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How to Find a Place to Rent in Sacramento
Trying to find a place to rent in Sacramento requires sleuthing.
If you are trying to find a place to rent in Sacramento, whether it’s an apartment or a house, you might have a tough time of it. Not only because we are experiencing a shortage of rental homes in Sacramento, but because the super nice places tend to rent fairly quickly. On top of this, there is no one particular online website to go to find homes for rent in Sacramento. But as a Sacramento Realtor, I do have a few tips for prospective tenants.
Sacramento Realtors do not find homes for tenants. Other cities in other states have rental agents who work with tenants and for a fee will help a tenant find a home. Not so in Sacramento. At least not that I can find. This is a business that some enterprising entrepreneur in Sacramento should open. They wouldn’t even have to maintain a brick and mortar, just a website would suffice.
The reason you won’t find rental agents, I suspect, is because there is not enough money in the rental business as a rental agent. Agents prefer to sell homes. What you will find are property managers.
Property managers work for the landlord. They don’t work for the tenant. Property managers employ rental agents who show rental homes that the owner of their property management company manages. Each shows only their own listings, in other words. If you’re trying to find a place to rent in Sacramento, try calling looking up property management companies in Sacramento and cruise through that inventory for rent.
Property management companies where you may find a place to rent in Sacramento
Lyon Real Estate Property Management
Homepointe Property Management
Sacramento Delta Property Management
Another place online to search for a place to rent in Sacramento are websites that cater to listings but also provide rental properties in Sacramento. Be very careful when you are looking for homes or apartments to rent in Sacramento online. There seems to be an inordinate number of scams, many originating in Africa. They swipe listing photos, make up a rental ad, steal your deposit and first month’s rent and you never hear from them again. If the rent seems disproportionate for the neighborhood, it probably it is a scam.
Websites With Places to Rent in Sacramento
For people with pets who need to find a rental in Sacramento, I have written a separate blog from a few years back that include pet-friendly rentals such as apartments and houses available in Sacramento. Please check out Pet Friendly Rental Homes in Sacramento.
When you get tired of renting a home or decide to explore buying your own place in Sacramento, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Buying a home in Sacramento today is often cheaper than renting. Don’t ask a property manager to help you to buy a home. That job belongs to the professionals who do it every day like Elizabeth Weintraub.
Are Homeless People a Material Fact in Midtown Sacramento?
Are homeless people a material fact in Midtown Sacramento?
A home seller asked me recently: are homeless people a material fact when selling a home in Midtown Sacramento? She said she’s lived in Midtown for so long that the homeless population in the area has become a fact of life, a daily occurrence, no different than the sun rising and setting every day. You come to expect it so you don’t pay much attention to it. Homeless people are prominent near homes in Midtown Sacramento, as well as other areas of Sacramento, and all over the world.
Except maybe for Cuba. You ask a Cuban about homeless people and they tell you there are none. That the government provides. Fifteen days of rations is the stipend in Cuba. People have to fend off hunger the rest of the month. While I did not see any homeless people during our trip to Cuba last year, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do not exist. Further, the close bonds developed through a strong family structure in Cuba is often such that there is always a place to go. Not quite the same as our families in Los Estados Unidos. Cubans will say if you see a homeless person, it’s because the person chooses to be homeless.
Not so in California. Many people are homeless because they have no choice. Still, they are not a defined protected class under the 7 protected classes of Fair Housing or even the extended classification by the state. But does that make homeless people a material fact?
I asked the seller if the homeless people sleep on her sidewalk, whether the homeless trespass on her property or throw stuff on her lawn? Generally with a disclosure, it’s a good idea to stick with what you know. You don’t want to go overboard, but you also do not want to under-disclosure or intentionally withhold a material fact. Material facts are anything that would prevent a buyer from buying the home or reduce the amount the buyer would pay for the home if such a fact were known.
Simply the fact a seller is asking whether a disclosure should be made often indicates the answer is yes. However, I suggest sellers stick to the facts and be brief. People get into trouble when they ramble too much. As a Midtown Realtor in Sacramento, my duty is to look out for my client’s interests. I’ve heard people mumble about Realtors not being forth coming or discouraging disclosures because maybe the transaction won’t close, and that’s such a dumb analogy. The fact is most Realtors routinely practice risk management to reduce the chances of either the agents or the sellers getting sued.
When questioned further, the seller said homeless people dig through the recyclables in the street, although not her containers because she does not put her recyclables in the street for pickup. Does she know for a fact those people are homeless? If the question is are homeless people a material fact, then the seller should probably verify whether those trash pickers are homeless. A good way to disclose might be people pick through the recyclable trash containers in the street and there are homeless people in the area. Those are the facts the seller knows.
Buyers don’t really care what sellers tell them, as long as a seller discloses. That’s the bottomline. If you’re looking for a Midtown Realtor in Sacramento, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. 40 years of service.
If You’re Thinking About Moving to Sacramento
Tower bridge early summer in Sacramento from the banks near the levee bike trail.
If you’re thinking about moving to Sacramento, you probably need a relocation Realtor in Sacramento who can help. You’ve come to the right place. Not only do we work with relocation companies across the country through our affiliation with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, but this top Sacramento Realtor has been through the scenario herself. I moved my real estate business to Sacramento in 2002 from Minneapolis. As such, I am intimately aware of the concerns of new home buyers who are moving to Sacramento. This knowledge can pave the way for a safe transition.
It doesn’t matter where in the Sacramento Valley you are moving, if you are moving to Sacramento, the Elizabeth Weintraub Team can make your trip simple, easy and fun. We are specialists at closing homes concurrently, and can ensure that the closer of your existing home elsewhere will transfer funds directly to your escrow in California. We remove the stress and worry so you can focus on your new home.
See, I know you experience a double shot of euphoria through relocation. When you’re moving to Sacramento from other parts of the country, you are moving to CALIFORNIA, the land where dreams come true. Relocating to California, especially northern California, is exciting all by itself. I promise you, the prospect of buying new homes in Sacramento is even more thrilling. We sell homes outside the city proper such as homes in Carmichael, homes in Rancho Cordova, homes in Elk Grove, as well as homes in the Capitol Corridor: homes in the Fabulous 40s, homes in East Sacramento, homes in Land Park and homes in Curtis Park.
If you’re thinking about homes in Folsom, or maybe even homes in El Dorado Hills, which is in Eldorado County or homes in Roseville, located in Placer County, or even next door to homes in West Sacramento or homes in the city of Davis, both of Yolo County, we service those areas, too. The team sells around 100 homes a year, so we have valuable experience all over the city and outlying areas of Sacramento.
Further, we answer our phone. We pride ourselves on strong communication and staying in touch, something that we’ve heard many other agents lack. We’ll help you every step of the way. We know our stuff. We don’t just email you listings, we find you the perfect home and ensure a smooth closing. To get started, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Buying a Sacramento House You Have Not Seen
Elizabeth Weintraub poses in dilapidated entrance to a home in Cienfuegos, Cuba
Buying a Sacramento house you have not seen is not for everybody. Oh, sure, we’ve done it a few times, like when friends and family picked out a home for a person who had not seen it, and that worked out fine. Heck, my husband and I even bought a house in Hawaii, and he still hasn’t seen it. But other times, when nobody, not even your agent has seen the house, there is inherent risk. Especially when it’s sold AS IS.
An investor from the Bay area called a few days ago to say she wanted me to sell a home in south Sacramento for her, but first we needed to deal with the tenants. The tenants, it turns out, are former owners who were foreclosed upon. We talked about cash for keys, and I let her know that I am not a property manager, so I could not approach the owners to discuss it. Not only that, but I do not have the listing in writing, so I have no fiduciary relationship with her.
She was ready to sign a listing so I could go over there to inspect the property but that still was not a good idea. The occupants might not be receptive to a visit. She has had no contact with the occupants. Her best course of action was to evict the tenants, and I know the best eviction lawyer in Sacramento to refer. It seemed like that idea had not occurred to her. I don’t know how one goes about buying property at a trustee’s sale, buying a Sacramento house you have not seen, without a plan for the next step. Perhaps the price was just too good to pass by?
As a top producer Sacramento Realtor, I always check the lockbox readings from my Supra when I receive a purchase offer because you might be astonished at how many agents think it’s perfectly OK to entertain buying a Sacramento house you have not seen. The reason agents hold that belief is because the buyer can always cancel without penalty during escrow, pursuant to paragraph 14B1 of the RPA. It’s no skin off their nose. But it leaves the seller raw.
In fact, I engaged in such a discussion recently when an agent indicated that he planned to send an offer exceeding list price and show his client next week. Yeah, except it’s all hunky-dory for the buyer who may later tear out of the harbor, leaving in his wake a poor seller with a back-on-market rejected house. Then we end up scrambling to reconstruct a different plan in an attempt to regain lost momentum. All because of buying a Sacramento house you have not seen.
Agency Representation Does Not Mean Making Decisions for Sellers
Client representation does not mean making decisions for them.
Representing real estate clients does not mean making decisions for them, but how many times have we seen listing agents in Sacramento try to do exactly that? It’s not their fault, really. Many real estate agents tend to become overly invested and involved in a transaction. They feel protective of their sellers and can sometimes turn the transaction into their own. They may forget who owns the property.
We encountered a listing agent recently who demanded that our buyer rewrite the purchase offer. Because she most certainly was not about to advise her home seller to accept an offer with XYZ in the offer. In fact, she could not see how in the world any seller would take an offer with XYZ in the purchase contract, yet sellers routinely accept these types of offers with XYZ without blinking an eye. It’s been fairly common place.
The property has been on the market for a while; the buyer was offering list price. Yet the listing agent insisted that the seller would reject the offer without revisions and, worse, without presenting the offer to the seller. There is no point in promoting adversarial relations as that kind of approach does little to persuade a recalcitrant listing agent to cooperate.
If an agent is in charge of her own small nation of people, writing new rules for Sacramento real estate that carry no authority, it’s best in general to leave that agent to her own devices. Sellers deserve much better representation than a White Knight agent. We, as listing agents, cannot fall into the trap of making decisions for sellers. It’s easy to fall down that rabbit hole because we want to do what is right, but allowing our sellers the privilege of making their own decisions is what is right. And legal.
Sellers do not want to be told what to do. They want information from their listing agent, the pros and cons of a situation. They do not want their agents making decisions for sellers. Let’s take receipt of a lowball offer, for example. I try not to jump down the buyer’s agent throat. Nor do I push the seller to accept the offer. I don’t personally care if the seller accepts the offer, if you want to know the truth. I’d like to find a way for the seller to make the transaction happen, but if it’s not possible within the offer on the table, there will be another.
This Realtor provides options. And I ask the seller to choose. I advise and counsel. Because after 40-some years in the real estate business, I fully realize that agency representation does not mean making decisions for sellers. It is not the place of a Sacramento Realtor to agree with her seller’s decision, either. Nowhere in that agency disclosure required by California Civil Code does it state that the listing agent calls the shots.
