CJ’s Santa Cruz Real Estate Blog

Buyer Urgency Shows the Time to Buy is Now

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 7 Views, 0 Comments

Homebuyers are looking at the current home prices and low mortgage interest rates and seeing an urgency to buy now. The growing fear is that these prices and rates won't last forever.

Recent housing surveys who that many Americans feel the now is a good time to buy a home. The most recent Fannie Mae Housing Market Survey showed that 73 percent actually feel this way, according to the March 2012 survey. This is a 70 percent increase since just February 2012.

The chief economist at Fannie Mae, Doug Duncan, says that the current market conditions are encouraging consumers to want to become homebuyers. Many feel as if being a renter is starting to be more costly than the costs of being homeowners. This is making buying a home now a more…

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Vacation Home Sales on the Rise

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 39 Views, 0 Comments

Buyers are returning to the vacation home market in record numbers. Unfortunately, what they're finding is that the inventory is low in Santa Cruz County. In this video, Coldwell Banker's CEO discusses the surging vacation home market on Fox Business News.

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April ’12 Median Home

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 29 Views, 0 Comments

233 Jackson Street in Santa Cruz is this month's median home (see Santa Cruz County market statistics). This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,748-square-foot home sold for $480,000 and was on the market 14 days. Listing agent's remarks: "Single Level Spacious Home with some lovely upgrades! Nice open floor plan, remodeled kitchen w/granite & custom cabinets. Large family room with fireplace, seperate living room, large lot with private, sunny yard. Attached 2 car garage with extra parking. Great value and convenient location!EZ show! Just Go! no need to call!"

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Warren Buffet's Latest Take on Real Estate

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 123 Views, 0 Comments

Warren Buffet is a billionaire whose words demand the attention of others. In a recent interview on CNBC Squawk Box, he was quoted as saying, "I'd Buy Up 'A Couple Hundred Thousand' Single-Family Homes If I Could", calling them very captivating investments in the current housing market. This idea extends to the Santa Cruz beach homes.

Warren Buffet Predictions

As the local market conditions continue to recover, Buffet believes that the current home prices and record-low mortgage interest rates make this the perfect time to invest. Currently, purchasing single-family homes as long-term investments is even wiser than flipping stocks. This is amazing information coming from a man who has always been known to consider stocks to be the wisest …

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Beach Home Word Cloud

Sunday, April 15th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 82 Views, 0 Comments

What's a word cloud, you might ask? It's a clever arrangement of words where the size of each word varies with its frequency in a given amount of text. For example, if you take all the words in the property descriptions of the beach homes that sold in the first quarter of 2012, certain words will appear with greater frequency than others. The more frequent the word, the larger its size.

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March ’12 Median Home

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 92 Views, 0 Comments

14 MacLeod Way in Scotts Valley is this month's median home (see Santa Cruz County market statistics). This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,512-square-foot home sold for $483,000 and was on the market 114 days. Listing agent's remarks: "Wow a real home, on a real lot, with a big flat yard, on a quiet cul-de-sac. Open flr plan w/newer cherry finish laminate floors in liv & din rm, fireplc w/wood burning insert, brand new carpet upstrs, and gr8 decorator paint throughout. Upstrs bath is huge w/beautiful new shower & sep tub (could easily be split into 2 sep baths). Att 2 car garage w/additional off street pking. Close 2 everything!"

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February ’12 Median Home

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 118 Views, 0 Comments

3792 Hilltop Court in Soquel is this month's median home (see Santa Cruz County market statistics). This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,763-square-foot home sold for $500,000 and was on the market 360 days. Listing agent's remarks: "SINGLE LEVEL 3 BEDROOM 2 BATH WITH INGROUND POOL AND 2 CAR GARAGE ON A CORNER LOT IN A WONDERFUL NEIGHBORHOOD. THIS HOME IS WALKING DISTANCE TO THE PARK AND CENTRALLY LOCATED FOR EASY COMMUTING AND A SHORT DRIVE TO SHOPPING AND BEACHES. NEEDS SOME UPDATING BUT A FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY TO GET INTO A HOME IN THIS AREA."

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January ’12 Median Home

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 92 Views, 0 Comments

151 Ladera Drive in Santa Cruz is this month's median home (see Santa Cruz County market statistics). This 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 801-square-foot home sold for $420,000 and was on the market 98 days. Listing agent's remarks: "Darling Westside home in desirable neighborhood. Home has hardwood floors, wood stove, French doors, big decks, hot tub, and nicely landscaped yard that is fully fenced. One bedroom has no closet, but there is a hall closet close by. Attached one car garage with work bench. Detached storage shed. Home is close to shopping, schools and recreation."

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December ’11 Median Home

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 by CJ de Heer — 87 Views, 0 Comments

415 Hillcrest Drive in Seacliff is this month's median home (see Santa Cruz County market statistics). This 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,496-square-foot home sold for $475,000 and was on the market 271 days. Listing agent's remarks: "Come buy this house! New Price! Walk to Seacliff State beach from this charming 2-story, ocean-view home. Nice separation with a bedroom & bath on each floor. Reverse floor plan takes advantage of the view. Wood-burning fireplace in the living room with a deck off the back. Two car garage and off-street parking. Hot tub included!"