natomas agent

WSJ, Trulia and Zillow List Best Real Estate Agents in America

best agents in america

Best Real Estate Agents in America for 2015

The purpose behind the Real Trends 1000 List of Best Real Estate Agents in America is to sell crap to the agents on the list. Being named to this list means I will endure yet another year of harassment and haranguing from manufacturers who want to make me a plaque to celebrate my accomplishments and charge me an enormous sum for the privilege of hanging the ugly thing on my wall so our 3 cats can shoot spitballs at it. Real Trends will also sell my name to thousands of spammers. It’s the price of success, and it sorta sucks. Still, it also means the Elizabeth Weintraub Team ranks #7 in the Sacramento region, which is impressive, I suppose.

Real Trends now works in collaboration with the Wall Street Journal, Zillow and Trulia. Every year they put out a list of the best agents in America.

A couple of new clients called yesterday to request help with Sacramento real estate, people who probably did not know this list exists yet called me anyway. One was a buyer who said he had previously worked with a team in Nevada and was thrilled with the results. Because it’s difficult for one person to be in 10 places at the same time unless that person has a team for support. He gets it. He understands why working a team is the way to go. Happy-as-clam clients, that’s what we strive for. Clients for whom we strive to meet every need. Instantly.

This buyer wants to move his family to either Curtis Park or East Sacramento, probably with a more dedicated focus on homes in Land Park. Those neighborhoods happen to be my specialty. I live in Land Park. He hit the jackpot with us. I personally match buyers to team members who possess intimate knowledge, and we work together to make magic happen.

He knows the benefits of working with a team in Sacramento, so one less thing to explain. It doesn’t cost extra to get a team to work for you, either.

Another client, a seller with a home in Natomas, called to talk about sales strategy and market conditions. She wants me to list her home in Natomas as soon as the tenant moves out next month. She found me online and read my reviews. She gets it. As a natural course of progression in these types of conversations, she asked how much I charge, and I explained my standard fee that has remained unchanged over the past 40 years. Then, I went one step further to justify and to explain that she can find some cheap-ass agent, and she cut me off right there.

Said she’s been down that road with an agent who would cut the commission, and she does NOT want to work with a discount agent. I don’t blame her. She understands the value full-service agents bring, and knows the entire transaction will be smoother and she’ll make more money with an agent who is full service. And she’s absolutely right. I love working with smart people.

While my team and I are honored to be on the list of the best real estate agents in America, we much prefer focusing on clients and making them happy. I work with my sellers one-on-one by providing personalized and customized service. My sellers enjoy the privilege of sole access to me. I handle the listings and my team shows homes. That’s what sustains a successful Sacramento real estate business year after year. Not the top 1000 list of best agents.

Once Upon a Time There Were 3 Homes in Escrow

withdrawn-canceled-expired-sacramento-listingOne would think it was an April Fool’s joke the way things seem to be going this morning in my Sacramento real estate business, but I can assure you that it’s entirely coincidental that 3 properties are going back on the market today pending rescission through absolutely no fault of the sellers. It’s those buyers. Once we had 3 homes in escrow and then not.

You would think buyers would have received the message by now that we have limited inventory in the marketplace, and they are pretty much lucky to be in escrow on any home. But with any strange market comes strange buyers as part of the mix. The problem is as a listing agent, we don’t meet the buyers face-to-face and we have no idea really whether they face mental challenges or are just drunk or stoned. The scenarios seem so similar at times.

I want to suggest hey, buyer’s agents, why not rifle through your buyer’s personal belongings to see if they have stashed illegal drugs in their coat pocket and better sniff that water bottle, does it contain vodka? Because I don’t see any other explanation for such absurdities. I know for some people it’s a lot of fun to be in escrow and picture what life would be like after closing, but for some of those people, it pains me to say, well, they can harbor no intention of closing. Some of them don’t realize it at the time, I’ll give them that much; but others are fully aware, they’re just playing in some other kids’ sandbox, one that the cat visited.

Just seems like a big case of buyer’s remorse sneaking into town on slipper-clad feet. Like that purple smoky haze cast as a curse by Maleficent over Storybrooke. Three perfectly good homes in escrow back on the market today. It’s unbelievable. Enough with the negative, let go of that — time to focus on the positive. These will sell again. They always do.

If you need a turnkey home in Elk Grove at $225,000, or a model home condo in West Sacramento by the Lighthouse Marina at $195,000, or a huge upgraded home with hardwood floors and a fabulous view in Natomas around $300,000, please give this Sacramento real estate agent a ring today at 916.233.6759. I’ll be more than happy to help you find that perfect home and slip you into backup position as we await the processing of the inevitable. No April Foolin’, I promise. When we put homes in escrow, they generally stick.

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