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Elizabeth Weintraub
How to Tell if Your Home Does Not Need Home Staging to Sell
Your home might not need home staging to sell. Do you know how you can tell? Well, for starters, you probably can’t on your own. But if you ask a top Sacramento Realtor whose specialty is solely working with sellers, I bet she can tell you. When your entire focus in Sacramento real estate is listing homes and selling them — and you don’t work with buyers — you view the world through a dedicated lens. You see things differently than other agents. At least that is the case with me.
I can tell you in a heartbeat if your home does not need home staging to sell. Some homes do not require home staging, and since part of my goal is to increase net profit for a seller, I’m not sending them down that path in every situation. Because some situations simply don’t call for home staging.
Oh, you’ll hear agents say every home shows better with home staging, and that’s not entirely true. For example, tiny, small homes don’t always show better with staging. Too much furniture can crowd a small house. It can make a small house appear even smaller. A buyer will never know she can’t fit a bed in a small bedroom if there isn’t a bed there.
Two homes that I’m presently working on listing don’t need staging and for different reasons. One home is unique, with vintage designer wallpaper. Wood windows. Wood ceiling, beams and fancy millwork. Random planked floors. Handmade braided rag floor covering, wall-to-wall. It’s a special storybook house. Staging might detract from the period and make the home seem smaller. It’s not that large to start with.
Another home features a long room at the entrance, with a delightful bonus view through French doors at the other end. That’s the selling feature. The million dollar shot. I explained to that seller that she should stage the living room / dining area, separating the two spaces. While she does not need home staging to sell, she should stage that very important first impression space. Bring into focus the original fireplace and send the view out into the back yard.
This seller was excited when she called yesterday to say she met with my preferred home stager. The stager not only promised to stage the living area, but she threw in for free the staging of a yoga studio out back. As a bonus for the seller, she said, because I refer so much business to the stager. She makes me look good, and my seller is very happy!
If you really want to know if you need home staging to sell, ask an experienced Realtor for her opinion. In our present seller’s market, it is possible your home does not need home staging to sell.
Freaky Hailstorm in Land Park Sacramento with Photos and Video
My seller texted to see if I survived the hailstorm in Land Park Sacramento because she was working on her house a few blocks away when it happened. I’m not kidding you, the thunder alone was loud and crazy. When I heard something pelt the windows, I realized it wasn’t rain. It was too hard, making too much noise, so I pulled my head out of my computer to look outside. Yowza! It was hailing like no tomorrow.
Pea-sized hail. It was cold enough it wasn’t melting right away, either. Nobody expected a hailstorm in Land Park Sacramento. But I figured my cats were smart enough not to run outside, so I flung open the door to shoot a video in the back yard. You can see the results of the video embedded below. It’s short, only about 10 seconds. I don’t have a long attention span and can easily get bored, unlike some people.
My seller texted me her progress on getting her home ready. This is a new listing in Land Park coming on the market in a couple of weeks. She seemed exasperated by the storm as well. I know how storms (and fireworks) tend to scare the bejesus out of our cats, so I picked up Tessa, our Ocicat, to try to calm her down. As I held her, petting her gently, whispering soothing words into her ear, Ziggy, our new ragdoll kitty sat patiently on the floor waiting for his turn to be adored.
Then all of a sudden CRRRR-AAACK. Thunder struck close to the house. Evidently, no stopping the hailstorm in Land Park Sacramento. Tessa flew out of my arms, but not before using my neck and shoulder as a launching pad. Ziggy jumped 5 feet in the air and almost landed on my head. They both had those cartoon legs, running so fast it was though they were wound with a rubber band and released. Zoom. Into the other room and presumably under a bed. Now you see ’em, now you don’t.
Guess I’m just lucky Tessa didn’t claw up my face. Didn’t draw any blood. Also, I cut everybody’s nails yesterday, so there was that lucky thing, too. Temperatures dropped into the 40s in Sacramento. Well, beats watching a tree fall on the house or the house slipping into the ocean. Been there and survived those things. What’s a little hail?
Brunch at Canon East Sacramento Rarely Misses a Beat
Elizabeth Weintraub at south wall mural at Canon East Sacramento.
When a Sunday listing appointment rescheduled for later in the week, seemed a perfect excuse to visit Canon East Sacramento for brunch. Neither of us could recall what was on the menu, apart from bacon, but the review in the Sacramento Bee a few weeks back stuck in my husband’s mind. And really, what can go wrong with bacon? Nothing, actually. Well, there is a heart attack, but spittoey, it beats being hit by the Hawaii Ballistic Missile Threat last month.
The restaurant gets its name, I imagine, from a quest to be recognized as the type of place others like it may aspire to be. From the moment you walk in the door, you know it’s different. Clean design lines, marble, wood and steel, comfy chairs at the bar. We arrived around 1:30 on a Sunday for brunch, and the place was packed. The only spot to sit at that time was at the bar.
Which turned out to be OK. I ordered a Green Living cocktail. Made from celery, cucumber, mint, gin, sugar and lime. Not too sweet, and not too darn healthy, either, LOL. But delicious! Because they were so packed, it took a while to get our orders, so we spent much time staring at the extreme liquor bottles. The right half of the bar featured brown alcohol and the left side is white. We looked up the labels on our cellphones.
My husband, Adam, ordered a Shandy. Normally, he says, it’s made with beer, but this was a hard cider with a kombucha. Canon East Sacramento called it an East Meets West Shandy. Much as I don’t care for cider or pucker-y things, it tasted almost like a craft beer to me.
While waiting for our brunch to arrive, we discovered a Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whiskey and a Compass Box: The Circus Scotch on the shelf intriguing enough to inquire. The owner, Clay Nutting, was kind enough to pull out a step stool, climb up and remove The Circus Scotch, which was encased in its own clear plastic container, like a shrine. About $125 an ounce. We could split it, I suggested. The voice of reason, known as Adam said, well, we still had to go home and work on our taxes. Which was true.
My husband’s dish, Frank’s Special, arrived first. It arrived a good 20 minutes ahead of my dish, that’s how swamped they were. The bartender said it’s the busiest he has ever seen the restaurant. Honestly, every dish on the brunch menu sounded fabulous. My only regret was we couldn’t order a sampler to taste them all.
This dish has a drum stick, a fried egg, fried grain, sausage, shrimp and peppers which gave it a kick. Perfect for our chilly weather in Sacramento. You won’t be disappointed if you try it. Chef and partner Brad Cecchi last worked at Solbar in Calistoga and got his start at Mulvaney’s. So go figure, the excellence is apparent.
This smoked trout hash features a dollop of dill créme fraîche. Spinach and egg crêpes over tater tots. Everything goes better with tater tots, doesn’t it? There were some onions stuck in there, too. However, my favorite trout dish is still at Jenny Lake in the Tetons. Because they were so late delivering my meal, Clay comped it.
We left the restaurant about 2:30 and realized they basically closed at 2:00 PM. This is the view of the outdoor dining area with hanging plastic to keep out the cold. Canon East Sacramento is located at 1719 34th Avenue, an area undergoing a lot of revitalization. We couldn’t find the name, but you can see the address. And the beautiful wall mural above.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that as a Sacramento Realtor, I don’t really call this part of town East Sacramento. It seems more the Alhambra Corridor, but when neighborhoods touch each other, sometimes the lines begin to blur. Which is what is happening here in this area. This is why it’s often smart to buy on the edge of established neighborhoods, though. And 34th Street is beginning to turn around.
You can bet we’ll be back for dinner. This might make a perfect place to celebrate spring with the Elizabeth Weintraub Team. The menu sports vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian options.
Elizabeth Weintraub Wins #2 at Lyon Real Estate Awards 2018
Elizabeth Weintraub wins #2 at Lyon Real Estate Awards: Amy McMullan, Elizabeth Weintraub, Josh Amolsch, Dan Tharp, Shaundra Bradley and . . . Barbara Dow.
Seems once I made it into the top 1% at Lyon Real Estate, I end up ranking every year either as #2 or #3 in the company. We have about 1,000 agents at Lyon, so it’s not an insignificant accomplishment to make into the top 1% at the Lyon Real Estate Awards. Only nine agents achieve that milestone every year. Although, we used to win better prizes. Over the last 5 years or so, we just get a huge honkin’ vase, and now I have too many of those.
Honestly, I have too many awards, period. What do you do with them? I suppose they could be used as flower vases, but I don’t know if you’d want your name on them. I spotted a few awards our relocation department won, and those were pretty cool. From where we sat, they resembled figurines with a globe on top. Like a Golden Globe. You could use them to clobber an intruder.
Thankfully, Friday night, my entire team showed up for the Lyon Real Estate Awards. Usually somebody is out of town, but we were all present. I had been thinking about them as I pulled my beaded earrings from Mallorca and a tie-dyed poncho out of the closet. Hmmm . . . disco night. Well, originally I had received an email about the Awards being a 1970’s theme. I didn’t pay much attention to the flyer. Then, our marketing department sent an email to say the event was Studio 54, to come dressed ready to disco.
Well, having lived through the 1970s, I whipped off an email to our marketing department explaining that only a few years were disco years and the rest of the 1970s was definitely not disco. Therefore, since I had nothing to wear, my team and I were coming as vampires.
Our managing broker had to assure the marketing department I was just messing with them.
The good thing about the evening was I had completely forgotten how to do The Hustle. I recall taking lessons, but the rest of that is a blur in my rear view mirror.
Back to getting dressed in my tie-dyed poncho . . . What I realized when dressing for this event was every year I get up on stage by myself. But every year my team grows stronger, like AlphaBears. We operate as a finely tuned machine. They should get recognition, too. I did not get there all by myself. So, this year I dragged them all up on stage with me. I’d like to introduce you to my amazing team of truly incredible individuals.
Elizabeth Weintraub Team at Lyon Agent Awards 2018 Won #2.
Clockwise from the top, Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Josh Amolsch; Transaction Coordinator Shaundra Bradley; Mortgage Loan Officer at Guild Mortgage Dan Tharp; Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Barbara Dow; Listing Agent and Team Lead Elizabeth Weintraub; Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Amy McMullan.
Nobody is an island and nobody gets where she is in Sacramento real estate without the support of others. In my situation, I rely heavily on my team for support. We have each other’s backs. We pitch in when needed. And I could not possibly provide the type of superior service I strive to achieve for my clients nor handle the volume of listings that I sell if I focused on buyers. My TC Shaundra is like my right-hand person. Our loan guy Dan Tharp is brilliant and treats every client like they are the only client he has.
We share the same values and principles. And above all, we always put our client’s interests first. Over our own. That’s our secret for success. I am incredibly honored and proud to share the stage with my team at the Lyon Real Estate awards for 2018. Can’t say it any louder, I love these guys!
The Lifespan and Cost of Kitchen Appliances When Home Selling
Considering the cost of kitchen appliances, when you are selling a home, sometimes it is less expensive to buy new. Why would you buy new appliances to sell a home? For starters, they might be the wrong color. Yes, color matters. For example, white is not a popular color anymore. That doesn’t mean if your entire kitchen is white that you need to remodel because you do not. Yet, older kitchens with oak cabinets and white appliances and white ceramic counters might get passed over by today’s homebuyers or you may need to lower the price of the home to compensate.
Free-standing ranges tend to take a beating over the years. Often the grates and burners become impossible to clean if regular maintenance is not practiced. Those pieces of a gas range, for example, are very expensive to replace. In many situations, you will find it is far cheaper to buy a brand new gas range than to replace parts.
Now, the cost of kitchen appliances can vary depending on whether you are buying new appliances to use for several years before selling or if you plan on selling immediately. Most homeowners will spend more to get features they desire and value if they plan on personally using the appliances. But when you’re selling, buyers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the features. They will notice the color, though, and whether it is new.
The cost of kitchen appliances also varies with the color. White is cheapest. For a reason. Nobody really likes white except absentee landladies and landlords. Stainless steel is preferred. Close to first position of stainless steel is black or black on stainless steel.
My husband asked why I was looking at gas ranges one morning, after he rolled out of bed. He could see my monitor from the hallway since it is a 40-inch television screen, heh, heh. Doing research for a seller. I help in any way I can. Just for your own edification, below is the lifespan of kitchen appliances as noted by Consumer Reports:
Lifespan of Kitchen Appliances
- A gas range: 15 years (13 for electric)
- A dishwasher: 9 years
- A microwave: 9 years
- A refrigerator: 13 years
One thing I noticed when we shopped for a new refrigerator a few months back is they are making free-standing refrigerators MUCH wider and MUCH taller. When remodeling, it is probably a good idea to allow for expansion of size in a space for a refrigerator. If you need a 33-inch wide refrigerator, like we did, the selections are greatly reduced.
Since one of my clients is considering replacing the dishwasher, stove and microwave in their home before selling, I decided to look at a few top vendor websites to determine how much it would cost. The cost of the kitchen appliances were fairly close, and I sent links to my sellers. They will get the money back upon resale.
I include the cost of the low-end kitchen appliances here for you, but bear in mind these are low-cost for brand new. They might not be what you would want for your own home. But if you’re selling, it’s only your home until a buyer makes an offer, you accept and it closes.
Cost of Kitchen Appliances
FILCO Superstores cost of kitchen appliances: $891.89
- Amana black gas range: $426
- Whirlpool black dishwasher: $297
- Whirlpool 1.7 over-the-range black microwave: $168.99
RCWiley cost of kitchen appliances: $909.68
- Frigidaire black gas range: $449.99
- Frigidaire black dishwasher: $279.99
- Samsung 1.6 over-the-range black microwave: $179.99
Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores cost of kitchen appliances: $817.99
- Whirlpool black gas range: $419.00
- Frigidaire black dishwasher: $259.00
- Unknown manufacturer 1.6 over-the-range black microwave (uninstalled) $139.99
Prices subject to change. may not include installation or delivery fees.
