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JaCi Wallace
Some Realtors Do Not Follow Up With Other Sacramento Realtors
It is always a surprise to me when some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors. One example of this was a recent sale of a condo to a lovely young couple. The lockbox on this condo, which we had used for entry, was located on the front door. Nothing was ever said by the listing agent that the lockbox belonged to someone else before we closed.
I called the listing Realtor after closing as she had not removed the lock box. It was still on the front door! Here is the challenge: the listing agent said it is not her lockbox! Well, it was on the front door of her listing. Why didn’t she get it removed? Why did it become our problem? She said the agent who owns the lockbox is ignoring her calls and texts. Of course now it falls on us to get it removed one way or the other. When some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors, it results in a sure-fire way to cause frustration for everyone in a transaction.
When you close escrow as a listing agent, everything should be completed. Something such as ignoring a lockbox on the property, simply because it doesn’t belong to you, is not a good business practice. Whatever is left undone will only surface later and cause frustration for a new owner. I asked the listing agent for the contact information of the lockbox owner. She sent it to me. I called and left a voice mail that it was in everyone’s best interest to remove her lockbox. Additionally, that the property owner is calling Metrolist (our local MLS service provider), to report her. I added I was willing to remove it if she gave me the shackle code. So far, no call back.
When some Realtors do not follow up with other Sacramento Realtors, something easy to solve becomes a weight on other shoulders. We now need to fix a problem that wasn’t ours in the first place. Our clients write 5 star reviews on our listings because these loose ends simply do not happen.
We close the loop each and every time we close an escrow. Further, we also use our own lockboxes as we have some 70+ lockboxes registered in MLS. No need to “borrow” anyone else’s. If you want to ensure your real estate transactions are never left half-baked, call the Weintraub & Wallace team — we finish what we start. 916-233-6759.
Why My German Shepherds Wear Electronic Collars
For training, my German Shepherds wear electronic collars, like the orange one in this picture. Meet, Godzilla, my 3-year-old male. He has 100 % traceable German bloodline in his pedigree. His sire is a German import named Rex. Rex is a 100-pound black-and-tan and he lives in Texas now. His dam (mother) passed away when Godzilla was a puppy. Her parents were both from Germany and her sire was a champion and Schutzhund level 111.
Godzilla comes from very well bred bloodlines and superior health. His hips and elbows passed OFA X-rays. He is a loving boy and a fantastic watch dog. Godzilla has very even temperament. His playmate, Tangiers, is a bit moody and edgy; she is his sister. I often use my alpha voice on her as she is strong willed. They play very rough with each other and Godzilla often lets her win the wrestling matches. When he has had enough he lets her know with a verbal warning to back off. He acts like a puppy with me and loves to go anywhere in the car. Everyone who meets Godzilla absolutely loves him.
Make no mistake, I fiercely love my dogs; yet, for training purposes, my German Shepherds wear electronic collars. Shepherds have a high prey drive. They have a chase reflex that once engaged can be difficult to stop when they are after a rabbit or a cat. The electronic collars send a signal that disrupts the pattern and gives an opportunity to put the dog under control. The shepherds with German bloodline can be tough as nails. By that I mean they are bred to not feel pain easily so that if they were protecting me and someone kicked or punched the dog, they would fight back. These dogs possess a high tolerance for pain.
Powerful breeds of dogs need to run and work everyday as it keeps their anxiety and stress levels down. Much like people that exercise regularly it can reduce stress, enhance mood, and promote sleep. These dogs need a physical outlet for their high energy. As I live on acreage they have a gigantic outdoor fenced area to run freely all day. At night, they both sleep on my porch next to my bedroom slider door. They like to look in and watch over me at night. I never worry about anyone jumping my fence!
Some people question use of these collars. Electronic collars can keep a dog safe. I think they are a humane safety tool when used effectively. Godzilla could jump a 7-foot fence with ease and he would often be on the other side of my fence in open pasture. Luckily, he did not run away as I live off of a very busy street. Had he made it to the road, he could have easily been run over.
When training, my German Shepherds wear electronic collars to stop them from escaping my yard. One night I watched Godzilla as I hid behind my curtain. He had his orange collar on and I had the remote in my hand. When his hind legs lifted off the ground to jump, I hit the shock button on a high level. He fell backward immediately. What the dog learned in one training exercise was if he tried to jump the fence, something bad happened out of nowhere. He never jumped a fence again.
I often take Godzilla if I’m showing real estate in a remote rural area of Sacramento County or if I think we might encounter squatters in a vacant house. It is reassuring to bring a four-legged bodyguard with sharp teeth! I then take him to In and Out Burger drive through as a reward for his guard duty. If you see me driving around Sacramento, give a wave to Godzilla as we are often cruising together down the freeway together. Call Weintraub & Wallace today for your real estate needs 916-233-6759. We always protect your interests.
— JaCi Wallace
A Previous Deputy Sheriff and Now a Sacramento Realtor
Clients are often astonished to learn that I was a previous Deputy Sheriff and now a Sacramento Realtor. I realize these two professions share some similar qualities in common, but not everybody else sees it. I used to joke that the quality of the passengers I drive around now is much better than it was back in 1988!
All joking aside, as a law enforcement officer I often had to problem solve. Solutions were required in split seconds. I worked in West Sacramento, Broderick and Bryte. At that time, it was a pretty rough area. The Yolo County Sheriff’s Department covered all the unincorporated areas of the county. West Sacramento had not yet incorporated.
There was quite a bit of work as drug labs were a staple for the area, and crime was abundant. With approximately 52 hotels on the main strip, there was no shortage of calls for police to respond. A good place to work for a cop, as it was busy night after night. Whatever the dispatcher sent you to do required great problem solving skill and any challenges were immediately dealt with. My job was to keep the peace and protect the public. As a Deputy Sheriff Coroner, I also worked assisting the Coroner’s office and all that entails, I’ll just leave that up to your imagination.
For the first few years, I worked as required in the jail, but I really wanted to work on patrol. I wrote a K9 patrol standard operating procedure. Then bought and trained a dog with my own money. His name was Darth Vader. This did not cost the county one cent and so they agreed to my proposal. I was taken out of jail operations and placed in the patrol division! As a previous Deputy Sheriff and now a Sacramento Realtor, I still love to drive around the county.
I enjoyed my job as a public servant helping people, protecting them and applying the law to the various crimes I encountered. I worked night shifts as I’m a night owl. My job was drive around and look for crimes in progress. I was never bored. Working in Patrol driving all night long was some of the best days of my life. You can never really know your capabilities until they are tested. Fortunately I had great training. I carefully prepared my safety equipment and tools every night. I learned from every encounter. My ability to read people and evaluate situations that appeared out of the ordinary, serve me well to this day. As a previous Deputy Sheriff and now a Sacramento Realtor, I use all my past experience in the present to negotiate the best terms for my clients.
One evening I took my dad on a “ride along.” I pulled over the driver of a car for expired vehicle registration. Came back to my patrol car and ran the suspect’s name with dispatch. He had no driver’s license and he had warrants for his arrest. I put the suspect in handcuffs, patted him down while reading him his Miranda rights. Another squad car transported him to the jail as I had a civilian in my car.
My dad was so shocked that anyone would drive a car without registration, insurance and lack of a driver’s license. He said, ” Kid, you can handle things all by yourself.” I said: “Dad, all problems have to be dealt with as quickly as possible, before they mushroom into more serious issues.” Little did I know that same statement would apply to my job in real estate all these many years later.
If you want to protect your investment in real estate, call the Weintraub & Wallace team today 916-233-5967. We protect your interests.
— JaCi Wallace
A Fixer Home Selling As Is In a Probate Process
Today we would like to discuss a fixer home selling as is in a probate process. This was a recent sale on a listing where the seller was a “probate administrator with full authority.” I could write a book on selling probate listings but, I will stick to the as is portion of this sale as it is most interesting yet often confusing for buyers. From the photo you can see the exterior condition. There were also interior issues.
The seller left behind quite a bit of personal property in the interior, which we had to deal with. Also, due to dust, molds or other issues, these listings can require Hazmat.
Probate properties are sold as is, as a general rule. Also, sellers must declare if there was a death in the property within the past 3 years. To show a property in this condition, a seller may have to do some type of remediation prior to us marketing the property. So, this property had some remediation work completed before going on the market.
Also, as the seller had passed away, his payments had gotten behind so the property was in foreclosure. The foreclosure process, once a Notice of Default (NOD) is filed, is public record. We can tell if a home is in foreclosure because the NOD is shown on the tax profile (most of the time).
In this situation, we had a very short window to cure the loan default, so acquiring a hard money loan became urgent. I know several companies that do hard money loans but they usually require a minimum loan of $75,000 – $100,000. This property needed less funds and these are expensive loans with fees based on loan amount. Fortunately, I know a source for this type of loan. In fact, this particular hard-money lender used to flip homes. That company was willing to loan this estate the funds to pay off the delinquent liens and cure the foreclosure action.
The buyer was very committed to purchase the property. Also, the buyer’s agent was familiar with the area. She knew the importance of buyer’s inspections such as a well and septic. During the inspection process, a local company inspected the septic and found it was not working. They had to additionally bring in a backhoe. Further complications, it had been snowing at this elevation and there were very icy road conditions. A backhoe was not easy to arrange. The extent of the repair was extensive and the estimate, expensive. The even larger looming issue was it could be months before the work on the septic could be completed due to weather. Would the buyer move forward with these issues?
This defective septic system was a surprise to everyone. The estate attorney, the professional fiduciary, and the heir were all informed. I suggested a credit be considered as it was the request of the buyer’s agent. The reason for this credit was to encourage the buyer to continue forward with the purchase, in lieu of cancelling. The parties all agreed a credit was in order to provide a close of escrow as soon as possible. An immediate closing would prevent the estate from incurring any further costs or any other expensive surprises. With the winter weather conditions, a hard money loan due in one year, a septic that may not be operational for months, and property insurance issues, we needed to close asap.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention the insurance challenges. The seller researched many insurance companies. Dealing with a very high fire rating for the area and an unoccupied property, these two items prevented most insurance companies from providing full coverage. A California basic fire policy was obtained to prevent a major loss from fire. Due to all of the recent California forest fires, all agreed there was immediate need for fire insurance to be in place. This is all part of listing a fixer home selling as is in a probate process.
We finally closed escrow and the buyer was thrilled to own the property. The buyer’s agent did a good job of completing inspections and keeping her side of the transaction moving forward. The probate attorney was fabulous to work with, too. In fact, we sold the property with all the personal property inside, including a truck and a trailer in the yard. The attorney completed all the additional documentation for the personal property to be included in the sale, without warranty expressed or implied. The professional fiduciary and her team were top notch, I cannot say enough kudos about their expertise.
As you can see, this was not a traditional real estate sale, this was a probate. Being declared an Expert Witness in probate court, I am often selected to work on very complicated cases. This is because I have been selling probate properties for over 10 years. It is a sub-specialty practice I enjoy. Closing a fixer home selling as is in a probate process is no easy task. Expertise counts here as mistakes are not tolerated within the probate court. Everyone is expected to complete their official duties in a professional and competent manner.
If you have a potential probate sale, a successor trustee sale, a conservatorship sale or a traditional real estate re-sale home, you can feel confident in the Weintraub & Wallace team to close the escrow. We are a solution-based team. Call us today at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Why Realtors Prefer Open Houses on Sunday Afternoons
Do you know why Realtors prefer open houses on Sunday afternoons? Many Realtors who take new listings put them on the market on a Thursday afternoon. This gives us a few days to market the Sunday open house to ensure a high number of visitors on a Sunday. I signed a new listing today in Natomas and met our photographer there. Our plan is to roll the property out on Thursday and enter it into MLS that day. I have ordered a Coming Soon sign, which will also promote it, and I will market the open house online in several places.
Years ago, when I worked for a company in Sierra Oaks office in 1998, we held open houses on Sundays from 2-5 PM or Saturday 1-4 PM. Back then, Realtors thought that was too long and everyone started doing Sundays 2-4 PM and Saturdays 1-3 PM. This trend caught on and the new times took root.
What I noticed at opens on Sundays at 4 PM, often the visitors are still coming. We see many Sacramento Realtors locking up, telling people the open house was closed. I thought this was an odd practice as aren’t we there to have people come? I decided that as long as visitors were still coming, I would stay. Much of the time, the bulk of traffic came at 3 PM and after. Realtors prefer open houses on Sunday afternoons because it is the busiest day of the weekend.
Like my partner Elizabeth Weintraub says: “Sunday open houses is a religious experience of California.”
It takes a lot of preparation to complete the planning and advertisement for a well attended open house. Pulling comparable sales in the area and preprinting flyers so we can deliver them to the neighborhood the morning of the open is a great practice. Likewise, putting out an open house sign rider stating day and time early in the week so people see it beforehand and come back on Sunday.
Sending open house marketing to agents who have sold or listed in the area is a great way to increase traffic, because they tell their buyers about it. Social media posts are very effective to increase traffic. Also, setting out all the open house signs from busy streets to easily direct people.
These are just a few ways you can ensure great traffic, we have more but I am running out of time. The thing is Realtors prefer open houses on Sundays; even though it may be a lot of work to prepare for, but we want the highest traffic and best opportunity.
If you would like to have a very busy, well promoted open house, please call the Weintraub & Wallace team 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
