Email Elizabeth
Elizabeth Weintraub
Crucial Tips for Women Losing Weight Over 50
Get a yoga mat, correct size exercise ball and commit to a doctor-approved workout.
What a surprise to discover that this Sacramento Realtor is actually a wealth of practical knowledge for women losing weight over 50. My manicurist, Rosa, started complaining about her weight during my visit on Friday. She grabbed a roll of fat on her stomach and with a disgusted tone moaned, “Look at this!” Her shirt that used to fit no longer fit; it was too tight. Being the compassionate person that I am, I tried to comfort her. Ha, I said, that’s nothing. In another 10 years you’re gonna discover that fat has crept around to your back and taken up residence over your ribs. Fat travels. Never before in my entire life have I seen a ripple of fat on my back.
Goodbye silk dresses. Rosa’s mouth fell open. I pressed on.
You will have so much MORE to complain about 10 years from now. Be thankful for that little roll of fat. Wait until your entire stomach turns into an alien blob, shaking from side to side like an earthquake in that massage chair. Rosa appreciates my advice as we are about 10 years apart in age.
I warned, most important, don’t even THINK about getting a Fitbit, Rosa. She looked surprised. How did I know she was thinking about that? Because every person on the face of the planet wears a Fitbit. But don’t buy one. You will only be sorry. It will make you cry and feel bad about yourself. A Fitbit causes sheer misery. Do you want to turn into a one-woman pity party? Do you want to be sad and depressed all of the time?
This is the reason. A few years ago, the so-called experts sharing tips for women losing weight over 50 set the standard of minimum number of steps per day humans should do. Walking around like a normal person? No longer allowed in society. Those guys insisted that you achieve 5,000 daily steps. Then, all of a sudden, Fitbit came on the scene. Fitbit measures your activity and you wear it on your wrist. Fitbit pushed the envelope to 10,000 steps per day. However, just a few days ago, I saw an advertisement for some other exercise thing that promotes 15,000 steps per day.
There is no stopping this madness. When you look at your Fitbit at the end of the day and it announces your steps have amounted to a measly 130 steps for the day, you will feel miserable. Just don’t buy the damn thing. Save yourself a world of grief. Problem solved.
Besides, if you really want to know how many steps you do a day, you can look at your iPhone. I showed her the heart app. This was news to her. Didn’t even realize she had that app. Of course, the downside is you have to carry your phone everywhere, which I do, so it’s no downside to me. I only look at when I’ve walked a few miles. Which is maybe once a month.
Further, the really depressing news is you have to give up cookies, butter, sugar and bacon. I eat like a mouse most of the time. My total caloric intake is probably around 1,200 calories a day. For nutritional food. The problem that pops up is everything else that passes through your lips. The stuff that is not food. For example, when you want to enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner. Maybe a Scotch at bedtime. You must choose between your liquid diet and your food diet. Which means obviously a woman has to consider the ramifications of not eating food at all anymore.
Moderation? Not a rational choice.
You also need to exercise more. No way around it. Do yoga, stretching exercises, work those core muscles. Or one day you will squat down to get your mail out of the mail slot at the office, and you won’t be able to get back up. You’ll just be stuck there on the floor. My physical therapist wants me to do this at least 3 days a week, but I can’t do that. Because that means there are 4 days a week that I’m not exercising. If I give myself permission not to exercise every other day, it’s way too easy to give my self a break the next day and the day after that. Before I know it, I’ve extended that moratorium to 7 days a week. No more exercising.
You need a routine. Get into the habit of doing exercises every single day. Set aside the time and just do it. No excuses. You can’t ever stop. Because if you do, you’ll head straight downhill to hell in a hand basket. Or, maybe my best tip for women losing weight over 50 is to change your attitude about what you will accept? Ha, ha. See? Also, not a reality. I focus on “women” losing weight over 50, not men, because my husband went on a diet, and he lost weight eating PIZZA. I hate that.
Rosa mentioned she bought a treadmill. I chuckled: “Be careful it doesn’t turn into a coat rack.” She exploded into laughter. Customers at the nail salon were staring at us. How did I know this about her, she asked. Yes, she admitted to drying laundry on it. When you get to be 65, you know a lot of things. There is no fast-track 2-week diet to lose weight and keep it off. It’s a long process. A lifestyle. You either commit or you drink single-malt Scotch. Damn. Choices.
Well, there is that tasting menu at Saison coming up in a few weeks . . . That’s like Thanksgiving to me, only no icky yams. You can gain 3 pounds at Thanksgiving. Are you aware of that fact?
Probate Home in West Sacramento Bridgeway Island at Great Price
3619 Saint John Road, West Sacramento, CA 95691
As a general rule, I seem to sell a lot more homes with successor trustees in title than a probate, much less a probate home in West Sacramento. But I also sell a lot of homes in West Sacramento. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter if I haven’t sold a record number of probates, at least I know how to do a probate, thanks to JaCi. This particular probate home in West Sacramento does not require court approval, which means we can price it where it should sell and not dick around with court referees who place inaccurate market values on some probates. The only concern a buyer might have is the home is sold AS IS, but then again, just about every single one of my listings this year have been sold AS IS. I don’t see the big deal there.
The purchase contract states homes are sold AS IS. Somewhere along the line in Sacramento, agents got the idea that to placate anxious buyers, they could ask for repairs or credits or renegotiate. And some listings agents tell their sellers to accommodate those notions. Other agents like me, for example, will explain to sellers if they don’t mind making another mortgage payment, I’ll just sell the home again. They are not required to bend to unreasonable demands.
My new listing, the probate home in West Sacramento, takes into consideration the comparable sales of surrounding homes, many of which are selling at $425,000 and up. Trying to explain that to buyers is difficult because the truth is if we priced this home at $200,000 a buyer would still ask if they could offer $190,000. Buyers often don’t know what they are doing. But a good buyer’s agent can comp out this home and can tell what a great deal this is.
For starters, it has four bedrooms, and 3 full baths. There is a first floor bedroom, which is often coveted, especially by multi-generation families. In addition to the first floor bedroom, there is also a full bath, shared by that bedroom and it also shares another door to the living room. The square footage exceeds 2,300 square feet, per the Yolo County Assessor. The second floor master suite features a bridge at one end of the home.
The kitchen is toward the back and is open the family room, with beautiful laminate flooring and a fireplace. As far as the work that is required to bring this home up to your demanding tastes, one needs to paint the interior of this home. That includes mudding the corners of outside walls where dinged, painting the walls and baseboards. Most painters I know charge about $5,000 to professionally paint the interior of a home. Yet some lucky buyer will receive a $26,000 discount to buy this home.
Come to our open house on Sunday, October 8th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, hosted by the incredible Barbara Dow from the Elizabeth Weintraub Team. You can see the virtual tour here. 3619 Saint John Road, West Sacramento, CA 95691, is offered exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub and Lyon Real Estate at $399K. Call Elizabeth for more information at 916.233.6759.
More photos below:
Formal living room at 3619 Saint John Road, West Sacramento.
Open floor plan features kitchen and family room.
Spacious master suite at 3619 Saint John Road, West Sacramento.
Huge master suite bath with separate soaking tub and shower.
Updated Home in Elder Creek Ranch For Sale
Plenty of curb appeal at 6745 Villa Juares Circle in Sacramento.
What a little jewel this home in Elder Creek Ranch is. When I first walked inside, I expected to find a home with few updates, but these sellers really spared no expense with the upgrades. Most buyers today do not want carpeting in the main entertainments areas, and this home does not disappoint in that manner. At first glance, I thought the floors were travertine, but the seller assures me they are ceramic. They are oversized ceramic in the family room, hallway, baths and the kitchen. Really opens the space and makes it all seem connected.
There is a formal living room that looks like nobody ever uses it. It has pristine white carpeting without footprints in the pile. There is a piano in that room and beautiful furniture that appears in brand new condition. Off the living room is a formal dining area, with the table perpetually set for dinner. The floor plan is in a circle. From the dining room, you enter the kitchen and family room, which you can also navigate from the living room. This updated home in Elder Creek Ranch is very elegant.
Of course, we have granite counters in the kitchen. No updated home today would exist without upgraded counters in the kitchen. The kitchen also features a stainless pre-rinse faucet, stainless appliances, and the refrigerator, although white, can stay if the buyer wants it. There is also a garden window over the kitchen sink loaded with plants. All of the windows in the house are dual pane and somewhat newer, including the heavy sliding doors to the yard.
If you need four bedrooms, this home fits that bill. Both of the baths are updated. The master suite bath features an oversized shower with two seats, in addition to a separate tub. The huge walk-in closet in the master suite is sure to delight. Far as the mechanics, the HVAC was installed in 2016, and the roof is about 8 years (not verified). The water water heater is in the garage with a note attached that reads 2009. Wheelchair access is through the garage. Only the entry features a ceramic riser.
Wait until you see the back yard with a covered patio and rows of cypress trees as a backdrop against the lush lawn. Very private, too. You can see all of this at our open house this Sunday, October 1 (is it really October already!) from 11 AM to 1:00 PM, hosted by the amazing Amy McMullan. Check out the virtual tour of this home in Elder Creek Ranch here.
6745 Villa Juares Circle, Sacramento, CA 95828 is offered exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate. For more information, call Elizabeth at 916.233.6759. Affordably priced at $339K. More photos below:
Brick fireplace and oversized ceramic in the family room.
Pretty garden window over the granite counters in the kitchen.
Spacious master bedroom offers a beautiful view of the landscaped back yard.
The Ups and Downs of Selling Elk Grove Homes
Although I sell real estate from Lincoln to Galt, I certainly do end up selling Elk Grove homes as a large percentage of my Sacramento real estate business. Probably because that’s where so many homes for sale are located. And fortunately, for this Realtor, I have an office in Elk Grove that I can use, in addition to the office where I hang out in Midtown. This means my sellers of homes in Elk Grove actually get two large Lyon Real Estate offices working for them. Because I put a large panel sign with the number of our Elk Grove office on the property. For example, if a buyer is driving by the home and wants to see it immediately, that buyer can call the large number on the sign panel, and an Elk Grove agent can be there in a heartbeat to show them the home. That’s a nice benefit, don’t you agree?
One of those agents wasn’t too happy yesterday. He called me as I was in the process of taking my cat Tessa to the VCA, the Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center located just south of Elk Grove off Bradshaw. Tessa has a hard lump in her stomach that has become progressively larger. She had an ultrasound a few days ago, and the River City Cat Clinic thinks she could have a small hernia where she was spayed 4 years ago. They suggested a second opinion. VCA charges $170 for a consultation, but our pets are worth it. The surgery alone is between $1,500 and $2,000, the price of a new refrigerator. First class air to Hawaii. Couple month’s rent for some. Enough to power electricity to a large neighborhood in Puerto Rico.
Tessa, cinnamon spotted Ocicat.
After her exam, the vet suggested surgery, and we made an appointment for this morning. I stood at the checkout counter yesterday as the check-out clerks demanded a 50% deposit. Many businesses trust no one these days. They insisted on viewing my driver’s license. I wrote a check for the deposit, which was my last check. The clerk incorrectly computed the total and was off by $100. She asked me for another $100. Oh, just add to the balance I’ll pay on Thursday, I suggested. I don’t have any more checks. Nope, they wanted that hundred bucks right then and there. Really? A hundred bucks? Did I look like a deadbeat in my Hawaiian pearls? I didn’t think so. I had just given them almost $1,000. Why didn’t they take my fingerprints and X-ray me while they were at it?
That whole experience as a paying customer at VCA was not a nice customer service experience. Very unpleasant.
I handed them my credit card. I wanted to add specifically where they could shove it, but the clerks are just doing their stinkin’ job. Silver lining? I’m glad I’m selling Elk Grove homes and not working for VCA. Dealing with shit people.
Which takes me back to the agent from my Elk Grove office who called to complain in an agitated manner. It appears he had gone to preview another of my Elk Grove homes the previous week, and the key in the lockbox did not work. I don’t know why the key didn’t work. It worked when the door was locked and the key was placed in the lockbox. I called a locksmith immediately and paid for a new key. But the guy was still steaming over that because he brought it up.
Because I’m a top producer selling Elk Grove homes, I had another home on tour.
When this agent got there, as luck would have it, the seller, an elderly woman, was confused and would not let him inside. She confessed when I called that she had not read some of my emails, but she agreed they could come back. Like I told that agent in a voice mail (since he ignored my call), if he had just called me from her doorstep, I could have fixed the whole situation. Instead, he preferred to throw a hissy fit and storm off. That’s his call but it seems defeatist behavior to me.
Selling Elk Grove homes is not for the faint of heart. As I left the VCA office off Bradshaw, I realized my closing scheduled for recording that afternoon was just up the street. This was a home in Wildhawk that the seller had tried to sell several times in the past with some other Elk Grove Realtor, not me. I expect I amazed him because I sold the home at list price. It didn’t sell as quickly as homes in the Elk Grove ZIP codes because this home in Wildhawk, although in the Elk Grove School District, is in 95829. Not as many home searches in that ZIP as there are for Elk Grove. Still, it sold in 20 days, still under the average in Sacramento of 22 days, and closed without any repairs or renegotiations. My seller is happy. That’s all I care about.
I drove over to the house in Wildhawk and removed the lockbox. I could hire a person to remove lockboxes for me, but there is something about the finality of the transaction, the completion, reaching the conclusion, that I find comforting. I also called my Elk Grove office to verify that the rest of the documents, remotes, mailbox keys were waiting in Will Call for the buyer’s agent. I could hear Tessa mewing in her carrier in the back seat of my car.
This morning, she is probably cursing my very existence. She doesn’t like being alone in a strange place, and there is a fearful atmosphere at most vet clinics. Not every animal, or human for that manner, comes out of anesthesia. There is always a risk. Yet I hear the surgeons are competent, even if the doctor looked to be 12. When I first saw him, I jokingly wanted to ask if he was old enough to drive, but that wouldn’t help matters. I know when to keep my mouth shut. And, when not to.
Sacramento Listing Agents Shouldn’t Forget The Seller Owns the House
No matter how you look at it the seller owns the house.
Many of my clients like to leave decisions up to me, yet I constantly remind them the seller owns the house, not the agent. I’m just their Sacramento listing agent. I can advise and guide, but I can’t make decisions for them. They actually say things like: you know what to do, you can just take care of it. While I might love to negotiate — and I am one of those twisted individuals who truly does love the art of negotiation — I can only make suggestions. Sometimes buyer’s agents will ask me if I sent their document to the seller. When they ask that question, it tells me they wrongly suspect I’m making up reactions or negotiating without speaking to my clients. I would never do that.
However, I know agents who do. The ones who blurt out “my client won’t do that.” Well, they don’t know that for a fact. They have absolutely no right to make that sort of statement. How often have you heard agents blatantly claim to know precisely what their clients will do? Unfortunately, in this business, all the freakin’ time. I don’t even know what my own husband will do on any given day, and I see him 7 days a week. Our cats are fairly constant creatures with habits and routines, and I don’t know what they will do, either. We can’t possibly know what anybody else will do or think or say. It’s impossible.
The sellers owns the house, which gives the seller the sole right to make independent decisions. Yesterday, for example, I received an appraisal and addendum from a buyer’s agent, asking us to reduce the price by $5,000 because the appraisal came in low. I sent it to the seller and suggested the seller ask the buyer to bridge that gap in appraisal in cash. This was based on my astute observations concerning this particular situation. I had enough information to tell me the buyer would be receptive to that idea. No happy, most likely, but receptive.
I asked the seller what he wanted to do. He said: Ask the buyer to pay the difference between appraisal and sales price. I relayed that bit of information to the buyer’s agent. The agent then asked me if they would consider splitting the difference. I told him my advice to the seller would be to stick to the original plan of demanding the $5,000, but I would bring it up. The sellers discussed it, and then the wife had a change of heart. The seller called back to say, because of his wife, they would like to split the difference.
Are you sure? I asked. Because I’m fairly confident we can get the $5,000 for you. But as you know, it ‘s not my house. My mantra is the seller owns the house, not me. If you want me to negotiate less, I will do it, I suggested. It’s up to you. The seller wavered a little. The seller asked, “Well, what would you do, Elizabeth?”
OK, fine, if it was me, I’d take the $5,000 and not feel guilty about it. But it’s not my spouse who is asking me to back down a little. It’s your marriage, I pointed out. Sometimes, that is more important than the money. You’ve got to maintain harmony and respect for other opinions in that union.
That made it easy for him. They decided to give the buyer a break. That’s exactly what we did. We split it. These sellers have a heart and are very kind, sweet people. Whether I agree or not with their decision is immaterial. It matters that they are happy and they make the decisions. Because the seller owns the house.
