Santa Cruz mountains is a haven for renovation loans like the 203kNotice that I say "renovation loans like the 203k". That is intentional as the FHA 203k isn't always the best choice for the buyer. Many times the alternatives have better terms or better rates as they are intended for people who have better credit.Even if all other things are equal there is no private mortgage insurance (PMI) which saves 1.75% on the initial down payment and many hundreds each month. Yes, I'm afraid you have to have very good credit for the alternative loans but the cost is well worth the effort.I met Justin the other day. Justin repairs credit and says they have been very successful in taking a person's credit scores up by 100 points in a short few months and sometimes it is dramatically changed for the... 03/05/2014

We see lots of interesting foundations, here is a recent one with some home owner engineering    One beam was cut apparently to make room to crawl under a portion of the home and when nothing fell down they left it that way. When one isn't working don't fix it just add another post. Why not... lol When you are attempting to sell a home and the foundation looks like this it is likely going to be a renovation loan. The FHA 203k or the Fannie Mae HomeStyle Renovation loan program would work well in this situation.  12/29/2013

Hello everyone!!! I have posted pictures from my camping trip to the HUGE old growth redwoods at Big Basin Redwoods State Park...  And so many of you have asked for some more from the trip.  So I thought I would post some more. This is one of the old signs that still adorn the south entrance to the park...  It is on the side of the road, and I just kinda stopped in the middle of the road and hung out the window and snapped this picture. This one is sunrise in the park...  The sun shining through the redwoods make for a dramatic picture.  Can you see the hula hoop in the foreground?  Yeah, my niece loves that thing! The pictures do not do the HUGE trees justice!   This was on a small hike that my son and I took in the morning...  This is one the few remaining old growth redwood forests t... 09/11/2011

Sometimes you have to stop and just stand in awe at the things that mother nature makes.  I went camping a few weeks ago in Big Basin Redwoods State Park in California, and this is what we get to see! My son and I propped my camera on a post and ran over to take a picture.  It was a chilly morning, but since there was parking I was able to pull my truck over and snap this picture! I took my camera and snapped this picture of the top of the tree...   So if you think of both pictures at the same time, you can see how tall and HUGE the trees are. There are only a few patches of forest out this way that are considered "old growth" forests...  The survived the logging that occurred when the west was built up. If you are ever in the area, it is well worth the trip! -Chris Alston 09/10/2011

I went hiking in Big Basin State Park on Sunday.  Big Basin is 15 miles north of Santa Cruz, CA and about 30 minutes south of San Francisco.  It was California's first State Park.  Yosemite was our first National Park. The Park extends all the way to the coast, and this hike I took was a 12 mile hike up to the Berry Creek Falls.  (6 miles in, 6 miles out).  I parked on Hwy 1 at the entrance.   The actual falls, are about 3 stories high.  This picture is of the creek that we are following to get to the falls. Most of the Santa Cruz Mountains were clear cut due to the fire in SF at the turn of the century.  Most of the lumber for SF was from Oakland and from Palo Alto.  When the fire happened they had to look for more places to get timber, and Santa Cruz was the place.  This is an example... 07/14/2010