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
Time Change Fall Back In Sacramento 2019
The time change fall-back in Sacramento 2019 started like any other day. I got up and made my coffee. I grabbed two dog bones and went outside to put my German Shepherds out in their play yard for the day. Daylight saving time ended today, Sunday, November 3, at 2:00 a.m. We gained an hour of sleep, which is always welcome. Sleep is a time for recharging our batteries and who doesn’t need that?
I woke up so early and thought well might as well get an early start. My smartphone had the correct time, of course, so I never gave it a thought. When I sat down at my computer to begin my day, I looked up and my wall clock, it was showing an hour later. Ah, I thought better to set that clock back now, or I’ll be showing up an hour early for appointments.
The time change fall-back in Sacramento 2019 was a welcome change to this Sacramento Realtor. The fall weather brings cooler temperatures. I will miss the fresh tomatoes, though, picked right out of the garden.
If you would like to put your home on the market, fall is a great time. There is not as much competition, and buyers are out looking. Several of our properties have had multiple offers. Call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold, to help you with your real estate goals. We can be reached at 916-239-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Submit Offer Before Seeing A Listing
A seller can require buyers to submit offer before seeing a listing. At first, there can be Realtor pushback. Also, we received many buyer’s agent’s phone calls asking if we could please get them in because their buyer really needed to see it. Other agents saying well, good luck, you will never sell it this way. Of course, we would not disregard our seller’s instructions. After about 10 days, we started getting offers. We have received many offers to date.
This property is a tenant-occupied home. They have been there for more than 10 years. The seller did not want his tenants unnecessarily bothered by people looking who really had no intention of buying. We set up an appointment for the agents and buyers to come and view the property during a 30-minute appointment. It is a two-bedroom, one bath, with inside laundry. Most Realtors were pretty understanding, however; one agent complained about the condition of the property. I’m not sure what he expected for $200,000 in a decent neighborhood.
The tenants have been very cooperative and we respect their privacy. Submitting an offer before seeing a listing is the best showing instruction for these particulars tenants. The phone calls continue as Realtors are now asking if they should offer over list price! My answer: make your highest and best offer as there may not be a seller counter offer.
The property definitely needs work but is a fabulous opportunity for a lucky buyer. If you own a tenant-occupied property, face challenges with showing it and you are not wanting to evict them, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace