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JaCi Wallace
Weintraub & Wallace Received Top Producer Award April 2020
Josh Amolsch wrote a great blog below about doing your best work. Enjoy. — JaCi.
Weintraub & Wallace received Top Producer Award April 2020. In case you think whoop-dee-do, they always win awards, please consider this: Do you think Tom Brady gets bored winning Super Bowls? Look, I know that Tom has lost a couple as well and there will be comments on this blog about deflated footballs. The fact is, Tom Brady is an amazing athlete and leader. He earns his wins with every moment of his day, on and off the field. The way he eats, trains, studies, thinks. I personally don’t think he, or any top achiever in any other form of business, gets tired of reaching a pinnacle of success.
It is not uncommon for Weintraub & Wallace Realtors to achieve Top Producer. In fact, we garner that title several times a year culminating with the Chairman’s Club Award in 2019. But this year has been a bit different, just in case you are just now waking up or coming back to what we use to call civilization after a 4-month camping trip to the desert. Inventory has been up and down, pendings as well. Prices have been rising and showings of property have been complicated and even downright scary for some people. But , through the mess and height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Exclusive Buyer’s Agent, Josh Amolsch of Weintraub & Wallace, achieved Top Producer for April 2020.
Veteran agents all around the country will tell you that April 2020 was about the most difficult month they have experienced in their careers. But because of the tireless effort to be better, learn more, try new things and above all else, have a servant’s heart, we will always succeed. Weintraub & Wallace will always succeed because we have our clients’ best interest at heart. It is simply our passion and something we work at everyday. In these troubling times, we are seeing people band together even more in search of trust. Make building trust and selfless service your #1 and #2 life practices and you will have unbelievable success in life and business.
Weintraub & Wallace achieved Top Producer award for April 2020 and will likely do it again because we offer every service a buyer or seller could ever want or need to successfully sell or purchase a home. Give a jingle to talk about your real estate dreams. Call us at 916-233-6759.
Are Home Sellers Generous to Buyers?
Are home sellers generous to buyers? Well, it depends on many factors. Buyers often come in trying to negotiate a good deal. Of course, that is understandable, but it can sometimes backfire. Some sellers are very attached to their homes. The dreams of their lives are often wrapped up in the story of the house and what their dreams were.
I recently worked with a couple, and some buyers didn’t understand my sellers’ process. Some agents asked me if I was trying to talk buyers out of buying the home? I said no, but I am following my seller’s instructions. These sellers had their home on the market before, and often the reasons people did not buy it were evident as the features are listed on MLS. For example, three bedrooms and two baths. So when the buyer’s agents say they didn’t make an offer as they needed four bedrooms and three bathrooms, clearly the MLS says a three-bedroom. This is when a seller’s generosity often goes out of the window.
This seller couple decided that I needed to thoroughly screen each buyer by asking their agent’s many questions, before any appointments. The result was fewer buyers, but the quality of the buyers was much higher. The results were surprising, multiple offers. Here, I’m turning buyers away and then boom, multiples!
Let me get back to the generous question. When a seller is heavily emotionally invested in a property that they envisioned living in for the rest of their lives, it can be upsetting when they have to make a change for an employment opportunity., It is not EZ. A buyer came in and made an excellent offer. The other offer was good, but the first offer came from buyers who reminded the sellers of themselves in their younger years. The sellers are, in fact, very generous. They decided to give the buyers more time to close escrow and also give them a lot of expensive personal property. They also decided not to make multiple counter offers as they only wanted what was fair.
These sellers’ counter-offer was made up of items that benefited the buyer. In this case, the answers were clear Are home sellers generous towards buyers? More than you can imagine. If you want to bring out the best response from a seller, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Metrolist Sacramento MLS Pending Sales March-May 2020
Metrolist Sacramento MLS pending sales March-May 2020 is a clear snapshot of the current surge in pending sales. Clearly, May 2020 forward shows increased buyer confidence. We would customarily see an uptick this time of year; however, Covid19 has some buyers nervous about home buying. Many buyers we talk to are surprised when they see the reports like this graph. If they are out shopping, they know as buyers are only allowed two at a time, so buyers are waiting outside in a line on some listings. The above market snapshot is a good example of simplicity and EZ to follow. The inventory is increasing slowly, but not by much.
The buyers are out looking, and our phones are ringing off the hook! Today we have offers on several of our listings; one, in particular, may have multiple offers. It is like a switch came on. Many of the buyers who were waiting to buy since the Covid19 shelter in place occurred in March, decided they had waited long enough. It’s time to take advantage of the historically low-interest rates. The market is hot right now. Since May 1rst, the pending sales are on the rise. Don’t miss your opportunity, as it is knocking at your door.
Metrolist Sacramento MLS pending sales March-May 2020 shows it’s time to buy, and an excellent opportunity exists to sell your property right now while there is little competition. Call us today. Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold can help you navigate the market successfully to achieve your real estate goals. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Covid-19 Mortgage Tips to Save Your Deal
Covid-19 mortgage tips to save your deal is a fabulous blog written by our team’s Sacramento lender, Dan Tharp. Enjoy. — JaCi Wallace
It’s been almost two months since Governor Newsom’s order that all Californian’s shelter-in-place. It sure feels like more. I feel such empathy for those that live alone, are single parents or have lost their job, It’s simply awful. I am thankful every single day I get up and get ready for work.
Covid-19 has re-ordered virtually every industry in the world to figure out how to adapt,. Not only adapt, but mprovise, and overcome this virus or otherwise fail. In California, mortgage lending and real estate are still thriving; all be it, with a whole new subset of issues to we have never faced before. Below are just a few tricks that might help you during your next purchase:
APPRAISAL WAIVER
Did you know that in some cases, your lender will not require you to get an appraisal when buying a home? We have been doing this for years. Now, with Covid-19, and given the fact, sellers don’t want a stranger in their home, the appraisers can be just as uncomfortable entering a home. It’s lovely to know you have this option if you work with the right lender.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac traditionally offer an appraisal waiver for low loan-to-value refinance or if you put down at least 20% on a purchase. Also, in conjunction with new Fannie and Freddie Covid-19 updates, our underwriters are permitting exterior only appraisals under certain circumstances.
However, you may still want to get an appraisal done (~$525) to ensure you are not paying too much for the home. But if you and your agent have taken the time to look at comparables and feel the value is there, not needing an appraisal can not only save you money by not having to pay for the report, it can also help in other ways.
For example, I had a client facing multiple offers, and the only reason their offer was accepted is that they came in at asking price AND agreed to remove the appraisal contingency. Meaning, if for some reason, the appraisal came in lower, they would have to come out of pocket to make up the difference. These buyers didn’t have much in reserves after the down payment and closing costs, and what they did have left was their cushion for any future emergencies. With this appraisal waiver in place, they would not pay one extra dollar out of pocket – And not needing an appraisal was just what they needed – peace of mind.
CAN’T GET A JUMBO LOAN?
Jumbo loans have been walloped during this pandemic as mortgage servicers tighten their lending criteria. Many lenders have stopped issuing them altogether. Jumbos are loans that exceed the maximum you can borrow with a Fannie, Freddie, or FHA conforming loan. For example, let’s assume you are buying a home in Sacramento County, where the max Fannie/Freddie loan amount is $569,250. Thus, if your loan amount is higher – you fall in the Jumbo loan category.
Since Fannie and Freddie do not back jumbo loans, they are considered riskier and require higher credit scores, lower debt-to-income ratios, and may require a few months of cash reserves or even up to a year or more worth of mortgage payments. A little trick is to use a piggyback second mortgage to avoid taking out a Jumbo loan. Jumbo rates can be higher than those on conforming loans, so borrowers buying a high-value home may take out a conforming mortgage, then cover the rest with a piggyback loan and down payment.
Qualified For A Loan
Let’s assume you found your dream home for $850,000 in the perfect neighborhood. Now, throw in you were just told by your Jumbo lender that the loan for $680,000 you were qualified for, no longer exists. When the reserves required become higher, your rate just went up too. You could instead go with a conforming loan of $569,250 plus a piggyback loan of $110,750 and save the day.
Every day this pandemic throws new challenges our way. Because of that, we continue to adapt and improvise and overcome. This is why it is essential to work with people you trust. Lenders that have decades of experience will guide you through the steps of homeownership and finance. Be safe, everyone.
These Covid-19 mortgage tips to save your deal are part of the full- service we provide to our clients. Call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors today with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— Dan Tharp with Guild Mortgage
April 2020 Housing Statistics for Sacramento County
April 2020 Housing Statistics for Sacramento County shows the trends are mighty clear, says Josh Amolsch. This is an exciting blog post from Josh, enjoy his read below. –JaCi Wallace
We are in a completely different place right now than we were at this point last year. Do you all remember the glorious days of April 2019 when Sacramento County single-family home inventory was 26% higher? When the median home price was $15K less than it was last month? I sure do remember, and all my wonderful buyer clients do, too.
Sellers in April 2020 were enjoying getting 100% of getting their asking price. However, if they are buying replacement property, they are staring down the barrel of having to be in the buyer’s shoes as they move on to their replacement home purchase. With homes selling in 20 days in April 2020, which by the way is 43% faster than March 2020, you pretty much may have to take what you can get in this market.
I actually talked to a new potential buyer client today about the market. I had to show him the reality that his idea of getting a beautiful home in Stonelake, Elk Grove, wasn’t going to work. He wanted to offer $70,000 under asking price, and this is a dream that he needs to wake up from. He cited a Covid19 previous report about patience and Covid19; his take was a market price-drop. His assumption was that people suddenly want to give their homes away. Nope. Kinda need a shelter to shelter-in-place.
Some of you may have seen my teaser post on social media about the “Cumulative Days On Market,” reaching 20 days for April 2020. Well, here it is in all of its shocking glory. It is taking twenty (20) days on average for single-family homes to sell as of April 2020. We have not seen homes selling this quickly in Sacramento since July 2017, when we hit 19 days. That appears as a hot summer market in Sacramento’s real estate, even with a global pandemic.
Think about this, going back as far as Trendgraphix allows, I did not find a time when homes were selling this quickly. So, if you are putting your home on the market, start packing and writing offers on replacement homes, because if this trend continues, you will be loading up that UHAUL before you can get to Costo to load up on apocalypse amounts of toilet paper.
The good news with the April 2020 housing statistics for Sacramento County show a positive change. Although we are down from April 2019 in inventory, sales, pending, and new listings, the inventory is up 15.5% in April 2020 over March 2020. The pendings are also up 4.3%. The uptick in new listings in March gave us more inventory in April, and buyers got back to writing offers. With this step forward, the median home price stayed strong at $400K for the second month in a row.
Another metric I am seeing is real-time stats comparing 4.1.2020 – 4.7.2020 vs. 5.1.2020 – 5.7.2020. We are already seeing 59% more pendings and 4% more new listings. Due to low inventory, sales are down 40%, but inventory is increasing by 14.7%. I predict we will continue to see a tight market, increased median home prices, homes selling quickly and, for most, if not more than what sellers are asking. Mortgage Rates Daily shows rates at 3.25% today, and these historically low rates are largely expected to keep driving the market.
Hang in there. Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold is well-versed in competitive markets and can help you whether you are buying or selling. Give us a call, text, or email anytime. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— Josh Amolsch
