Learn About Rancho Santa Fe Homes

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 FAIR MARKET VALUE

When you buy Rancho Santa Fe real estate or refinance your present home, your lender will ask you to pay for an appraisal to help ensure that the sales price and mortgage amount is consistent with the property's market value. The appraiser uses the Rule of Three. What that means is the lender wants to evaluate three "comparables"—recent sales of nearby homes that are very similar to the one you are buying. Based on this information, the lender will make adjustments to reflect the differences between the properties and arrive at a fair price for your home.

Rancho Santa Fe Home Buying Pitfalls

Buying your Rancho Santa Fe home whether you are a first time buyer or an ‘Old Pro’ involves legal, financial and emotional considerations. The more you know about the most common buyer mistakes in Rancho Santa Fe, the more likely you are to avoid them.

Make sure that when you put in an offer on any Rancho Santa Fe home that you have spent time narrowing down just what you are looking for. When the sellers accept your offer, you are involved in a binding contract that could cost you your deposit and other damages should you decide to back out. The opposite scenario, waiting for the 100 % perfect home can be an exercise in futility. With the thousands of variables available in housing, including location, style, size, amenities and condition, perfection is almost always an unreasonable goal.

Bitten by the Rancho Santa Fe Home Improvement Bug?

Before you finalize your decision regarding remodeling versus moving, it is wise to get a professional estimate of your Rancho Santa Fe home’s current value, the actual costs of moving to a different home and the estimated return on investment of the most common types of home improvement. I’ll be happy to provide you with a complimentary analysis of your home’s current value. Simply call or E-mail me whenever you are ready. As for improvements that traditionally bring the highest rate of return on investment, here are some statistics. Kitchen remodeling and adding a bath tends to bring rates of return with averaging anywhere from 85% to 95% return on your dollars spent. Compare that with the 64% return on investment for adding a home office.

Buying a Rancho Santa Fe Fixer-Upper

Some Rancho Santa Fe investors concentrate on buying fixer-uppers, making repairs and upgrades then selling for a profit. Going with a Rancho Santa Fe fixer-upper can also be a smart way for those who are handy to buy a home in a neighborhood that they might otherwise be unaffordable. Fixer-uppers are a wonderful opportunity for those who simply love to create their space to their own specifications but for whatever reason do not want to start with a vacant lot.

Best to know the extent of the job and whether or not you are up to it before you buy. Some Rancho Santa Fe fixer-uppers simply need cosmetic work such as paint, wallpaper, carpeting and maybe kitchen appliances are fairly easy to estimate the costs for fixing. Rancho Santa Fe homes that need minor structural repairs such as roofing are also fairly easy to cost estimate.

Green Remodeling Your Rancho Santa Fe

Reduced material waste and resource conservation. When remodeling your Rancho Santa Fe, there is often a large amount of construction waste: 136 million tons of waste annually, or about 20% of the waste in landfills, according to the EPA.

If you are planning to remodel your Rancho Santa Fe anyway, going green offers money-saving advantages. In addition to increasing the value of your home, you will cut monthly operating costs, reduce waste and improve overall health.