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April is a Time to Plan a Real Estate Agent Winter Holiday
You might find it difficult to believe that this Sacramento real estate agent ever has any downtime to screw around and contemplate a winter holiday, but I just had four dental implants shoved into my jaw on Friday, so I’ve been taking it easy. ?By taking it easy, I mean working solely on my existing business and not really focusing on new business. This free time gave me a few hours yesterday to visualize a winter holiday, among all the offers and phone calls rolling in. It’s tough to find time to slow down and take it easy when you sell real estate for a living. But the key is to make sure you have WiFi wherever you are. WiFi and satellite internet rules the world.
For example, a few years ago, I listed a home and sold it while dangling my toes off a dock attached to a thatched roof hut on an atoll in the middle of the South Pacific. People might wonder why would I do it? Why would I work when I’m on vacation? Because they wouldn’t. I do it because I like it. I’m just a weird duck. No client ever has to worry that I will go away and forget about her or him because I won’t. I love what I do, and I love the fact it gives me the financial opportunity to explore new places.
I like to take a real estate agent winter holiday in early December and return early January, because business is about as slow as business can get during any given year. So it’s not a constant pace nor consistent pressure that means I can’t enjoy a vacation. I can do both. So this year I’m thinking about spending about 10 days to unwind at a resort near Hobart, Tasmania. I’ve always wanted to see a Tasmanian Devil. Then jumping on a 16-day cruise aboard a small cruise ship from Sydney to Melbourne and around New Zealand. I’ve watched an excellent murder mystery series lately about New Zealand, and the Flight of the Conchords doesn’t count.
The series that resonated was Top of the Lake, starring Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter. I could see myself in that Holly Hunter character. She made me laugh out loud. The scenery was gorgeous and breathtaking. You can get kinda sick of watching the underside of LA freeways on TV.
Of course, there is also The Hobbit, if you need another reason to see New Zealand. But I think that show previously mentioned, which you can get from Netflix, is enough of a reason. The Hobbit is too computer generated and imaginary. See, this is a reason to excel at selling real estate. You can watch a movie with beautiful scenery, say to yourself Hey, I’d like to go there and then go off on your real estate agent winter holiday. Of course, I would also like to find a traveling companion because even a small luxury ship requires double occupancy or you’re penalized. My husband will probably be unable to go as he’s actively searching for a new career. Being a veteran newspaper reporter isn’t the best occupation these days.
On a side note, I also see in the Sacramento Bee this morning an article from Lyon Real Estate on the front page that says I am #1 in the downtown midtown office for last year (as I’ve ranked the last few years) and ranked #4 in the company. I wonder how that #4 ranking happened when I sold more homes and produced a higher dollar volume than the #3 proclaimed agent. I looked at the numbers in MLS and in Trendgraphix, and both of those reporting sources indicated I rank #3. But you know what, I am not as riled about it as #3 was, I suspect. And I guess that’s why Lyon shows this level-headed agent at #4.
Politics. Schmolatics. I don’t waste time on petty crap I can’t control.
Is anybody interested in Australia and New Zealand this winter? I realize many people want to stay home for Christmas and New Years, but I prefer to travel. Maybe I should call a few other top producers to see if they would like to take a fun trip and go on a real estate agent winter holiday?
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.
Elizabeth Weintraub Earns Top Agent at Lyon Real Estate
The managing broker of Lyon’s downtown office called me yesterday to report the Elizabeth Weintraub Team is #1 in the company for August. That makes me the top agent at Lyon Real Estate, number one. I can’t believe it. She says my production is over $5.3 million for last month. That’s a lot for 30 days of work. That’s especially a lot when my average sales price is less than $300,000. Sometimes, I sell condos for $50,000. I can’t verify that number because, to be honest, I’m too busy and it’s not a top priority. Who has time to count pennies?
I figure August must be a good month for everybody in Sacramento real estate. I know August is the month that all the agents at Lyon Real Estate have to pay for Errors and Omissions insurance, plus legal representation, and those fees are pretty hefty. So, if I was the head of Lyon Real Estate — which I need to point out I am not — I would probably charge agent’s statements in the month that agents are likely to have the most closings. That would ensure a more likely payment.
Squeezing money out of agents is probably harder than it sounds, knowing agents like I know real estate agents. So, that would mean the month of August is probably the biggest month of production for most agents in Sacramento.
If that’s the case, then it’s pretty cool to earn status as the top agent at Lyon Real Estate for August. I don’t know how many agents work at Lyon. I’d guess it’s around 1,000. I have to give the credit to my Elizabeth Weintraub Team members, though, and I’m not just saying that because that’s what you’re supposed to say. The truth is I could not do what I do without Barbara Dow, Linda Swanson and Shaundra Bradley. Not to mention, my escrow officer, Dawn Herlache and her assistant Jennifer Baranoff, at Placer Title. And of course the guy who closes mortgages for our buyers, Dan Tharp, at Comstock Mortgage, is incredible, and I often receive glowing reviews of him. There are also behind-the-scenes players, the office assistants and managers who cover my butt every single day. I suspect they also take care of crap that I never even hear about.
Funny thing yesterday an agent whose offer was accepted on one of my Sacramento short sales called me the No Drama Agent. That’s his nickname for me. We closed a transaction a few years ago, and I guess my demeanor struck a chord with him. I don’t have any respect for drama, and drama is unproductive and a stupid waste of time. Maybe that will be my new motto: the No Drama Agent.?
