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Sold Off Market By Your Carmichael Real Estate Agent: 5324 Mustang Way
5324 Mustang Way, Carmichael, CA 95608 sold by your Carmichael Real Estate Agent Elizabeth Weintraub
One of the services I offer my sellers of homes in Carmichael and other communities throughout Sacramento is my tips for fixing up the home prior to sale. I make sure the types of improvements or repairs I suggest are things that will return 100% or more, because otherwise they don’t make financial sense. The things I suggest are often dependent on not only market conditions such as whether it’s a hot seller’s market or a buyer’s market, but also it’s based on the condition of the home.
This particular home closed escrow with your Carmichael real estate agent representing the seller. Another Lyon Real Estate associate who worked at a different office represented the buyer. But that’s not how it started out. It started out with a few showings, and then the seller had a personal reason for wanting to stop the showings for a few weeks. I immediately put the listing into temporary off market status and left it there, waiting to hear from the seller.
They had made a few repairs such as pulling the smelly dog carpeting in the entertainment areas and replacing it with engineered hardwood. I had them change out old jangly ceiling fans with more modern fixtures. We painted a boldly colored wall with a more neutral tone, fixed a few holes. However, the home was still in its original condition. There were drawbacks such as a remote bedroom in the garage, a funky kitchen and a weird layout. The upside was the huge lot, RV access, the pool, and location. It had potential and was very much livable.
When the home first came on the market, I had received a call from buyers who seemed very interested but for some reason, I don’t recall why, could not view the home. They called me when it went into TOM status. Turned out they had a real estate agent, so I talked to their agent and threw out the idea of writing an offer subject to inspection. I am required to present all offers to the seller. Just because I’m not marketing the home and it’s off market doesn’t mean she could not send us an offer.
While that agent was working on an offer, all of a sudden, out of the blue another agent called your Carmichael real estate agent, inquiring about the status of this off-market listing. I told her another agent was writing an offer subject to inspection and suggested she do the same. Whammo, two offers on a home that was not on the market. Our first buyer went into escrow. The second buyers, the guys who had called me, were furious. But, hey, go into backup, I suggested. Write a backup offer. Be in official backup.
Sure enough, the first set of buyers toured the home and decided, for all the reasons I already pointed out, it was not suitable for them, and they felt the home required too much work. That was fine. Because the backup buyers moved into first position and they closed escrow a few days ago. And this is how your Carmichael real estate agent came to sell a house that wasn’t on the market. This home at 5324 Mustang Way off of Winding Way closed at list price of $444,000. We capped the pest work at $3,000 and the VA buyer absorbed all other costs for repairs and pest.
Two Tips to Buying a Home in a Low Inventory Market Like Sacramento
- If you cannot find a home to buy in Sacramento, one thing your agent can do is call listing agents on the off-market listings. Sellers might be happy not to have to deal with a bunch of traffic later and will take a bird in the hand.
- What you can also do is put in a backup offer if you lose a multiple-offer bidding war. You have a very good chance, maybe 50%, of moving into first place. It is not unusual for first-time buyers to cancel.
If you’d like more tips, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put my 40+ years of experience to work for you.
Carmichael Real Estate Agent Waits Two Years for Seller
A senior seller in Carmichael felt he lucked out with this Carmichael real estate agent.
My seller found me online when he searched for a Carmichael real estate agent. He chose me among the sea of other agents in Carmichael for the same reason many people who don’t know me do. They like my eyes, which communicate that I will be honest and compassionate with them. My mother used to claim my eyes gave me away. She could always tell if I was stretching the truth.
Like I had little red flags in my eyeballs that popped up to annoy her. Yes, I ate all of that horribly awful Cream of Wheat; are you happy now that you have poisoned me? Gag me, gag me with a spoon. Why is the dog licking his lips? I dunno.
Well, perhaps my 40-some years in real estate solidifies their decision.
This seller called me several years ago. Said he wanted to talk with a Carmichael real estate agent and asked if it was OK if we just talked. Sure, I will chat. We discussed his home, the market at the time, why he was moving, and it turned out he had all kinds of things to take care of before he could sell his house.
He had to first get divorced because he had a girlfriend and well, I guess his marriage was long over. He and his wife hadn’t lived together for several decades. Did I mention this seller is a senior real estate client? A little older than me, with a few physical challenges. When he admitted he had a girlfriend, I blurted out in jest, Hey, aren’t you too old for a girlfriend? After that, we became fast buds.
I gave him a list of divorce lawyers to call. He wanted to move overseas. I helped him find an international moving company to transport his furniture. Put him in touch with a senior organizer who could arrange an estate sale. Every few months he would call me with an update. Many seniors struggle a bit with the internet and email, but he was right on the ball. I helped him obtain smoke detectors, a carbon monoxide detector, got his water heater strapped, and his garage door retrofitted with self-closing hinges.
We rearranged his closing date and funding so he could get the proceeds of sale in time to send money overseas. This is a senior guy who lives life close to the wire, let me tell you. We closed on Wednesday, and he moved to another country that Saturday. Our buyer and her agent were wonderful to both of us. The entire transaction was a sheer delight.
Some people had difficulty understanding the seller because of his accent. English was not his first language. But I spoke very slowly and enunciated clearly, and we understood each other perfectly. I will miss him. But boy am I glad he thought to call this Carmichael real estate agent to sell his home. He never vacillated in his loyalty to me. It took 2 years but, once he was ready, we sold his house for top dollar and he moved home to be near family. He is at peace. What a sweet man.
Sacramento Home Buyers Who Fall in Love With Homes
Have you ever noticed that the longer some companies remain in business, the crappier their products become? I suspect it’s because corporations tend to value bottom-line profit over anything else. They might promote a cute slogan like “people first” but you and I both know that’s just marketing fluff. It doesn’t really matter where you look, you’ll find some item that was made years ago is probably a better quality product than today’s merchandise. Even homes. Even homes in Sacramento.
Tour homes in some of our leafier neighborhoods such as homes in Land Park or homes in Carmichael, and Sacramento home buyers will find thick redwood joists and plaster walls, not the cheaper wood and thin drywall like today. I poke my cheap-ass Jawbone device and wonder why can’t they make it work like the earlier models when callers could actually hear me talk. Or, what about the Victoria’s Secret pajamas that used to actually keep a person warm at night and now you can see through the material, and btw, that’s not on purpose. Don’t even get me started on cars made out of plastic. Cheaper, and cheaper and cheaper until the corporation can no longer sustain itself because the profit margin is so thin and it bankrupts.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is our love affairs with real estate. No matter how small or cheap builders build, we keep buying these homes and falling in love with them. If you think people don’t fall in love with a home, then you’re not a Sacramento real estate agent. One of the entities that publishes homes for sale online, just on a lark, I guess, conducted a survey among 1,000 buyers and their lust for homes. It found that 2 out of every 3 buyers stare at online real estate porn and develop fixations.
I was surprised that the number wasn’t higher. But surveys can be skewed. People tend to participate if they have a strong opinion one way or the other and the results don’t always represent the opinion of an average person. In any case, I try to present my photographs online in such a manner that people will stay up late, glued to their laptop and click on every one of them. Because I want that next click to be an email to me, asking to see the home. What else they do with their laptop on the privacy of their own sofa, I don’t want to know about.
If you’ve about to fall in love with homes, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Don’t wait. Do it today. The really cute homes go fast this spring.
