SOLD a Home on 5 Acres in Auburn, CA

SOLD! Home and acreage on Winding Way in Auburn by Elizabeth Weintraub

Having just sold a home on 5 acres in Auburn when I work primarily down the hill in Sacramento was no easy feat but thank goodness the sellers hired this Sacramento Realtor. Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking, so I’ll bring up the White Elephant in the room right away. I am not a specialist for Auburn real estate, but I have sold many homes in Placer County and I’ve done a fabulous job for my sellers. I get 5 star reviews. My position is if a seller has to choose between a Realtor like me with 40 years of experience or a newbie neighborhood agent who attended school in the area, has family in Auburn and knows everybody in town, the sellers are still much better off with an experienced Realtor from the big city. And Sacramento is about as big as we get around here.

Because this Realtor employs big city ideas and has had years of making mistakes elsewhere to learn from. So, yes, I don’t own any Wellies. I showed up wearing heels and a silk dress to meet with the sellers because that’s who I am. Mr. Seller shook my hand and said he had promised me the listing because I had been referred to them from a relative whose home I had earlier sold in Cameron Park, and even though another agent tried to wrangle the listing away, he and his wife were sticking with me. Loyalty. A person of word. Great Realtor selection. 🙂 All excellent qualities in a seller. I accepted the job.

We discussed market value, and I had studied the Auburn real estate market extensively. I showed the sellers my homework. Coming up with accurate price suggestions is one of my strong suits. I examine not only the comparable sales but which way the market is moving and buyer attitudes. My suggestion for a sales price was $595,000 (not $599K, not $625K). The sellers agreed.

Now, I would not be human if I said the Estimates of Value for this home on 5 acres in Auburn that came from my Lyon office in that neck of the woods were not a little bit disturbing. These are called EOVs, and when agents tour new listings in the area, they often prepare an EOV to help the listing agent. I actually figured these agents would probably be the agents to bring us an offer because they represent a lot of buyers in Auburn. I also used the Auburn office listing signs, not my own, on both Highway 49 and the property, which was located at the end of a private road, so that office would get most of the sign-generated phone calls. They could dash over at a moment’s notice to show an interested buyer.

If they read this, and they probably will, there is no way to ignore what happened. So I’m gonna just lay it on the line in hopes they will do better next time. The EOVs I received from the real estate agents at the Lyon office in Auburn for my $595,000 listing were as follows:

• Agent 1: $499,000 to $525,000
• Agent 2: $545,000
• Agent 3: $525,000 to $535,000
• Agent 4: $550,000
• Agent 5: $549,000

I sent the EOVs to my sellers, and I thanked the agents for coming out to tour the home and for preparing the EOVs for me. I am always grateful for the support from my other Lyon offices. However, I could not for the life of me figure out why these 5 agents did not believe the home would sell at our list price. I figured these guys sell in Auburn, that’s their specialized real estate market, and they should know the value. What if I was dead wrong? I reviewed my homework and decided to stay the course, and suggested the same to my sellers. We’d stick at $595,000.

Sure enough, the home on 5 acres in Auburn sold at $595,000 and closed yesterday. They Lyon agent EOVS were all way off base. Maybe it was a freaky thing?

Not only that, but the sellers did not pay for any of the inspections, even though it is customary in Auburn for sellers to do so. We just said no. We got away with it because of the market conditions. Because the sellers hired an experienced Realtor to sell their home who devises custom strategy for each of her sellers as a matter of practice. I truly keep their best interest at the center of my focus. Bottom line, you don’t always need a neighborhood specialist and, in fact, sometimes you’re better off hiring an outsider from the big city with better skills.