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Elizabeth Weintraub
There is Always Another Buyer for Fixers in Sacramento
There is always another buyer for fixers in Sacramento. That is one of the first lessons I learned from selling hundreds of short sales back in the day. Thank goodness that is basically over. Not only did an agent need to be on top of her game due to difficult procedures from the banks, but she needed to also deal with a wide assortment of buyers.
Today, when I sell to a buyer for fixers in Sacramento, I know there are several camps of buyers. First, there are the guys for whom the project needs to “pencil” to make financial sense, meaning low cost to cure and high net return on resale. They don’t all use the same calculations. Some buyers hire cheaper labor than others. But usually the guys with the lowball offers are not a good fit for my sellers.
Next are the buyers who want to become flippers but they don’t know what they are doing. They have no system, no resources, no labor, just an inkling that they’d be good at fixing up homes. There are also the buyers who have no idea what they are getting into, led by agents even more clueless than they. Then there is the buyer we want, which is the buyer who will close.
Sellers expect to maximize profit potential. Just because it’s a fixer, makes no difference. Matching a buyer to the property who will close becomes increasingly difficult. They all tend to promise the same thing. Fast closing, lots of cash and full price. Then they do inspections and discover things they did not realize because they were unprepared.
As a listing agent who sells a lot of fixers in Sacramento, I can tell within the first three minutes of a phone call if it’s going anywhere. Buyer’s agents call me for one reason, basically, and that’s to find out if I will throw my seller under the bus. They ask: don’t you want to make a deal? No, not really. I want to sell my listing at list price or better. That’s the objective.
There is no real typical buyer for fixers. Some have a lot of experience; others are wannabe flippers, some want to live in the property. They come from all walks of life with varying expectations. What is a nuisance for one buyer is a joy to another.
I tell my sellers we will get all kinds of offers from a buyer for fixers. We will go into escrow with several who will ultimately cancel. Some of their agents will get ticked because I do not want to know why they canceled. I do not want to know because 1) could be an unknown material fact somewhere I would need to disclose and 2) it doesn’t matter. They do not understand why it doesn’t matter.
But eventually we will get a buyer who has a vision, cash and the willingness to close. Because there is always another buyer.
Christmas is a Perfect Time to Buy a Home in Sacramento
Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. You might not agree but then you might not be in the real estate business. This week has been extremely hectic in Sacramento real estate. Just when you’d expect business to slow down and be more quiet, everybody is out showing homes. Writing offers. And everybody is in such a good mood.
Seriously. People are feeling the warmth and the love of this holiday season or maybe they’re just snockered. Hard to say. A seller told me she did not want to bully a buyer into purchasing her home. Because if buyers were moving forward due only to strong arm tactics, that did not seem humane to her. In an era like today where so many of our political moves are inhumane, it’s nice to see people who truly care. People who value integrity over dollars.
Yes, Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. Another home, desperately seeking new occupants, finally went into escrow yesterday as well. Those buyers love love love this house. The spirit of the holidays is alive. So pleased to slip this home into escrow for my sellers. They asked me what did they need to do, and I told them, and it happened almost immediately that we sold the house.
Usually I see more action after the first of the year, like the first couple weeks in January are generally very busy. It is unusual for me to witness this much activity just before Christmas in Sacramento.
Feeling the Aloha myself, since I’m in Hawaii right now, I called a couple of agents on the buying side yesterday just to say hello. To spread Christmas cheer and to say thank you for all of their hard work. Buyer’s agents work really hard. They do much more physical work than listing agents.
Not to mention, my muscles ache from the rowing machine at Planet Fitness. My legs ache from hugging the ATV motor while blasting through 2-foot deep piles of mud on Wednesday. Then yesterday, I attended a stretch class (I was the only attendee) at Planet Fitness, and that’s involved muscles I didn’t know were there. At my age, if you don’t flex it, you lose it. I do NOT want to drive buyers around, that’s why my team members excel at that job. They love it, have a passion for it, and I do not.
People tell me I am an inspiration. Don’t tell me that. Because then I may feel like I need to be more model perfect, and I am nobody’s model. My focus is to make my sellers happy and to try to bring everybody else along for the ride. For the time being, Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. Can’t vouch for next year. Only this year.
If You Want to Ride ATVs on Big Island
When Loli asked if I wanted to go along on a FAM tour (familiarization) to ride ATVs on Big Island, I did not hesitate. Always up for an adventure. Well, as long as it’s not life threatening. I have so many ways to die now I don’t need to invite the opportunity. The only catch was I had to pull myself out of bed at 5 AM and hightail it down to the King Kam in Kona by 6:30.
Loli is a tour guide, a dietician, facial expert, Pele expert, natural healer, and I wouldn’t be surprised to catch her dancing naked under a full moon. Just the kind of friend every woman deserves, given the fact I only met her last week. Wanna ride ATVs, she asked? I can bring a friend for free.
You betcha! This is a Kapohohine Adventure called Maunakea Trails ATV. This outfit offers many tours, but to ride ATVs on Big Island is a special trip. They pick you up at the King Kam at 6:30 in Kona and drive you two hours away to Hilo. Only we had van problems on the way and pulled off just past Costco to get a new van. Back on the road to Hilo.
In the middle of all of this, two pending sales canceled. Isn’t that the way it always happens in Sacramento real estate? Buyers who fly out of control just before closing. As a Sacramento listing agent, I have no control over buyers or their agents. But I dealt with it. Almost a plus we had to pull off the road so I could talk with my clients and arrange a strategy. Always working, no matter what. That’s the life of a top Sacramento Realtor.
When we arrived in Hilo, it was raining. Of course. It’s always raining in Hilo, it seems. That is the wet side of Big Island. The dry side, where we have a house, is almost always sunny. So you either like the sun or you like rain. Take your pick. And I should mention the coqui are in Hilo in greater numbers than Kona.
The ATV adventure was totally fabulous, even in the rain. You get pretty muddy, especially if you hold back like I did, primarily because the two women in front of me were too slow. I waited until they passed an obstacle, and then I jammed, let it roar and slammed through the mud, jumping over hills. It was exhilarating. So much fun. I was covered in mud from head to toe, and yet I wore a helmet, sunglasses, a raincoat (provided) and leggings.
Nobody else seemed to be as muddy as I was. But I also go all out. No holds barred.
Those ATVs slip and slide around corners and are capable, surprisingly, of climbing over large clumps two-feet high of mud at high speeds. Nothing like the ATVs my husband and I rode in Alaska. He did not really enjoy that adventure, which was pretty mild compared to this, so it is probably a good thing he is in California and I am here.
Love you sweetie!
If you want to ride ATVs on Big Island, this is a good outfit to do it with. You can also combine it with Ziplining on Big Island, if you like. After the 2+hour tour, they prepare and serve a BBQ lunch at the waterfall. You can also swim at the waterfall, which we would have done if it wasn’t raining. And cold. Bring a backpack with a change of clothes and a towel.
On the way back we stopped again at the Hilton in Hilo for a break before heading to Kona. Our guide, Marcus, an extremely informative and tremendous asset to his company, showed us a butterfly bush where the Monarch caterpillars hang out to eat the leaves. They are all over this place. Caterpillars on almost every leaf. It is not milkweed. I went all the way to the mountains in Mexico to view the Monarch’s winter holiday without ever seeing a caterpillar. You can see the butterflies in Mexico or you can view them in Hilo!
My First Day at Planet Fitness in Kona
If I didn’t join Planet Fitness in Kona, it would be some other national fitness club. The time has been a long time coming. I’ve thought about it, pondered the pros and cons. Because I don’t like having to go somewhere for starters, much less having to go somewhere to do physical labor. To adhere to a new schedule. But if I want to keep in shape, I can’t count on my day-to-day activities to carry me.
Plus there is the fact that Planet Fitness in Kona tempted me. For starters, it is very close to our house in Hawaii, about 5 minutes. The introduction fee last month was 25 cents and this month it is $5.00. Monthly dues are ten bucks with a one year commitment. Our neighbor Buzz says they can’t stay in business with those rates. But if a bunch of people sign up for the one year, they can make money for a while after the new members flake.
We all flake. Not as badly as the California motto of dude, I flaked, but we do it. I bought a treadmill and used it half a dozen times before it became a coat rack. You’d think I would stop throwing good money after bad but no, I bought a Precor elliptical that we also do not use. We have good intentions, but that’s about it.
Which made me start thinking about a rowing machine. After all, I already bought two outrageously expensive pieces of exercise equipment. However, the difference with a rowing machine it works out upper and lower body. Bonus — both at the same time. Not to mention the best part. Sitting down. Yeah, I get to sit down; I like that. Can’t beat sitting down. Huge benefit.
The fitness trainer at Planet Fitness in Kona suggested an uphill incline on the treadmill as part of my custom plan. I am not a fan of uphill incline. If I were, I would not have to join Planet Fitness in Kona, and I could simply walk back to our house from the village. Since islands are formed from lava, and everything is uphill, uh, uh, ain’t gonna happen. Same reason I can’t ride a bike in Hawaii. I could get down the hill but it would take an uber with a bike rack to get back.
You mainlanders picture Hawaii as long walks along the beach, and not the climb. I get enough incline exercise walking to our mailbox.
Still, I got through my first day on the rowing machine. I come back on Thursday to begin my actual workout. Of course, I asked for the “old person special” — that workout for those of us who need to strengthen our core because nature is no longer able to care for us. There is no “skating” through life at this age.
The trainer asked me when I last worked out at a gym. Made me pause. I gave him the best answer: “before you were born, kiddo.”
When Your Garage Door Remote Stops Working
When your garage door remote stops working, it might be because your garage door remote is hosed. Sure, you know enough to check the batteries, right? Of course. Many take those flat 2032 batteries. I never noticed that the opener wasn’t working because lately I haven’t been using it. The reason I haven’t been using it is because I pull my car out in the morning and park in front of the garage.
Then, I leave the garage door open all day so contractors can come and go into our house. The construction company I hired to do the kitchen countertops have been working on the countertops for two weeks now. A job that should take 2 days. It’s always something with these guy: Abbott and Costello. They don’t have the right tools. No supervision. They misunderstand. When they cut holes for the faucet, they never looked at how far the handle turns for the faucet. They also cut the wrong pieces of quartz; it’s been a calamity of errors.
I went to have facial inside The Club at Kona. Could not take the level of incompetence creeping at me hour after hour. Thank YOU, Loli!!!
Now, because I have not physically used the remote for a while, I didn’t realize it had stopped working. OK, I changed the battery. Found 3 websites that showed 3 different ways to reprogram the particular model for my Liftmaster garage door remote control, and I tried all 3 ways. Stood up on the ladder on the top rung with nothing to hold on, felt my legs jiggle. Oh, ick. Could not make the garage door opener recognize the remote.
I did everything you are supposed to do when your garage door remote stops working, and nothing fixed it.
Well, phooey. Decided it was the remote that is faulty. Tried to order a new one from Liftmaster. Waited a week and no delivery. No charge on my Visa. So I called again. Oh, they misspelled my name so the order did not ship. Hello? Why didn’t they call or email? It’s a shame we are continually faced with such incompetence nowadays.
But they did give me the name of a Liftmaster dealer in Kona, and I dashed over there to pick up two remotes and a new keypad. Eureka. Tradewinds on Olowalu Street by Home Depot. The same street, I noted to their amusement, where the Kona pot dispensary is going in, LOL.
Installed the new keypad and programmed both remotes, and I’m back in business. But it took most of my day to accomplish this. Good thing my closings are on track in Sacramento. As a Sacramento listing agent, I am now down to only four unsold listings. Leaves me time to pay attention to stuff like this crap. Like when your garage door remote stop working.
