The most important thing you can do right now is begin educating yourself about the process of selling your home. If you’re considering listing with a real estate agent make absolutely sure they have the “skill set” it takes to market your home effectively.

You see, marketing a home takes more than just sticking a sign in your yard and putting your property up on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service)… any agent can do that! It takes aggressive, innovative marketing to sell your home in today’s market place!

What do I mean?

In today’s market place there are only so any buyers out there who are ready and able to purchase a home. So, if you want to sell your home, your agent has to aggressively identify these potential buyers before other agents “get their hooks into them” and guide them into a different property.

The fact is, when you enter the market to sell your home, you enter one of the most competitive businesses in existence…anywhere! Competition is fierce and if you’re not ready for it… your home just sits on the market. So, the first major key to effectively marketing your home is to identify potential buyers.

Remember, there are only so many buyers to go around… and your agent has to find those buyers first – before one of the hundreds of other agents out there guides them into a different property!

How does an agent identify these “hot” prospects before the completion? This is what separates the weak agent from the shrewd, business-minded marketing professional you want to hire.  The best agents use every available marketing tool, technology, approach, contact or potential avenue to generate prospective buyers for your property!

One key element is they understand the value of “effective” advertising! They realize that in today’s competitive market they have to create ads that generate a response. They can’t just splash their name out there and expect people to call… they have to craft their ads… and give prospects a compelling reason to call.

Advertising is a crucial factor in the success of marketing anything! Your home included. So, how does the agent you’re considering separate him or herself from competitors? All their ads look virtually the same. So, what’s unique about your agent that’s going to grab prospects and get them to pick up the phone and call?

In today’s market place, it’s tough! Potential buyers have been harassed, high-pressured and pushed around so much.. it’s no wonder it’s hard to get them to call! I’m tired of pushy salespeople too…. I can relate!

The best agents overcome this huge obstacle with a razor-sharp marketing strategy, combined with cutting- edge technology, to generate buyer after buyer!

Then comes the next question. How sharp are your agent’s negotiating skills? What kind of results have they produced for past clients? This is so crucial!

Most people think that selling a home is like being a tour guide. Show the prospect around, ask if they like it and write up the paperwork. Well, if that’s all there was to it, any agent could sell your home! But, I can assure you many peoples’ homes just sit on the market because they chose the wrong agent!

If you want to get your home sold, your agent absolutely must have a deep understanding of “The Art of Negotiating”. These skills are vitally important! Without these skills, you could lose big! With these skills, your agent will ensure you get the highest possible price for your home.

How do you find out about your prospective agent’s negotiating skills? Investigate! Check references. At the very least, call two or three of your agent’s most recent clients. In fact, call at least one or two of your agent’s current clients. See what kind of effort he or she makes to get the job done!

In conclusion, really think these things through! This is such an important decision. Get prepared! Really fire away with questions when interviewing an agent. Make them stand the test of fire… the best agents thrive on it! They can’t wait to tell you all about the innovative methods that separate them from the agent that’ll poke a sign in the ground and act like that’s enough! In today’s market, it’s most definitely not enough!

The average sale price for single family homes ended up 5.5% below 2010 at $544,226 but the overall total volume was only down 1.6%.

Despite high unemployment, slow economic growth and other problems plaguing the economy, most American households believe that now is a good time to buy a home. I have seen an increase in the number of interested buyers and just had a listing go under contract in 5 days.

Negative home-selling sentiment is strongly related to difficulty in finding buyers at desired sales prices, as well as the large overhang of mortgages past due or on foreclosure. But with only 5 months of inventory, most sellers should be excited over the turnaround.

Remember the most important real estate market is the street where you live or want to buy. If you are curious about a particular area, please give me a call at (831) 457-5510 so I can give you the numbers that are specific to you.

While many housing markets rose together during the boom and fell together during the bust, they’re exiting the downturn at different speeds, and so it’s not very useful to talk about a “national” housing market.

In Santa Cruz, the issues will be unemployment, jobs, inventory, lending requirements and of course price. The unemployment rate has been higher in Santa Cruz County than in the State of California. Jobs are very hard to find as there are no major employers other than UCSC and the County which have both experienced cutbacks.

The inventory has declined 19.5% since the same period last year. Overall average selling prices on single family homes has declined 5.5% in 2011 as compared to 2010.

For complete statistical information on the real estate market in Santa Cruz, contact me at (831) 457-5510.

To preview some Santa Cruz “Best Buys” or for any other questions and to schedule a confidential buyers consultation, contact me.

• the sale took place after 2008;
• you sell the house within two years after the date your spouse died;
• you have not remarried;
• you and your spouse met the ownership and use test at the time of death (this means that you both owned and lived in the house for two out of the previous five years prior to sale); and
• neither you nor your spouse excluded gain from the sale of another house during the last two years before the date of death.

You can get more information from IRS Publication 523, entitled “Selling Your Home,” for use in preparing your 2010 federal tax return.

For additional information on selling your home in Santa Cruz or anywhere in California.

Despite historically low mortgage rates, traditional lenders remain reluctant to provide mortgages to anyone with less than stellar credit.  And, in certain markets, lenders are requiring down payments of more than 20 percent of the home’s purchase price.

This is creating a buying frenzy at the low end where 67% of the sales in November were under $500,000. Sales of high end homes or those over $1m fell to only 4% of the market.

Inventory is also at an all time low dropping 22% from last year and almost 10% from last month. For complete Santa Cruz real estate market statistics, contact us to get the most recent information on the street where you live or are looking to buy.