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Elizabeth Weintraub
Mixing Religion and Politics in Sacramento Real Estate
Mixing religion and politics is always a bit tricky in Sacramento real estate for some people. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry much about the political end of things because I’m unlikely to alienate my client base. It would be different if I sold primarily in Placer County, but most of my business lies squarely in Sacramento. Plus, I rarely bring up religion and politics. My brain is already too busy processing strategies and marketing ideas. At my age, there’s only so much room up there in the attic.
My mother raised a Democrat. Little known fact: my mother was once president of the League of Women Voters. We got the Congressional Record delivered daily at our house in Minneapolis. But I am more of a live-and-let-live sort of person. I’ve learned over the years to be friends with Republicans; in fact, here’s a stunner for you: I married a handful of Republicans at various times, not at the same time.
I am not a spiritual nor a religious person, which amazes some people. Many people think I’m Jewish but that’s my husband’s side of the family. However, I don’t begrudge people their religious beliefs, nor belittle, and I respect their points of view. OK, actually, I do wonder about the Mormons. The golden plates in the desert, the weird underwear, all that stuff. And that’s why I rank only #5 in a four-county area of Sacramento for year-end Realtor stats in 2017. I don’t have a bunch of religious friends who support my business, like many agents.
Nope, I worship at the church of Satan: Google.
However, yesterday morning, a client whom I dearly love who moved to the Midwest called to talk about buying an investment property in Sacramento. After we chatted and got caught up on the past few years of events, she, in a very somber voice monotoned: Elizabeth, I have something I need to tell you. Long pause. OMG, is she dying from cancer? Oh, please, don’t let her be dying from an incurable disease. I couldn’t take it.
Then she launched into letting Jesus Christ into my heart and something about a day of reckoning a 100 years from now, I don’t really know. I stared at my phone in disbelief. Then I realized I couldn’t hear her because by moving the phone away from my ear to look at it, I lost most of the conversation. When she finished, I muttered something about how nice it is to share convictions with a close friend. I tried to be nonchalant. Doesn’t she think I am Jewish?
But then she said this disclosure was making her very uncomfortable. She did not want to bring it up, but she felt a compulsion. It was her duty. Quick thinking on my part, I let her know that, hey, I have a compulsion to share as well.
Without missing a beat, I said, it’s my duty to tell you that you should never vote for a person like Donald Trump ever again.
She wants to save me? Well, perhaps I should save her.
Silence. That amused me.
Then she asked why. You will notice she didn’t deny it. I mean, I surely noticed.
So I told her why . . . because he’s a despicable human being who doesn’t respect diversity nor women, he’s a terrible president, undoing all the values we hold near and dear. He’s polluting the environment, doesn’t believe in climate change, actually is stupid enough to believe that science is not real, calls journalists fake news, and just passed a massive tax bill that favors the uber rich. I said I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a Nazi but if the shoe fits he should wear it.
This is what you get when you mix religion and politics in any kind of setting. So now I have an answer, actually, for all those door knockers who want me to convert. I’ll just talk their ears off about Donald Trump until they leave me alone.
My client friend? She said her piece and I said mine. I still love her.
Hamptons Village 6 Tides Edge Place Closed Escrow
When I interviewed with the sellers to sell their Hamptons Village home, they had already talked with a bunch of other Natomas Realtors. I don’t know how I got into this on the tail end of the situation, but I knew when I walked out I had the listing. Other agents generally do not sell real estate the way I do it. Further, they don’t have my four decades of experience. As one guy put it to me yesterday, he wasn’t even born when I started to sell real estate, and he’s 44.
Unless a seller is hellbent on a cheap commission, I generally win my listing appointments. I have so much information to share, I often bowl over sellers. The first thing I explained to these first-time home sellers was I would always have their back. I would do everything in my power to make sure we chose the right buyers because the last thing they needed was to have the truck packed to move out of state and whammo, the buyer can’t or won’t close escrow.
My practice is built on my experience. Every time I close an escrow, I utilize the past thousands of sales I’ve closed. I try to anticipate what can go wrong. And I sell for top of market. I first checked the value in Zillow. Not because it’s right but because many sellers do. Zillow showed a value of $341. I then ran the comps in Realist, which showed $316K. I prepared my own CMA and it came up with a value of $310K. However, after I met with the sellers and saw their home, I knew the values needed to be tweaked.
I compared their home to all of the sold comps and adjusted for their stunning updates. It’s amazing what you can get from Ikea these days. Even the drawers feature interior lights. Then I suggested they make a couple of small improvements and helped them to work with the furniture they had to stage the place. It did not require professional home staging. Some homes, believe it or not, do not need it.
My suggested sales price for this home in Hamptons Village was $359K. Other agents misinterpreted the pricing for this home. I also prepared the sellers for multiple offers. Fabulous open house, but only two offers were the result. One offer was less than list price at $350K. What are buyers thinking? Don’t their agents educate them about the seller’s market? The other offer was $360K. The seller was very happy.
But here is the kicker. I suggested to the sellers they counter the offer to $365K. My intuition said they could get it. When I assess a situation, I feel it is my job to tell the seller if — based on my extensive experience and negotiation skills — I think they can get more. I explained all of the reasons why, and the sellers went for it. Sure enough, the buyers accepted the sellers’ counter to pay an additional $5,000.
Hey, I earn my standard real estate commission the old fashioned way. I work for it. Clients pay me for my expertise and advice. Not only that, but we closed escrow on this Hamptons Village home without any repairs or credits. Well, there was the part when I called the seller and they started to describe all the repairs they were planning to do. Huh? What? Why? Turns out they read the home inspection and thought they were required to fix the stuff that was mentioned. No, no, no.
They were even happier when I told them to cancel the shipment of light fixtures and to undo the appointments for workers to install and repair things. AS IS means no repairs. No credits. No renegotiations. It was the smoothest escrow in a long time. Great agent on the other side. I didn’t have to beg for the contingency releases. We closed right on schedule on January 4th.
The sellers felt confident they did not leave any money on the table. I imagine I’ll get a 5-star review.
Lot for Sale in Elk Grove at 9368 Kaanapali Closed Escrow
This lot for sale in Elk Grove at 9368 Kaanapali closed escrow last week.
Although we had sold this lot for sale in Elk Grove to our client, for some reason, the client initially listed the lot with an agent who was a friend of the family. I think the agent worked for a builder, but I don’t really recall. All I know is she had it on the market for almost 4 months and no bites. So the seller finally called me and asked if I would take a lot for sale in Elk Grove and sell it for her.
Sure. Just because I rarely sell lots is no reason not to take the listing. The principle of selling is the same. I have great marketing tools. First I pulled up a list of all of the lots that are for sale in Elk Grove and the sold lots. Not just the lots within a 1/2 mile, but every lot for sale in Elk Grove. Those are some long days on market, let me tell you. Which means the market is softer than residential.
I prepared the seller for a longer than usual wait. Managing expectations is part of my job. It’s not like I can send updates on showings because there is no lockbox to tell me when an agent is with a buyer at the property. So I sent market updates instead, just to stay in touch. One thing I never want is for a seller to think I am not doing anything.
Once the sign post order went out, it was a bit tedious to get the sign placed in the right spot. I sent maps but I’m not sure they used them. Once we found the designated place, the HOA started calling me to complain. See, this particular lot for sale in Elk Grove was located in a homeowner’s association but it was not part of the HOA. It enjoyed the private road, the gated entry and paid no dues for it. It was one of a few lots like this where people are building million-dollar homes.
The HOA did not realize this lot was not located within its jurisdiction. Once I pointed that out, they shut up about the sign placement. Then, there was a fire. I know, right? How can a single flat piece of land be such trouble? Fortunately, the fire did not burn down my for sale sign nor cause much harm to this particular lot.
Another incident: my photographer went out to shoot photos and came back with ho-hum pictures. This was not like him. I had asked for photos of the entrance and the guy was so overwhelmed that day, he forgot. So, as a favor to me, and maybe because I give him tons of business, he returned to the scene and reshot the photos in late afternoon. That time of day in winter when the sun hanging low in the sky warms all that it touches with a special glow. Glamorous, gorgeous shots, like the one above. Photos are #1, utmost importance.
Shortly after we went on the market, we received a lowball offer from an LLC, which owns other lots in Elk Grove and in that subdivision. The buyer simply would not step up to make the offer she needed to make to buy this lot. Low and behold, another buyer came long and we reached an agreement, locking out the first buyer. In fact, the first buyer had written several offers. The second offer a month later. None of which was acceptable. And I think she really wanted to buy this one-acre lot. She just went about it the wrong way.
In the overall scheme of things, a buyer should never let a few thousand dollars stand between her and the property she desires. Ownership is everything. Wishing for it is nothing.
We closed escrow the first week in January at $278,500. Fewer than 60 days to sell this lot in Elk Grove. In a market where selling a lot can take a year or more.
Selling a Newer Home in Elk Grove is Not Always Easy
Selling a newer home in Elk Grove can mean overcoming obstacles.
When an Elk Grove seller called me about selling a newer home in Elk Grove, she thought it would be a piece of cake. Apparently the seller interviewed a bunch of Elk Grove Realtors and rejected them all until she met me. She wanted to hire me because she heard I sold the house on the corner in one day at a record price. I did do that. But I simply lucked out by selling to a buyer from the Bay Area for all cash. The price I sold it at would not have appraised. No comps to support it.
I pointed this out to the seller and suggested we start the list price at the same price. It was the same square footage. Similar condition. This seller was leaving for Europe shortly but I assured her once we had an offer, she could sign the deed at title and be done with that part. Everything else could be handled via email and web.
No sooner did we put this home on the market than bam, we received a full-price offer. I sent the offer to the seller and asked her what she thought. She didn’t want to take the offer. She didn’t like the buyers. Her gut instincts told her not to sell to those people. Well, you can’t really do that when you’re selling a newer home in Elk Grove. If she didn’t want to take the offer, we would need to raise the price. I removed the home from MLS, signed a new listing at a higher price. This also reset the days on market and made it look like it was a brand new listing.
Talk about a crazy market. We raised the price and the same buyers wrote another offer at the new price. This time the seller accepted the offer. Within a week, the buyers developed cold feet and canceled without cause. Well, the seller was certainly right about them! By now, though, the seller was off to Europe. It’s OK, I assured her, she can go to the US Embassy in London to get the deed notarized.
Along came another buyer. We went into escrow and neared the date to release the inspection contingencies. The new buyer did not seem to trust anyone. There was a language barrier as well. We were also in the process of replacing 7 defective windows in the house. They were ordered, just not yet received. We gave the buyer all of the information regarding the installation process. The seller made an appointment at the Embassy in London to sign the deed. Everything was hunky dory, when all of a sudden, the buyers canceled.
I don’t know if he didn’t believe the windows would be installed. Or, whether the story he shared about too much noise behind the homes held any water. In any event, he canceled. So the seller canceled her appointment at the Embassy. We went back on the market as a new listing again. Agents in Elk Grove began to think we were a little crazy or touched in the head.
One thing I know how to do well is selling a newer home in Elk Grove. I then got my hands on the appraisal and discovered it appraised for a $1,000 more than our sales price. Not only that, but the square footage was a lot different than the square footage in the public records. It was not identical to the home I sold in the spring.
Whoa! That meant we needed to change the price. We bumped it up, reset the days on market, and created a brand new listing again. No sooner did it go back on the market than the buyer called to say he had changed his mind and no longer wanted to cancel. You know, you just can’t make up this stuff.
The seller appeared angry with the buyers for canceling in the first place, upset over the grief they caused, so she inserted a smiley face in the cancellation agreement. Knowing this, I had to share the odd news the buyer wanted back into escrow. But not without a plan for her. I suggested she demand a complete release of all contingencies and insist that the buyer give her the earnest money deposit outside of escrow, as non-refundable. In addition to raising the price.
Fortunately, those 3 things satisfied her. The buyer agreed and we closed this week. Not without a few other hurdles to climb. Partly because we could not secure a new appointment at the Embassy and it closed for a move. But I don’t have all day to go into it, and it was enough just to live through the process of selling a newer home in Elk Grove. Suffice to say, it closed on the very last day the buyers had before being kicked out of their apartment.
This is what a Sacramento Realtor does. Resolves issues. The seller made almost $10,000 more than she initially expected, and the buyer has a nice home near his relatives. If you’re thinking about selling a newer home in Elk Grove, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Selling Homes in the Sacramento Foothills is an Art
Although I may excel at selling homes in the Sacramento foothills, I am a city girl through and through. Make no mistake. But being a city girl doesn’t mean I don’t understand the people who live in those communities. It’s tight-knit, and as an outsider coming in to list a home, there can be opposition. For no other reason than I am a city girl and the residents there are not. That’s why it was a bit tricky to list this home in the Sacramento foothills.
See, the thing is people can yak all they want about neighborhood specialists. And hiring neighborhood specialists is seen as a misguided way to go in Sacramento real estate. That’s because unless you get an agent who sells a couple of homes a week like I do, most of the so-called specialists might know a lot about the area, but actually very little about real estate. Knowledge in real estate is acquired through experience and selling many homes.
I know how to sell a home. It doesn’t matter to me if we’re talking about selling homes in the Sacramento foothills or farmland in the Delta or million-dollar homes in Davis. Because the art of selling homes involves pricing homes correctly, employing a multitude of marketing strategies and harboring strong negotiation skills. I’ve got all that. 44 years strong. That’s why I rank among the elite in Sacramento.
The seller of the escrow that just closed held title with another family member who insisted on hiring a local agent for selling homes in the Sacramento foothills. It was causing a bit of strife in the family. I had worked with the seller who wanted to hire me in the past. He was happy with my performance. My goal is to obtain the highest price possible. My fiduciary is only to the seller. The other seller preferred a local referral. To keep the peace in the family, I suggested maybe they should hire the other agent. A commission is not worth it if it tears apart a family.
Nope, they wanted me. Turns out the other agent suggested listing the property for $50,000 less than my pricing. That’s because agents rely solely on comps and I do not. I rely on what a home can sell for. The way real estate should be sold. I have a special ability to properly price a home. And an extraordinary ability to sell it at that price. This is not bragging, this is just the way it is. I use all of my senses, mostly common sense.
The sellers would have gladly hired me to sell the home for $50,000 less, but I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, we could get the price of $650K. Sure enough, there were a few offers at $600K, but then we got an offer of $650K. Yay! Uh oh, short-lived excitement. No sooner did those buyers go into escrow than they flaked out and canceled for no reason.
Fine, I’ll sell it again, Sam. And I did. The next buyer offered $620K, but I told his agent, if they want it, they need to pay the proper price. And they need to purchase it AS IS. No repairs. Not only did these buyers step up to the plate and increase their offer to list price, but another set of buyers went Into back-up at $650K. As insurance. Sure, there was a point when the buyers asked to make changes, so we made them release their earnest money deposit through escrow to the seller. I play hardball when it’s required.
We closed escrow at $650K on January 2nd. No repairs. No renegotiations. So, I’m not just telling you that I have a gift for selling homes in the Sacramento foothills, I’m showing you. Not bad for a city girl, huh?
