February 8, 2010 at 1:40 PM (Santa Cruz goings on, santa cruz real estate)
Tags: beer festival, events, SC beer events, sfbeer week
As you might imagine many people know Santa Cruz makes wine. In fact we have quite a few wineries in the area. There are also a few breweries,which are not as well known.
Santa Cruz is participating in the SF Beer Week, which is sort of a misnomer. It got started in SF, but is really a regional beer festival throughout the region from roughly Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz. So if you are a Santa Cruz real estate home owner or renter near one of these places, the opportunity to walk to a nice beer tasting event is a smart one.
One of the older or oldest brewery certainly in the Santa Cruz area is Seabright Brewery, located in the Seabright area of east Santa Cruz. There are things here on the West side of Santa Cruz too at the Parrish Publick House in the Safeway shopping center off of Almar. Downtown there is 515 Kitchen and Cocktails( 515 Cedar street) that has a number of events too as well as one of my favorite local restaurants, Vida.
Here is a link to the events here for the Beerfest events in the Santa Cruz and south bay area. So drink and be safe and have fun. Our local merchants appreciate your patronage and keeping your money local. If you think you may want a Santa Cruz home, I have a cool tool on my website for those of you who want to know how far the nearest pub, restaurant or schools is from your home. When you search for a home, you can get all those details. After all if you can walk, it is better for you and the environment. You can go to www.cacoastalhome.com for more local places to call home near your urban areas.
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January 15, 2010 at 8:59 PM (santa cruz real estate)
Tags: buying santa cruz, student applications, student rentals, UC housing, UCSC
Was recently reading how our great local university, UC Santa Cruz is having a huge admission surge for the following quarter. In the fall quarter, when I have the most inquiries for parents of UCSC students, they will find things a mad frenzy to buy or rent. Buying a Santa Cruz home is always a big deal.
No matter how you slice it Santa Cruz real estate is not cheap. Even with the recent downturn in prices in 2008-9, the prices compared to many places went from extremely high to expensive. So you ask with 35,000 applicants for about 15,000 positions, how are things going to be different?UC Santa Cruz has benefited from the economy doing poorly. With jobs less available, going back to school and getting a degree or advanced degree is often times a smart move. Well things maybe different this year for parents, because of now, there are some great, really great condo deals in downtown Santa Cruz. Low prices in Santa Cruz homes, is sort of an oxymoron.
When you do a Santa Cruz home search, you will find that the homes near the university can be bought in the 700’s and up and the condos are generally in the $400-500,000 range. If you get lucky and or smart and buy early, you can find places downtown that are about half that price for a condo.
If you think that you may want to consider a Santa Cruz real estate investment along with your student’s investment in education, now is a great time to contact an experienced Santa Cruz real estate broker and get both investments well on their way.
Give Gregg Camp a call and get started on finding a great deal to go along with your other long term investment, your child’s education. Both are smart investments.
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December 12, 2009 at 3:58 PM (Capitola real estate)
Anyone who has been to Capitola would know how lively the population is there and how rich of a tradition and history Capitola enjoys – when it comes to Santa Cruz Property, Capitola is most certainly up there amongst the very best.
Capitola village was built along a wide majestic beach with an equally majestic view of Monterey Bay. Capitola prides its rich cultural heritage by encouraging a plethora of exquisite restaurants, art and craft galleries and splendid boutiques. The city also holds the ever so colorful and decorated Begonia Festival which attracts plenty of wineries, artists and food vendors in a highly loved and deeply cherished annual event. This experiential treat is available to all lucky Santa Cruz property owners every year during the Labor Day weekend. Just a short drive away is the completely different feeling city of Capitola.
As if that was not enough, the city of Capitola also treasures its visitor attractions such as the Capitola Wharf, the Capitola historical Museum and the Capitola Mall. Santa Cruz property owners would definitely enjoy being just a short drive away from this magical town as it’s a perfect balance between the luxuries of the 21st century and
the look and feel of another time in history. Many from the central valley have been summering here for generations.
Santa Cruz property owners will also be interested to know that there is a lot one can do in this small beach town – from a fascinating indoor European marketplace to friendly wine bars, Italian restaurants and the opportunity to enjoy a peaceful and picturesque walk on the pier during a sunset or a sunrise. For those Santa Cruz property owners who have little kids, its worth knowing that the town is very kid-friendly – it’s a perfect beach because of its ideal
location with an ideal amount of wind and almost no fog.
In short, Capitola provides Santa Cruz property owners the perfect and most cost effective getaway – being just a short drive away from the best beach life, happening bazaars, stimulating sunsets, attractive restaurants and soulful Capitola events is anyone’s dream come true. If you think you would like to be a Capitola real estate owner or maybe want an ocean view Capitola condo, stop by Propertyinsantacruz.com and see what there is.
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September 29, 2009 at 5:39 PM (Santa Cruz goings on, Senior topics)
Tags: chocolate festival, scotts valley real estate, senior center, seniors, wine tasting
The Scotts Valley Senior Center is holding it’s second Wine and Chocolate Festival. Not sure which of those two words will spur you to go or to make you salivate, but the combination is sure nice. The event will be held October 10th, so be sure to leave time in your schedule for this. There will be a farmers market in the morning from 9-1 and then the tasting and sampling from 1-5 for the wine and chocolate. Tickets are $20 for the glass and some tickets. Buy early and save $2.
If you have not been to the center, it is a nice facility located on 370 Kings Village road in Scotts Valley. It is behind Kings Village Shopping Center in Scotts Valley. At the intersection of Blue Bonnet, go left and the center is on the right.
It is just past the metro center so you can bus there too. You can call for other information at 831-438-8666.
Here is some of the much anticipated line up…… I can’t stop drooling in the keyboard:)
Wines- Roudon-Smith Winery, Hunter Hill Wines, Hallcrest Vinyards, Bargetto Winery, Stones Cellars, Mint, Poetic Cellars and Heart O the Mountain windery.
For the Chocolates–mmm- Chocolate Visions, Segovias Sweets, The Healthy Chocolates, Luis Moro Chocolate, Truffles in Paradise, Lula’s Chocolate, Starz cupcakes, and Trader Joes with some as well.
So come early and come all and enjoy a great day in the sun and have some fun and support our Scotts Valley Seniors.
If you want to search around and see what is happening in Scotts Valley real estate or mobile homes, there are some good values. Call me for any real estate help, Gregg Camp, 831-818-7524, a Seniors Real Estate Specialist( SRES)
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June 4, 2009 at 4:18 PM (santa cruz real estate)
Tags: buying a home, east santa cruz, home bulding, new construction, remodeling, Santa Cruz
Maybe you’ve just bought an East Santa Cruz home, or maybe you’ve lived there for years. Chances are, at some point, you’re going to want to hire a contractor to work on something, and when you do, these tips should help you get more bang for your buck:
- Shop around. Get quotes from a variety of contractors, and look for the best value offer.
- Have the contractors who quote you split their material and labor costs – that way, if necessary, you can find your own materials at discount stores or from clearance sales, and save on the material cost.
- Make the job as easy as possible for your contractor. If you can, let them use your water or power, and let them know at the start of the quote process that you aim to do that – if you don’t, they’ll just add the cost of providing their own, and a markup, to your quote.
- Consider doing some of the prep work for them – for instance, if you’re retiling, remove the old tiles yourself, or if you’re fitting new kitchen units, do the demolition and removal of the old units yourself.
- Never pay upfront, always get a detailed breakdown of quotes, and pay based on work completed. It may be rare, but it’s not unheard of for contractors to disappear with deposits or even full payments if the going gets tough!
- Don’t assume that the cheapest quote is going to cost you the least – shoddy workmanship that needs to be repaired or replaced later can land up costing you more than a decent job by a reputable company. Ask for references, and check up on them, to make sure you’re getting a good deal, both in terms of money, and on quality.
- Make sure that whether you buy them yourself, or your contractor does, good quality materials are used. Even the greatest contractor or artisan can’t be expected to deliver top notch results when working with substandard materials.
- Never skimp on the cost of hiring a licensed, qualified plumbers or electricians. Some general building is suitable for DIY, or even cutting corners as far as cost goes, but if something goes wrong with plumbing or electrical work, it could mean disaster.
- Last but certainly not least, keep track of the work. Horror stories abound of home owners leaving a contractor unsupervised, only to return home to utter disaster.
East Santa Cruz homes, like any other, need a little sprucing up once in a while, and if you follow these tips, you should save some money hiring a contractor, but still get high quality work. Remember, you’re going to have to live with it for a couple of years to come – or pay to have it fixed.
Make sure you get hiring a contractor, and managing the work right first time, and you’ll save a bundle in the long term. As an agent in the business, I can refer you to local professionals, so call if I can help at 831-818-7524. If you feel that you don’t want to do this project and want to go searching for East Santa Cruz homes, follow this link.
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