It Takes a Lot of Work to Sell Homes in Midtown Sacramento or Auburn

Cow looking over a pond in Auburn, CA

My cute Craftsman home in Midtown went into escrow this morning after hitting the market Tuesday afternoon, and it made me realize how some people will undoubtedly believe that we make it look all too easy. All they see is a home coming on the market and a home immediately selling, and they think to themselves that either agents make too much money or that it’s so danged easy they can do it themselves.

What they don’t see is the work behind the scenes. Nor how 40-some years in the real estate business can add up to a bazillion refinements and tweaks in how the professionals do business. I can honestly say that I improve every year as a Sacramento Realtor, constantly reassessing and adjusting for market conditions. It’s a fluid process.

I start working on many of my listings months in advance, especially to sell homes in Midtown. My conversations with that seller started in November of last year. I am working on a bunch of new listings about to hit the market on September 11. Yeah, yeah, it seems an appropriate day. To take it back without forgetting is to gain strength and power.

I have a new listing coming up in Auburn, and I met with the sellers yesterday. They are referrals from a home I sold in Cameron Park. Beautiful home on 5 acres with an enormous workshop, 45 feet x 30 feet x 16 feet high, insulated, heated and powered to the max. Plus a barn with stalls for horses. We need to make some updates and improvements prior to putting the home on the market, plus we need to optimize the best time for market exposure, so we’re working on that end of it now.

Not to mention the hours I poured through MLS and other online records, studying the comparable sales, analyzing sales patterns and looking for future pricing directions to arrive at a sales price. This is the single most hardest thing to do and get right — and if you mess it up, that home will be stigmatized and tarnished. My entire purpose is to get the seller the highest price possible.

There are no restrictions on horses in Auburn

While I was in Auburn, I stopped to see my assistant who lives in Auburn as well. She took me on a tour of her acreage and ponds in an ATV. I hope you like the photo of her cow standing by the pond and one of her horses. I felt a little bit like Eva Gabor of that TV show Green Acres, in my magenta suede heels, but what the hey. If you can’t take a horse snorting on you, you can’t work with others in real estate. I’ve discovered over the years that selling country properties uses the same principles that apply to any other sale, with just a few slight twists.

But it’s a long process and won’t be for sale until after Labor Day. I’m ordering the drone photography today to get on their shooting schedule. We will set up an open house and, if all goes well, within a week or two of hitting the market, we should snag a big fat fish on our fishing line. Because whether it’s to sell homes in Midtown or selling country ranches in Auburn, my sellers get my 40 years of experience and almost 30 days of prep work to get to this point.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub, country home in Auburn