Santa Cruz Real Estate - What’s In, What’s Out
April 22, 2008
This morning I was frantically running off a few flyers for one of my listings in Watsonville (a great mobile home in an awesome park - check it out). I needed to do a few errands down in Watsonville before my weekly office meeting, and loading up the flyer box at this listing was one important thing on my list. As I was standing by the printer waiting for the job to complete, the managing broker of Thunderbird comes up to me and asks if I’d like to participate on a panel.
“Panel?” I said, “Sure! What panel?” You know me, I never look a gift horse in the mouth - if the boss is going to give me an opportunity to be in front of a bunch of potential real estate buyers, I’m there! She explained: “We’re putting on a discussion about what’s in, what’s out in today’s Santa Cruz real estate market. We’re getting a few lenders together and some of the agents in the office to do a public event. I’d like to invite you to come along and talk about foreclosures in Santa Cruz, because that’s what everybody is probably going to want to know about.”
Hey, sounds good. I know about all kinds of real estate aside from foreclosures, but I imagine they’ll let me chime in if I have something I feel needs to be said on another topic. Here are the topics slated for discussion:
- What is the current state of the mortgage industry?
- What loan programs work best in the current market?
- What strategies can buyers use to best position themselves to buy?
- What is the prognosis for interest rates in 2008?
- What do home prices look like now?
- What is a short sale and how do I buy a home through a short sale?
- Why is now a good time to buy?
- What are some ideas to help me sell my house now?
- How can I use the Internet to help me buy or sell a home?
You, dear reader, may have noticed that there’s no topic about buying foreclosure real real estate. Presumably that topic will be added to the next version of the flyer they are handing out.
The panel discussion will be held on Thursday, May 8th at 6:00 PM at Santa Cruz Title Company in Capitola - 1955 41st Avenue, just three doors down from Starbucks (behind the Burger King, Citibank, and various other corporate logos).
If you are interested in going, please call my office to sign up: (831) 475-8400. Or, just contact me and I’ll put you on the list. They say “Space is Limited, Call now to Reserve a Seat” - but I don’t imagine the fire marshall will be on-hand to shut us down if we should exceed the rated capacity from the room. But if you do register ahead of time, we’ll probably make sure there are enough cookies for everyone (no promises).
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:50pm
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Santa Cruz Gets Highest FHA Loan Limit - $729,750
March 05, 2008
Step away from the precipice, folks, no need to jump off the bridge quite yet. Has your big Uncle Sam just come rushing up on his White Stallion to save the day?
[From BusinessWeek - 14 Calif. counties get maximum FHA limit]
Counties that get the $729,750 maximum for FHA loans are likely to get that same level for Fannie and Freddie mortgages, experts said. HUD is expected to designate new Freddie and Fannie limits for other parts of the country too.
In California, the counties at the maximum level for FHA loans are Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Ventura. At the other end, Lassen, Modoc and Trinity counties are subject to a loan cap of $271,050 — a standard amount in an area with normal home prices.
There, if you ever doubted it before - now you have the proof. Santa Cruz must, quite simply, be one of the best places to live in the whole wide USA, and hence, by easy extrapolation, the world. If anyone doubts you when you tell them this, you can simply point out that Santa Cruz has the maximum FHA loan limit in the entire USA (and, again by easy extrapolation, the world). Sure, there are other places that likewise have high FHA loan limits, but how is the surfing there? And, do they have tens of thousands of acres of redwood forests for you to go stomping around in?
Count me a sceptic - I don’t think this is going to be any kind of panacea for our beleaguered market. But don’t worry - Apple Computer, Inc. used to be a beleaguered computer maker, and look at them now. I expect a future no less bright and shiny for the Santa Cruz Real Estate market. I think we’re a ways off from the promised land, still, but don’t lose the faith, happy times will come again. Oh, and if you do know anyone who was waiting to buy a house once the Guv’mint got its at together and raised the conforming loan limits - won’t you send ‘em my way? 
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 7:29pm
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