Email Elizabethelizabeth weintraub team
Downton Abbey Screening Party at Crest Theatre
I am so excited that the premiere of Downton Abbey Season 4 is showing in advance next month at the Crest. One of my favorite places to see concerts and movies is at the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento. Downton Abbey Season 4 is officially premiering on January 5th on Masterpiece at 9 PM on KVIE Public Television, but a few lucky people in Sacramento will get to see the first hour absolutely free. Yes, tickets are free! You don’t even have to be Michelle Obama to see it. How about that?
There will be a costume party and trivia. My husband was considering coming as Matthew, maybe carrying a steering wheel. Doors open at 6:00 and presentation starts at 7 PM. Over at 9 at PM. The Crest Theatre is located at 10th and K Streets in downtown Sacramento.
All you have to do is go to the Crest Theatre online and click on RSVP Today to Reserve Your Seat. I picked up four seats as my husband was driving me to the dentist to get four teeth yanked out. Spotted it as it came across my cellphone because I subscribe to new events at the Crest. Reserved the seats and transferred the QR codes to my Passport.
If you haven’t signed up for new events at the Crest, you should do so, because you get advance notice and can sometimes buy tickets before they even go on sale to the public. How do you think I manage to snag my front-and-center row seats for all of the shows we attend?
Oh, and here is a little bonus for you. After you finish watching Downton Abbey Season 4, you can go to this link and watch the recap. I’m telling you it is so hilarious it will make you laugh out loud like a guinea pig: If Downton Abbey Took Place on Facebook Season 3, Episode 7.
My two valuable Elizabeth Weintraub team members, Barbara Dow and Linda Swanson are coming with my husband and me. If you are not addicted to Downton Abbey, consider yourself fortunate, I guess, because some of us would do anything to get to see Downton Abbey. OK, maybe not anything. I would not eat raw termites. Since I have a couple of pest inspections to review today for several sellers, I’d rather not think about munching on termites.
A Short Sale Home in Woodland Closes
The first time I spoke to a particular seller of a home in Woodland, this Sacramento real estate agent was in the middle of a four-day vacation in South Carolina at Hilton Head. My husband and I were driving across the island, searching for a restaurant featuring Gullah cuisine when my cellphone rang. The seller was such a refreshing voice to hear. A person who wanted my help. I like to help people, that’s why I sell real estate.
Unlike a caller earlier that day, a seller from Folsom who was furious because I had answered my phone “when I was not at home.” On a Sunday, no less. He expected me to physically be in Sacramento and was very upset that I was not, even though it didn’t make one hill of beans difference regarding the sale of his home in Folsom. He evidently believed that he knew better how to run my business than I. Not every seller is a rational person and not every seller makes sense.
This person yelled and screamed and was obnoxious. I offered to cancel the listing for him, since he was so irate. Nasty people? No time for them. So, it didn’t bother me in the least when he immediately listed with another agent at a higher price. Last I saw of his home he had canceled that listing 30 days later because no buyer in her right mind wanted to pay his price. Sometimes, these types of things are a blessing in disguise when I no longer have to deal with them.
The woman who called and needed my help wanted to sell a short sale home in Woodland as a short sale. Well, I sell hundreds of Sacramento short sales, so she came to the right person at the right time. Turned out she lived in North Carolina, and was astonished to hear I was driving around South Carolina. But she had confidence that I would sell her home. She had gone to my website and knew my experience and decades in the business. It didn’t matter to her that I was in Hilton Head at the moment.
Later that week, I met with the tenant who lived in the home in Woodland. I shot professional photographs, studied the comparable sales and the seller chose a sales price. Other real estate agents in Woodland expressed an opinion that they thought the price was too high but it was right on the money. We received an offer from a qualified buyer, the BPO came back at value, and the short sale home in Woodland closed yesterday.
The negotiations took 5 months. Two loans plus mortgage insurance, so approval was necessary from all three. The buyer waited patiently all of this time because the seller selected the right buyer from the beginning. An added bonus was the bank did not require a price increase because prices have gone up since then. That can happen with short sales that take a while to close, just fyi.
The thing is no matter where I am or what I am doing, this Sacramento real estate agent always tries to answer her phone. I continually work on selling my listings. I don’t turnover my work to an Elizabeth Weintraub Team member while I am on vacation, although I certainly could. Because I don’t have to be sitting behind my desk to sell real estate in the Sacramento Valley. That’s why we have laptops, iPads, cellphones and DocuSign. What matters is that I get the job done and my client is happy.
Treating Sacramento Real Estate Agents Honestly in Multiple Offers
Much ado about multiple offers lately. So much of the stuff contained in the REALTOR Code of Ethics is simply good common sense for a Sacramento real estate agent to adhere to in her real estate practice, and it’s not “just words” to many agents. Not to mention, an agent can be reported to the Board of REALTORS and / or fined for violating the Code. It says things like a member needs to treat other members and clients honestly.
On the other hand, treating agents fairly means without prejudice, without discrimination, giving equal weight to all parties by being equitable, playing no favoritism, partaking in impartial dealings, being honorable. One of my goals when I am the listing agent and representing the seller in a transaction is to give buyer’s agents an opportunity to view the home and present an offer on a level-playing field. This means I am not sharing information about the content of offers with other agents unless authorized by the seller.
The Elizabeth Weintraub Team encourages buyer’s agents involved in multiple offers to submit their best offer upfront. Not every seller wants go through the counter offer stage in a multiple-offer situation. I have worked with sellers who enjoy that process, but many of them do not. Many sellers just want the best offer possible and do not want to dicker back and forth. So, agents who submit an offer and say “please counter us,” are a) doing their buyer a disservice by implying the buyer will offer more, which could possibly be breaking their fiduciary, and b) their words are falling on deaf ears if the sellers don’t want to counter.
During multiple offers for a home in Roseville yesterday, an agent pleaded and asked how high her buyer had to go to buy the home. I explained in that instance I can’t play favorites, and she needs to do the best that she can. My sellers did not authorize me to disclose offers.
I try to help my sellers weigh offers by looking at all aspects of the offer and not just the sales price. We discuss contingencies, debt ratios, FICO scores (if we get them), preapproval letters, and any special considerations an agent might include in the buyer’s offer. No financing rejections based on type of loan — cash is not king — closing escrow is king.
Ultimately, it’s always the sellers’ decision which offer to choose. Funny thing is yesterday, the sellers chose the offer from the agent who did the best that she and her buyer could do, and that agent did not receive any preemptive suggestions from me. This is the way the seller wanted it. Not to mention, what goes around in this world tends to come around. I hope when my Team sits on the other side of the table presenting an offer for a buyer, we will be treated honestly as well.
Increase in Number of Elk Grove Homes for Sale
While talking with a client yesterday in Elk Grove, the strategy for pricing came up in the conversation. The client suggested that I must have a certain way that I advise sellers to pick a price for their home. Although I sell an awful lot of homes in Elk Grove — enough to put me on the radar of companies trying to sell buyer leads to top producers — my strategy is not the same for every home. That’s one of the things that sets me apart from other Elk Grove agents.
I take into consideration the temperature of the marketplace and blend that with the seller’s goals to develop a unique home pricing and marketing strategy for that particular home. It’s also what keeps real estate so completely fascinating for me. If every real estate transaction was identical, I’d most likely not have lasted in the business all these decades.
Not to mention, the fall market in Sacramento is different than the spring market of 2013. Springtime in Sacramento was wild and crazy, coupled with limited inventory. Now, interest rates are inching toward 5% and inventory has more than doubled. The demand is still strong, especially among entry-level homes, but the strategy is different to sell. The light green columns above indicates number of homes for sale in 95624, 95757 and 95758.
Sellers can’t be as demanding as they might like. Homes need to be priced right. A seller must prepare a home for sale. She can’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, floors cluttered and expect to quickly sell. Yet, it is still a seller’s market. Just not as strong as spring.
The Elizabeth Weintraub Team has a couple more homes coming on the market in Elk Grove. Watch for these gems and act quickly if you’re looking to buy a home in Elk Grove. Our sellers don’t need two dozen offers. They simply want that one qualified buyer who loves the home. Is it you?
Chart: Trendgraphix
About Selling Homes in Elk Grove
There are some things I know about that I do not care to know such as Simon Cowell got his best friend’s wife pregnant and why Aretha Franklin, the beloved godmother of soul, doesn’t quite trust modern medicine, but there are other things I know that carry significance, especially about Sacramento real estate and selling homes in Elk Grove. Now, having an almost 40-year career in real estate, I can tell you that it’s very common for clients to have a different idea of what an agent should do to market their home than what an agent believes is the best course of action.
That’s OK, because I go with the flow. I want happy clients. I want more referrals coming to this Sacramento real estate agent, and unhappy clients generally don’t give referrals. It is the referrals and 5-star reviews that keep the doors to my business open. When I’m selling homes in Elk Grove, I want those Elk Grove sellers ecstatic!
But yesterday I elected to make an exception. A seller asked if I would put a box of fliers on the post outside of her home in Elk Grove. I could do it but it would be pointless. It was good that I took the time to explain my reasoning because the seller agreed. Here are few reasons why it’s not a very good idea to put out flyers when selling homes in Elk Grove:
- The home in Elk Grove is located on a cul-de-sac off a quiet street so walk-by traffic is unlikely.
- We want potential buyers to call us. That’s why my Elk Grove office phone number is front and center on the gigantic For Sale sign, followed by a rider with my cellphone number, and another rider with the cellphone number for an Elizabeth Weintraub team member.
- Kids often swipe flyers.
- My Virtual Agent system attached to the for sale sign gives potential buyers many opportunities to get information. They don’t even have to call an agent or talk to an agent. By calling an 800#, all data is sent as a virtual tour to their cellphones. They can text a code, just like American Idol, and all data is sent as a virtual tour to their cellphones. Or, they can take a picture of the QR code with their cellphone and all data is sent automatically to their cellphone.
- But probably an unexpected reason is the home will be sold by the time we get out there with a box of flyers.
If you’re thinking about selling a home in Elk Grove, call an experienced Elk Grove agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. The Elizabeth Weintraub Team was just named by Real Trends as one of the top 25 best real estate teams in California.
