A Second Chance for Cold Feet Home Buyers in Sacramento

The Sacramento Regional Transit Light Rail passes between Ella Dining and Brasserie Capitale.

When one door closes, another opens and gives home buyers in Sacramento a second chance. I admit that I was a bit bummed yesterday when a previous client bailed on listing his home to sell to some stranger he met in the street, on top of They Might Be Giants canceling the show in Berkeley, but I solved that disappointment by focusing on other things. Things you can’t change you need to let go of, immediately. Especially in Sacramento real estate. But that thinking does not apply to canceling a transaction because home buyers in Sacramento have cold feet.

It makes me wonder if buyers who have canceled transactions for my sellers over petty issues later regret those actions. We are closing an escrow next month that I had to sell twice because the first set of home buyers in Sacramento elected to cancel escrow. They expected the seller to replace the entire fence, which was not only unnecessary but an odd request to receive.

Other buyers who canceled a transaction a few weeks back decided yesterday that they should now buy that home. This could be a dilemma for the agent. I mean, what do you do when the buyers have canceled once? Do you give them a second chance and hope they don’t do it again? Probably not. Not without some sort of assurance or guarantee that the same situation won’t repeat itself. However, due to limited inventory in Sacramento, once buyers are in escrow, most buyers would do just about anything to stay there. If these home buyers in Sacramento understand our market.

I thought about that last night as I poked my lobster carbonara at Ella Dining Room and Bar downtown. Mustered all of my strength to twirl the hand-cut chitarra pasta around the butter-poached Maine lobster on my fork, dribbling with spring peas, which included a tasty bit of pancetta accentuated by spicy black pepper and stuffed it into my mouth. My team member and I advised the home buyers in Sacramento to sign a contingency release and include a Request for Repair for the already agreed-upon work to get back into escrow. We apologized profusely. These home buyers in Sacramento were ready to move forward and deeply regretted previous actions.

You don’t see that happen very often. Buyers who come to their senses. Or, sellers willing to take them back. But the sellers granted these home buyers in Sacramento a second chance yesterday.

I also tasted my husband’s artichoke and mascarpone tortellini. His dish featured a bluefoot mushroom so meaty and thick I forgot for a moment that I was eating a fungus. Between our appetizer and first courses, we were almost too satiated to finish our main courses. I’ve included a few photos below, just in case you’re getting hungry reading. I paired the lobster carbonara with a Patricia Green pinot noir from Willamette Valley in Oregon. I’m seriously enthralled with wines from Oregon lately, including the Hood River.

This was a nice ending to a day that started out pretty crummy. And our second chance home buyers in Sacramento are back in escrow.

Lobster Carbonara served at Ella Dining Room and Bar for Whole Hog Month at Ella in March 2016.

Artichoke and Mascarpone Tortellini served at Ella for Whole Hog month of March 2016.

Photos © Elizabeth Weintraub