Email ElizabethReal Estate Tips
Why a Listing Agent Specialist is Like a Public Prosecutor
A listing agent specialist is to a public prosecutor as a buyer’s agent is to a defense lawyer.
My prediction is it’s the wave of the future: a listing agent specialist in Sacramento and an exclusive buyer’s agent versus your average Joe Blow Sacramento Agent. When you think about this, it will make more sense if you consider the way public prosecutors and public defense lawyers operate. They are both lawyers who passed the Bar. They might have had the same training and attended the same law school. But they are different from each other.
A public prosecutor works for the state, usually. The prosecutor’s job is to obtain a conviction. The defense, on the other hand, could be a private lawyer or appointed by the court to raise reasonable doubt and get the defendant out of jail. Opposite goals.
You would never see a public prosector state a case against the defendant and then run over to the other side of the courtroom and try to present a defense for the defendant. Hold on Your Honor, I have to take off my prosecutor’s hat and put on my defense hat. But you see this happen in Sacramento real estate all the time. It’s the goofiest way to do business. Based on greed, mostly.
I recall an elderly woman who called last year while I was furniture shopping. She demanded to know if I had sold a home on her street. She planned to hire only an agent who sells on her street. Even if that agent had no real experience, if the agent sold a home two doors down, that’s good enough for her. That seemed a bit narrowly focused to me. Around the corner is not good enough? She did not want to hire a listing agent specialist. But that’s exactly who she needed.
It’s bad enough some sellers consider hiring only a neighborhood agent. That neighborhood agent might sell one home every couple of months, on a rinse-and-repeat procedure. Whereas, a listing agent specialist might sell a couple of homes a week. Each with custom designed marketing plans designed to produce top dollar.
Long ago I decided against working with both buyers and sellers. I chose to become a listing agent specialist. Now that my focus is solely sellers, I have developed far superior skills than I used to possess. I see it in my results. I also chose the entire Sacramento area to be my territory. Thinking big. And now it is my territory.
My team members have been trained by me to work exclusively with buyers. Imagine the stellar service they provide when they’re showing 30 to 40 homes a week! They don’t give a hoot about sellers because their focus is buyers and what is in the buyer’s best interest. Just like my job is to protect seller’s equity. My focus is getting top dollar for sellers in very creative ways. We have opposite goals. As it should be.
We have developed highly refined ways of doing business because we specialize in client representation. Completely different experiences and strategies. Listing a home is not like buying a home. And buying a home is not like listing a home.
So the next time your agent wants to represent you as a seller and also work with you to buy a home, think about whether you would like a prosecutor to also be your defense lawyer. You truly deserve complete service with undivided attention from a professional. To learn more, call The Elizabeth Weintraub Team at 916.233.6759.
Working with Internet Buyers in Sacramento Real Estate
Sacramento internet buyers find listings and their agents online today.
It wasn’t that long ago, maybe 10 years back, an agent in my office asked why I would work with internet buyers in Sacramento real estate. This was an astounding concept in 2008. That a Sacramento Realtor could be found online by an internet buyer. Most of that search was organic because other agents were not online. They didn’t have websites nor blogs. Today, everybody has a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account.
Fast forward 10 years later, and I still maintain a higher internet presence. The difference is many buyers today come from the long tail I’ve created online or from websites where buyers go. I stand out in the sea of ordinariness. That’s why internet buyers gravitate toward me. They see value. According to NAR, 66% of first-time home buyers are Millennials. Followed by Generation X at 26%. Buyers value experience.
But some home buyers break protocol and try to work with many different buyer’s agents, which is a bit defeatist for them. They don’t often recognize this strategy as a problem immediately. Internet buyers might think everything is for free because they can find it online. But they can’t find everything online themselves, like they hope. Buying a home is not like picking out a loaf of bread. They really need the services of a top-notch buyer’s agent. Creating value for internet buyers is what working with buyers today is all about.
Buyer’s agents should ask themselves when working with internet buyers whether that individual is a loyal client. I laugh when buyer’s agents refer to some loser, gonna cancel the minute I get into escrow person, as “my client” when that buyer is not a client. If a buyer walks into a real estate brokerage and asks to see a property taped on a window, is that person a client? What do you think? I believe that’s just a customer who asked to see a property.
When a buyer calls a buyer’s agent, it’s the same thing. For whatever reason, the buyer found the agent online. Maybe the agent was featured in a media outlet news story. Perhaps the buyer discovered the agent through a company website? Through Facebook or a digital ad? It’s more common than not to hear a buyer’s agent refer to a potential buyer as “my client” when they’ve known the individual for all of 22 seconds. That kind of behavior among agents should just stop.
Internet buyers turn into clients when they continually engage with a buyer’s agent. When they ask questions and listen to responses. When they respond to emails. When both parties establish mutual respect. If an internet buyer fails to respond, it means she is not a client. For whatever reason, she doesn’t feel the love, the connection. Or she has formed a bad opinion of real state estate agents in general due to some horrible past experience.
Understanding Internet Buyers
However, the cold fact is all internet buyers search online. They think they can find a house for sale before their agent will find it. They send countless emails containing requests to see homes that are not for sale because they found those listings on Zillow, for example. To deal with this, buyer’s agents need to show compassion for internet buyers. One of the worst things a buyer’s agent can do is make the internet buyer feel stupid or inadequate.
It’s one thing to say, “thank you for trying to help me,” and it’s another to say what the hell are you doing looking at houses for sale on Zillow when all of that stuff is garbage and half of it is sold? It’s better to explain that Zillow does not allow agents to input their own listings anymore, so nothing that shows up in MLS will be on Zillow before it is in MLS. Yes, MLS rules. But garbage in, garbage out.
Personally, I love it that so much is available online for internet buyers. I often go to The Balance Homebuying website and pull articles from experienced agents, including myself, to send to clients. But some of the advice found elsewhere online is completely wrong. Whenever you get a bunch of agents in one place, you will get a large variety of opinions. Some useful, some not. My advice is always consider the source. This is wise advice for any online searches.
Why Internet Buyers Choose a Buyer’s Agent
But at the end of the day, internet buyers still can benefit from the services rendered by an experienced buyer’s agent in Sacramento. The Elizabeth Weintraub Team provides internet buyers with a complete list of our services, from A to Z, start to finish. Because internet buyers do not know why they should be loyal to one agent unless the agent gives them a reason. If an agent can’t produce 50 reasons to show why that buyer should work with that agent and adequately explain the value the agent brings, maybe agents should reconsider their approach.
Remember, internet buyers don’t know what agents really do. They view the job of a buyer’s agent as easy. Doing it right, the job is messy, statistical, analytical, time consuming, painful, exhilarating; relying solely on experience to learn and education to grow.
Buyer’s agents might ask themselves, are we simply a door opener? It’s easy for internet buyers to click that button to request a showing. Or, are we knowledgable buyer’s agents dedicated to the passion of finding that perfect home for an internet buyer? Winning the offer. Successfully closing escrow. The commitment and guarantee of performance will turn an Internet buyer into a satisfied client.
Besides, we all want that 5-star review nowadays. The difference is an extraordinary buyer’s agent earns it in blood.
California Transfer Disclosure Statement Mistakes Made by Sellers
Follow your agent’s tips to fill out the Transfer Disclosure Statement online.
Completing the California Transfer Disclosure Statement can be troublesome for many sellers in Sacramento. Although these documents are common place for most real estate professionals, we need to remember our sellers are not licensed in real estate. They don’t understand our lingo and “shop talk” has no place in Sacramento real estate. We need to make the completion of seller disclosures simple and easy for our clients.
I always tell my clients to call me if they have questions when completing the Transfer Disclosure Statement. We have only 7 days to deliver them to the buyer after contract acceptance. They don’t always call. Maybe it’s late at night when they get around to viewing the paperwork online. They just want to finish it and be done. Therefore, sellers might skim through the paperwork and not completely read the questions.
Common mistakes routinely made by sellers when completing the Transfer Disclosure Statement
On page one, Section I, Coordination With Other Disclosure Forms, there is a box for adding reports made pursuant to the contract. YES, check that box. The buyer will do a home inspection and possibly pest or roof or chimney or sewer, a whole slew of inspections.
On page one, Section II, Sellers Information, there is a box to check as to whether the seller is an occupant or not an occupant. Basically, do you live there or not? If the seller doesn’t live in the house anymore, the seller is not an occupant. Easy answer, but many sellers don’t know.
Also on page one are the items included in the sale of the home and descriptions. Here are hard-to-answer questions:
What is a 220 volt? It’s an enormous receptacle with 3 prongs that your dryer plugs into.
What is an Exhaust Fan? In the ceiling, generally, in laundry rooms, bathrooms and in your range hood in the kitchen. It sucks moisture out.
Number of Remote Controls? This is the device that opens your garage door. If you note 2 remotes, you better have two remotes to hand over to the buyer at closing. If you’re unsure, put zero. Be safe.
What is a Gas Starter? This is a key on the wall that starts a gas fireplace. If you have a wood burning fireplace, you do not have a gas starter.
Page 2 Part C of the Transfer Disclosure Statement, more common mistakes when sellers check No and should check YES:
Item #2) This is almost always YES. If for no other reason than you have a fence, usually in the back yard, that is shared and separates a neighboring property from yours.
Item #12) CC&Rs. Almost every home in Sacramento has CC&Rs. These are covenants, conditions and restrictions recorded in the public records around the time the home was built. The preliminary title report will tell you whether there are CC&Rs recorded against the property. Your title insurance policy when you bought the home will disclosure CC&Rs in Schedule B and except them from coverage.
Item #13 and #14 concern properties located within a Homeowner’s Association. If a seller pays an HOA fee to an HOA, then an HOA has certain authority. Check YES. If there are common areas shared with neighbors in an HOA the answer to #14 is YES as well.
At the bottom of the second page, if you checked YES to any of the 16 questions, you need to explain WHY you answered in the affirmative. Be brief. For example, you might say: #2 Fences. And it explains it all in one word.
Risk management says if you’re gonna get into trouble with the buyer, it could relate to the Transfer Disclosure Statement. Unhappy buyers who believe a seller lied to them are the worst kind to face in court. Don’t make these common mistakes when completing the TDS. If you need assistance or have a question, call your Sacramento Realtor for guidance. We are here for you.
Why Agents Should Explain all Home Selling Documents to Sellers
Explaining all home selling documents to sellers helps to avoid confusion later.
Home selling documents are not as simple and straight forward as some of us like to believe. Especially when you’re been in the real estate business for as many decades as I have, I have probably forgotten about more documents than the existing home selling documents we use today. We Sacramento listing agents can become complacent and assume sellers know everything when sellers usually know very little.
Even if the seller has sold homes in the past, almost every transaction is different, unique in some way. The home selling documents can also vary from transaction to transaction.
My client reminded me of this yesterday. I was working away on my computer set up out on my lanai, often pausing to look out at the white sail boats on the horizon when my phone rang with the song Sigh No More from Much Ado About Nothing. That’s my clue that I have a text. I love that melody. It makes me receptive to text messages. See how I set up those things?
My client had just arrived in Boise, Idaho, brrr. She texted me photos of the snow and remarked about the cold weather. We talked about a few things and then she said she was working on fixing an electrical problem and correcting something else in the house. I wondered why. So I asked her. She said the buyer put defects on the home selling document so she was fixing them.
Hmmm . . . I reminded her that the buyers did submit a Request for Repair, but that was for pest work, and we rejected it anyway. Her home is sold AS IS without any repairs. Certainly no electrical. My client said she found the repairs noted on the CR. That did not make sense to me. I asked for an explanation.
Well, she sent me the buyer’s agent AVID (agent visual inspection disclosure). The agent noted a few things that he knew did not work properly. This is why my client thought she needed to fix those things.
No, she doesn’t need to fix anything. I explained the home selling document is simply a disclosure. Sure, there have been times when a seller has argued with me over my listing agent AVID, demanding I change disclosures I made, and it can’t be done. Each agent makes his or her own disclosures and they stand on their own merit. It’s not a request for work. It can even be wrong. It’s just an agent’s observation.
I cannot begin to tell you how relieved my client sounded in her text message. I’m glad that I probed and discovered which of the home selling documents she misinterpreted. We Sacramento Realtors can’t take any document for granted. Sellers don’t work with these daily like we do. We need to stop and explain more. Nobody is ever offended when an agent tries to help.
Tips for Working With Non-English Speaking Buyers in Sacramento
Communication is more difficult working with non-English speaking buyers in Sacramento real estate.
Working with non-English speaking buyers in Sacramento real estate is more common than you might think. It’s no secret that our lower affordable prices and close proximity to the Bay Area draws to Sacramento many foreign buyers from San Francisco.
One of the recurring hurdles we need to cross is to develop trust. Which is difficult when you can’t really communicate. I mean, how do you tell a buyer, hey, we Sacramento Realtors are in many ways like those from the Midwest, honest almost to a fault, accommodating, desiring to assist and help. We are not slippery-slope big city sharks.
In one escrow that just blew up yesterday, the buyers relied mostly on a family member to interpret, and she thought she knew everything. You know the type. Can’t share any information because they mistrust the agent and they have all the answers. The know-it-alls find dozens of things to complain about, even when nothing is wrong. The answer is really to spend extra time with non-English speaking buyers in Sacramento, especially the know-it-alls. To be patient, kind, understanding, even when they attack your integrity.
It’s really hard for many people to trust anybody. It’s even harder for many people to trust real estate agents. I find it’s easier to communicate in writing with ESL or non-English speakers. Like my Español, where I’ve got lo siento down pat, it’s easier for me to read and write in Spanish than to speak it. I can make a request in Spanish but I do not understand the reply. I sold several homes last year representing sellers who did not speak a lick of English. I never even met the sellers. I did, however, spend a lot of time writing emails that explained how things work.
It was a lot more work on my end. I could not treat these sellers like regular sellers who understand English yet they still don’t get it. I had to break down every single step, explain every action. But in the end, they adored me. Not everybody is like that, though.
Take a buyer from the Bay Area who called yesterday. We were ready to show him a home in Elk Grove last night, but the listing stated all offers would be presented at 8 AM today. That meant if he wanted to buy it, the buyer would need to write an offer immediately. That news was offensive and foreign to the guy. It made him angry, agitated. He accused us of making it up, of working against him.
From where he stood, he was right to harbor that viewpoint. In retrospect, it might have been more clear to say the home was unavailable. But just because there are communication challenges with non-English speaking buyers in Sacramento real estate doesn’t mean we can’t offer patience, kindness and understanding. And let me tell you, Google translation is also a big help. Under these circumstances, it just takes more time to develop trust and a fiduciary relationship.
And yes, sometimes there are situations when it’s best to refer the buyer to an agent who speaks their native tongue.
