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Elizabeth Weintraub
How to Keep a Light Switch Permanently in the On Position
When you live in an older home, you might need to keep a light switch permanently in the on position if you want your other receptacles in the room to work. Now, some people solve that problem by putting masking tape over the light switch in the on position. Which looks terrible. In fact, I admit to having such a light switch in our family room. When we moved in, we indeed put blue masking tape over the switch. It’s in a corner so we don’t really look at it but now that I’m looking at it, well, it’s awful.
Of course, the logical solution is to hire an electrician to correctly wire your light switch so it doesn’t turn on and off your receptacles. There is no excuse for that, really. But human nature says that’s too much work. People do goofy things when they do their own wiring. The only time I feel truly safe working on our wiring is when I’m running Romex from the box to the desired box. Because you don’t know how somebody else wired your stuff.
I once wired an entire lower level of a home all by myself, including a couple of tricky four-way switches. So I know my way around installing light fixtures and receptacles, I just don’t do it anymore. I learned how to do this when I bought my first house. In the Women’s Room by Marilyn French there is a passage where a woman sat on the floor crying in the dark. All because she could not turn on her light. I vowed to never be that helpless.
However, even I had no idea that there was a way to keep a light switch permanently in the on position. Discovered this when I inspected a new probate listing in North Highlands for a former client. First, I saw the garage floor had been raised about 5 inches. Very odd. Asked the seller why. Apparently, his father thought that was a good way to keep out water. Except it also keeps out your vehicles.
His father was a do-it-yourself sort of guy. That photo on this page? That’s his answer for a way to keep a light switch permanently in the on position. I don’t know where you would buy such a thing, but what an innovative idea. The things I learn from my clients when listing homes in Sacramento! Always something new.
Fixer Home in East Sacramento Closes Escrow After Two Cancellations
The seller of this fixer home in East Sacramento had asked me what kind of things a buyer might ask him to fix and what could go wrong with a sale. This guy lives on the other side of the country and has been through a devastating situation. Imagine just about the worst thing that could happen to a person, and it happened to him, twice. On top of which, he later had to undergo emergency surgery in the middle of escrow, which will take a long time for recovery. He is still not out of the woods by a long shot, yet he exhibits incredible strength.
I feel a special affinity for this seller, in particular because he is older and in a vulnerable situation. Our first escrow involved a buyer that I did not want to go into escrow with. Not for any reason other than I did not think this was a fit for his method of operation, so I did not expect him to close. Sure enough, conditions existed that he claimed he did not see, although he has two eyes in his head, just like me. But at least he canceled within a few days.
It is always hard to tell a seller that a buyer has flaked. Especially when sellers seem excited the property is sold. But it’s never really sold until we close. The listing expressly stated this fixer home in East Sacramento was sold absolutely AS IS and there was a death in the home. But for some reason, often buyers think they can negotiate around that later. Maybe they can with other listing agents, I dunno.
We encountered that scenario with our second buyer. Her agent seemed aghast when I let the agent know that my advice to the seller would be to cancel the buyer because the buyer did not remove her inspection contingency. The agent kept pressuring me to put the squeeze on my seller, and I won’t do that. I don’t mess around, especially NOT when my seller is under such duress as this guy.
Finally, we received 6 offers in all, and our third escrow seemed to be moving along well. One of the things we discovered in the second escrow of this fixer home in East Sacramento was a crumbled orangeburg sewer line. This was one of the problems I had warned the seller could happen. His inherited property was built in 1950. Many homes of that era were constructed with tar paper sewer lines after the war. They don’t last more than 50 years or so. You would never know unless you ran a camera down the clean-out.
Yet our third buyer also neglected to remove her inspection contingency. The buyer, believe it or not, after all we had been through, demanded a price reduction. We told her no. Close or cancel. In fact, after we emailed a Notice to Perform, we also put the home back on the market, pending rescission. Agents must have been wondering: what in the world was going on with the fixer home in East Sacramento! We told the buyer we are not kidding. We will sell to a different buyer. There is always another buyer.
But in the end, the buyer came to her senses, deposited funds and signed her documents. I also cannot count the number of times I asked for an amendment to the purchase contract because the terms of the contract had changed. The contract presented to us was not a cash transaction since suddenly the buyer obtained a hard money loan. Despite our repeated attempts, we never received the amendment but at least the file released for recording yesterday. Whew.
The seller got the price he wanted. Although it might seem less, it was not because the buyer paid most of the seller’s closing costs.
Now, a strange twist in this tragic story of awfulness. At the moment, we simply presume it has closed. On par with the way this transaction had gone, the escrow officer left her office early on Friday. Her assistant then followed, promising another employee would send us confirmation. My worst fear at that point happened: crickets. Hopefully, we will receive that confirmation sometime today. Better than trying to call the recuperating seller in a time zone 3 hours later from us on a Friday night.
Free Money, Yes, Free Down Payment Assistance from Guild Mortgage
In the land of no such thing as a free lunch, you can actually get free money through a 1% down payment assistance program from Guild Mortgage. OK, the catch is you have to buy a home and get a loan through Guild Mortgage. But even so, it is still free money if you’re a home buyer. You don’t have to be a first-time home buyer. The trick, if there is such a thing, is to buy in an area where there are no income restrictions. Especially if you make too much money for most other down payment assistance programs.
Many of my listings do not qualify without income restrictions but I have a couple of listings that do qualify for the 1% down payment assistance programs. Our preferred mortgage lender, Dan Tharp, at Guild Mortgage, checks my new listings to see if they qualify. When they do, I include a line in the confidential agent remarks to let other agents know about this great program. It is in conjunction with Fannie Mae.
But agents don’t know what it means. Sometimes I receive offers in which the buyer’s agents ask the seller to give a 2% credit to the buyer. I have to explain, no, it is the lender, not the seller. Why is this so difficult to understand? Probably because we’re used to no free lunch. We wonder what’s going on.
There is no catch, though. No downside. Buyers do not have to pay back the money. It is not a loan. It is a gift. Instead of putting down 3% to get a conventional loan, buyers can put down 1% and Guild Mortgage, alongside Fannie Mae, will give buyers the other 2% absolutely free. Or you can use the 2% as a credit toward closing costs. Buyers need a fairly decent FICO score, at least 680 minimum, but that’s about it. Oh, there is a quick online class to take. Easy peasy qualifying.
Click here to fill out a loan application at Guild Mortgage. What kind of home can you buy with the Guild 1% downpayment assistance program? How about a mid-century, 3 bedroom, 3 bath with hardwood floors and more than 2,100 square feet at $349K? The address is 10829 Glenhaven Way in Rancho Cordova, CA. Call Dan Tharp at 916.257.1470 for more information.
Why Agents Might Not Cooperate With Sacramento Appraisers
Well, Sacramento appraisers are not gonna like this blog, I can tell you, but I think agents will find it interesting. Let’s say, for example, that there are two different listing agents at Lyon Real Estate. Both of these agents list identical condos. Same square footage, same type of location, similar amenities, and identical sales price. The first condo sells at list price. Shortly after that condo status changes to pending, the second condo comes on the market and that seller goes pending in 3 days. We later discover it went pending at a lower price than the first condo. I know, sounds strange and peculiar that the seller accepted a lower price. Especially after only 3 days on the market.
In any case, fast forward to the first condo is getting ready to close escrow. The appraiser goes over to appraise that sale. The appraiser then calls the other Lyon agent and asks this agent to disclose confidential information about the pending sale. The second Lyon agent, not thinking probably, blurts out the condo sold for less than list price. Shares the exact price. Due to limited inventory, the appraiser uses this pending sale as a comp and discounts the appraisal for the first condo seller. Yup, one could reasonably conclude that the appraisal came in low because a Lyon agent blabbed.
Two condos. Same company. Lyon Real Estate is a huge company in Sacramento. 17 offices and almost 1,000 agents. The likelihood of this scenario happening is very high. So likely that it did happen.
Let’s just say I am not that second agent. For one thing, I would suggest to a seller that she counter a lower offer like that. Especially when the condos sell so quickly in a hot market. But I’m not privy to that second contract or transaction so I have no idea, really, what went down. Do not mean to point fingers.
But I do know this situation has opened my eyes. Especially concerning dual representation of more than one seller. From now on, helping out Sacramento appraisers by providing more information than they are really entitled to know could be a very bad move. I suppose I could ask Sacramento appraisers if their transaction involved a Lyon agent on either the selling or buying side and then refuse to disclose. But it seems to make more sense not to disclose any confidential information that could affect a sale or harm other parties.
Sacramento appraisers can find everything they need to know in MLS and at the County Recorder’s Office. Good risk management says it’s wise to limited exposure to potential lawsuits.
Do You Get an Escrow Timeline from Your Sacramento Listing Agent?
There are certainly pros and cons to sending an escrow timeline to my sellers, yet, I continue to do it. Because the timeline is important. Despite drawbacks. Not only do I rely on the escrow timeline to keep me on schedule but my sellers do as well. I refer to that document over and over in my digital file throughout the transaction. I also forward a PDF file to my sellers so they have the same information available to them. Further, the timeline answers all those questions about what happens after the contract ratification. What happens when we are in escrow?
I also send the escrow timeline to the buyer’s agent, just in case that agent has not hired a TC (transaction coordinator). Personally, I don’t know how any agent can get by in the Sacramento real estate business without a TC. Way back when, I initially charged my clients the TC fee in addition to the commission, but that is a practice I abruptly halted. When I look at how much I earn, I decided I earn enough. There was no need to pass on additional expenses to my sellers. That’s nickel and diming. Being cheap. I’m not a cheap agent nor a cheap person. For at least the last decade, I absorb the cost for a TC on my sellers’ behalf.
My fabulous TC sends the escrow timeline to me almost immediately upon signing the contract. It lays out the following dates:
Date of contract acceptance. You would think this is a no-brainer but it is definitely not. You would not believe how many agents do not know what constitutes the date of contract acceptance. It is the date of receipt by the party noted for delivery. Could be the buyer or the buyer’s agent. Some agents don’t fill in their name in that space either, which then means the buyer needs to acknowledge receipt.
Verification of down payment and closing costs. Often this information is included with the purchase contract but not always. Sellers are entitled to receive documentation showing the buyers have the money required to close escrow.
Buyers initial deposit due in escrow. Generally, the buyer has 3 days to deliver the deposit to escrow. Our preferred title company will send a messenger to the buyer’s agent’s office to pick it up or it can be wired directly to escrow. Buyers are encouraged to contact escrow directly for wiring information as there is so much wire fraud today.
Preliminary title report due date. This is not a due date we generally monitor because we don’t typically expect issues with a prelim. However, if a buyer or seller has a common surname, there will most likely be a requirement to complete a Statement of Information. This document asks for addresses and aliases over the past 10 years to rule out the possibility of judgments and liens found in the public records.
Seller disclosures to buyer. Some agents obtain seller disclosures upon listing, but I do not. The reason is they might be outdated by the time we go live in MLS or when the property sells. I prefer my sellers to provide the most current and up-to-date information available. I am also available for questions, and believe me, there are questions. Sellers make common TDS mistakes, for example.
Date buyer to remove inspection contingency. This is the single most important contingency release in the purchase contract. If we don’t get past this release, we aren’t moving forward. Paragraph 11 of the RPA states all homes are sold in an AS IS condition, yet even when buyers promise not to try to renegotiate, they can’t help themselves. Some knowingly enter escrow under false pretenses as well. Many listings agents, I hear, do not ask for an inspection contingency release, so when they are a buyer’s agent, they don’t understand why it is necessary. But Yoda says: necessary it is.
Date buyer to remove appraisal contingency. Knock on wood I haven’t had many issues with appraisals recently, but it is always possible to get a dingbat appraiser. It’s just one person’s opinion. Sometimes they are wrong and we get a low appraisal but it’s not often.
Date buyer to remove loan contingency. If the buyers are fully vetted upfront, the loan contingency removal should not be an issue. But many buyers are not fully vetted. They use agents-slash-mortgage brokers or they fill out a form online that gets tossed into the system without scrutiny. A competent mortgage broker usually closes escrow but competency is not always the norm in the industry. There are plenty of bad mortgage lenders to go around.
Walk through completed. This is not a date I ever hear much about as a listing agent because it’s the buyer’s final walkthrough. That can be scheduled anytime within the last 5 days before closing. Every so often I will hear from a buyer’s agent who expects all the parties to vacate the premises during the last 5 days of escrow. That’s when I explain moving early is not part of the purchase contract and the agents get ticked off.
Close of escrow. If escrow needs to be extended for any reason, sellers and buyers generally all sign an extension of time addendum. However, we do try to meet our target date. That date is “on or before” so we can close early without additional paperwork as long as all parties agree.
Hopefully you can see why this escrow timeline carries such importance. It’s doubly important that all parties agree and are made aware of these dates. So what is the downfall, you may ask? Well, ha, ha, the downfall is my sellers hold us responsible like never before. Although my TC always emails the buyer’s agent with a friendly reminder as to when the first release is due, agents might ignore that email.
You know who doesn’t forget about that contingency release due date? You’ve got it. The sellers! Since the Elizabeth Weintraub Team is always on the ball, that is not an issue for us.
