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Elizabeth Weintraub
New Helvetia Brewing in Land Park is a Hit
After a Saturday of hard work selling real estate in our fair city of Sacramento, this Land Park resident and her husband elected to trot on over to the new Land Park beer joint on Broadway and 18th Street, New Helvetia Brewing Co. It’s a craft beer spot, been open for a couple of months, and it even had a BBQ food truck parked on the side of 18th street, encouraging customers to bring in food. It was packed when we first arrived with kids participating in a Geography Bee, so we had dinner at Queen Shebas instead. You can never enjoy too much Ethiopian food.
With all sorts of wats jostling about in our stomachs and jokes about what happens when you drink beer on top of injera, we waddled back to New Helvetia. What do we do? we asked the bartender. I pour; you drink, he says. Sounded like a plan. We chose the sampler of 32 ounces for $12 to share.
Craft beers have different alcohol contents. Who knew? OK, having been raised in Minneapolis, I am familiar with the 3.2 beer that was sold on Sundays at 7-11s, and there were entire 3.2 joints that served nothing else but 3.2 content beer. You can still pass out from 3.2 beer, ask any teenager. But the average alcohol content of beer is about 6%.
We started with a lager, clean, fresh and 4.5% alcohol, called a Buffalo Craft Lager. I liked it. Two thumbs up. Moved on to a Saison Salon. Lemony and creamy. Another 2 thumbs up. The Red Wheat was delicious as well. Maybe they should serve caviar on crackers in between samples or cheese curds, I dunno, but by the time we got to the two India pale ales, well, they tasted like grapefruit. Which is OK if you’re going for citrusy.
But see, this is why it’s a sampler. You don’t have to like every beer you drink. Then, we came to the Homeland Stout. My husband recalled a scene in Parks and Recreation, in which the droll character Ron Swanson went to a Scotch Whiskey distillery in Scotland, where they made his favorite smokey Scotch, Lagavulin, and how we had discussed after the show what a smokey flavor would do to an adult beverage. Now was our chance to find out what it was like in a beer.
Two words: A-1 Sauce.
We didn’t finish that beer. Takes a special taste palate, I presume. Would go well with a steak, though.
However, the best was saved for last. I believe the alcohol content is 9.5%. Less than wine but a lot more than your average Joe beer. It was spectacular. Stupendous. Complex. If I drank a few more glasses of it, I’d be crawling under the table to go to sleep. And when I woke up, I’d want another glass. It was that good. It’s called Indomitable City Double IPA, and it looks like prune juice but believe me, it’s out of this world.
Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum vs Dubble Bubble Gum
If my mother knew that Bazooka Bubble Gum had fired Bazooka Joe and removed the comic wrapper from the gum package last year, she’d rise up from her ashes scattered at Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis and lead a flag-waving march all the way to Topps headquarters in New York. I was never a fan of Bazooka Bubble Gum but my mother bought that gum by the busloads, way before Sam’s Club was around. It wasn’t really acceptable behavior for a University Advisor to chew gum, which is probably one of the reasons she did it.
Bazooka Bubble Gum had kind of a nasty flavor. It was also way too much gum in my mouth. I found I had to break it off into little pieces and, when one finished chewing it, after the flavor had vanished, it was fairly uncomfortable to swallow it. Sort of felt like a big ol’ wad of rubber sitting at the bottom of your stomach with no place to go. Unlike, say, swallowing a piece of Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun, Doublemint. Is it spearmint or peppermint flavor? Nobody knows for certain. Wikipedia says probably peppermint.
Can’t say I ever spotted Doublemint stuck under a desk like the ubiquitous wads of Bazooka Bubble Gum. Kids stuck gum in their hair or maybe that memory involved my sister whose gum rolled out of her mouth at night and stuck to her pillow case, eventually winding up in her hair. Can’t scrape the stuff off the bottom of your shoes. Lighter fluid worked well for gum removal. For a short period in my life, it seemed that pink bubble gum was everywhere I traveled. Can you imagine putting lighter fluid in your hair today?
If Bazooka Bubble Gum wasn’t available where my mom sent us kids to buy her bubble gum down at the corner store, then we were instructed to bring home Dubble Bubble. But that just didn’t hold a candle to Bazooka Bubble Gum. Dubble Bubble just wasn’t the same.
If you’re looking for an authentic Sacramento real estate agent with her finger on the pulse of real estate in Sacramento, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759. Although I no longer chew gum, if I had to, I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Extraordinary Craftsman Home in East Sacramento
For anybody who appreciates historic homes in East Sacramento, it doesn’t get any better than an extraordinary 1915 Craftsman. This new East Sacramento listing is a high-water bungalow with terrazzo steps leading up to the big front porch. I would love to sit up on this porch and watch men push babies in strollers and kids ride by on bikes. In fact, I would love to buy this home but my husband says we’re not moving.
When you open the antique front door, the home immediately welcomes you; there is a feeling of grandeur and warmth. It speaks fondly to you. Vintage features are intact and beautifully stunning such as the boxed ceilings, hardwood floors, high baseboards, molding, light fixtures, plus you’ll find sparkling chandeliers and even some of the door frames feature raised wood carvings. Many of the ceilings are unique, formed and curved by master plasterers from back in the day.
In addition to the formal living and dining rooms, this spacious home boasts a separate family room, plus a desirable first-floor bedroom with bay windows. The kitchen is so enormous you could roller skate across the black-and-white patterned floor and around the butcher block island that stays with the home. Plenty of cabinets, stainless appliances, plus a space for a breakfast table that could probably seat 10 people.
French doors lead to the back-yard deck. The deck is partially covered, and the yard has hydrangeas, fruit trees, a raised vegetable garden, an outbuilding used as a children’s playhouse, and a private patio, along the perimeter of a lush lawn. This beautiful view is also attainable from the second-floor bedroom, which has been lovingly remodeled by the owners with hardwood planked flooring and a walk-in closet.
There are 4 bedrooms and 3 baths in this home. The master suite features a marble bath, with unique built-in storage for shoes, which I, a woman who has a fondness for shoes, absolutely covet. The tub is jetted, and there is a separate shower sporting a pebble stone floor. The dual sink vanity with a cool marble surface features a large mirror.
On top of all of this, there is a full basement. The ductwork has been upgraded, plus any upgrades under the house are easy to do with a full basement.
Come to the open house on Sunday, October 27th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, held by the Elizabeth Weintraub Team.
1558 Santa Ynez Way, Sacramento, CA 95816 is exclusively offered by Lyon Real Estate at $725,000. Please call your East Sacramento agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916.233.6759 for more information.
Three Top Reasons Your Sacramento Home is Not Selling
If you’re wondering why your home in Sacramento is not selling, you’ve come to the right place. The likelihood is you are not one of my sellers but I imagine you could be. Just as you might imagine you could be. In fact, I had a seller yesterday who imagined just that, as he was NOT my seller but said he wanted to be. Well, he doesn’t really want to be a seller, you know, he wants to be a former owner. All sellers want to be a former owner.
Or, at least that’s what a Sacramento real estate agent would imagine. But some of us are capable of imagining all sorts of stuff because we’ve learned early in life that what one can imagine, one can probably create. It’s why we excel at marketing.
Yeah, out of the blue this guy calls as I’m driving back to my home office. Thank goodness my top wasn’t down (on my car). The guy was happy I answered my phone and said he was mad that his agent did not. Said he’s had his home listed for 3 months, the listing was expiring today, and his agent doesn’t return calls or emails and simply ignores him. I tell him I’m sorry; I don’t know his agent. Then he admits his agent is the brother of his sister-in-law, or some such, what we call a DNA agent. Would I puhhhhhlease help him?
OK, sure, I’ll take a look at his listing when I get to my office. In the meanwhile, I tell him there are 3 reasons typically why a home is not selling:
- Price
- Condition
- Marketing
I pull up the listing in MLS and spot one photo — a bad quality photo — and no interior photos. The confidential agent remarks say the seller will credit the buyer X amount of dollars for painting. Wow, that really makes this Sacramento real estate agent want to show the house. What great motivation.
Next, I examine the comparable sales. I can see how the agent determined the price. He priced it in line with the homes presently on the market, which all have long days on market, and all of which are significantly larger and appear to be in better condition. This home is not priced according to the comparable sales. It’s priced at least 10% too high.
Not to mention, it’s a small part-time broker who has the listing, who might not have much of a network at his disposal. At Lyon Real Estate, we have almost 1,000 agents with whom we network. I explain this to the seller when I call back and offer professional photography with my Nikon and wide-angle lens. In fact, I could take the key from the lockbox with his written permission.
Thanks, but no thanks, the guy says. He’s now talked with his agent and supplied him with all of my wonderful ideas, and he’s thinking about staying with him for a while. He doesn’t want me to do any more work for which I won’t get paid.
It’s nice that somebody is looking out for this Sacramento real estate agent. I didn’t get a chance to tell him there is a reason I am closing in on selling another 100 homes this year.
Using Common Sense in Sacramento Real Estate
Common sense mixed with the truth must be a wild concept to some. I wish people would quit thanking me for being honest with them, because the message they’re really sending is they expected that I would lie. It’s not that I couldn’t lie if I wanted to because, let’s face it, I sell real estate in Sacramento and just to be successful in that profession there is a certain amount of enhancing the truth to push product; it’s the spin. Can’t be in marketing without the spin. But it’s that I don’t go out of my way to make up crap because a) it’s stupid and wrong, b) I’d have to remember it, and c) it’s easier just to tell the truth.
Years ago I had a girlfriend who was a pathological liar. You couldn’t believe a word that came out of her mouth. I don’t know if she lived in a fantasy world or just liked to fool people but she’d tell the most outrageous stories to complete strangers, and none of it was true. We’d meet cute guys at a party and she’d tell them we were flight attendants or we lived in Japan. There was no reason for it. Guys who are 22 don’t really care what you do for a living when they are seized by hormones.
Personally, I find being truthful rewarding. It’s second nature. It’s not that I don’t know when to keep my lips zipped, because I do, but the older I get, the more I enjoy telling people what I think. I say things at times that other people wish they could say but they haven’t yet given themselves permission to do so. This is one of the freeing benefits of aging. We give ourselves permission to speak our mind. They don’t tell you about this in Sunday school.
Not that I’m out there in my yard waving my fists at kids and yelling get offa my lawn you hoodlums, and that little pooping chihuahua with you, too. Reality and protocol are still embedded. But I will tell people what I believe.
Of the five senses, common is my favorite.
Like this guy yesterday from somewhere in the Northeast, maybe New Jersey. He wanted to know when he should do a price reduction on this home. It was listed with an agent. He poured out the entire listing history in his email, including suggestions made by his agent, which he had been ignoring. My-oh-my, whatever should he do?
He should listen to his real estate agent and stop asking for direction from strangers on the other side of the country.
Then, an elderly fellow called to talk about his friend whose husband had died, and he thought maybe his friend should do a short sale. I looked up the information in records that are not accessible to the public and easily sized up the situation. Yes, his friend was upside down but there was no reason for her to short sale. She wasn’t responsible for the mortgages. She should get out of title. I suggested he obtain legal advice. I was looking at it from his friend’s point of view, which was why go through the hassle and misery if you don’t have to?
See, common sense pertains to so many things. And it applies to Sacramento real estate as well. While it would be nice to lounge about and dispense sage advice all day while being fanned and fed seedless grapes, the fact is my job is to sell real estate.
