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How to Get a Sweet Deal in This Sacramento Real Estate Market
If you’ve ever required special circumstances to sell your home in Sacramento, this is the market in which to do it. As a REALTOR in Sacramento, I can tell you unabashedly that buyers will agree to do some of the craziest things just to buy your house. It’s a seller’s market. Sellers rule. I keep thinking that we can’t possibly make the restrictions and conditions under which a seller will sell any more ridiculous, but then I surpass my own thoughts and beat my wildest imagination.
There is very little inventory in Sacramento. If you’ve got a desirable home, you can pretty much write the rules, as long as you’re not breaking any laws, under which you will agree to sell. Me? I just go with the flow and try to make my sellers happy. What I think about the situation is not really important. What matters is what my sellers would like to do and whether I can accomplish that for them. I don’t run around thumbing my nose at people, telling them I know more than they do, even if I do. I just find out what the seller wants, and then I determine whether I am up to the challenge. I love challenges.
I’ll show you one nutty situation. We were ready to close escrow on an Elk Grove short sale when one of the tenants refused to move out. The tenant said he’d go when the sheriff tossed him out on his ear (code for: give me some money). Two days before closing. The buyer’s agent said the buyer was canceling under those circumstances, so I put the home back on the market, with a pending rescission modifier. The confidential comments informed agents that a buyer would have to purchase this home sight unseen and close escrow with a hostile tenant inside. I received a bunch of offers. No joke.
Realizing this, the existing buyer closed.
In another transaction that closed last month, a seller did not want to move out until he moved into his new home. He was steadfast about it, and nothing I could say would change his mind. He also lived in a somewhat difficult area because this little pocket of homes sat among others that were nonconforming. There was only comparable sale. We bumped the price by 6% above that one comp and put it on the market. We received a good half-dozen offers or so, and one of those offers was cash and 4% above the list price. That means the home sold for 10% more than the last home like it. See, it doesn’t cost to hire a Sacramento real estate agent, it pays you.
On top of this, I put the seller into a contingent purchase for a short sale in Elk Grove. Elk Grove, one of the hardest places in town to buy because buyers can stand 30 deep. The contingency period didn’t last very long because I sold and closed his existing residence in 7 days. The buyer of his residence agreed to let the seller rent-back for a period of up to one year at about a $500 reduction from the monthly market rent. He has the right to move out during this one-year period with 30 days’ notice. If that’s not a sweet deal for that seller, I don’t know what is.
If you’ve got a home to sell in Sacramento, go ahead and call your Sacramento agent Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 39 years of experience to work for you.
This Elk Grove Agent Sold a Home $40K Over Comparable Sales
Rumor has it that this seller’s market in Sacramento started this spring, but from my perspective, it began last fall with the September market. We have two very strong markets in Sacramento: Spring and Fall. If you can’t make the spring market, sometimes it is better to wait until fall. Although, in this seller’s market, anytime seems to be a good time to go on the market because all the guidelines and rules and everything you know about real estate have been tossed out the window.
For example, we have been taught since day one to examine the comparable sales when pricing a home. But the comparable sales mean jack squat today, which is why appraisers are having such a tough time trying to appraise. Sales from 3 months ago are not relevant to the market today. It’s the pending sales and the active sales that are predicting which way the wind is gonna blow in this marketplace. That, and a little bit of fairy dust mixed in.
When a seller called me last winter to list her home in Elk Grove, she was concerned that it might not sell right away because it was so close to Christmas. She didn’t live in the home, so it wasn’t upsetting HER Christmas, so it made perfect sense to put it on the market. I looked at the comparable sales and with my then-innocent eyes said: “Oh, look, they substantiate a price of $240,000. Tops. The market movement will let us stick $20K on top and we should do it to see what happens!” The seller liked that strategy. $20K over the pendings was a little risky. We put her home on the market for $259,000.
I did my usual marketing. Promoting that home everywhere that is conceivable online. Shot impeccable photos. Networked the listing like crazy. Within a week, we received an offer that the seller accepted for $275,000! But a few days later, the buyers developed cold feet and canceled. Buyers are a little wobbily right now, I’m finding. This isn’t the first buyer to cancel on one of my sellers due to cold feet or due to writing multiple offers, which is unethical if not against the law.
You will hear agents say that the first offer is always the best. That’s another widely accepted real estate axiom that doesn’t necessarily apply to our present market. The following day, the day before Christmas, we received a second offer of $290,000. It involved financing. The buyers, upon hearing their offer was about to be accepted, changed it in haste to all-cash at $280,000. See what I mean about buyers being a bit unsteady? But $280,000 and all-cash was still better than the first financed offer of $275K.
This Elk Grove home closed in January at $280,000, all cash.
The seller told me when we closed that she was very happy she chose me as her Elk Grove Agent. Even though I don’t live in Elk Grove, I sell a lot of homes in Elk Grove, and I know the Elk Grove neighborhoods very well. Because I am a top producer in Elk Grove, I routinely pop up on those lists from outside referral companies. They look for agents who sell the most homes in any given area, so they have something of value to offer to their sellers.
Well, you can get something of value by calling me directly: Elizabeth Weintraub, 916 233 6759. You can trust that I’ll always give you the straight scoop and put your interests first.
A Successful Elk Grove Agent Shares a Secret
I spend a lot of my time during business hours either talking to new clients on the phone or responding to questions via email. The actual amount of time spent driving around or doing paperwork such as signing new listings is minimal in proportion to the time I spend in communication with others. My brain is always on fire. Because of that, I am often direct, which means if a client is not used to dealing with a real estate agent who is upfront with them, it might be a bit unsettling at first. Yet, direct honesty always seems to be welcome.
Plus, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I think it was Mark Twain who said if you tell the truth you don’t ever have to remember what you said.
One of my callers was a potential seller in Elk Grove. I list and sell a lot of homes in Elk Grove, and throughout Sacramento, although not all of them are short sales these days. I’m getting quite a few calls from sellers who have equity. This particular guy started off the conversation by asking me how much I charge. I told him straight up that my commission — what I “charge” — is the least of his worries. Which is absolutely true. But I guess he was not prepared for that answer. Wha wha?
The thing is I charge the same amount I have always charged. Even after almost 40 years in the business, my commission has been the same. No raise for me. Whether it varies by a half a percent from some other agent’s commission is not really relevant, not in the overall scheme of things, and especially not in this hot market place. You’re not going to save any money by trying to negotiate an agent’s commission, even though all commissions are negotiable by law. You’re going to save money by choosing the best real estate agent. Period.
Nobody is going to gouge you or rip you off. And not this Elk Grove agent. Getting into escrow is the easy part. Closing it is the hard part.
You’ve got all kinds of agents in this business. My caller from yesterday said an agent told him he could get half a million for his house — a home in Elk Grove that comps out in the upper 300’s. Perhaps he misunderstood the agent or perhaps the agent was overly zealous, hard to say. I tried to explain that simply because words poured out of somebody’s mouth does not mean this seller will score a windfall upon resale. But after a few minutes of discussion, it was clear that trying to pull him into reality would take up such a huge amount of my time — time that I could be spending selling homes in Elk Grove and closing them — that I was probably better off focusing on the sellers who really need my expertise.
I really, really like all of my clients. I’m successful in this business because I keep it that way. If you’ve got a home to sell in Elk Grove or anywhere within the Sacramento area, I’ve probably recently closed a sale or two in your neighborhood. So, call Elizabeth Weintraub. I’d love to talk with you. My cell is 916.233.6759.
Pushing Up Values for Homes in Elk Grove
A few years ago seems so ancient when I recall how first-time home buyers back then were complaining to this Elk Grove agent that they were getting beat out by cash investors. Home buyers began to wonder if prices were moving up when prices were still pretty flat. I predicted then that the appreciation push would happen when cash buyers bid against other cash buyers. Because offers are dependent upon appraisals when there is financing involved, and the appraisers typically do not appraise a home for more based on pending sales. They look at the comparable sales. Without cash offers, the comparable sales generally won’t move upward. This is not 2005.
Sure enough, I see that happening in Elk Grove now. In fact, an agent in my office had pointed a finger at me and said one of my equity sales in Elk Grove was establishing a new record, and it was my fault. This real estate agent lives in that particular neighborhood in Elk Grove. She saw I had listed a home on a cul-de-sac that was absolutely gorgeous. This was one of those homes that when you walk into it, you automatically know that buyers will be clamoring for it. As an Elk Grove agent who sells a lot of homes in Elk Grove, I know it when I see it. This was one of those.
The sellers had purchased this home as a short sale several years ago. It had a open floor plan, was a single-story with granite counters in the kitchen. Trying to figure out the list price was difficult because although many homes had sold in that area, few were not a short sale and none matched this square footage. Based on the median sales price and adjusting for square footage, I figured it would comp about $235,000, maximum. If we got an appraisal. And given the way prices were moving in Elk Grove, coupled with the extreme desirability of this particular home, I figured we could easily shove that price another $10,000.
But I don’t choose the sales price. The seller chooses the sales price. Always. It’s their home. All I can really do is give the seller what they are paying me to give them, which is my professional opinion from almost 40 years in the business. It’s up to the seller to take this information, digest it, and decide upon a list price.
These sellers chose the list price of $245,000. I then positioned this home to receive multiple offers and began to market it. We received more than 30 offers. The highest offer was cash at $275,000. The sellers accepted the offer with a fast closing. A few days later, that buyer’s agent confessed that she had written several offers and her buyer now wanted to cancel the transaction. Her excuse for what can be considered unethical behavior was my seller had 30 offers and her buyer did not enjoy that luxury. If you’re nodding your head in agreement, you’re probably not a real estate agent and, if you are a real estate agent, that nodding head probably ought to be hung in shame.
We then chose the next 3 highest bidders in line, whom the seller would consider. The seller asked each of these buyers to make a highest and best offer. They bid against themselves, and we sold the home for $268,000 cash. It closed last month in 3 weeks. Almost 14% over market value. That’s the value of a full-service listing agent. You would think the real estate agent in my office would be happy that we’re pushing up the value of her home in that neighborhood. But this is how homes price can go up in Elk Grove. If you’re thinking about selling a home in Elk Grove, call this Elk Grove agent at 916.233.6759.
Why Multiple Offers Are Wrong
It’s not that I don’t trust people; it’s that people can’t always be trusted. Which isn’t necessarily the same thing. When you’re a Sacramento real estate agent like me — and been in the business since kids wore bellbottoms — you see enough to question what seems odd to you. People take that as mistrust, but it’s just enough usually to put my radar on alert. It’s the reason I was accepted into law school in my younger years. I am naturally inquisitive. The oddball in any equation is often suspect for a reason.
Sure enough, the offer that stood apart from all of the other offers this weekend for that home in Elk Grove did not make it past a 24-hour period. It’s not that the purchase offer crumbled and fell, it’s that it was most likely falsely presented in the first place. A statement in MLS informed buyer’s agents that all offers would be reviewed on a certain day at a certain time. This put buyers on notice that all offers would be given an equal opportunity for presentation. Therefore, by extension, a buyer who was not willing to wait for a response by that certain day should not submit an offer. To submit an offer without an intent to wait could very well invalidate the good faith covenant inherent in purchase contracts.
Whether a buyer realizes it or not, a buyer can make only one offer for a home in Sacramento. Some agents will tell buyers that they can make as many offers as they want and those agents would not only be wrong but they could be subject to discipline. If a buyer does not have the financial means to purchase every home a buyer writes an offer to buy, the offers are not real. There are laws that prohibit writing pretend offers. Buyers writing multiple offers they can’t afford to all buy is a big, huge, no-no. It’s also unprofessional, and fiduciary could be called into question as well because who would advise a buyer to break the law?
Yet, that did not stop an agent and Elk Grove buyers from writing more than one offer for a home in Elk Grove, offering as a lame excuse the buyers did not want to wait. This intent was undisclosed. This agent does not work for Lyon Real Estate, thank goodness. I can’t tell you which company but it wasn’t Lyon. I love working with Lyon real estate agents. I know they have been trained and they are supervised. Any little problems that could ever pop up are handled in a prompt and efficient manner. We have great management and communication among our agents at Lyon Real Estate. I can always trust a Lyon agent to do the job correctly.
When agents don’t respond after being informed their buyer’s offer has been accepted, that’s the first sign something is amiss. I didn’t hear from this buyer’s agent for more than 24 hours. A full 24 hours was also enough time to negotiate another offer. Of course, unknown to me, the agent could have dropped dead from a heart attack and been found lying splattered in the street somewhere, but that’s a long shot, don’t you think?
In any case, I have 3 very happy buyers this morning who have a renewed chance to buy a home in Elk Grove. If you read yesterday’s blog, 35 offers for a home in Elk Grove, you’ll see my gut said we should have countered all four offers. That was my suggestion. It’s not that I don’t trust people; it’s that some prove unworthy of trust. Being cautious is always wise in my playbook.
One deal is not worth a reputation. The shame is some agents never learn that lesson.
