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A Short Sale Home in Fair Oaks with Two Loans Closed Fast
As I drove away from my closed listing of a short sale home in Fair Oaks yesterday, I wondered why I picked up the Supra lockbox. It’s not like I can use the lockbox for anything ever again now that MetroList has rescinded its agreement to allow us to continue using our Supra lockboxes until they die. I had more than 70 lockboxes and did not exchange them all in the rip-off 2 for 1 Supra lockbox exchange because MetroList promised we could keep them. Which means now I have about 40 lockboxes rolling around in my trunk that are useless because MetroList backpedaled.
Well, I do know why I picked it up. I retrieved my lockbox because I owed it to the new buyer of that home in Fair Oaks to retrieve. Because I have a responsibility to my profession. We, Fair Oaks Realtors don’t go around leaving our personal property attached to homes in Fair Oaks, even if it’s useless to us. I wonder, though, how many agents will just leave their lockboxes? You know how some agents are.
Homeowners can thank MetroList for all those abandoned lockboxes that I predict will be happening throughout Sacramento.
The home in Fair Oaks that just closed was a short sale I had listed in MLS on May 15th. It was a Fannie Mae short sale; Seterus was the servicer for Fannie Mae, and I’ve closed hundreds of short sales since 2006, which means I have knowledge other agents do not. One of the things I know about Fannie Mae is it does not want to see any offer prior to 5 days on the market, with at least 2 of those days the weekend. Makes sense, Fannie Mae expects decent exposure on the market, no side deals. I also have an account at Fannie Mae’s portal that keeps me up-to-date on new rules and where I expedite my short sales.
We had multiple offers, too, and chose the buyer most likely to wait for approval, which is the buyer whose agent is cooperative and submits the offer the way we need it submitted for approval. You’d be amazed how many agents contest what is actually in their best interest and their client’s best interest, but what can I say?
Come August 15th, 3 months later, we had closed escrow, and there were two loans on this short sale. I also hear agents say they don’t want to deal with two loans on a short sale, probably because they’ve had bad experiences. They haven’t worked with me. I do many short sales with two loans. It’s really no big deal.
I’d say 90 days from listing to moving out of the short sale home in Fair Oaks is a fairly decent approval process. I didn’t see the buyer yesterday or I would have thanked him personally for going into escrow with us. My seller is thrilled beyond being thrilled, and extremely relieved, and that’s the most important thing to me.
P.S. Look out for those chickens in Fair Oaks.
The Dissing of Calling a Fair Oaks Realtor the Devil You Know
It is not unusual for me to receive phone calls from disgruntled sellers in Sacramento who want to dump their agent. I know you might be thinking to yourself: how lucky is this Sacramento REALTOR — because she doesn’t have to search for business; listings just fall into her lap. The truth is I don’t particularly enjoy listening to a seller rant and rave about all the horrible things she believes her soon-to-be former agent has done. On top of which, I don’t add fuel to the fire; I don’t see any reason to disparage another human being, especially not for financial gain.
I try to get the callers to understand why maybe they are upset with their agent. Perhaps it’s because their agent doesn’t have much experience? If an agent sells one house every couple of months or so, for example, that real estate agent’s experience level will be very different from an agent like me who sells at least a couple of homes every week, on average, and continually lays her finger on market pulse. Not to mention, I’ve been in the business since the early 1970s and have easily adapted in a chameleon-like manner to changes and technology.
Not every agent is so fortunate. Agents are very different from each other. Should you change agents? That’s a loaded question.
Certain home sellers in Fair Oaks called me over the weekend, super irate with their present agent. I explained that I couldn’t really get into it with them until their agent releases the listing from MLS. I don’t ever want to be accused of swiping a client. Bingo, within the day, it was released.
The agent had removed not only all of the photographs but also the marketing comments! Uh, oh. He must have been really ticked off, a supposition I shared with the sellers. Why did they have to make their agent so angry? Was it him, was it them? I dunno. Not good, though.
During the course of our conversations, the sellers had asked what they could do to improve the photos to sell their home in Fair Oaks. The photos looked like they were shot with a cellphone, for goodness sakes, grainy and tilted. We probably talked for an hour, and I gave them a ton of information and then made an appointment to list the home.
The sellers said they were very grateful as I had opened their eyes. I had shared tips that they never had previously considered and which their agent had never mentioned. I gave them ideas for improving the marketability of their home, including how to stage it, down to the color of the flowers for their dining room table. Two hours before my appointment they shot off an urgent email explaining that their former Fair Oaks REALTOR had apologized and literally begged them to give him another chance.
They said it was the devil you know.
They would incorporate all of my ideas, too, and were extremely appreciative for my assistance.
There all sorts of people trying to sell a home in Sacramento these days and looking for a Fair Oaks REALTOR. It doesn’t mean I will change how I do business or stop offering to help. I wished them well and let it go. Besides, I didn’t share everything, and they have a surprise in store. Funny how that works out.
New Home Listings in Roseville, Greenhaven, Fair Oaks
When I woke up to rain in Sacramento this morning, my first thought was how excited I am to work on preparing my new home listings for this month, but my second thought was April showers bring May flowers — that ditty has little to do with anything because it’s still only March and because we already have flowers. By the time April rolls around, I have summer fever. I also wish we had enough rain to end the drought, but it looks like we are in a for a long struggle and need to practice continual water conservation.
A report in the Sacramento Bee revealed most of the water consumption in the Sacramento area is in Granite Bay as residents in Granite Bay use twice as much water over Sacramento residents. Larger lots, more grass, mostly. My new listings for this month are not located in Granite Bay, although I do sell homes in Placer County. These are homes in Fair Oaks, Greenhaven and Roseville, all areas I know very well. When you sell homes all over Sacramento like I do, it’s nice to be able to pick and choose which homes I want to sell and which sellers I want to represent.
While I’m selecting my new projects, homeowners are also selecting the agent they want to work with, and goodness knows, they have a huge selection from which to choose. A seller shared with me last week that one of the reasons she chose to hire Elizabeth Weintraub over the other agents she interviewed was because I did not talk AT her; I talked with her. Of course I talked with her, because that’s how I talk. Plus, I need to get to know my sellers on a personal level so I can best communicate and deliver the type of service they want. Make them not just happy but ecstatic. You can’t do that if you’re talking AT people.
If you are looking for a home in Greenhaven, Fair Oaks or Roseville, you will love this selection. First, they are all equity (traditional sales) homes, so you can close in 30 days. The home in Greenhaven sports gorgeous hardwood floors and an oversized lot, located in a pretty, tucked-away neighborhood, ready for immediate occupancy, under $300,000. The home in Fair Oaks boasts granite, is an updated and spacious single-level and offers country living in the city, priced under $400,000. The single-level home in Roseville features matted cherry cabinets throughout, granite counters, ceramic and marble floors, a popular model with a beautifully landscaped back yard, also priced under $400,000.
If you are a buyer working with the Elizabeth Weintraub Team, you’ll get first glimpse of these homes as they come on the market. All of our buyers tend to enjoy a bit of an edge in the Sacramento marketplace, and it’s not because they’re working with the smartest agents I know, but that certainly helps.
