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Elizabeth Weintraub
Dealing With Difficult People is Easier If We Look at Ourselves
Dealing with difficult people in a real estate transaction is a bit more challenging than dealing with difficult people in a normal day-to-day life because you can’t get rid of them on a whim, and you have to figure out, no matter what, how to get along with them. It’s kinda like getting married without the engagement or wedding. They’re just there, and you have to not only make the most of it, but one has do it in such a manner that these difficult people come to believe that you’re the most wonderful person on the face of the planet.
There are people who will tell you that even I, yes, this agent, can be difficult, although I know my regular readers would scoff at that premise and say oh, pshaw, but you guys are not my travel agent. That’s the guy who has to put up with me demanding stuff like, you know that photograph of the hotel room that says it is not indicative of the hotel room choice I have selected, well, that’s the room I want. It exists, and I want it. I don’t want a partial ocean view, or ocean view. I want an oceanfront, and not just an oceanfront, but a corner room, and it should be on the top floor. My heart goes out to this poor guy. He has to work with me. No mini bar? What do you mean there is no mini bar??
Yesterday I read an article about how not every person should expect to get a private room at the hospital. Oh, man, wait until I get old enough to be hospitalized on a regular basis. I will be terrible. I will not understand why ICU is on the 5th floor when I want a room on the 12th floor. Away from the elevators. They should move ICU to another floor. The sickest people should have the best view. This is how awful I will be, I just know it.
The article said that there is no clinical proof that sharing a room with another sick person increases your chances of catching whatever they’ve got. This is not something I have had any reason to consider but now that it’s been brought to my attention, I can’t help but figure I won’t be quiet until I know the disease of every patient on my floor. That way I can choose who I might not want to follow to the bathroom. If the doctors and nurses won’t give me that information, I’ll grab my own legal pad and make the rounds myself. People will tell me because I’m holding a legal pad.
I hope I never have to go to the hospital. I could not live with a guy in a bed next to me watching television after 9 PM. I would grab whatever breakable object is within my reach, maybe that empty bottle of grappa I’ve hidden under my pillow, and propel it toward the television screen with all the brute force I could muster. Then I would pull the covers over my head and pretend to snore.
And this is why I understand people with particular preferences and can work with difficult people. We all have our little quirks. If you’re looking for a real estate agent in Sacramento, you may as well call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759 because you’ll find worse agents but you won’t find any better suited for you. At least try to catch me before I go on vacation or into the hospital.
Why Condition Matters When Selling Sacramento Real Estate
Condition of property is one of the big three elements when selling Sacramento real estate— or any home in the Sacramento seven-county region — but it’s often overlooked or dismissed by sellers. They get used to their house the way it is. They might say something like, “Oh, we’ll let the buyer take care of that issue.” Unless the house is pretty much a tear down, or needs such extensive work that we call it a fixer home, a home buyer will not do those repairs / corrective work. End of story. Only an investor will buy that kind of home today. And investors aren’t paying full price this spring.
The three key elements for selling a home in Sacramento are:
- Location
- Condition
- Price
You can have a great price at market value that would apply to a turnkey home in a fabulous sought-after neighborhood, and it still won’t sell because the home is not fixed up. You can have a great price for a good location and a home in move-in condition, and the home won’t sell if it’s located in a bad place like under a freeway or next-door to an apartment building.
If the home needs major work, you should just do the work before putting that home on the market or else adjust the sales price accordingly. If the home is located in a bad location, your sales price also has has to come down and be adjusted for that location. You can’t get top dollar for a beautiful home in a bad location. You can’t get top dollar for a fixer home regardless of its great location.
These are the rules of real estate. I don’t make them up. These rules are not something this Sacramento real estate agent has plucked out of thin air or can bend at will but that’s the way some people react to the news.
The only way you’re getting top market value for your home is if that home has a great location and is in top condition. You need all three elements to command the top of the market, even in a seller’s market.
Buyers want a turnkey home in a good location, and they don’t want to do any work. If you’ve got ugly carpet, you need to replace it or be prepared to be hit with a lowball offer that will far exceed the cost of replacing that carpet.
Sellers Who Do Not Trust the Real Estate Agent
Most clients will say that they completely trust and value a professional opinion until the day comes when they disagree with their real estate agent. The agent can see it coming, too, but by then it’s generally too late because the client will have already said something emotionally telling like, well, if you don’t agree with my opinion of value, then you should ask my daughter. The daughter who is not a Sacramento real estate agent and who has no experience in real estate.
The agent can haul out the heavy artillery, the trending charts showing the past year or so of real estate activity in that particular neighborhood, including days on market, sales price to list price ratios, absorption rates, median sales prices, inventory levels, but it won’t matter. It won’t matter because the client will spot a home that is nothing like the client’s home but that home will have sold for much, much more than the true market value of the client’s home. That particularly expensive home might have sold for more because it has a spectacular view, which the client’s home does not. That home might have sold for more because it is 1/3 bigger than the client’s home. That home might have sold for more because it has upgrades and features that the client’s home might not possess.
None of this will make any difference to the client.
This could be a case in which the client might utilize the per-square foot cost of that more impressive home and apply the same value to the client’s home, therefore proclaiming a higher sales price that will not appraise under any circumstances. The Sacramento real estate agent can point out that any reputable appraiser will use 3 to 6 comparable sales to justify the sales price, and explain that an isolated sale is not enough to substantiate a higher price. Because the comps are the comps are the comps; however, the agent may as well be speaking to a Muppet.
The agent can invest hours preparing a comparative market analysis, utilizing several independent sources, but it won’t make any difference to the client because the client wants the price that the client wants. To educate the client or try to justify a different opinion means only one thing. It means that the client will choose a different agent who agrees with the client. Probably an agent the seller’s daughter knows.
And this is why clients will say that agents only tell them what they want to hear. Because these are the very people who set themselves up for failure from the start. They sabotage themselves.
By the time the home closes escrow at a much lower price, the client will remember the agents. He will recall the argumentative agent who refused to agree with his point of view, and he will recall the agent who sold his home for so little that she forced him to “give it away” — and he won’t have anything good to say about either agent. They’ll pretty much all be scum is his book. And that’s too bad.
How to Unwind After a Long Day of Sacramento Real Estate
Flowers in bloom near WPA in William Land Park, by Elizabeth Weintraub
The flowers are in bloom on many of the trees, bushes and vines in Land Park, especially over the arches past Fairytale Town. When I ride my bicycle past the WPA Rock Garden, the scent of springtime flowers flows through the air, and it’s unmistakably sweet smelling. This is the second stretch of my bike ride where I can pick up great speed and shift from 5th to 6th and eventually 7th gear as I go down the hill and onto the road that continues around the golf course.
The bike ride takes me 35 minutes from my home in Land Park, down Riverside, around the entire perimeter of William Land Park and back, regardless of which side streets I might explore. I basically face one stoplight on 8th Avenue by Vic’s Ice Cream to circumvent and the other street detours help me to avoid the lights.
Father hugging daughter, his face illuminated, William Land Park, by Elizabeth Weintraub
This is my way of unwinding after a long day of Sacramento real estate. Sometimes, I take a break in the middle of the day and hop on my bike, too. The only problem is the wind hits the space between my bluetooth Jawbone and my jaw, separates the device from my face, causing noise and static on the other end. I have a handy dandy rack for my cellphone right on my handle bars.
I guess most people would say I should just enjoy the ride and forget about answering my phone. But that’s about as useful as telling a dog not to eat the steak you just threw on the floor.
Arches overlooking William Land Park behind WPA Rock Garden
I’m thinking maybe I should shop for a new bluetooth device. One specifically made for talking on your cellphone while riding a bicycle. The new ERA Jawbone isn’t it because it’s too small and the smaller they make them, the less effective they seem to be. I had Jawbone replace my device but it didn’t improve reception, and I’m now sending it back. If you have any ideas for a good bike-riding bluetooth, let me know.
Update on the Amazing Breeze Cat Litter Boxes
If you haven’t tried the new Breeze litter boxes, you are in for an amazing discovery if you do. I don’t know why every pet owner is not using this product except for the fact that perhaps they haven’t heard of it or don’t believe it works. We have a lot of pet owners in the country. For starters, the number of households in the United States where pets live is unbelievable. It’s staggering numbers, like 83 million dogs and 95 million cats, according to HSUS. And it’s only been recently that the number of cats have been outnumbering the number of dogs. That just means more cat boxes, and I have a followup report for you on those innovative Breeze cat litter boxes and pellets.
You know, if I wasn’t a top producing Sacramento real estate agent and not around enough to take care of a dog, I would certainly adopt a dog. I will get a dog when I retire. My husband is not much of a dog person so he would not take care of her. The only pets we can barely manage to accommodate in our house are cats. They are fiercely independent and capable of caring for themselves for the most part. For example, if it wasn’t for the cats jumping up on my desk, wedging themselves between my eyeballs and my monitor and staring me in the face at dinner time, I imagine they would go hungry for a while. But cats have a way of making their needs known. Dogs are so much more polite.
These cats never ordered me to change the litter boxes but my common sense did. When I listed a home in El Dorado Hills, the occupant of that home showed me his cat boxes, which were filled with Breeze pellets. I’d never seen anything like it. So I decided to try it at my own home in Land Park. And Eureka, it worked. Of course, there was that long period between not cleaning the cat boxes and hoping they will use the Breeze, but eventually they made that choice, and I won. It was less than a couple of weeks.
The trick is to give your cats that choice. You can’t make demands of a cat and say, use this litter box or I will cut off your allowance of unlimited catnip. Nope, you’ve got to be sneaky and just stop cleaning their original boxes. Cats aren’t stupid. Sooner or later, they come to their senses and use the Breeze boxes. Then you can remove the old litter boxes.
There is no odor. I change the pellets once every 30 days and the pads once a week. The pads slide right off the tray and into the trash can. Best of all, there is no litter tracking of dust or granules all over my laundry room floor. I can walk through that room barefoot now. If there is a downside, it’s that the pellets make a noise when they are moved around in the box. Sounds a little bit like a box of nails spilling onto the floor. Small tradeoff for not having to scoop balls of urine or sweeping the floor every day.
I love this new litter box system and, evidently, so do the cats. They haven’t gone on strike, so that’s a good sign, and it’s been a few months now. Try it. You’ll be amazed. It’s cheap, too; if you have only one cat, it will cost $30 to set it up and $6 for a bag of 4 pads.
