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Elizabeth Weintraub
A Sacramento Seller’s Last Steps to Close Escrow
When Sacramento sellers ask me about the last steps to close escrow, it’s handy to have content available I can forward. Instead, I tend to prepare and address based on each individual situation. But like I tell my team members, any question a client could possibly ask is probably answered by me online either at The Balance homebuying or on my website. Just put my name and the question into Google, and you’ll find an article. Pretty much guaranteed.
What other Sacramento Realtor do you know who can say that? Rather than reinvent the wheel each time, it’s easier to just forward a link to my client. Because when you do the same thing over and over, that is a clue you should develop a system for handling that sort of task. For me, I am creating new content right now to describe a Sacramento seller’s last steps to close escrow.
Do not trespass. Realize if the seller needs to gain access to the property, that access is governed by the California Residential Purchase Contract. By default, meaning unless the buyer’s agent specified some other time, possession is turned over at 6 PM on the date of closing. That means a seller cannot show up at the house at 7 PM to retrieve a forgotten item. The seller cannot enter because the seller no longer owns the home at that point in time.
Remove all debris. This means removing items that might not appear to the seller to be debris. Sometimes sellers believe because an item was left in the home when they bought it, it’s OK to leave when they sell. No, it is not OK to leave a table in the garage or even old paint cans without express permission from the buyer.
Broom sweep clean. While it is not necessary to professionally clean the house, buyers do appreciate it more than you would know. If you wonder if hiring cleaners is part of the essential last steps to closing escrow, reflect on how you like it if this was your new home. Besides, it builds good will. Say a Christmas present arrives at the wrong address, your old address, for you? Wouldn’t you want the new owners to call you?
Deliver keys. Stash all manuals, keys, gate key, remotes, including the mailbox key, keys to a shed in the yard or an electrical box, all in a drawer in the kitchen. Take that garage door opener remote out of your car right now and put in the drawer. Otherwise, you might drive away with it and forget. If you must use a key to lock the front door, dispose of it, and don’t do it in the front yard.
Disconnect utilities. Notify the utility companies on the date of closing to disconnect the utilities. It’s generally not a good idea to cancel utilities in advance, just in case escrow is delayed for some odd reason. In Sacramento, as one of the last steps to closing escrow, the title company will notify the city that your utilities are to be transferred to the new buyer. Here is a link to moving resources on my website for notifying utility companies.
Seller Says I Won’t Sign a Counter Offer
How often have I heard an agent lament that her seller says I won’t sign a counter offer? How many times? I will tell you. So many times, I can pretty much predict it. This happens to me personally as a listing agent quite a bit as well. The seller says I won’t sign a counter offer because he or she is emotionally upset with the offer or terms of the purchase offer. So angry, as a matter of fact, that the seller does not want to give the buyer the pleasure of a professional reply.
I get it. Absolutely. They refuse. It’s the sellers’ right to refuse, to put her foot down firmly and say no, I won’t sign a counter offer. What that means is I have to call and explain how doing nothing guarantees a nothing outcome. People can’t respond to no response. It’s not in their makeup to put their tail between their legs and say, Oh, I’m sorry if I offended you, please look at my newly revised offer. Ha, ha, ha. Like that is gonna happen.
Ignoring a buyer’s offer is the worst thing a seller can do. Buyers want to negotiate, and they don’t know how to do it or they would not have been as insulting as their original offer. Because they don’t think how a seller will respond. Not only that, they don’t give a crap, either. They think the opposite, that if a seller ignores their offer, then the seller does not wish to negotiate much less sell the home.
Oy, oy, a Catch 22. Both stubborn parties.
My solution to when a seller says I will not sign a counter offer is to talk it out and explain why they should. I use real life examples. One from just a couple weeks ago when the seller refused to sign a counter offer and I pushed her to do it. We countered at full list price and the buyers said OK.
Trust me, the buyers would not have resubmitted an offer at full list price if we had just ignored them.
There is no “giving in” when a seller sends a counter offer to the buyer. A counter offer says your original offer is unacceptable, but here is what is acceptable to me. How is that demeaning? It’s not. It’s a position of power and strength.
So think about that the next time a seller says I will not sign a counter offer. If you’re a real estate agent, do your job by explaining exactly why a seller should sign a counter offer. Don’t just agree with the seller because you’re afraid to argue.
I tell my sellers to fight back. A lowball offer can feel like a slap in the face. Don’t turn the other cheek. Send a counter offer.
Getting the New Pneumonia Vaccine at Kona Safeway
Getting the new pneumonia vaccine at Safeway in Kona, otherwise known as pneumococcal 23 vaccine, is pretty easy to do. I’ve been thinking about getting this new vaccine because everything you read about old people unexpectedly dying is often related to pneumonia. They go into the hospital with an aching heart or a kidney stone, whatever, and they drop dead from pneumonia.
As a person over 65, I’ve already had the flu shot and the Prevnar 13, but not the new pneumonia vaccine. I stopped in Safeway last October to get the shot but was informed I should check with my doctor first. OK, when I got back to Sacramento, I sent a message to my doctor at UC Davis. She said yes, since it’s been more than a year since I had the Prevnar 13, she recommends the new pneumonia vaccine.
Last night seemed like a good as time as any to get the shot. After all, I was a) already in Safeway and b) there was no line at the pharmacy. Two requisites.
The pharmacist or assistant then argued with me. She said I could not get the pneumococcal 23 vaccine because I should not have had the Prevnar 13. I seemed too young, I guess. Only after I clarified that I did not just turn 66, I have been 66 for 6 months now, and I had the Prevnar around age 65, did she relent. Well, actually, I had to show her the message from my doctor, which I have in my UC Davis records. I was able to pull up those records from my cellphone.
Although the problem seemed to be my insurance. I did not bring my insurance card, but since when do I let little details like that bog me down. One thing I could do is call my husband and get the numbers from his insurance card. The other option was to pay for it myself.
Call me silly, but I have a feeling this particular pharmacist had a bad day. She actually said: “Don’t get mad at me if it costs more than $100, I’m just estimating.” She must deal with a lot of seniors on fixed income. Not a Sacramento Realtor. The other guy tried to input my insurance information into his computer, but he could not make it work. It’s OK, I assured him, I’ll just pay for it myself.
Small price ($129) to ensure I have the new pneumonia vaccine. This is winter, regardless of where I am. I tried to make the grumpy pharmacist feel better. Complimented her on her technique, because it didn’t hurt, either. It’s too bad that people have to be upset for no reason.
Then I walked outside and spied this beautiful rainbow over Safeway in Kona. Hope you enjoy the photo.
And, all you old people, get your darned pneumonia vaccine.
When the Shoe is On the Other Foot in Real Estate
When the shoe is on the other foot in real estate, it is not a good fit. As a busy Sacramento Realtor, I am often astonished at the reactions of others in this business, myself included. We are professionals and, as such, should know better. But sometimes that human element pops out when we don’t expect it.
Like when my husband and I made an offer on our house in Hawaii. The listing agent told us they had a counter offer out. Although I sell on average one or two houses a week and should know better, you won’t believe what I said. I looked at Hella Rothwell, our buyer’s agent, and asked: what do you think we should offer? I wanted the house, too. It wasn’t a take it or leave it kind of proposition.
Hella just laughed. Basically said something like are you listening to yourself? I had, but for a brief moment, turned into a regular buyer. I was not Hot Shot Top Producer Sacramento Realtor with 40+ years of experience under my belt. Nope, in that situation, when the shoe is on the other foot, I was a home buyer. That incident made me laugh, too, when I realized what was happening. Of course I knew what to do.
I thought of this last month when I saw another shoe is on the other foot. An agent who moved out of Sacramento asked me to list and sell her mother’s house. They wanted to try a higher price, so we gave it a shot. When that did not work, we pulled a new MLS number, changed the price and reset the days on market. Almost immediately we received an offer. But the offer was really low. Probably close to 10% off the new sales price.
The agent blew a gasket. She said they would ignore the offer. And a few other choice words, too. She was appalled. Angry. See, the shoe is on the other foot. I had to say, you know, you are acting just like a seller! Go take your dog for a walk; go out to dinner. Relax. Take a break. And then we will write a counter offer.
What would have happened if I had been some other agent and told those sellers it was OK to ignore the offer? We came to an agreement at full list price and are closing this week. Just took a little bit of expert negotiation to get there. Sometimes the client is not always right. When the client is not right, it is my job to gently help that person to understand the error of her way.
Do Quartz Counter Overhangs Require Support?
Ask a bunch of contractors whether quartz counter overhangs require support, and you’ll get a bunch of different answers. I recall 30 years ago when I installed a countertop on a peninsula with an overhang and did not use support brackets. It was a breakfast counter with bar stools, and the overhang never cracked, but it was also formica. Nobody ever stood on it.
Although, whether quartz counter overhangs require support depends on whom you ask. Seems every single countertop installer I talked with about this said yes, use support on any overhang exceeding 6 inches. Also don’t believe everything you read online that contradicts that statement.
When I asked general contractors whether quartz overhangs require support, these guys said no, they do not. Not unless they exceed 12 inches. My particular quartz overhang is only 10 inches, with a 24-inch cabinet, for a total quartz surface of 36 inches.
So I asked myself, why do countertop installers want to support an overhang and general contractors do not. I suspect it’s because fewer GCs fabricate and the liability falls squarely on the shoulders of the countertop installers. Perhaps countertop installers are more cognizant of risk management? But if that is their sole job and only job, their opinion carries more weight.
I stopped in at Big Island Countertops in Kona yesterday. They told me about flat steel braces that measure 13 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide and 3/16ths deep. Not cheap, either. They charge $65 to install each but reduced it to $45 for each since I have an installer. You install the end with the holes at the edge of the overhang by embedding the steel brace in the plywood, after using a router to dig out the space.
For our 60-inch long peninsula, we are embedding 3 flat braces into the plywood. Screw them in, and call it a day. Then they are hidden from view after the quartz is glued on top of the plywood. Don’t have to use corbels, either.
It might be a little bit overkill, but with what we spent on quartz, getting it shipped to Kona from Honolulu, it is better to be safe than sorry. This is our only house in Hawaii.
