Email Elizabethbuying and selling at same time
Land Park Seller Bought and Sold Concurrently Without Listing First
Another satisfied Land Park seller closed escrow last week. The incredible thing was we didn’t even have his house listed when we helped him to buy a new home contingent on his existing home closing concurrently. Sometimes we can pull off that remarkable type of sale. How we do it when other agents cannot is an interesting story.
For starters, I’m not saying this will work 100% of the time but usually it does. First, it helps to have a desirable home to sell, and it doesn’t get much better than owning a vintage home on a fabulous street. Second, if the listing agent of the home the seller wants to buy knows me, well, they know I will sell that home, whether it’s on the market right now or not. I will find a way to sell the seller’s home because that’s what my reputation is built upon. In other words, we sell the listing agent being Elizabeth Weintraub to the other agent.
I always tell my sellers it is better overall to put their home on the market before going off to buy a home. We can make the sale of their home contingent on finding a home to buy. But I also understand that they don’t always care what is best. They don’t want to sell until they find the home they love, which ultimately is their motivation for selling. In this particular sale, the seller had found the home and started the negotiations to buy that home prior to finding our buyer.
But in the middle of everything, we suddenly were prepared to go on the market. No grass grows under my feet. The house was painted, everything cleaned up and ready to go. When I told the Land Park seller how much he could get for his home, he was fairly blown away. He could not believe he had acquired that much equity since I sold him the home almost 10 years ago. We priced the home very attractively, right at that sweet spot.
After the open house, we received an aggressive offer through an experienced Lyon Realtor I’ve closed other sales with. It’s always wonderful to work with a competent and skilled agent on the other side. My team member Amy McMullan jumped in to help this Land Park seller purchase his new home. On the day before closing, a series of events popped up that required immediate attention, and Amy got on the horn and made it happen. I thought she was gonna have a heart attack. But no, she got the job done professionally and efficiently.
This Land Park seller sold his home for $23,000 over list price. He closed on his new home the same day, and we negotiated an extra day for him to move out. We do the impossible just about every day on the Elizabeth Weintraub Team. If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the Sacramento area, please call Elizabeth at 916.233.6759.
1731 Bidwell Way, Sacramento, CA 95818 closed escrow on April 12th, 2018 at $572,000.
The Amazing Story of a Sacramento Real Estate Miracle
A Sacramento real estate miracle does not happen every day.
No Sacramento Realtor expects her client to call, late on Sunday no less, just as The Oscars are starting, to excitedly announce he has written an offer on her listing with another agent. Yet, stranger things have happened in Sacramento real estate. Things that can make clients believe this is the way they always occur, and anybody can do it. When my client first uttered those words last night, I thought he was joking. We closed escrow in 2013, but I recall his transaction like it was yesterday, even though I’ve sold hundreds of homes since but few are a Sacramento real estate miracle.
This guy was originally a referral to me by another agent. He claimed to have overpaid for a home he owned in north Sacramento, which he needed to sell, and yes, it wasn’t worth what he owed. He also wanted to buy a home in Elk Grove during a super-heated real estate market. Selling and buying concurrently is a delicate balance, but even more so in a hot market. That scenario typically requires careful planning, including contingent offers. I took him on as a client as a favor to the referring agent, and because he needed a miracle. Fortunately, I can perform miracles.
I sold his home in north Sacramento for a lot more than it would likely appraise at to a cash buyer from San Francisco. That buyer’s agent did not know the neighborhood. Negotiated a 6-month rent back at less-than-market rent for him, so my client did not have to move. At the same time, I helped him buy my short sale listing in Elk Grove through my team member. The sellers received a number of offers for this short sale but they decided to take my team member’s offer for this client because they believed, even though it was contingent upon selling his home, that I would sell it. They had faith in my abilities. Some other agent, maybe not, but I perform. I can do a Sacramento real estate miracle.
Ordinarily, you cannot submit a contingent offer for a short sale to the bank because the bank will say come back when the home is sold. But I calculated by the time the bank raised that particular objection, I would have sold his home. And that’s what happened. Basically, this was a guy who was underwater, and I moved him from north Sacramento into a four-bedroom, two-story home in Elk Grove. All the stars aligned. It was a Sacramento real estate miracle.
You can imagine my shock when this guy said he had written an offer through another agent on one of my listings. The agent is his buddy, a long-term friend, says he, the guy who had initially sold him the home in north Sacramento. Then he apologized, said he was sorry. Well, that makes two of us. Of course, I immediately realized that he did not write an offer for any of my listings. I’m not sure which home he is trying to buy, but it’s not one of my listings, and he confused me with some other top Sacramento agent. Not only that, I checked MLS and his home was not on the market, it is not for sale, so he is not buying anything. Sellers generally do not accept offers from contingent buyers if that buyer’s home is not for sale.
I don’t see a Sacramento real estate miracle happening here.
I am very successful with selling and buying a home at the same time, in part because other listing agents in Sacramento know I will perform as well. They know my reputation. If you need to both sell a home and buy a home, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Buying and Selling a Sacramento Home at the Same Time
If this were a different type of real estate market in Sacramento right now, my advice would be completely different about buying a selling at the same time. The following advice applies only because this is a seller’s market in Sacramento. Sellers who want to move up or move down in a buyer’s market would have an easier time of it. What your agent might not tell you is trying to buy and sell a home in a seller’s market is almost impossible.
It doesn’t mean you can’t do engage in buying and selling simultaneously; however, it could be very difficult. The reason is we have very little inventory in our Sacramento metropolitan area. People try to equate this particular market of Spring 2013 to the Spring 2006 market, and they are not the same. Back then, in 2006, we had a lot of homes for sale.
This is what the numbers looked like in March of 2006 for all Sacramento counties combined:
- Active Listings (Homes for Sale): 6,488
- Pending Listings (Homes in Escrow): 1,479
- Sold Listings (Closed Home Sales): 1,425
Here are the numbers for March of 2013 for all Sacramento counties combined:
- Active Listings (Homes for Sale): 1,378
- Pending Listings (Homes in Escrow): 1,371
- Sold Listings (Closed Home Sales): 1,835
What is particular startling about these two comparisons is the fact that despite the fact that active listing inventory dropped by 78.8% — meaning we have 5,110 fewer homes on the market in 2013 than we did at this same time in 2006 — we sold 30% more. Moreover, national average interest rates were at 6.47% in March of 2006. Today, interest rates are unbelievable low. Yesterday, the rate offered by a major local mortgage broker was 3.5%. This is huge, and these facts are what is driving the market.
It’s why it’s to be buying and selling at the same time. As a seller, you are in the driver’s seat. As such, for some sellers, the only way to buy and sell at the same time is to sell and rent back for a few months. Because if you could ever in your lifetime make that kind of demand of a buyer for your home, now is the time to do it. Or, sell and move into temporary quarters. Or, sell and delay the closing for a few months. Because you really need to have the cash in hand to make an offer to buy.
Put on your other hat, your buyer’s hat. Now, you are probably one of 20 offers for the same house. Your offer is contingent on selling your home. It doesn’t matter if your home is already in escrow, it is still contingent. It is contingent until that puppy closes. And most sellers do not want to take a contingent offer, not when they see investors and home buyers waving cash in their faces or buying their home without a contingency on selling a home. Having a contingency to sell in your offer makes you unattractive to many sellers.
Having said that, I will say I have done it. But I do warn my sellers that if they want to buy a home and sell a home at the same time, they will have a much easier time of it if they have the cash and financial means to buy without selling. Or else, wait until their home is sold to buy another home. It doesn’t mean I won’t try to do both sales concurrently for them, but the odds are against that happening.
If you want to buy or sell a home in Sacramento and need a good Sacramento real estate agent, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put almost 40 years of experience to work for you.
