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Elizabeth Weintraub
Are You Really Prequalified to Buy a Home?
Just because a buyer is holding a preapproval letter from a lender, it does not mean that buyer is prequalified to buy a home in Sacramento. Of course, the buyer does not understand that because, after all, the lender issued the letter, what could possibly be wrong with it? I don’t have enough time in the day to talk about how many things could be wrong with that preapproval letter, but I’ll tell you this, no seller wants to find out in underwriting that a particular problem exists that should have been discovered before the darn approval letter was issued in the first place.
If you think these kinds of thing don’t happen, then you don’t work in Sacramento real estate. Faulty preapproval letters are almost becoming the norm. Each one is different, so a seller needs to read the letter to figure out if the lender even has a loan application from the borrower. The lender might not. The lender is not required to obtain a loan application in person prior to issuing a prequal letter.
We are presently working with a very sweet couple who hope to buy their first home soon. Like most first-time home buyers, they are filled with the excitement and a little bit of stress over finding a home. The home buying process is very new to them, and they aren’t sure where to start, but they knew enough to go to their local credit union and a major bank to get a loan pre approval letter before calling me.
Hot off the presses from the credit union, that pre approval letter was their ticket to viewing homes — because it meant they could finally write an offer if they fell in love with a home. The major bank was issuing the preapproval letter as well, although it seemed to be delayed by a few days. It takes only a few hours to get a preapproval letter from our preferred mortgage brokers.
Just to compare rates and service, we suggested the buyers call Dan Tharp at Guild Mortgage. He handled the refinance for my home a long time ago, and I’ve referred Dan Tharp for years. Honest, ethical, hardworking, devoted to the mortgage business and extremely smart. He verified the buyers and guess what? They are not pre-approved. The credit union made a big mistake. The buyers verified this with the credit union as well. They didn’t just take Dan’s word for it, although they could have. Because now Dan is helping them to fix that roadblock, and they will be back on the road to home ownership in no time at all.
Just because you are holding a pre-approval letter, it does not mean you are actually pre-approved. Not even if it comes from the biggest credit union in California.
There is a Buyer for Every Sacramento Home
In the mind of this Sacramento real estate agent, there are no bad homes to sell in Sacramento because there is a buyer for every Sacramento home. I have learned this the hard way over decades, and I’m sharing you the pain of wondering if your home will sell because it will. You just need the right buyer for it. There is a buyer for every home. Even homes that are in the wrong location or have some other sort of defect.
Now, an experienced real estate agent will figure out from the get-go who that buyer is and target that buyer. You don’t need 20 buyers for your home, and you don’t need 15 multiple offers. A seller needs that one buyer who wants the home and will close escrow at terms agreeable to both parties. It really is that simple. There is no need to complicate the situation.
For example, last week I listed a couple of homes that are very different from each other. One home is close to the Foothill Farms neighborhood, near Madison. The sellers were concerned that they needed to rip out the carpeting and replace it. They also were thinking about pulling off the wall the entire tub and shower combination and installing new. A cabinet drawer was not seated properly in the kitchen. That drawer was a concern for the sellers. I made my suggestions, which were minimal and probably not what I imagine the sellers were expecting to hear. I helped them to locate a couple contractors.
I also correctly identified who the buyer would be and, sure enough, that’s exactly who we are in escrow with today. I described that person to a T. That’s who bought it, too. And this is not a person I personally know, in case you’re wondering. This is what experience brings to my sellers. They can pay the same for a new agent as for an experienced agent, and experience tends to provide better results.
The other home was an astonishing disaster. Not at all what I had been expecting or what the sellers had imagined. They hadn’t seen the home in 25 years. It was, for lack of a better phrase, a shambles. But have no fear, there is a buyer for this kind of home, too. That buyer is a flipper, a person who will try to negotiate the lowest price possible to maximize future potential profit. I know the kind of buyer we’re dealing with, and we have a few of those buyers right now vying for this home. The right one will buy it. Because there is a buyer for every home.
The Elizabeth Weintraub Team Welcomes Josh Amolsch
Josh Amolsch, The Elizabeth Weintraub Team
When it comes to selling Sacramento real estate, no woman or man is an island, especially not on the Elizabeth Weintraub Team at Lyon Real Estate; although, we might very well be rocks — OK, I can’t help but hear Simon & Garfunkel. We are stable. We are comforts to our clients during stressful times. We guide, we inform, we support, and we definitely perform. These are high standards for a real estate agent and, as leader of the team, I have high expectations as well. Which is why it was a hard process to choose a new team member. It’s good news that my business is expanding and growing. We need to make sure we can continue to offer quality service to our clients by bringing on new talent to join us. Today, we all welcome Josh Amolsch to the team.
You might not know that Josh is a real life rockstar, a guitar god. He is a musician who started banging drums as a kid (like they owed him money, he jokes) and rose up through the industry to perform in hot clubs throughout Midtown. He single-handedly organized a bunch of young men — which is sort of like herding cats — to play together as a band, creating magic in notes, over and over and continuously.
Josh’s speciality is first-time home buyers. He has patience and compassion for those just starting out on the path to home ownership. You might not know this, but not every real estate agent in Sacramento is willing to work with new home buyers. Whether single women, single men, straight or gay couples, young or old, purple or orange, every person who wants to buy a home should expect to receive excellent service from an agent.
Through representation from the Elizabeth Weintraub Team, our first-time home buyers get a double package. Not only will they work with superior agents of intellect and quality such as Josh Amolsch, but buyers will get the nitty-gritty experience of 40 years of negotiation tactics from Elizabeth Weintraub. We all learn from each other and grow together every day.
No drama here. Just results.
I imagine that Josh will always carry a tune in his heart throughout his real estate career. It might not be Sounds of Silence. Perhaps it’s more Sound City Grohl-like.
If you would like to buy a home in Sacramento, West Sacramento or anywhere in Placer and El Dorado Counties, please give Josh a ring. You can reach him directly at 916.224.2756.
Sacramento Short Sale Approval From US Bank
Sellers ask me if it’s impossible to get short sale approval for a US Bank short sale because so many Sacramento short sale agents seem to encounter difficulties working with US Bank. I would not say that US Bank is harder to work with than any other short sale bank, but the US Bank short sale process is not as streamlined, per se, as other banks. A short sale that might take 4 weeks through Bank of America can easily take 4 months with US Bank. You’ve just got to have patience.
Take my recent US Bank short sale, for which I have been working with two loans, both at US Bank. This short sale has been in short sale negotiations for 2 years now. Two long years! Most of the time when a short sale takes this long, it’s because the buyers bailed. The buyers might hang in to wait 3 months or so and then they cancel the contract, just when approval is about to arrive. I’ve personally witnessed this phenomena over and over. They lose faith. They give up. Just when they should not.
We try to engage buyers, keep them informed and updated every single week, but no matter how hard we can try to nail them to the front door, they wiggle away. When the buyer cancels, the short sale starts over.
Having said all of this, most of the trouble in this particular transaction has been a denial issued by US Bank. I generally don’t let denials dampen my enthusiasm. A denial just means we are one less negotiator away from approval. One less person to deal with and one less obstacle to overcome. After a revised analysis, I repackage the short sale and resubmit. My philosophy is somebody is not listening to us or we did not present the facts in a light the negotiator can accept.
I can’t recall offhand how many rejections and denials we were issued on this particular US Bank short sale. US Bank rejected the sellers a few times. But we finally received that golden letter of short sale approval and release of personal liability. Two years later. You have no idea how ecstatic the sellers are right now. If there’s a way to get that short sale approval letter, this Sacramento real estate agent will get it. Just like if there’s a way to sell your home in Sacramento, I will do it. It’s called perseverance and determination.
Why Real Estate Printing is Dead in Sacramento
The fact is all agents do not sell homes in the same manner, especially those confused by today’s technology; however, many top producers who love technology find it is generally pointless to revert to “old school methods” such as printing four-color flyers and sticking flyers in a box on a sign post, even though they may still retain other dated marketing habits. Real estate has changed a lot over the years, and it’s changed even faster over the past 5 to 10 years. The real estate printing that used to work well for a Sacramento real estate agent doesn’t necessarily work so well anymore.
I love to tackle listings that other agents can’t sell because they tried to do it in print. I just closed two homes that two other agents had tried to unload for months without any results. My approach is different, and I tailor each listing to appeal to my targeted audience. The first thing an agent should do is figure out who is the intended audience for that home? Who will be the buyer? And then market to that buyer using new technology.
I get such a kick out of sellers who come up with these age-old ideas that they believe are fresh and new when they don’t work anymore. They read it in a book somewhere, found it online, saw it on cable or maybe that’s how they sold a home 20 years ago. I worked briefly with an disgruntled and ornery seller last year who sounded like he was itching to cancel the listing because I did not want to put flyers on the sign post. I explained why flyers on the sign post was a bad idea. It was his idea, and he didn’t want it to be bad.
Putting flyers out in a flyer box in the front yard is a really bad idea for many reasons. For starters because kids steal them, if they aren’t removed first from the flyer box by a competitor. Second, it completely negates the purpose of the Virtual Agent signs I employ. My virtual agent signs allow a buyer to get information without talking to an agent, which is what some buyers prefer. They can:
- Call an 800# and get a virtual tour downloaded to their cellphone immediately
- Text to a special text number on the sign for an immediate cellphone download
- Use the QR code to retrieve immediate information to their cellphone.
There are also 3 ways to get more information by talking to an agent. They can:
- Call the large number on the sign panel to speak with a floor agent
- Call my cellphone number from the sign rider
- Call my buyer’s agent cellphone number from the sign rider
Walk by or drive by traffic can also go to my website on their smart phones to look at all of the property details. Others will find that home during neighborhood searches online from their home computers, laptops or iPads. Everybody is online and wired. If buyers can grab a flyer, they won’t use the Virtual Agent system or call. If they don’t call or contact me, I can’t track them or follow up, and they will probably never see the home in person. I capture all of their information when they utilize Virtual Agent. I don’t get that info if they bypass me.
If a buyer’s agent is showing a home, that buyer’s agent will print a flyer for the buyer with that agent’s contact information. They generally don’t want the buyer carting around a flyer with the listing agent’s contact information on it. That’s why sellers don’t really need flyers inside the home, either. An open house agent will print her own flyers; buyer’s agents print their own; and even buyers themselves print their own online flyers. It’s a waste of time and energy to produce flyers when the home is available to view online.
But you know what, even though I disagree, sometimes I will still print flyers for my sellers who insist. A hundred bucks buys a lot of happiness. But *print flyers are really unnecessary today for most homes in Sacramento. Real estate printing is a dead practice in town. Ask a top producer how things have changed in real estate. You might be surprised.
*An exception would be the luxury home market, in which brochures are the norm.
