Buying and Selling Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate

Rancho Santa Fe Homeownsers Insurance


Rancho Santa Fe Home Safety Measures. You can usually obtain insurance discounts for having a smoke detector, burglar alarm or dead-bolt locks. However, take note that some fire systems can be costly and not every system may qualify for an insurance discount, so check with your insurance company first.

Don’t Over-Insure. Homeowner’s insurance is designed to protect you against loss should your Rancho Santa Fe home and furnishing be damaged or lost through theft, windstorm, fire, etc. The land under your home is not insured, as it is not at risk. If, in considering value, you include the cost of the land under your house, you may end up paying a higher insurance premium than you should.


Rancho Santa Fe Homebuyers Quandry


Before you begin your next home search, make sure the Rancho Santa Fe you have is Market Ready. If painting or landscaping or repairs need doing, get them done. If you are going to go out house-hunting you may save yourself a lot of heartache and headache if your house is ready to be listed at a moment’s notice.

In many cases the amount you expect to realize from your existing Rancho Santa Fe real estate will determine the price you can afford to pay for your next home. Start with a Comparative Market Analysis so you will know about how much you can afford to spend.


Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate Title Insurance


A Rancho Santa Fe mortgage policy that insures the lender remains in effect until the loan is paid off. An owner’s policy insures the buyer and remains in effect as long as the owner or the owner’s heirs own the property. An owner policy may cost a little more than a lender policy. For example, an owner policy may run somewhere around $3.50 per $1000.00 of home value while a policy for lender protection may run in the neighborhood of $2.50 per $1000.00 of home value.

The Rancho Santa Fe real estate Title Company searches and examines public records to determine if any problems with the title exist. Your real estate agents works very closely with the Title Company to help clear up any past clouds that may affect the transfer of title to the new owner.


Does Your Rancho Santa Fe Have Curb Appeal?


From cottages to castles some Rancho Santa Fe have so much curb appeal that passersby can’t help but stop and admire them. When visiting property with great curb appeal, prospective buyers often experience 'Love at First Sight' and this disposes them to love the entire home before they even walk through the front door.

Rancho Santa Fe curb appeal is the result of a perfect blend of architectural style, landscaping, up-keep and color choices. Money alone does not guarantee outstanding curb appeal. I’ve seen very expensive Area homes with costly landscaping that fail to appeal and I’ve seen very modest priced Area homes with outstanding curb appeal. In part, the landscaping aspect of curb appeal is a matter of personal taste.

The Benefits of Selling Rancho Santa Fe


In order to sell Rancho Santa Fe as your personal residence, you must have lived in it for two out of the five-year period ending on the date of the sale of the property. This means that you can buy a second home and live in it as your personal residence while renting out your first home. If, in a couple years you decide to sell your first Rancho Santa Fe personal residence you can sell it and still benefit from the $250,000 to $500,000 Capital Gain tax exclusion. The law says that the home must be your personal residence for at least two out of the past five years.



Tips for Buying or Selling Rancho Santa Fe


Most experienced real estate agents and brokers already have Websites that showcase their local MLS data so your Rancho Santa Fe can show up online as soon as it is listed. On the other hand, if you are selling on your own it will take time or a considerable advertising budget to get your individual Rancho Santa Fe property to show up on the major search engines where prospective buyers will find it. You could tap into one of the several For Sale by Owner Websites but that would limit your market of buyers.

Buying real estate in Rancho Santa Fe is also much easier when you work with a real estate agent who knows the area and the market. While there is a great deal of information online about real estate asking prices, it is not always so easy to find out what a property actually sold for. And even then, specific terms of a sale often make a difference in how to interpret the sales price.


Rancho Santa Fe Village Office
Office: (858) 756-5600
6119 La Granada / P.O. Box 2708
Cell: (858) 395-5600 (Ken)
Rancho Santa Fe CA 92067
Cell: (858) 442-7824 (Kathy)
Kathy@CrosbyandHewitt.com