds to these expenses.

First a bag of groceries, full disclosure, I buy groceries at a very expensive store. Why? Well, because I really love their produce and their meats. They're very good. I believe them to be good quality, but you know, expensive. I think their bag of groceries and even trader Joe's, which we have two of…

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Is the market changing. Is there a shift in the air or is it just the tremors we've been having lately here in Santa Cruz? They market is definitely changing, but maybe just changing in our mind because I haven't really seen anything. I've been trying to make a market update video all morning long, and my phone has not stopped buzzing, ringing and, and pinging, because the market is still really very strong. You have sellers who want to sell, you have buyers that want to buy. Now the interest rate is 5.75%. That is higher than January 2022. It was 3.5% or so in January and it just skyrocketed. Is that going to really change things? Well, we expect that it will, but we're just not seeing it. I'm hearing of less offers, but I haven't heard a whole lot…

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Have you ever bought something, and you wish you didn’t, it did not meet your expectations or turn out the way you imagined? I thought I would bring up the subject of buyer’s remorse later in the season then I realized this topic is best before the season gets going...

Remorse comes from a lot of things and here is what I have seen.

#1. Buying for the wrong reason. some people buy houses based on others’ ideas, such as making it easier for them, for example encouraging mom and or dad to give up the huge two-story house, and buy a single story, less maintenance and they can worry less about mom living in a big house.  But for them they like their house and do what their family wants them to do and regret the move. Or families often…

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Do I sell before I buy or buy before I sell? This is such a chicken and egg question, I hear very often "I want to move to another home, another area or even out of state but I have to sell my house first." There is always a fear of being without a place to live it sells too quickly which is touted in the media as quite of phenomenon of homes flying off the shelves. It can be a scary proposition not to mention the idea of moving twice. 

Let me first say trying to sell your home and buy at the same time is now extremely difficult, the market is so competitive, the buyers you will be competing against will mostly likely not have a home to sell and that is your first strike. Your second strike maybe your funds are tied up in your home and you cannot…

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Buying near the beach the good, the bad and the smelly!

We all know living near the beach/ocean is amazing? The health benefits are endless the ocean air is said to accelerate your ability to absorb oxygen and balance serotonin levels. The lull of the tide is a rhythmic siren call to relax and soak up the air and gentle ocean breeze.

The sight of the vast ocean reminds us to take things more slowly as there is a great big world and we are just a small wisp of human wondering around in it. There are also seafoods which tout great health advantages, there are the activities on and around the ocean. Paddleboarding, surfing, swimming, kayaking and more. Bike riding near the ocean my personal favorite.

But what is it really like to live here in…

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What is the "market" what is this indeterminate thing. I have likened it to a blob that oozes over everything, a cloud, maybe a Tsunami that slowly receded belying the danger it is really going to do. For Realtors we often say "it's the market" a saying to help explain the unexplainable. Why are houses not selling as fast as a month ago, why did that cute house never sell, why, why, why. Honestly being in real estate is being left babysitting a three year old who's only demand is "why". I am sure a toddler would accept the answer "it's the market." But we have to.

Every day, every realtor, buyer and seller wake up to a new market, especially our area of Santa Cruz, California which has found it's self in a tug of war with buyers from Los Angeles, San…

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