Listings in East Sacramento and Glucose Curves for a Cat

Pica the Ocicat in 2013

For a federal holiday on Monday, President’s Day, the real estate business in Sacramento was pretty active. We enjoyed beautiful weather, which tends to put people in a good mood, so maybe many were out wandering about and noticing For Sale signs, hard to say. Some guy called, insisting that I have a listing in East Sacramento on T Street, and for the life of me I could not figure out what he was talking about. I felt like I was on Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Jeopardy. What is the name of the street you are on? Doesn’t know. What is the cross street? Doesn’t know. What color is the house? Doesn’t know. Are you outside right now?

He became a bit agitated, too, because he could not believe that I did not recognize my listing. It’s amazing how some people can’t see beyond the end of their nose. They can’t possibly be wrong, it must be you. No wonder, because turns out he was in Elmhurst, yet inquiring about a pending listing in East Sacramento off of Folsom. But we try to help all people who call, even the challenging, so I referred him to a Team Weintraub agent for assistance.

I also ran over to East Sacramento in the afternoon to check out two houses on a lot that I am listing. Although I sell in 4 counties, I am an experienced East Sacramento agent. Plus, my entire office on 28th & J supports East Sacramento, Midtown and downtown. This listing will be on the market the last Friday of this month. Just needs a little sprucing up. The income on that unit is about $2,000 a month, so it would make a nice investment for somebody. I try to imagine what kind of buyer is best suited for each of my listings when I take them. It helps me to target that buyer with my marketing.

The buyer for this will probably be a single, urban professional who longs to live within walking distance of Midtown for the restaurants, bars and nightlife but doesn’t want to live in a condo and can’t afford a big house. That type of person could buy this listing, live in the front house and keep the tenant in the back house. The income from the studio house is about $700 a month, which would help to offset the buyer’s mortgage payment, plus the back tenant can keep an eye on the front house when the buyer is traveling. There is an enormous updated kitchen, featuring granite and ceramic, and the bedrooms are separated in the front house so the buyer could even take on a roommate to help make ends stretch a bit further.

Throughout the day, my husband and I also used this time to perform blood glucose curves on our diabetic cat, Pica. He has been horribly stressed going to the vet for this procedure, so we decided to perform the testing at home, regardless of our own queasiness. Glucose curve testing involves sticking a needle into his paw pad. At first, we tried to prick it slightly and then squeeze out a droplet of blood. We ended up wasting a lot of test strips, and those suckers are expensive, like a dollar each. My husband tried holding Pica while I poked him, and then we’d trade an hour later, and I held him as my husband stuck him. We squeezed and petted and squeezed, and poor Pica yelped.

We obtained 8 results over 8 hours, one an hour.

By the late afternoon, all of my cautiousness, anxiety and trepidation about the procedure was gone. Vanished. It was like, gimme that damn paw pad. Poke, blood, test strip, done. I just jabbed it. I was ruthless. It’s amazing, the transformation that can come over you when you realize there is no way out and you just have to do it. Yes, I could eat a raw bird if lost at sea.

To celebrate our victories of the day, we went to Ella Dining Room and Bar for oysters, drinks and dinner. Toasted to our incredible success with the blood glucose curves . . . and the guy who called on the pending listing in East Sacramento — maybe he’ll be a buyer for the two houses on a lot in a few weeks? Never know. Can’t judge people. The oddest things can happen in Sacramento real estate.