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Elizabeth Weintraub
How to Sell a Home in Sacramento Fast and Close Under 30 Days
A seller who lived a ways north of downtown Sac called last month to say he needed to sell a home in Sacramento fast, because he had just accepted an unexpected job transfer and had to move across country in 30 days. I love challenges and thrive on those types of opportunities. This couple had purchased the home a few years ago as a bank-owned home and were worried about disclosures and condition. They also were located in a small pocket of newer homes, nestled in a subdivision just down the street from what Bob Dylan might call Desolation Row.
As with any potential listing, I point out the positives and I don’t gloss over the negatives with my sellers. Both carry weight with a buyer, and sellers need to look at the sale of their home from the eyes of a buyer because that’s how homes sell. Sometimes sellers are worried about the tiniest things that carry no consequences of sale, and sometimes they overlook the major things that are really a big, big deal. That’s where a veteran Sacramento real estate agent can be a huge help. I share what sellers need to do and what they don’t need to do.
What these guys needed to do was clean up the house and keep it tidy. Mow the lawn. Clean out a few pieces of furniture. No repairs, no fixing anything except one loose cabinet door in the master bath that required a screwdriver to straighten up. Then, cooperate with showings, no matter how crazy it made them for a week.
We discussed the comparable sales, all of which were pretty much brand new homes. Their home was resale, older. Big difference. However, there wasn’t much on the market, either, and they had desirable factors such as four bedrooms and it was a sought-after single story. They priced it at the hottest price point in Sacramento for this type of home, and we let the market dictate.
The market responded favorably. I personally contacted every buyer’s agent after a showing. We received many offers and accepted the offer from the strongest buyer at the strongest price, which wasn’t necessarily the highest price, but it was 5% over list price and in line with the new home sales. We held our breath as I talked with the buyer’s appraiser and whammo, the appraisal came in at the sales price. You couldn’t ask for anything better than this.
Probably the best part was the home sold and closed in fewer than 30 days, even with marketing time. The buyer’s lender was able to quickly perform. The seller signed their escrow documents while packing in the convenience of their own home. As they drove across country through the cornfields of the Midwest, a wire transfer deposited the proceeds of sale into their banking account. The seller texted: “You are the best; we will never forget what you have done for us.” Peace of mind is priceless. But money helps.
When a Sacramento Real Estate Agent’s Reputation is All That Remains
It wasn’t that the buyer’s agent forced me to open Microsoft Word — which takes so much longer than any of my other applications to load, patience, patience, to find the document in which I record decades of unpleasant transaction notes — it was that many real estate professionals may now associate this particular agent’s name with unethical real estate practices. After the day is said and done and the years are over, and all the crazy people have crawled back into their caves, the reputation of a Sacramento real estate agent might be all that lingers.
An agent’s reputation should be fiercely maintained.
Successful agents, for example, are often slid under a microscope to study. Sometimes these agents are unjustly attacked by other real estate agents for stupid reasons, mostly because competitors become jealous. It’s the nasty underbelly of the real estate business and a silent consequence of success. Aspiring agents admire success but it can also be a tug-of-war internally for them. Regardless, we all need to treat each other with respect. As REALTORS, we must adhere to the Code of Ethics.
To be kind, some agents can experience, let’s say, a lapse of better judgment.
For me, I don’t look so much at what other people say when they screw up, I look at what they do. If a buyer’s agent calls me to talk about a client’s offer, spends a long time discussing the buyers’ love affair with the home but fails to mention that the agent has written a second offer for that buyer, well, not only is it considered unethical, but that kind of practice could be against the law. Buyers can’t buy two homes if they can’t afford to buy both. Lawyers can scream this until the cows come home and agents don’t listen.
As what happens in these types of problematic situations is both offers tend to get accepted. At that point, the buyer’s agent had another open window to say, hey, I have something to disclose. But no, the agent’s lips are zipped until the buyer bails on both accepted offers. Ordinarily, a listing agent wouldn’t even know this has happened, but when she discovers it — and the truth often manages to come out — she’s not the only person. Both sets of sellers know, and so do all of their friends. The people at title and escrow know. The other agent whose seller received a cancellation knows. All the people that agent knows know. And so on.
This is how a buyer’s agent’s reputation can turn into mud.
And for what? A pair of buyers who bailed on the buyer’s agent and decided not to even to move to Sacramento after all?
The Hill On Which an Elk Grove Home Buyer Dies
On which hill is a buyer in Elk Grove willing to die upon? We all pick our battles, but the hill on which we choose to die is special. That’s a question I ask myself when I see an offer arrive for one of my sellers. Most home buyers and their agents are fairly agreeable upfront, but down the road once we’re in escrow things can change. If agents and buyers start out on the wrong foot, though, odds are that they will continue on that same path. This is what I warn sellers about. I tend to share pertinent stuff that happens.
I just closed an escrow yesterday in which we had previously lost a few buyers on the short sale due to no fault of the seller or my advice. Our short sale market in Sacramento has pretty much fallen flat, thank goodness, and it’s odd for me now to close a short sale versus the hundreds I used to list and sell. The first buyer was in contract for about 48 hours before that buyer freaked out and canceled. The next buyer canceled when Fannie Mae asked for another $5,000 in sales price. Finally, we secured a third buyer who was willing to pay the extra $5,000 and wait for approval. This was a smart buyer because by the time we received the approval letter, the property was worth more than that $5,000 increase.
That second buyer had decided to die over $5,000. Now, there is nothing available in that complex anywhere near the price that buyer could have paid to own a property. The sales prices are higher.
In another escrow, we received a full price offer from an Elk Grove buyer who wanted to use her own title and escrow company, even though she wasn’t paying for those services. We pointed that out and sent her a counter. This buyer demanded her own title and escrow, regardless, most likely at the suggestion of her agent and argued ad nauseam over the issue. That was the hill on which that buyer chose to die.
It’s good the sellers passed on that buyer because the thing is a few days later another set of buyers much more willing to work with the sellers came along and wrote a spectacular offer that the sellers could not refuse. This is exactly what I shared with my sellers would happen. Nobody says you have to take an offer that makes you uncomfortable, and a REALTOR needs to look out for the best interests of the seller. Sometimes, that means saying no to an offer and letting the Elk Grove buyer die on that hill.
The WX Freeway and FIX50 Project Make Google Maps Your Friend
Staying “in the know” about Sacramento and Sacramento real estate is my primary focus from day to day, so it’s not so odd, I suspect, that I was unaware of other things. I learn new things every day. I enjoy learning new things. It also means if I’m capable of absorbing new information, I’m still a long ways from keeling over. The funny part is I am often astonished when I learn some new unrelated-to-real-estate-fact that I should have known. Like, did you know Liz Claiborne is dead and she died from cancer 7 years ago?
I bet you do know that. The other thing I didn’t realize is her line of clothing had bought Kate Spade & Company. I know Kate Spade as a New York bag designer who married the comedic lame brother of B-grade-movie fame, but I’m kinda shocked that Kate Spade was acquired by Liz Claiborne and even more now that the Liz Claiborne brand is sold at J.C. Penney. All of which I probably would have realized had I continued to thumb through fashion magazines after I turned 40. But no, I instead read real estate magazines.
There are only so many hours in the day.
Which is why I have had to morph into the Google map expert to help my clients get around Sacramento with the W X freeway and FIX50 traffic mess we are embarking upon. My world is Sacramento real estate. Because I list homes all over Sacramento and our neighboring counties such as El Dorado, Placer and Yolo, I am a regular WX freeway driver. With my schedule, the biggest problem I have faced is whether to head out from Land Park on Highway 50 or Business 80, and sometimes I admit to driving out the wrong freeway if I’m yakking on my cellphone bluetooth.
Fortunately, I have a WX freeway hover car. All I have to do is press that hover button on my dash, and my car sprouts wings and fire sprays from the tailpipe. I immediately rise above the line of traffic and can promptly plop my car into the fast line on the appropriate freeway. So, no problem if I make a mistake. For other people, though, it’s a huge problem, and there are more of them ahead if they don’t preplan their driving route in Sacramento.
Hello Google my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.
Can We Still Keep Looking After We Buy a Home in Sacramento?
Your homebuying days should come to a close when you’ve found a home to buy — which should put a stop to such questions as can we still keep looking after we buy a home in Sacramento? But it doesn’t. Buyers in Sacramento still ask those types of questions. They don’t know. I call it the red shoes syndrome for first-time home buyers. The question nags at them as to whether there is a better home that maybe they just didn’t have a chance to see.
The thing is there will always be a chance to buy a home Sacramento. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow. Maybe next year a home will come on the market that might have better suited a buyer’s fancy, but should they wait? That would be a year without a home. The problem is they want the perfect home, and there really is no such thing as a perfect home. There is the grass looking greener on the other side, though.
Home buyers will be much happier if they review their reasons for buying a home in Sacramento. Then consider what kind of trade-offs they will make to find the home of their dreams. Maybe the dining room will be smaller than they had hoped, but if everything else fits their requirements, it’s possible that they should probably buy that home. Especially if it’s in the right location because you can’t move locations.
Homes also tend to have voices, whether a buyer realizes it. From the moment buyers step into a home, they form an impression, but it’s malleable. It can get better or it can worsen. Buyers should not have to talk themselves into wanting to buy a home in Sacramento. It’s much simpler than that. They either want it or they don’t. If they want that home, then the very best thing they can do for themselves is to buy it and stop looking. To continue looking is fruitless and leads to disappointment.
It’s called making a decision. If you “sleep on” trying to decide, it’s possible that you don’t really want the home because you’re taking a risk that you could lose it.
