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Elizabeth Weintraub
Would You Like to Adopt Two Rescue Chihuahuas from Land Park?
You know what’s really great about working as a veteran Sacramento real estate agent who has extensive short sale experience? There is a certain amount of respect for my short sale knowledge bestowed upon me by my clients. Everything else real-estate related? Forget about it. Forget about all of decades I have worked in real estate. Forget about the fact I sold $32 million last year. Forget about the fact media recognizes this Sacramento real estate agent as an expert to regularly interview. Forget about the fact that I write about Homebuying for About.com and have for years. None of that matters to some people. But talk about a Sacramento short sale and my name lights up the sky.
There are some days that I feel just like Rodney Dangerfield because let’s face it, the public, on the whole, are often led to believe that being a Sacramento real estate agent is easy-peasy work and anybody with a cellphone could do it because hey, look at their aunt, their cousin, their next-door neighbor! If a person is hoping to be respected and valued, a person should not search for those kinds of accolades in real estate.
If you want to be unconditionally loved, get a dog. In fact, get two of them. Twice the love. Have you ever thought about adopting a couple of Chihuahuas? I happen to have a pair living in my back yard, and we’re going on Day 4 of the rescued Chihuahuas now. You will see those dogs are no longer considered “lost Chihuahuas in Land Park” or even “found Chihuahuas in Land Park,” they are rescue Chihuahuas. And they are available for adoption to a good home.
We took the rescued Chihuahuas to the Sacramento Animal Shelter yesterday, filed a Found Dogs report and brought them back to our home in Land Park. Also, had them scanned for microchips, but like no collars, no microchips. Come to think of it, two of my cats are microchipped and one is not, so next visit to the vet, guess what? None of the cats venture outdoors. But there could be an busted-open screen, a door left ajar or they could encourage a passerby to break-in and trade our big screen TV in exchange for freedom, you just don’t know.
As we were going through the July Lost Dogs book, which is a big book filled with pages for every day of the month (4th of July was a really busy day) I noticed my clients’ name in the book. These are wonderfully genuine people, the kind you don’t forget. I represented them as buyers when they purchased a home in Land Park 7 years ago. It was a case of not overlooking the overpriced home. They were also my sellers, and I represented them as their listing agent on the sale of their existing home. I managed to sell their home in Elk Grove in the nick of time to fund the purchase of an overpriced home in Land Park. It was a complex escrow for both selling and buying, but they listened to me, trusted me, and I got the job done. Which is what they said when I called them to ask if they ever found the lost Chihuahua they filed the report about.
The husband said he did not want to talk about two rescued Chihuahuas, so I asked him to put his wife on the phone instead. Not going for it. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759, if you would like to adopt a couple of super cute and lovable Chihuahuas. If you want to buy or sell your home in the four-county area of Sacramento, well, you can call me for that, too.
Day 3 of the Lost Chihuahuas in Land Park
We have discovered a new use for our tennis balls. Don’t even think about exploding tennis balls, because it’s a myth that tennis balls explode. Just gonna go on the record here in case you’re wondering about that. Tennis balls don’t explode unless you put something explodable inside of the balls to make them explode. In case you’re tempted to put them in the microwave or stab them with an ice pick. Ha, ha, like you HAVE an ice pick!
Our tennis balls were originally purchased to insert into a sock, so we could press our backs against the wall with a tennis ball in between. It can manipulate just the right spot. If you have an aching back, you should try this. Just don’t lie down on the ball, like my sister did, because she almost broke her back.
Our tennis balls are something those danged dogs in our back yard can chase. We have not yet found the owners of the Chihuahuas who were lost in Land Park. We’re filing a report with the Sacramento Animal Shelter over on Front Street today and taking them in to see if they are microchipped. If nobody claims these dogs by tomorrow, we do have interest from a couple of neighbors through the Nextdoor website who want to adopt the little cuties.
When I came back home from listing a home in Churchill Downs yesterday, I hopped on my bike and rode around my neighborhood in Land Park to put up more fliers. My husband distributed fliers on Thursday. Do you know there are not very many telephone poles in Land Park? Lots of street lights, but you need tape to attach fliers to the street lights. Fortunately, I tossed Scotch Tape along with my handy, dandy stapling gun into my bike basket. I was astonished to discover the reduced inventory of telephone poles.
The things you learn that you don’t think about, regardless of how long you’ve lived in Land Park!
Found Chihuahuas in Land Park
Words my husband does not want to hear as he’s heading out the door to pick up sushi for dinner: We need to get the chihuahuas. It happened because I was jumping on my bike to take my before-dinner bike ride through William Land Park when I received an email. I do admit that my cellphone is strapped to my handlebars, for those biking purists who could not imagine themselves hauling along a cell when riding. But then those biking enthusiasts are probably not a Sacramento real estate agent.
The message came through my email that two chihuahuas were loose and running in the street about a block away from my home in Land Park. I belong to the neighborhood website Nextdoor for the area where I live in Land Park. A kind person posted that the dogs were darting about his garage. I pedaled my bike over there. It was clear that the poster was not in a position to take care of the dogs; however, he did give them some water.
Then, I spotted a woman walking her dog, and the two little chihuahuas dashed over to greet her. I tried to tell the woman that the chihuahuas belonged to her now, but she was not about to claim any kind of ownership. She pointed to the house at the end of the street and indicated that she believed that guy owned the dogs. Even after I explained that he does not own those dogs and they are loose, she still did not take ownership. I’m not blaming her, but I was hopeful that she would. Nobody would take these dogs.
See, this is the thing. You can’t leave 2 dogs loose in the streets in Land Park. Certainly not around dinnertime when many people are coming home from work and there’s a lot of traffic. This is what I told my husband as he was carrying a big cardboard box and heading toward the street where the dogs were bouncing about. Not only that, but what if it was one of our cats who was on the loose and scared? He said somebody probably dumped them because they could no longer feed them. I countered that chihuahuas are so tiny, I mean, how much can they possibly eat?
The guy at the end of the street spotted our box with Macy’s printed on the side. Are you taking them to Macy’s, he asked? Nope, just to our yard until we can locate the owner. The chihuahuas survived the night. The skunks, possums and raccoons could not get to them because we enclosed them in a portable dog pen. My husband picked up dog food for them on his way back from Akebono.
If you are missing a couple of chihuahuas, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759. These dogs have no tags, no collars. My husband says you don’t have to describe them, but you do. Size, color, dimensions and characteristics. The photo on this page is not of the actual chihuahuas in our yard.
Has Your Sacramento Home Price Increased by 30%?
In a conversation with my financial advisor yesterday, she asked if every Sacramento real estate transaction has its share of problems or if it just seems that way. She recently sold her home and bought a new home, so she’s had a little first-hand experience. The answer to that question is yes. Your agent might spare you all of the unnecessary details, but almost every real estate transaction has some glitch pop up. Part of the problems are fueled by the parties themselves: the sellers and buyers. Part is just due to the new climate: the post-Bubble real estate climate, without tossing in limited inventory and rising rates. And newspaper headlines don’t really help.
It’s not that the newspapers are wrong, it’s that people don’t read newspapers. They scan the headlines, believe they have digested the entire story and move on to other things. We live in an Attention Deficit Disorder society.
The headline in the Sacramento Bee story a few days ago was Sacramento-area home prices jump almost 30% in a year, lead 30 biggest metro regions. I read that and my stomach sank. Stomach sag is something that can happen completely out of the blue to us old people who forget that planking is our friend, but the main reason for my distress is because I know that many sellers will believe they can get one-third more for their home than they can actually get, based on that article headline. Please, listen to your Sacramento real estate agent, that article doesn’t literally apply to a Sacramento home seller. The reporter is talking about median prices for last month as compared to median prices from a year ago.
Median prices means half the homes sold for more and half of the homes sold for less. It doesn’t mean YOUR home. Every neighborhood is different. For example, we have a ton of inventory in Land Park right now. At the moment, a quick check in MLS shows 27 homes for sale in 95818 under $400,000 — which encompasses homes for sale in Land Park, Curtis Park and a few blocks north of Broadway. According to Trendgraphix, in July of last year, we ended that month with 18 homes for sale under $400K in 95818. There’s a bit of a glut right now in that price range in Land Park.
But take a look at 95757 in Elk Grove. That neighborhood is in high demand, over by I-5 / Franklin /Whitelock. Part of the demand is the schools. It’s also on the edge of construction, and many of the homes are somewhat newer, slightly more expensive than other parts of Elk Grove. A check in MLS for 95757 shows 23 homes for sale in Elk Grove under $400,000, which is a hot price point. Last year in July, Trendgraphix showed 24 homes for sale. Pressure is on this ZIPcode.
In other words, a seller will get more offers and a higher price for her under $400,000 home in that particular area of Elk Grove than she is likely to get for a similarly priced home in Land Park. Real estate is local. I sell a lot of homes in Elk Grove as an Elk Grove agent, especially in 95757, and I see it first-hand. I also specialize in Land Park because that’s where I live, and many people know I am also a Land Park agent.
As usual, the devil is in the details, and if you wonder whether your home has enough equity to sell, call a Sacramento real estate agent to get a free opinion of value. You can call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759.
Note: Interest rates are going up. Interest rates have increased by 1% already this year and, when rates rise, real estate prices tend to take a dip.
Sacramento Home Sellers’ Warning
You might be tempted to believe that all real estate transactions are win-win, even the phrase win-win makes me cringe, but a win-win real estate transaction is not necessarily always the case. The win-win misperception was misappropriated many years ago by long-dead real estate gurus. Much of the time, it’s just not true. In real estate, one party typically makes out better than the other party, not much different than some divorce cases. Although you might say, hey, in the end they are both divorced now, one party is often a little bit better divorced than the other.
I know there are buyers and sellers who want to be good friends with each other. After all, they have something in common — the house! I’m all for enjoying friendships with the people who are buying or selling your home, just don’t try to cultivate that relationship during the transaction. Bad, bad idea. Sellers belong on one side of the fence and buyers on the other. You can kick the fence over after escrow closes.
Let’s say your home was built, for example, during the geological time known as the Asbestos Era, which is sometime during the Cenozoic period, in the Quarternary. Perhaps the buyer suddenly became worried that your home might contain asbestos, but the buyer’s inspection period had expired. On top of that, say the buyers had removed all of their contingencies. As a seller, you might feel it is OK to let the buyer complete an asbestos test, even though you’ve already paid for such a test and the results were negative.
You might believe that since the home is sold AS IS, the buyer has no claims against you. You might also believe that if the buyer finds asbestos, the buyer will have to give you the earnest money deposit if they were to cancel because that’s what the contract says. But you haven’t met the buyer’s lawyer who might argue the contingency period is reopened after the discovery of new information. The lawyer might further argue that somehow the seller possessed knowledge of this defect but failed to disclose it. Little is black-and-white in the law.
The fact is once a buyer’s investigations are completed, the inspections are over. If you are a seller, don’t be a buddy and let the buyers continue investigating. The friendship a seller may have forged with the buyer (or vice versa) could come back to haunt. For maximum protection, expect your Sacramento real estate agent to handle such discussions and arrangements.
