Email ElizabethTwo Christmas Miracles in Sacramento Real Estate
Two Christmas miracles have happened in Sacramento real estate during our holiday season. The first is a family moving across the country to North Carolina closed escrow on Friday without any hiccups. When I first looked at their property, which we sold them two years ago, I was concerned about the time frame. Having moved across country myself, I know what it’s like and what can go wrong.
We can’t always stop things from going wrong in an escrow, but after an agent has closed as many sales as I have — which is usually one or two a week — I can generally sense disaster. Often I can head-off trouble at inception. But sometimes buyers go sideways and as listing agents we have no control over those people.
I do know this, the last thing I ever want to have happen is for my sellers to be in the midst of loading boxes into a cross-country moving truck when I call to say we are not closing. These types of sales tend to make me a bit nervous. They have to go smoothly. But I had no idea I would receive two Christmas miracles this season.
After the buyers got a pest inspection and all of the other inspections, they asked for repairs. We were able to negotiate a flat credit to the buyer’s closing costs in-lieu-of-repairs. From the time the home went on the market to closing it was 35 days. Many homes in that neighborhood do not even sell in 30 days. But I worked with the sellers beforehand to ensure the home was in tip-top shape and desirable.
The second of two Christmas miracles was receiving an offer for a property other agents said would never sell. But there is always another buyer for fixers in Sacramento. One closing and another transaction going into escrow. It is indeed a harmonious season, and homes are selling, even on Christmas Day.
Now I am off to our neighbor’s house for a Hawaiian feast with good friends in Kona. Perfect time to try the Macadamia Nut Honey Wine from Volcano Winery with dessert. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa and whatever else coincides with celebrations this week!
Haunted MacKenzie State Park in Lower Puna
When we pulled into the parking lot of MacKenzie State Park, Loli insisted I go to the restroom with her. She is easily freaked out by the local lore of haunting at MacKenzie State Park. Because she believes anything mystical and because her friends have shared tales of hearing loud cries. This is a state park in Lower Puna, near the Red Road, which is the Kapoho Kalapana Road, easily one of the most scenic roads in America.
This place is so haunted that local Hawaiians will not go there at night or even near sunset. There have been murders in the park as well. But this was broad daylight, and I did not want to get out of the van in the pouring rain, so Loli was on her own.
We stopped at MacKenzie State Park just before moving on to the Fissure 8 Tours on the agenda.
MacKenzie State Park was created by using the labor of convicts from Oahu in 1850. Ranger Albert J. MacKenzie planted the ironwood trees (Casuarina) in the park in the 1930s and, after his death at age 21, they named the park after him.
These Casuarina trees withstand tsunamis, and is often used as a natural windbreaker. MacKenzie State Park has the largest number of Casuarina trees in Hawaii. They look like pine trees or a soft redwood, but they are not.
Our guide from Kapohokine Tours, Laurence, was a wealth of information. Next to him is a tourist from Albuquerque, which is a terrifically difficult word to spell, even though I remember there are 3 U’s in Albuquerque. They are standing very close to where the new lava entered the ocean, which will be the topic of my blog tomorrow, so stay tuned.
This is a gorgeous piece of layered rock. It offers a glimpse into our geological history. If you have been reading my blogs for a while, you may recall how one day I plan to study geology. I don’t know why I did not find this topic interesting while in school, but I am fascinated by geology now. Guess 50 years can make a difference.
My husband has also helped a great deal with my quest for knowledge about rocks. He knows more about this topic than your average bear. If only he were here to discover MacKenzie Park, but his chance will appear.
The opihi were found at the base of an ironwood tree in MacKenzie Park. I initially thought of these as clams but they are not. They are officially limpets, which is an aquatic snail, and considered a Hawaiian delicacy. The locals farm them along the rocky shores and sometimes die in that quest. A wave comes out of nowhere and carries them off to sea.
Many opihi pickers eat them raw as they go along. The grilled option sounds good to me. Although, I love raw oysters, so who can talk?
Fissure 8 Tours at Leilani Estates in Lower Puna
A few of the residents of Leilani Estates subdivision are none too happy that Fissure 8 Tours are now happening. Probably because they aren’t making any money from the tragic disaster and they resent those who do. Yet the individual whose private property we were invited to tour is such a sweet person. It shocks me a little that some of those residents are so hostile to her.
My friend Loli had an opportunity to book us as comped guests on one of the very first Fissure 8 tours, so I jumped on it. The police allow only residents and guests to enter Leilani Estates. We were guests of Pamela, a resident, arranged through Kapahokine Tours.
Residents in an SUV pulled up alongside our van and complained, saying it is against the HOA regulations to do business in Leilani Estates. Although, locals say most people run a business of some sort, from therapy, to massages, to housecleaning. Gigs are a fact of life. This disgruntled woman threatened to call the police which, of course, she was welcome to do. The police do not enforce HOA regulations. They cannot stop Fissure 8 tours.
People who are not from the Big Island may be unfamiliar with Fissure 8, but they certainly know that Kilauea erupted this spring, causing 2,000 people to lose their homes. Fissure 8 captured the attention of media because it is a 100-foot cinder cone that started as a crack yet blasted magma 200-feet high.
Fissure 8 is in Pamela’s back yard. Beyond is the ocean. Her entire property is still developing cracks. You can feel the heat in the vents. What was once a ravine is now filled with lava, and wild orchids grow off to one side.
This is one of the neighbor’s dogs. He has 5 or 6 of these beautiful creatures. I highly recommend the tour. It makes one reflect on what is important in life and puts our own lives in perspective. Our hearts go out to all those who lost their homes and everything they owned.
There is Always Another Buyer for Fixers in Sacramento
There is always another buyer for fixers in Sacramento. That is one of the first lessons I learned from selling hundreds of short sales back in the day. Thank goodness that is basically over. Not only did an agent need to be on top of her game due to difficult procedures from the banks, but she needed to also deal with a wide assortment of buyers.
Today, when I sell to a buyer for fixers in Sacramento, I know there are several camps of buyers. First, there are the guys for whom the project needs to “pencil” to make financial sense, meaning low cost to cure and high net return on resale. They don’t all use the same calculations. Some buyers hire cheaper labor than others. But usually the guys with the lowball offers are not a good fit for my sellers.
Next are the buyers who want to become flippers but they don’t know what they are doing. They have no system, no resources, no labor, just an inkling that they’d be good at fixing up homes. There are also the buyers who have no idea what they are getting into, led by agents even more clueless than they. Then there is the buyer we want, which is the buyer who will close.
Sellers expect to maximize profit potential. Just because it’s a fixer, makes no difference. Matching a buyer to the property who will close becomes increasingly difficult. They all tend to promise the same thing. Fast closing, lots of cash and full price. Then they do inspections and discover things they did not realize because they were unprepared.
As a listing agent who sells a lot of fixers in Sacramento, I can tell within the first three minutes of a phone call if it’s going anywhere. Buyer’s agents call me for one reason, basically, and that’s to find out if I will throw my seller under the bus. They ask: don’t you want to make a deal? No, not really. I want to sell my listing at list price or better. That’s the objective.
There is no real typical buyer for fixers. Some have a lot of experience; others are wannabe flippers, some want to live in the property. They come from all walks of life with varying expectations. What is a nuisance for one buyer is a joy to another.
I tell my sellers we will get all kinds of offers from a buyer for fixers. We will go into escrow with several who will ultimately cancel. Some of their agents will get ticked because I do not want to know why they canceled. I do not want to know because 1) could be an unknown material fact somewhere I would need to disclose and 2) it doesn’t matter. They do not understand why it doesn’t matter.
But eventually we will get a buyer who has a vision, cash and the willingness to close. Because there is always another buyer.
Christmas is a Perfect Time to Buy a Home in Sacramento
Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. You might not agree but then you might not be in the real estate business. This week has been extremely hectic in Sacramento real estate. Just when you’d expect business to slow down and be more quiet, everybody is out showing homes. Writing offers. And everybody is in such a good mood.
Seriously. People are feeling the warmth and the love of this holiday season or maybe they’re just snockered. Hard to say. A seller told me she did not want to bully a buyer into purchasing her home. Because if buyers were moving forward due only to strong arm tactics, that did not seem humane to her. In an era like today where so many of our political moves are inhumane, it’s nice to see people who truly care. People who value integrity over dollars.
Yes, Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. Another home, desperately seeking new occupants, finally went into escrow yesterday as well. Those buyers love love love this house. The spirit of the holidays is alive. So pleased to slip this home into escrow for my sellers. They asked me what did they need to do, and I told them, and it happened almost immediately that we sold the house.
Usually I see more action after the first of the year, like the first couple weeks in January are generally very busy. It is unusual for me to witness this much activity just before Christmas in Sacramento.
Feeling the Aloha myself, since I’m in Hawaii right now, I called a couple of agents on the buying side yesterday just to say hello. To spread Christmas cheer and to say thank you for all of their hard work. Buyer’s agents work really hard. They do much more physical work than listing agents.
Not to mention, my muscles ache from the rowing machine at Planet Fitness. My legs ache from hugging the ATV motor while blasting through 2-foot deep piles of mud on Wednesday. Then yesterday, I attended a stretch class (I was the only attendee) at Planet Fitness, and that’s involved muscles I didn’t know were there. At my age, if you don’t flex it, you lose it. I do NOT want to drive buyers around, that’s why my team members excel at that job. They love it, have a passion for it, and I do not.
People tell me I am an inspiration. Don’t tell me that. Because then I may feel like I need to be more model perfect, and I am nobody’s model. My focus is to make my sellers happy and to try to bring everybody else along for the ride. For the time being, Christmas is a perfect time to buy a home in Sacramento. Can’t vouch for next year. Only this year.
Sorry we are experiencing system issues. Please try again.
