Email ElizabethReal Estate Tips
Should Realtors Let Sellers and Buyers Talk to Each Other?
Everything is not always hunky dory when sellers and buyers talk.
Should Realtors let sellers and buyers talk to each other during a real estate transaction? There are some buyers, I’m certain, who feel it is a big imposition to continually ask questions of their buyer’s agent when the agent doesn’t have the answer without asking the listing agent. The listing agent, in turn, then gets the information from the seller and delivers it back to the buyer’s agent who, in turn, relays the information to the buyer. In our world of instant gratification, it’s not unusual for a buyer to feel this is too long to wait for an answer, and things would be just so much simpler and easier if Realtors let sellers and buyers talk to each other.
Now, depending on the Realtor, I can’t say this is automatically a bad idea. Because all Sacramento Realtors, for example, are not created equal. Some are on the job 24 / 7 and have years of experience, are dedicated, focused and communicate well. Others spend their time on the golf course, taking kids to soccer, mending inter-family riffs, going to school, or hanging out at the pool hall, hard to say, but they are not always available and they often sell 1 or 2 houses a year. That doesn’t give them much experience regardless of how long they’ve been licensed.
So, if you’ve got a bad agent who doesn’t communicate, it’s understandable that a buyer would want to talk to a seller. If you’ve got bad agents on both ends of the transaction, which is not unusual either, it’s no wonder one of the parties might think it makes more sense if the Realtors let sellers and buyers talk to each other. They might have a basis for asking Realtors to get of the way and let the transaction happen. But even under those circumstances, it’s still not a good idea.
People hire an agent because they want a buffer. A person with experience to manage the transaction. I share with my team members that managing an escrow includes managing and fulfilling your client’s expectations. It’s not an easy job, sometimes. Yet, most Realtors are equipped. We keep the peace. We advise. We try not to let our clients break the law. People sometimes come up with crazy ideas that violate real estate regulations and guidelines and California Civil Code.
They don’t know any better. But Realtors do. Realtors like me who sell 100 or so homes a year on average know far more about the business than a seller, for example, who maybe sells three homes in her lifetime.
If you’re a buyer with a bunch of questions, the best thing you can do is put those questions into writing. You never know, one could possibly need those answers in a court of law someday, and it’s always better to have the information in writing than relying on memory and say-so. Write them down, give them to your agent, and ask the seller to respond. It doesn’t take that long. We use digital devices. I will also add there is a reason in California why the “meeting around the closing table” is not in use like other parts of the country. Sometimes the parties are so mad by closing, they would kill each other if they came face-to-face. It hasn’t happened to me lately, thank goodness.
Working With Real Estate Investors Buying in Sacramento
Real estate investors buying in Sacramento love our home prices.
Who doesn’t love working with real estate investors buying in Sacramento? In what agents call our “thinventory” market, which is still limited despite an uptick of listings, real estate investors are buying homes that first-time homebuyers pass by. Sometimes this means working with agents from the Bay Area who represent Bay Area investors. For some, English is a second language, and things can get lost in translation, if you’re not overly careful, like I am.
Plus, it’s not unusual to run into misunderstandings over verbiage. Say a buyer agrees to purchase a home in its AS IS condition and then changes his mind, for whatever reason, and now wants a credit against the sales price. Or, maybe his agent did not remind him what AS IS means. Or, maybe he never intended to purchase the home AS IS to start with and simply wanted to beat out every other buyer — what we call deception and they claim is strategy. Or, maybe his definition of AS IS varies from our definition. Hard to say.
It is not uncommon, in that scenario, for an agent from out-of-area to try to make demands that are not agreed to in the purchase contract. Some agents operate under very different rules than the rest of us; although we are all governed by California real estate law. They also might not understand that disclosures are provided within the first 7 days of the California Residential Purchase Agreement and not in advance as is the practice in, say, San Jose, for instance.
It can mean it’s more work for the Sacramento Realtor, but that’s OK. Further, I should probably point out that I’ve worked with plenty of agents from the Bay Area who are smart, savvy and fun.
Still, we love those Silicon Valley and Bay Area investors. Those are real estate investors in Sacramento who have cash, not just hard-money loans, and are willing to go the extra yard or two it sometimes take to buy a home in Sacramento. Many homes in Oak Park or North Sacramento, areas with lower median sales prices than the average, for example, are owned by Bay Area investors. The prices of some of those homes are about the same as a covered parking spot in San Francisco.
I can see why real estate investors buying in Sacramento are attracted to our wide variety of homes for sale. In fact, we just closed a sale in Natomas, a fixer home that needed a lot of updating. We received a premium price for that home, too. If you’re thinking about listing a home that you’re unsure will sell, call Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate at 916.233.6759, and it’s possible we’ll sell it to real estate investors buying in Sacramento.
Three Houses Left in Sacramento New Homes Development
1 Declan Court is for sale @ $429K to $479K Variable Pricing in Sacramento New Homes Development.
This Sacramento new homes development has only 3 houses left to buy in the wonderful inner city neighborhood of Elmhurst, near East Sacramento. This neighborhood is one of the best kept secrets in Sacramento. Not very many residents have even heard of Elmhurst much less realize it is right across from East Sacramento, the way the crow flies.
If you don’t want to live in the suburbs but want a brand new home in the city, this Sacramento new homes development might be the perfect spot for you. It’s a small cluster of brilliantly constructed SMUD Smart Solar homes on a culdesac. We just closed #6 Declan yesterday at the list price of $485,000. Fortunately, for you, the 3 remaining homes are for sale with variable pricing at $429,000 to $479,000. Make an offer. Ask about builder incentives.
Three Houses Left in Sacramento New Homes Development
The houses in this Sacramento new homes development are 1688 square feet, featuring 3 master suites and an open floor plan. You’ll find everything you’d expect in a new home, including wood flooring, roll-out and soft closing cabinetry drawers, energy-efficient stainless steel appliances, and you can run the fine details of the home from your cellphone. You can turn on lights, set the security alarm, close the garage door, adjust the AC temperature, all from the convenience of your phone.
Enjoy a low electric bill, around $40 a month, through the magic of solar power. Big back yards are fenced. Builder is offering incentives such as upgrades, window coverings or professional landscaping or help with closing costs. Call your Sacramento Realtor or Elizabeth Weintraub, at Lyon Real Estate, 916.233.6759, for more information.
Open Sunday, June 26, 2016, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. #1 Declan Court, Sacramento, CA 95817, near 60th Street on T Street.
The One Star Review and a Bad Listing in Curtis Park
A One Star Review is meaningless when the poster is an anonymous bozo with small hands, like Donald Trump
Just in case you think everything in my world is always coming up roses, there are days when things don’t go so well, despite my best efforts to make my life and everybody else’s life around me run smoothly. I talk about the crummy things that happen to me so others will know they are not alone. No matter how much success anybody achieves, there is always a downside. Sure, I really have no complaints about my life. I’d say most days are 99% excellent, but every so often, as a result of that level of happiness, I encounter some weird roadblock. Like a bad listing in Curtis Park.
It’s kind of like waking up to the newspaper on my breakfast table and being confronted by a photo of Donald Trump. I’d rather not look at a picture of him at all, although the photographers do seem to go out of their way to make sure they choose the most unflattering angle and lighting when they shoot him, but there is also the strong possibility that those hideous photos are just how he actually looks. I’ve never met him in person and hope I never will. It’s on my bucket list to never in a million years have to meet Donald Trump. Like that’s even a possibility anyway, ha, ha.
Why don’t reporters employ an orange box with a black X in the center, and use that as his photo? Then we wouldn’t have to look at his mug. If every photographer in America said to themselves that they are going on strike and will no longer take photos of him, and instead they use a generic orange box with a black X, I think America could adjust. But there are other fish to fry. Like avoiding a bad listing in Curtis Park.
Like some bozo who called me late on a Saturday night, several times, to interrogate me about my seller in Natomas. He wanted the sellers’ personal and private information so he could talk them out of joining a class action lawsuit against DH Horton. The builder heard there were lawyers sniffing around the neighborhood, so the builder hired a bunch of assholes, excuse me, to call owners, to try to head off a potential lawsuit. This bozo expected me to help him. He wouldn’t shut up or stop calling. Instead, when I refused to help him, he went over to Google and posted a One Star Review about me that was bogus, such a joke, claiming I refused to give him information about a listing.
David Cowart, he said his name was, and that he owns Squeegee and Me in Phoenix. Well, I’ll never endorse you, David. But then I wouldn’t stoop to your level and run over to Google to brazenly make a false post because you were called out on your ineptness. Get a life, dude. I hope DH Horton doesn’t find out what you do. You’re not helping DH Horton. I’m sorry you have to make telemarketing calls for DH Horton and apparently can’t find a better job.
The Bad Listing in Curtis Park
Then last Saturday a seller in Curtis Park shook my hand, told me I had the listing, after I shot a bazillion beautiful photographs and thoroughly inspected the property. He later came back to say he had discovered a discount agent willing to work for thousands less, and I suggested he grab that stupid opportunity. Agents are not the same. He refused to listen. But I see this as a golden chance to avoid unneeded aggravation. I don’t need to try to further educate this guy. He had no business calling me in the first place. Good luck with that bad listing in Curtis Park.
Further, getting a laughable One Star Review from a person who has no place being a reviewer because he has established a zero relationship and ranks below that of a telemarketer, well, it helps me to appear more real, I suspect. Because most people can’t wrap their heads around the fact agents are not all idiots and that this Sacramento Realtor, does indeed at regular intervals, perform miracles, for lack of a better word. My performance of excellence is just too much for some people to handle. I receive all 5 star reviews from my clients. But at least I don’t have a bad listing in Curtis Park. There are silver linings. Crap is everywhere. It’s how you deal with it that matters.
Bottomline, I sell enough homes to rank in the top 10 agents in Sacramento over and over, year in and year out. My clients love me. I love my clients. And it just doesn’t get any better than that. So there you have it. Even top producers run into bullshit. Slight annoyance, and move on. Spreading joy and love is my motto. Not this hatred thing. No room for a bad listing in Curtis Park either.
Oh Possum, Opossum, Wherefore Art Thou in Sacramento?
An opossum could very well run along the fence in Elmhurst, Sacramento.
The first thought to pop into my mind after my office meeting yesterday was about a possum. We had just finished our early morning Wednesday office meeting at the Midtown Lyon office when our office assistant handed me a note and began to describe the peculiar phone call she received from a neighbor. As a top listing agent in Sacramento, it is not unusual for a neighbor near one of my listings to call the office to complain about some aspect of the seller’s property. I suspect they think they are calling the White House. Or, we Sacramento Realtors have magical powers.
In truth, we’re obligated only to pass along the message to the seller and / or buyer, depending on the message. Usually it’s something like a property line dispute, bothersome tree droppings or they don’t like the guy next door. A neighbor of a new listing this week asked me if potential buyers would like a 30-foot evergreen tree in the yard, like it was an eyesore, and perhaps I should ask the seller to cut it down because the neighbor doesn’t care for it. Drops crap in his pool. He didn’t mention a possum. He looked like a possum, though, now that I think about it. Former military, he had said. He looked mean. Like a possum. Yes, buyers hate trees; all trees should be cut down in Sacramento, removing our shade, destroying nature and contributing to further pollution.
I was raised in the Midwest, so I called the neighbor. She wanted to report that large rats have invaded my listings in Elmhurst, the brand new infill homes in Elmhurst, ranging from $459K to $479K. Those gorgeous SMUD Solar Smart 3 bedrooms, 3 bath homes. When I pressed the issue, she explained the rats run along the fences at night, so she just figured they came from new construction in Sacramento. Her friend wants to call Code Enforcement. She’s never seen rats this big before. Somebody better DO something!
Well, I see possums all the time in Land Park. They run along the power lines in the evening. They are nocturnal. I asked the neighbor to shoot a few photos with her cellphone camera and text the pictures to me. I explained what possums like, but she was adamant they were rats. I could have encouraged her to go ahead and call Code Enforcement, but she’d just be back on the phone to me to discuss the issue. I explained that rats lie low to the ground and run along the fence lines, but they do not dance on top of fences, regardless of how many times she has watched Topo Gigio as a child.
The city of Sacramento does not trap healthy wildlife. We had a skunk relocation program going on in Land Park for a while, but now that our backyard deck and spa is gone, we’ve not seen any skunks. If you spot a possum in Sacramento, I’d just be happy it’s not a rat. If you’d like to list and sell your home, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
