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Another Useful Way to Hire a Home Stager
Why not hire a home stager for setting up your new home?
A received a call the other day from a Land Park home owner who asked me if I could refer her to an interior designer. She was in the process of improving her living areas and wanted to buy new furniture, window coverings and accessories, but didn’t know where to start. Guess she figured out from some of my blogs that I live in Land Park. I am also a very easy Land Park agent to find in Google. My websites and blogs rank with four URLs out of the top 10.
It was not unusual for a person I do not know to call me looking for advice. Of course, with all home purchasing decisions, it’s important to have a goal in mind, a picture of your finished product. While you might adore a butter-soft Italian leather sofa, for example, it’s difficult to imagine how it might fit in with your existing decor or whether you should design a room around that single piece of furniture.
I recommended that she call a home stager. It was a thought that had not occurred to her but made a lot of sense. After all, many stagers are artists. They are creative and can turn an otherwise boring space into a showcase. Home stagers aren’t useful only when selling a home; stagers are innovative designers who can transform a living space into a delightful environment for home owners to enjoy as well.
I’ve had sellers tell me that after a home stager worked on their home for selling, they wanted that same home stager to come over to their new home after they move and help set it up. And why not? A home stagers has a knack and specific training that will help you to design a living space in which to live your life. A home stager is not just for selling.
If you’re interested in selling your home, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. 40 years at your service.
The Unintended Consequences of Fixing a Mailbox in Land Park
Hand putting new mail in a full mailbox in Land Park.
Here is what you don’t do. You don’t stick a flashlight between your teeth to hold the light steady while you’re pounding away with a hammer. Part of the reason not to hold a flashlight in your teeth is evident. As you pound, you might grit your teeth in relation to the increased force used to slam a nail. Or, at least that’s my theory and I’m sticking with it because yesterday I broke a crown in half. The tooth simply snapped. It wouldn’t have been so bad, probably, if it was a located in the back of my jaw but it has to be, of course, a front tooth. Now I look like a bag lady.
The good news is our mailbox slot is fixed. Our home in Land Park was built in 1948, and like most homes of that vintage, we have a front closet near the front door, which makes a perfect place to install a mailbox slot on the outside of the house because all of the mail can fall safely inside the closet, not on the floor where some wild beast wandering about might attack or shred it.
I’d like to take credit for initially installing the mail slot but the previous owners created the system. You lift the flap on the outside of the brick, deposit mail and it falls down a metal lined chute through the force of gravity. A small door blocks the mail. When you open the door, the mail falls into your hands. It’s better than finding the mail tossed on the front steps, which is how many residents in Land Park receive mail and oversized envelopes. The mail carrier has to fold large envelopes in half but he can stuff them down our mailbox chute.
Somehow, while we were on vacation in Cuba, our mailbox door detached itself from the inside closet wall. It was a big annoyance, which is why I was sitting on the floor yesterday holding a hammer and trying to nail the door to the wall in the dark like an idiot. Finally, I got up to locate a flashlight, but you really need two hands to hammer, and that’s why the flashlight ended up in my mouth.
Dr. Coyle in Midtown will not be pleased to note the condition of my tooth today. Hey, yah, I put the crown under my pillow but the tooth fairy skipped our house last night. No million bucks under my pillow.
The Mill at Broadway Showcases Model Homes in Land Park
Elizabeth Weintraub enjoys a beer at The Mill at Broadway with the Channel 10 Ingress Portal in back.
We had many good reasons to visit The Mill at Broadway last night, and here they are in no particular order: Free brats from LowBrau in Midtown and free cold IPA beer from New Helvetia in Land Park. An evening out for us, with my Elizabeth Weintraub Team member and good friend Barbara Dow, and her husband, Jim. The Mill at Broadway is walking distance from our home in Land Park. And we all needed to see the new housing complex, which I predict this Sacramento Realtor will be listing and selling in a few years as resale homes in Land Park. Always thinking ahead.
Check out the Channel 10 Ingress Portal behind my head. This is not public property, Ingress, just sayin’. The portal should not be there.
The Mill at Broadway grand opening party featured beer and brats.
I have friends in Land Park who were friends with the Setzer family who used to own this tract of land when it was a sawmill. In fact, I recall 12 years ago when the Setzer family was in negotiations, talking about selling this property, and it has taken that long to put the sale together. There was a lot of speculation in Upper Land Park about what kind of project would take place on this property, because it has a lot of history, not to mention, it’s in an odd location for housing.
We used to patronize the Market Club when it was here, which is now long gone. Yum, grilled liver and onions for lunch. Called it the best little greasy spoon in Land Park you’ve never heard of.
Visitors to the model homes at The Mill at Broadway discuss the bungalow features.
It’s amazing how quickly the construction has popped up since it started and the model homes seemed to be completed in the blink of an eye. Every time I would drive down 5th Street, I’d spot another building. Of course, I am thrilled this project is providing another cornerstone to solidify home values in Upper Land Park. The entire revitalization of this neighborhood is a welcome sight from the eyesores of run-down industrial buildings. Not to mention, the proximity to restaurants, transportation, entertainment. It’s a half-hour walk to downtown Sacramento.
The photo above is a kitchen in the larger bungalow where a couple of my possibly future potential clients are probably talking about buying a home. The flushed-edge counter island, which Barbara says is referred to as a “waterfall” now, is a stand-out feature in this bungalow. Cool as that may be, the stairs for older people might prove to be a bit burdensome in years that will go by. Then, bingo, a new listing for this Sacramento Realtor.
This is my favorite model, Residence 4, Bungalow. It’s 1451 square feet with 3 floors. It features 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, plus a 2-car garage, and it’s a standalone building.
Barbara Dow checks out the fondue pot in the kitchen at Mill at Broadway
Probably my second favorite model is the Residence 1, Bungalow at The Mill at Broadway. This building features the roommate bedroom with private bath on the first floor, right off of the two-car garage. The kitchen and living room, above, are located on the second floor, along with the owner’s ensuite. The outdoor room, if I recall correctly, also featured two hanging “birdcages” as chairs. I love those chairs. Every square inch of space is utilized in a fashionable yet efficient manner.
Elizabeth Weintraub lounging on a bed at a Bungalow at The Mill at Broadway.
Overall, the 208-home complex features 3 different types of structures available in a variety of designs, from free-standing bungalows (priced from the mid $300s), to side-by-side villas of 2 and 3 stories (priced from the low $300s), and another design they are calling the Courts (priced from the low $200s), which are furthest away from the W X Freeway and feature one-car garages and motor courts. The Courts range in square footage from 533 to 1436. As a woman who wears heels, I had a hard time envisioning myself prancing down to the garage 3 flights of stairs to leave for work. But then I’m not really the target buyer for these homes. The target is millennials, with a lot more energy and spunk than I can muster.
Fortunately, there are new homes going in sometime in 2018 that will have an elevator! Yes, we older people who don’t want to climb stairs can enjoy a viable option. Further, the builder is offering an FHA program, coupled with a second mortgage through Finance of America, that will let you buy a home for no money down! Call your Sacramento Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759 for more information.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub and Barbara Dow
About the PG&E Gas Lines in Land Park on Muir Way
PG&E works on gas lines in Land Park on Muir Way.
PG&E is working furiously on tearing up the streets in Land Park to lay new PG&E gas lines. You have probably spotted those ubiquitous blue-and-white trucks that are busy replacing gas lines all over Sacramento this year but they are especially prevalent at the moment near where I live in Land Park. We’ve got those older PG&E gas lines running through our neighborhood, just like the Orangeburg sewer lines that so many homes in Land Park have to deal with and, if you live in Land Park and haven’t had a sewer inspection, you should probably do it. These older materials were not meant to last forever, but they’ve also been forgotten over the years, sorta like Pia Zadora, who my husband mentioned the other day when I asked why we were not watching a show that had won a Golden Globe last year. Two words, he said.
I ride my bike through Land Park, which is why the road tearing-up business for the PG&E gas lines is in my face. It is very difficult, for example, to cruise by the Riverside United Methodist Church at Vallejo and Muir to hack that Ingress portal with blue-and-white trucks all over the place and the road blocked off. They’ve been there for more than a week. The funny thing is when I look at the PG&E map of where its gas lines run, they do not show the gas lines running this far down Muir Way. In fact, below is a photo of a home that I sold in Land Park to a charming couple, which is located near Muir and Robertson, and you can clearly see they are working there, for which my previous buyers are undoubtedly very pleased.
PG&E gas line work on Muir Way near Robertson Way in Land Park, Sacramento.
These gas lines don’t appear on the PG&E integrated map. Which might be part of the reason why PG&E was indicted by a federal grand jury for lying to the National Transportation Safety Board last year over the San Bruno explosion of 2010. Suddenly, PG&E committed 2.7 billion to replacing gas lines.
Further down Muir Way by Perkins you can see lines drawn in the street that probably reflect where they will dig. CAT tractors are scattered throughout the PG&E gas line project, which I’m happy about because it means my CAT stock is likely to rise. When I first bought CAT stock in 2000, I was very excited to spot CAT equipment, being new to the whole investing arena. While driving with my husband and I’d spot CAT equipment at the side of the freeway, I’d squeal, “there’s a CAT,” and . . . he’d slam on the brakes . . .
As I road my bike west on Robertson from Riverside, I could not help but wonder why the residents don’t complain to the city about the way the blacktop in the street is charred and breaking up. Chunky bits, tar mixed with dirt. It makes for very bumpy bike riding, bouncing my bluetooth, and I imagine a car doesn’t fare much better. When I noticed a soft spot on my street that dipped, I called the city of Sacramento and they came out right away to inspect and fill it. I suspect the City of Sacramento relies on us to inform them because they don’t necessarily drive around looking for stuff to fix. Although, it would not be a bad idea to resurface all of the streets in Land Park after this PG&E gas line project is completed.
Look on the bright side: if you’re not hacking portals in the Sacramento City Cemetery or around Land Park, then you probably won’t be driving through the residential section of Upper Land Park, which is situated west of Riverside. Although, you might cut through Vallejo after checking out the The Mill at Broadway, which has brand new homes flying up faster than our cat Pia chased chicken treats. Just watch for the detour signs.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub
Real Estate Construction and Condo Market in Downtown Sacramento
Back side of the Sacramento Kings Arena, the Golden 1 Center, on L Street near 5th.
Lots of people are beginning to bank on property values going up near the new downtown Sacramento Kings Arena, now named the Golden 1 Center, and with good reason. Parts of downtown Sacramento are going through renovation, which often tends to boost values in the neighborhoods near by. And there is a lot to point toward, from the older expansion of the Crocker Museum to the revitalization of K Street and all the construction buzz for boutique hotels, new condos and apartment buildings.
Rents are going up, too. In fact, in some neighborhoods, it is cheaper to buy a home in Sacramento than to rent. The buy-and-hold investors are coming back. There is a big difference between the flipper investors and regular investors. I think it’s funny that we call the flippers “investors” when they are more like gamblers. Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose and they never seem to know when to fold. For the long run, investors who buy homes to rent them out look more for value than trying to squeeze every last dime out of a transaction and better fit the term investor.
Construction in progress at Kings Arena, Golden 1 Center, downtown Sacramento on L Street, 9/13/15.
Those thoughts ran through my head yesterday as my husband and I headed to the Sacramento Library on I Street and drove down L Street. I recall several years ago the condos at 15th Street at Stanford Court that used to sell for $150,000 are now moving in the $300,000 range and up. Those condos also rent for $1,500 and up. Some projects have remained fairly stable, like the Saratoga Townhouses over at 9th and Q Streets, but some of the others like Bridgeway Towers, for example, at 500 N Street, why, those prices have jumped through the roof. I’ve had short sales at $250K or so and those prices are almost double in 2015.
We also drove by flippers on 3rd Street in downtown Sacramento and, like the homes going in on 5th Street, the Mill at Broadway in Land Park, some of the reason for that construction is cheap land. Land is usually cheap because it’s either contaminated, like the railroad cleanup in Curtis Park Village, or it’s in a bad location, like under a freeway. I don’t know why people want to live under a freeway but they will, and I’m not talking about the homeless. Why do they want to buy in McKinley Village? I suspect it’s the same reason people will live on busy streets, affordability coupled with a connection to others.
It’s almost like a life-force to some buyers, the screaming freeway. Cars zipping by, a continual traffic hum of automobile tires, accentuated by the occasional compounding of racket made by 16-wheelers and motorcycles. I spotted new homes going in at the corner of Santa Buena and Swanson in Land Park, up against Interstate 5. This was a plot of land that the neighborhood rallied around to make into a dog park, but it never happened. I’ve sold homes on Santa Buena, and it’s one of the hardest places to sell homes in Land Park, except for those on Freeport or by the railroad tracks.
When you run out of land in a city, you get what is left, and the real estate mantra of location, location, location seems to matter less and less to home buyers. Well, until the day they become a home seller.
photos by Elizabeth Weintraub
