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JaCi Wallace
What You Might Not Know About Do Not Call Registration
Are all of your phone numbers registered on the do not call list? This was a blog written by Elizabeth many years ago. I wondered, how true is this today? It is absolutely very relevant today. You can click the link above in the first sentence and read the entire post. Yes, Zillow solicitors still call. Companies even pretend to be clients on Zillow to get through to us, and we agents pick up the phone as we think it is a new client.
So you know how much we love that.
— JaCi Wallace
There are many things I did not know about do not call registration. But I do know this: Talking on the phone is such an antiquated thing!
Yet, that doesn’t stop people from calling and leaving messages. Often, it’s spammers, advertisers and other types of people I don’t want to talk to. This is why I have my phone number registered at the Do Not Call List. I discovered something a few days ago that didn’t initially dawn on me. I run campaigns on Trulia and Zillow. When I get calls from Zillow, for example, my phone notifies me the caller is from Zillow. That’s because Trulia and Zillow use tracking phone numbers.
I get a lot of calls from Zillow, especially, who are telemarketers. Makes me wonder if Zillow is selling their list of real estate agents who advertise or if callers comb Zillow for those phone numbers. The only way to stop some of those calls is to register the tracking phone numbers on the Do Not Call List. And then report the callers. There is a reason for the Do Not Call registration. So, if you have other phone numbers out there, make sure you register them on the Do Not Call List. You can register 3 numbers at a time. If your phone number is on the Do Not Call Registry for 31 days, you can file a complain.
The team phone we call our batphone; many of the calls are spam. It complies with the Do Not Call registration. I block them, but they call back with another number. I constantly mark the callers as spam and use TrueCaller, too. Today we had a great call, it was a call for a listing referral. The motto is you have to kiss a lot of toads before a charming honest caller calls your number.
If you want your calls answered or returned, please call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors, with Re/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
Elizabeth Weintraub
How To Have A New Smile In One Day
How to have a new smile in one day? Well, when we sell a house in Sacramento, the seller has a huge smile, but that’s not the smile I’m referring to. While watching a TV show on botched cosmetic surgery, I saw a segment on cosmetic dentistry. What was mind-blowing was a gentleman featured who had been through several dental surgeries gone wrong. One of several issues, his dental implants were not screwed into the bone; he sought answers in the UK.
The amazing surgeons, doctors Anthony and Michael Zabutz of the Smile In A Day Dental Centers, are brothers. They are located in Petersborough and Folkstone, UK. The first surgeon did the demolition of the patient’s existing teeth and the other installed the new teeth. In under 12 hours, this patient had a new smile in one day. It was amazing to watch. I can’t imagine what it costs, but the patient walked out with a new set of uppers and lowers set in permanently using titanium screws.
Pretty slick to have two brothers specializing in cosmetic dentistry to be able to accomplish all this one day. One of the surgeons was trained in the US. Dental procedures have come along way. I have talked to many people who have had dental implants, but it was a long and grueling process.
I googled this fantastic dental team. It appears they put in temporary teeth in one sitting and have the implants inserted into the bone and later screw in the final permanent implants in a second office visit. This show shared a pretty slick way to obtain answers as to how to have a new smile in one day.
As RE/MAX Realtors, we also work in numerous counties as our brokerage has 60 offices in the following California counties:
- Sacramento
- Placer
- Yolo
- Nevada
- Amador
- San Joaquin
If you are interested in more information, you can Google these dental surgeons in the UK. However, if you are in California and want to have a smile on your face because we just sold your home for an amazing price, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors. We work with RE/MAX Gold in Sacramento, including Elk Grove and Wilton.
– JaCi Wallace
This is the Reason to Be a Top Listing Agent in Sacramento
“This is the reason to be a top listing agent in Sacramento,” was written by Elizabeth over a decade ago. An excerpt from the original publication was copied below, in italics. It had me thinking about what I could add to this interesting conversation.
A fellow real estate agent in Sacramento once told me that she prefers to work with first-time home buyers because they are more grateful than sellers. She said they were totally thrilled to be handed the keys at closing, more so than those who are handing over the keys. They didn’t complain. They didn’t nag her about why isn’t their home selling. I guess she moved up a notch or two in their eyes. And that approach works for her.
I’m very much the opposite. I love working with home sellers. I am a top listing agent in Sacramento. It shows in my production and I’ve been a top listing agent in Sacramento for a long time. I love selling homes.
Making a difference in somebody’s life is the key, though. Home sellers who have equity are happy when we close, especially when I sell the home for thousands more than they would probably get otherwise. Money makes everybody happy. If somebody tells you that money can’t buy happiness, that’s a broke person speaking. There is nothing inherently evil in money. It’s the love of money that corrupts people. Not money itself. — Elizabeth Weintraub
What is it that I love about being a top listing agent in Sacramento? It is the concentrated focus on a particular property. Getting to know everything about the specific listing requires becoming an expert on everything you can find out about the property. I was an investigator in my previous career. As a law enforcement officer, you have to piece together the different elements of a crime in the penal code. I do the same thing in my work now. I enjoy the research aspects very much.
Working on probate properties we often have minimal information as the seller is often deceased. We have to start digging in and putting pieces together. We begin with a title search to see what information is available. We then search the MLS to see if the property was listed prior. If not listed before, we look for other properties in the area for sale. These other listings will have information. For rural properties, there are several agencies we can check with to locate septic, perc tests, water amenities, power and land use.
Currently, we are working on a rural piece of land in Placer County. We begin with a parcel number. Then we tracked down the microfiche records and the historical data has been ordered. A discovery that the property is located within an HOA. This information was a huge help. The parcel is situated in a rural area of Cool, California. The perc test on a piece of land is extremely important. In the HOA, there are restrictions on each lot concerning if horses can be kept on site. There is also a water meter service to each parcel. Lastly, PG & E provides the power in the area.
Gathering the information that will help sell the property for the highest price is very important. Managing 20 listings or more takes focus and administrative time. If an agent is running around showing property all over several counties, it is impossible to devote 12 hours a day to listing marketing and management.
Each listing has a custom plan for us to sell it. If you would like a custom dedicated marketing plan to sell your property, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233.6759.
— JaCi Wallace
It Takes a Village To Close A Sacramento Escrow
It takes a village to close a Sacramento escrow is a blog previously written by Elizabeth Weintraub. I have included an excerpt in italics below as this is a broad stroke topic that deserves more dialogue.
Before the escrow begins we have the title officer order a Preliminary Title Report. We order the natural hazard report. Next, our pest and roof report. To sell a home as-is, for me, if the reports are upfront, then they know what they are buying. I’ve always practiced real estate this way for 25 years and it has never been a problem. Let me say though that this is not the only way to practice. Some agents order no reports and, in fact, do not want to know anything and that is just as correct. It’s all a matter of the path you feel confident using.
I sell a lot of probates and these are sold As-Is. My fiduciaries and attorneys prefer I order the reports. I put right in the counter offer that any attempts to renegotiate or ask for credits you will be canceled at the first opportunity. I have the buyer sign the reports and a receipt for reports. No matter how well you prepare, agents still may come back asking for repairs and the seller says “no dice, no repairs.” They threaten to cancel and then they come back around, if they are truly serious. Stupid game to close a Sacramento escrow.
Welcome to home buying stress. Almost anybody who is buying a home in Sacramento today is stressed out. I don’t care who you are. There is no way to buy a home and not be stressed about it, so don’t feel alone. Even if you’re lucky enough to have beat out all of the competition and get your purchase offer accepted, you still need to get through underwriting. Lenders are much more strict than they were 5 years ago, more restrictive than a year ago or last month, it seems. Just because your lender says you’re fully approved does not mean you will get a loan.
I’m not trying to give you one more thing to worry about but getting approved by underwriting is a concern. I had one seller cancel an escrow a few months back because the buyer asked for too many extensions. It was a home in Elk Grove. No matter what the buyer did, she could not close her loan. The reason she could not close her loan was because the IRS was backlogged. She needed her tax returns from the IRS. She couldn’t get them. My seller got tired of waiting and canceled. I didn’t blame her.
Another buyer in Lincoln could not close on her escrow. Something happened to her financial situation so the USDA loan she was trying to get was no longer a reality. She could not afford the FHA loan under its program terms, so she ended up losing the house. She lost her earnest money deposit, too, if I recall correctly, or maybe they are still fighting over it. My seller sold to another buyer who could perform.
Just last night, a Roseville buyer found out her “fully approved loan” did not pass underwriting. She needs to now haul in her parents to be cosigners, which means escrow will be delayed. My seller expected to close this week, and now she will have to wait another couple of weeks or start with over with a new buyer. Oy.
You can see that nothing has really changed over the years. This stuff is still going on. But here at Weintraub & Wallace Realtors at RE/MAX, we know how to close a Sacramento escrow. If you would like a relatively stress-free transaction, please call us at 916.233.6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Rural Life With a mouse Always Keeps it Interesting
Rural life with a mouse always keeps it interesting. Everyone has their mouse catching stories, from humor to sheer yuck! So my sister — unable to have an indoor cat to do mouse patrol because she’s extremely allergic — has tried various methods with extreme results. In her last home, someone in the neighborhood had used rodent poison and she ended up with one dead mouse decaying in a wall with a horrible smell. Not sure which wall, it became a hit and miss to locate and eradicate the corpse. Kind of like whack-a-mole.
Presently, she’s preoccupied listening to the mouse, not only exploring her closet but also the drawers of her nightstand right next to her head as she lays trying to sleep. Oh, ick. She was totally freaking her out when she woke my brother-in -law ( at 1:30 am), demanding that he set several regular mouse traps with cheese or peanut butter in her closet and behind her nightstand. He’s dealing with some very clever mice as they eat the treats without activating the traps. Still driving my sister crazy! To be fair, he’s caught 4 to date in various places. But she’s also added the super sticky pads to surround the trap in the closet, thinking they’ll be successful outsmarting these clever mice she hears at night, but so far no dice no mice!! Until . . ..
The last few days she’s had a horrible migraine and just feeling funky like she has the flu. Just going about farm life in Sacramento. While housecleaning, she discovered a foul smell in the bedroom, but couldn’t locate it. Until today!! She got down on hands and knees to look under her nightstand. In a very confined space, clear back past the area rug up and against the wall, she spied some big dark thing.
She grabs her trusted flashlight and realizes my brother-in-law had put a super sticky mouse pad back there without her knowledge and, yes, there was the busy-body mouse! Dead as can be, stuck in the pad as well as ending life tangled in her lamp cord! This is a true story. So now she gets the face mask, gloves, Clorox cleaning towelettes, Lysol, sprays her whole arsenal to erase signs of this pesky rodent. A stinky dirty job for sure, not to mention it had begun chewing through her lamp cord trying to free himself, explaining why her light had been flickering. Yes, obviously her husband caught an ear banging when he got home for not sharing where he had placed this particular sticky pad. LOL!!
Most of us, especially out in the country, have a very capable barn cat or two to keep the rodent population down. But for y’all unable to have a cat for one reason or another, you can really see the importance of formulating a plan and deciding which method of elimination (traps) you’re gonna use to be prepared for your own mouse trickery. Rural life with a mouse always keeps it interesting. But if there’s more than one unwelcome resident in your home you might just want to share the location of said traps, or I may be reading your crazy mouse story in your own blog.
If you would like to sell or buy a home, please call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-223-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
