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Elizabeth Weintraub
Our Sweet Ocicat Pia and Feline Heart Disease
One day, everything is hunky dory and the next day, whammo, life throws a curve ball aimed at the heart; knocks the wind out of you. I was sitting at my computer yesterday late afternoon answering emails from buyer’s agents and uploading new listing photos when I heard my husband call my name from the other end of the house. His voice was interspersed with the sounds of our Ocicat, Pia, crying. I thought he had captured Pia and was ready for me to give her a daily Pepcid pill, so I grabbed the pill plunger and dashed toward my husband’s office. She tends to disappear around pill giving time.
Instead, I found my husband clutching Pia with an alarmed look on his face. He said she somehow broke a leg. Maybe fell off the back of his desk.
She had crawled out from under it, pulling herself on her two front paws, whimpering, legs dragging behind her.
It took two of us to get her into the carrier; I called the vet to make an emergency appointment.
It wasn’t a broken leg. It was much worse. When my husband called to tell me it was much more serious, my mind could not grasp anything more serious than a broken leg. I had expected her to come home with a cast on her leg and wearing another cat collar. She was diagnosed with heart disease. A blood clot had formed in her heart, traveled to her leg and was blocking blood flow. The vet cut her toe nail into the quick and it did not bleed.
It’s commonly called saddle thrombus. Caused by feline heart disease.
The options were options but they weren’t really options. Just things that would prolong her pain and suffering and other options that had a slim chance of working. She had already survived two cancer surgeries. Pia was fussy, prissy, and her own way of doing things, thank you very much. Purrrrrr.
She was only 9.
Here is a video of Pia going crazy for Chicken treats. I believe I posted that link only yesterday in my blog. No idea what was coming for me that day. Who knew about feline heart disease?
Selling Homes in Sacramento is Like Herding Cats
Working in real estate and selling homes in Sacramento is somewhat like herding cats. Just for the record, I don’t run a cat ranch or anything, but there are 3 cats who live in my home in Land Park, so I know a little something about herding cats. Cats will do whatever they want to do. They are somewhat predictable, but there are times a cat will completely freak you out, and the Sacramento real estate market is a good comparison. Just when you think that cat is headed for the litter box, it will abruptly stop and throw up on your feet.
I always look for trends because, as a Sacramento real estate agent, it helps me to properly advise clients. You know, just because buyers were wild and crazy last spring doesn’t mean that activity carries through to August. August is typically a slowing down month. A time for families to finish vacation plans, shop for back-to-school clothes, and prepare homes for winter which, in Sacramento, means closing the garage door.
I’m looking forward to the Sacramento Autumn Home Selling Market. It’s generally spectacular every year, and it shouldn’t be any different for 2013. About a week after Labor Day, the flood gates will open. That’s my prediction. But getting into escrow and closing are two distinct things. Any monkey can get into escrow. Closing is another story.
There are signs of increased listing activity right now. Sellers are calling and asking about selling homes in Sacramento. From just yesterday, I have 3 new listings in Elk Grove on the horizon, a home in Roseville will hit the market today, and I’m meeting with another seller in Citrus Heights this weekend.
Buyers, on the other hand, are a bit slower to submit offers now. They are spending more time thinking about it. Not every transaction that every agent has in escrow will close. I’m seeing more fallouts from buyers with cold feet, buyers who can’t qualify, buyers who probably should not have been trying to buy a home in the first place. There are also buyers who can’t understand that a rising market means if they’re buying a short sale, that price might be higher after waiting a few months.
What we need are incentives like my cat Pia’s freeze-dried chicken treats that we can throw in front of these guys. We need to continually check in with our buyers and make sure they’re still on board and headed for closing. Remove obstacles from their path. Keep the positive vibe going. Because I tell ya, it’s not easy herding cats when you’re selling homes in Sacramento.
How Soon Should You Call Your Sacramento Agent?
A potential seller called yesterday to ask how far in advance she should talk with an East Sacramento agent about putting her home in Elmhurst on the market. She didn’t want to jump the gun or make too many plans before they were ready to sell, but on the other hand, she wanted to be prepared for the sale and have some kind of idea how much she might net from the sale.
One of the things she expected to do was replace a deck because she thought the buyer’s lender would force the repairs. See, the thing is unless it’s attached to the house, it probably won’t be considered for the pest report. Besides, a seller’s opinion and a buyer’s opinion might differ, so this is where consulting a local real estate agent comes in. An experienced agent’s advice can be invaluable.
It’s never too early to talk with an agent. I am working with some sellers months in advance of selling a home in the Sacramento area. Some homes are occupied by tenants, and it’s almost always better to show that home without a tenant in it, so we wait for leases to expire. Other sellers have personal family situations that make home selling at the moment difficult but easier down the road, not to mention, there is such a thing as timing the market in Sacramento because our spring and fall markets are the strongest.
We have cutting-edge echnology at our disposal in real estate. You might use Skype to to chat with your kids across the country, but a Sacramento real estate agent will use FaceTime to take an out-of-area seller on a tour of their home. I FaceTimed sellers in Texas yesterday and was able to show them mold in the bath, potential dry-rot on the eaves, weathered cabinets, a cracked tile, overgrown vegetation, and literally walk them through their home in Elk Grove as we talked, without them physically present.
If you’re thinking about preparing your home for sale and want to work with an agent, one of the services we provide is helping a seller get ready to sell. You can call this Sacramento real estate agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. It’s never too early to talk.
How to Get a Short Sale Credit Report as Paid in Full
Up until now, it has been very tricky and almost impossible for a seller to immediately buy a home in her own name after closing a Sacramento short sale unless the short sale credit report shows paid in full. There were a few other ways to do it such as having a high FICO and big down payment, and working with a smaller bank that funds portfolio loans, but if a short sale seller has a high FICO and a big ol’ wad of cash, the short sale bank probably won’t grant the short sale. It has been like a Catch-22.
There is one way around it. Very few real estate agents seem to know about it because their bedime-reading material is not changes to government short sale programs. It’s how to get a short sale credit report as paid in full. I’ve read the recent HAFA Supplemental and know that this change exists, but I haven’t really tried it until now. This is the coolest thing ever. To qualify, the seller cannot have a Notice of Default filed. It is preferable to be current on the mortgage payments, but if a seller is behind a payment or two, it’s not the end of the world. Not every short sale bank investor will allow a seller to be current but many have loosened guidelines to allow for it.
Which makes sense when you think about it, even though banking rules don’t always make sense to us mere mortals. It makes sense that the investors would prefer to get some money than no money, but that would mean somebody was actually looking out for the investors and not just pocketing big ol’ wads of cash through the PSA agreement. When a seller comes to the bank to ask for a short sale and plans to continue making payments, you’d think a bank would not have to say: Sorry, we don’t want your stinkin’ money. Stop making your payments, go into arrears, and then we’ll short sale it. Because that’s ludicrous. But like I said, banking rules don’t always make sense until somebody yells out: Hey, what’s that man doing behind the curtain?
The new HAFA short sale guidelines allow for a different type of reporting of the satisfaction of mortgage for less than the full balance to the credit bureaus. If there is no Notice of Default filed, the short sale credit bureau reporting is PAID IN FULL. Not paid in full for less than agreed, no, no, no, none of that garbage. Paid in FULL. Do you know what Paid in Full means to a person’s credit report? It means the loan was paid off. Period. There is no derogatory credit. If there is no derogatory credit, there is no hit to the credit score.
Paid in full for a short sale credit report is huge. This is humongous. This is incredible. About time, too. If you’re thinking about doing a short sale in the Sacramento area, call your #1 Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. I am a HAFA Certified Specialist.
Babyboomers Might Find it Hard to Shop at REI
My husband often drags me to shop at the Sacramento REI over by Arden Fair when we’re about to take any kind of a trip that will expose us to the elements. He’s such a Boy Scout. We are visiting the southeastern area of Alaska this September. It rains a lot in the Inside Passage; it is often misty. I suspect he’s worried that our small ship will hit an iceberg and sink or the captain will die of a heart attack out in the middle of nowhere. My husband is the kind of guy who would wear a hidden passport hung by a string around his neck.
So, off to REI we go to buy shirts and jackets made from wicking material, base layers, second layers, outer layer garments that are not cotton — because you can’t wear too many layers in Alaska. The problem I discovered with trying to shop REI is much of the women’s recreational clothing at REI is made out of spandex or closely tailored. REI seemed to be more forgiving in the men’s department but not the women’s. This store fits a nitch. Targets its customers. And I think REI is saying that women Babyboomers should not shop at REI unless they are spring chickens, fit as a fiddle, right as rain and all those other spindly descriptions adults over 60 use.
Well, what do you expect from a store where the men who look like broasted chickens shop for bicycle shorts? REI sells to the camping enthusiasts, hiking and biking and kayaking guys, and many of those people could be poster models for outdoor fun in California.
You’d think the store could have a special section for us Babyboomers who don’t always have the luxury of an elliptical in the bedroom, but no. As we were about to approach the check-out line, my husband pointed out the little camping tents for cats. There was a row of miniature tents stacked on a shelf right in front of us. How ingenious. The tents were big enough for a small dog though like, oh, I dunno, a Pekingese or even a pair of Chihuahuas. Perfect for a baby, too, I figured, so parents wouldn’t accidentally roll over on the kid. It’s a great solution for young families who want to camp together. What will they think of next?
Except those tents were models of the large tents. Very funny, Adam. I guess there’s not enough room in the store to set up the big tents so shoppers can see what they look like. If there’s not enough room for that, there’s probably not enough room for a Babyboomer section. Drats.
