Why a Six-Month Listing is Normal for Sacramento Listing Agents

Every listing I write starts its life as a six-month listing, and there is a darned good reason for that length of contract. Like I explain to my clients, it’s not always possible to close an escrow within 90 days. For one thing, it doesn’t take into account the first buyer who is likely to cancel for some flakey reason and then I have to sell that home again. Or lender delays or any of the other million things that can happen. At least, I figure, our six-month listing will not expire, and it’s one less thing to monitor.

Yet is rare for me to have a listing for as long as I’ve had my south Sacramento listing by Elder Creek. I sold a halfplex in that area a while back, and I recall that was a bit of a problem as well. Not really sure why. Buyers have not been overly enthusiastic to buy in this neighborhood, it seems.

Countless open houses, almost every weekend. Full-blown marketing efforts but no bites. I pulled out all the stops, including taking the home off the market and putting it back a number of times to reset the days on market.

I wrote this six-month listing at the end of September of last year. We just closed escrow yesterday. This home lingered on the market over the cold months of October, November and December, and then we finally snagged a full-price offer. That excitement lasted all of 24 hours when the 1031 exchange buyer canceled as quickly as he signed the offer.

In early January, we received a lower-priced offer from a buyer who could not afford the home. It’s hard to be a buyer who can’t afford the home he wants to buy, I imagine. But it doesn’t mean the seller cares. In fact, the sellers wonder what’s wrong with the buyer that he is writing a lowball offer on their house. In the sellers’ minds, the buyer should focus on homes the buyer can afford.

Finally, in March we received a full-price offer from buyers who had no skin in the game. No money at all. Not even closing costs. NACA was paying for everything, down payment and closing costs. Then, in exchange, NACA demanded a shitload of repairs, and the buyers threatened to walk.

Walk, go away, the sellers said. The repairs noted by NACA were the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around the block. They wanted the sellers to test the ceiling for asbestos and pay for those tests. So of course, regardless of testing, the buyers wanted the ceilings all scraped and the popcorn removed. It just got uglier and more horrible. Nope. Go away.

Under these circumstances, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up my client’s spirits. I mean, I knew the home would sell, but sellers don’t always feel so overly enthusiastic when buyer after buyer flakes out on them. My clients were darlings, though. Always a great attitude, upbeat, optimistic. They were no spring chickens, either. We’re talking 80s and 90s. The kind of people who make an agent want to be a better person for them.

We were near the date of having to extend the six-month listing. In fact, from inception to closing, it was 7 1/2 months. This wasn’t a short sale. Just a late 1970’s ranch home with updates in south Sacramento. It’s also the time of sale that messes up my stats. If I sell 50 listings on average in 10 to 15 days, this one sale will blow to pieces those averages. It’s also 7 1/2 long months for the sellers.

Finally, around the middle of April, we received a good offer. The sellers accepted the offer. No sooner did they sign that purchase contract than we received a second offer for even more money, which we put into backup. When it rains, it pours. This is why April is the best month to sell a home.

6745 Villa Juares Circle, Sacramento, CA 95828 closed escrow May 17, 2018 at $320,000. I’m kissing the ground.