3 Must-Haves For A Great Santa Cruz Realtor

Spring is home-buying season. But in Santa Cruz, where prices are up 3% in the last six months, finding a good deal is difficult. In this difficult market, your real estate agent is the best resource to help get the edge over rising prices and the competition. Choosing a REALTOR based on a friend’s helpful recommendation can be easy and save you a lot of time doing your own research. But, your friend, without knowing it, might actually be doing you a disservice because such recommendations are often based on personality, nothing more.

Making an educated choice about your real estate agent, doesn’t have to be difficult. There are 3 key factors to look at in order to better understand an agent’s success history to find the one who can get you the best deal in Santa Cruz.

Neighborhood Specialty

Silicon Valley is vast, even just in Santa Cruz over the last year, 736 real estate agents have either listed or sold a home, according to agent-matching service Agent Ace. Looking at those numbers, finding the few agents truly experienced with Santa Cruz becomes all the more important. Agents who typically work in other parts of the city aren’t as likely to know the unique neighborhood trends. A top buyer’s agent who specializes in Santa Cruz will know of listings to show you that aren’t even public yet, and which homes offer deals to be had.

Price Performance

How well does your agent negotiate a purchase price compared to other agents? Even for your “perfect” home in Santa Cruz, there’s no benefit to being house rich and cash poor. It’s helpful find a buyer’s agent who consistently purchases homes for their clients for further under listing price than the rest of the competition. An agent who averages a purchase price of 20% under listing price is much more likely to get you a better price on your new home than the agent who averages only 5% under listing price.

Market Performance

With prices up in Santa Cruz it’s a seller’s market and finding a great deal can be near impossible. If you are determined to buy in a market like this you may even pay over listing price. In a difficult market your agent still has the ability to make a difference in the price you pay. If the average home is going for 10% over listing price, the agent who averages just 3% over listing price can get you a great deal on your home – relative to the market average. Sometimes you can’t help the type of market you’re looking to buy in, but you can mitigate it with the proven top-performing agent.