Santa Cruz is more primary-home than Carmel and more hillside than Irvine. Westside cottages, Pleasure Point, and Live Oak do not share comps with a Summit or Scotts Valley house. Confirm whether the loan is jumbo using the 2026 county limit. Santa Cruz County has been a high-cost market in recent limit cycles, but Jackie will use the published number for the year you close, not a memory of last year's cap.
Borrowers here are often founders, contractors, and professionals who kept the company in San Jose or Santa Clara and the house on the water. Write-offs crush conventional DTI. Bank statements restore buying power. Hillside and slide-zone properties add insurance and appraisal time. Send any geologic or retrofit reports you already have.
ADUs and hillside lots
Accessory units are common on older lots. Existing, leased ADU income can support qualification. A planned unit usually cannot until it is built. Hillside homes need a clear story on foundations and drainage so the appraiser is not guessing. For a rental-only property, DSCR may fit better than a bank-statement primary loan.
South along the coast, the next Jackie market page is Monterey.