Email ElizabethPhotos of Our Hawaii Remodel in Kona
Who knew this Hawaii remodel in Kona would run 45 days past its completion schedule? Hey, it’s Hawaii. We all know. All I can say is it’s a good thing I extended my stay in Kona this winter because we needed that extra time to get the remodel finished. The major hangups were damaged cabinets (which Shenandoah had discontinued) and the quartz install. Those cabinets had to be outsourced and when they finally arrived, one of the replacements was damaged in four areas. Oh, man, just fix the first cabinet.
I paid for a perfect cabinet and ended up with one that had a defect. No way around it unless I wanted to wait another 8 weeks. Will Lowes give me a refund or credit for that damaged cabinet? Ha, ha, ha. It’s a Hawaii remodel in Kona.
Most of the problem with the Lowes kitchen remodel could have been avoided if I wasn’t dealing with Lowes. The contractors were fabulous, but the systems Lowes uses need work. It may surprise you to hear that Lowes has discontinued its PSI program for remodeling projects, but it doesn’t surprise me. I heard their new CEO put the kabash on that program last month.
The cabinets are distressed maple with a glaze and the pulls are Amrock pewter. Our previous kitchen was all white. Although a little bit nervous about stainless steel in a coastal environment, I suspect it will last longer than I estimate.
Both the stove and microwave are GE, and I purposely chose a design with the knobs on top so I won’t accidentally turn them on by leaning over the stove to operate the convection microwave. Counter tops are popcorn quartz, which shipped from Honolulu (twice) because the guy who sold them to me can’t measure. But what do you want from a guy who works out of a storage unit?
Unfortunately, his contractor went to Maui for a bigger job and pretty much stranded me with sub-par workers. It took the quartz fabricators two and half weeks to cut and install the quartz counters in the kitchen, plus the idiot cut the long backsplash by mistake so we have an unnecessary grout line. He also set the pre-rinse faucet back too far on the sink. His sidekick told me he hasn’t done a quartz remodel for 13 years.
This is the first bath remodel that the workers finished, which was completed last October. Except for the counter top guy who cut the hole in the wrong place for the faucet, this part of the project went well. We replaced a 9-inch deep fiberglass tub with a 15-inch deep, steel and enamel tub.
If I am giving in to my picky side, and why not, the tub faucet and lever is not perfectly aligned with the overflow, but only a person sitting inside the tub would notice. And there was having to call the quartz contractor guys back to connect hot water on the left. Now that I think about it, the Lowes contractor also had to fix the master shower connection. Out of 5 connections for water, only 1 was installed correctly.
The master bath was an easy project as well. We coordinated the shower glass installers to place it in channels, instead of with clips. Which sent the general contractor into a tizzy because it meant his tile guy would have to cut a lot more tiles all the way down on both sides. Lowes wanted to charge me more, but it wasn’t my fault they didn’t include that in their bid.
Nobody asked: are you using clips or channels? Lowes just told me to go to a glass contractor and referred me to Reflections. But I do like the bamboo design embedded in the glass. No water spots. These guys know what they are doing. Unlike the flooring guys who had to lay the floor 3 times and still messed up. No attention to detail.
From start to finish, this was a 6 1/2 month job, for which I made 4 trips to Kona to complete. But then I walk into the master bath around 4 PM in the afternoon, when the sun is low in the sky, and the Schoenbeck chandelier is shimmering on the walls and ceilings, and I don’t care how long it took or how screwed up the process was.
Although, I will say out of all the remodeling projects I have done in my life, and I’ve done many with my very own two hands, this Hawaii remodel in Kona was the worst. Like banging your head back and forth between door jambs, it feels so good when you stop.
Why Do Sacramento Realtors Try to Wear So Many Hats?
Often I wonder: why do Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats? But then I think back to when I started in real estate in the 1970s. I wore every hat I could get my hands on, and some hats simultaneously.
One hat in particular that I really adored and lost somewhere was a wide brimmed black felt brimmed with pheasant feathers. The side of the hat sported two long pheasant feathers, so if I happened to be sitting close enough to another person, like, say, planted on a barstool, I could slap the person next to me in the face with my feathers simply by innocently turning my head. So you know (don’t you), how much fun I had with that discovery.
Topics like dual agency and agents who work with both types of clients came up today while talking to a buyer who found me online. She had been looking at homes for sale in Sacramento and Placerville, and decided it was time to talk to a Realtor. I was the first agent she found, and of course I answer my phone.
Because I don’t work with buyers directly, and refer all buyers to an appropriate exclusive buyer’s agent on my team, I did not want her to feel like I wasn’t interested in her. Why do Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats? I had to explain that we do not. Our team each wears his or her own hat.
Do you realize what kind of superior skills can be developed by working with the same type of person over and over? It’s mind boggling, that’s what it is. For example, a Sacramento listing specialist comes to know listings inside and out, and forms an intimate relationship with sellers. By focusing on one particular aspect of real estate, we become true experts, in every sense of the word.
Clients don’t get that from agents who try to wear too many hats. Most agents work with both sellers and buyers. Some even try to sell mortgages, too. Further, the scary fact is the majority of agents in Sacramento sell 2 or 3 houses a year. That is why Sacramento Realtors try to wear so many hats. Because they don’t do enough business to support themselves in real estate by focusing on one single aspect.
So they become a master of none.
The buyer who called seemed very excited to speak with Barbara Dow from the Elizabeth Weintraub Team. Barbara is a few years older than I am and still going strong as well. We’ve been working together for a long time. When I explained how Barbara works solely with buyers, and is an exclusive buyer’s agent who is dedicated, the buyer sighed in relief. She had never considered finding an agent who only works with people like her.
An agent whose life mission is help her buyers find the perfect home in the best location at the best price. Barbara’s years of successful negotiation strategies help her to guide buyers in the right direction. She is a walking, talking gold mine for buyers.
If other agents would just pick a specialty and not try to be all things to all people, consumers would probably be better off.
By the time I ended our conversation, about 30 minutes later, the buyer said, “I am so lucky to have found you.”
Why Did You Cancel the Listing?
An agent called a few days ago to ask why did you cancel the listing? She was gonna show it, and now the listing has been canceled. It was there yesterday, she said, and now it is gone. Does this mean I can’t show it, she asked.
Immediately I offered assurance she could show the home. Just put the property address into MLS and you will find the listing, I suggested. I did not really cancel the listing. Felt no need to go into the long explanation of how to reset the days on market, which is exactly what I had done.
In fact, I received another call from a seller who wanted me to reset the days on market for his listing, but he was listed with another agent. Not sure what kind of role he thought I played in writing that blog, as I imagine I had made it fairly clear that I am a Sacramento listing specialist who solely represents sellers when selling a home. Maybe he thought I possessed magical powers or knew some secret to share for a fee?
But I could tell for certain that the agent who asked why did you cancel the listing was not overly familiar with that tactic. She worked at a discount brokerage, so I automatically assume those buyer’s agents are newbies. Whether she was I don’t know.
However, she was adamant that the listing had been canceled. When I explained the home had been re-listed, she seemed relieved. You would think the first thing an agent would do is check to see if the home has been re-listed. Well, they will learn.
Now that the market is beginning to pick up, I have reset the days on market on all of my active listings. We had good open houses on Sunday, too, which indicates we might be leaving the seasonal slow down. I hate to see buyers automatically and wrongly assume there is something wrong with a house because it sat on the market through the winter.
Median Home Prices Drop in Sacramento
No way around it, the median home prices in Sacramento dropped during January 2019. We haven’t seen median home prices in Sacramento this low since February of last year, when it was $350K. Our last few months of the year in 2018 reflected a median home price of $365K, and along comes January and wham. The median home price slipped to $352K.
Our highest median home price was $375 from last June. Then it bounced around, leveling out in November and December at $365K. It’s been a rough month for Sacramento housing this January. Although, I did rank as the #1 agent at Lyon Real Estate for last month, so it wasn’t a bad month for me or my clients.
Look at those sold numbers for January. A dismal 840 homes closed last month in Sacramento County. That’s a 25.4% decrease over January of last year. Awful, just terrible. Another terrible sign is inventory is up almost 25% year-over-year as well. Which is great news for buyers but not so hot for sellers. The only redeeming statistic I can report is our pending sales have leapfrogged through the roof.
Yup, pending sales is where it’s at. Pending sales are the future. It predicts the direction we are heading, and our pending sales for January is up 35.9% over December. However, before you get all giddy about our pending sales, please know that we have no statistics on how many blow up and do not close escrow.
It is not unusual in these types of markets for buyers to develop cold feet or some other problem and agents might have to sell a home three times to get paid once. Buyers flake out, and that rate seems to be accelerating in my experience. One day they love the house and the next day they cancel for unknown reasons. Just means the market will likely be a bit rougher on all agents, and we may all end up performing more uncompensated work.
Oh, shelter my poor eyes from this chart, which shows the cumulative days on market in Sacramento real estate. Ordinarily, when the days on market go up, it can cause buyers to want to pay less than list price. This might very well be a catalyst as to why we are seeing our median home prices drop in Sacramento. OK, squinting at it, I can make out our days on market for last month is 49. That’s high!
Of course, the super hot desirable properties that anybody would give their eye teeth to own are still flying into escrow fairly quickly. But the main thrust of the market is price reductions, longer days on market and some pretty good deals for home buyers.
For more information, please call your top producer Sacramento Realtor, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916.233.6759.
Where Do You Find Listing Specialists in Sacramento?
Do you wonder if you deserve your own representation and where you can find listing specialists in Sacramento? Most agents who solely represent sellers are always ready to talk about selling a home, providing you can find such an agent. There are not very many listing specialists in Sacramento. For example, I can count the number on one hand, and I’m not so sure about the other four. I can only vouch for myself.
Most agents, if you don’t already know, try to work with both sellers and buyers. They probably don’t attract enough business to specialize. Some of those agents might call themselves listing specialists but they are not, not truly. I know this to be a fact because my outlook and business focus is so completely different from agents who represent both types, sellers and buyers, and even those who only represent buyers.
In fact, I venture to guess you will have an easier time tracking down exclusive buyer’s agents than you will finding listing specialists. Make no mistake about it, true listing specialists only represent sellers. They do not operate in dual representation. Their primary focus is seller fiduciary in Sacramento, which means putting the sellers’ interests above their own.
These agents are definitely not trying to double-end the transaction and earn twice the commission, which is almost every other agent’s dream goal (except for exclusive buyer’s agents and listing specialists).
Which means it can be confusing. Especially for those buyers who think they oughta work only with the listing agent in hopes the agent will be so danged greedy he or she will do anything to accommodate the buyers.
Now, I don’t know of any agent who is an island. If an agent is a listing specialist, odds are she has a team of exclusive buyer’s agents. These agents represent buyers, which frees her to focus solely on sellers. When the only thing an agent thinks about day-in and day-out is maximizing her seller’s profit potential, it puts a whole new spin on listings. A different world opens.
It’s hard enough to wear one hat in real estate, I don’t know why anybody would want to wear more than one. It’s too danged hot in Sacramento anyway.
To find listing specialists in Sacramento, you can stop right here to talk to me. Or, you can continue pounding the pavement. You can call Elizabeth Weintraub, your trusted name in real estate for more than 40 years, at 916.233.6759.
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