No Excuses Sacramento

If you think the real estate market is deplorable in Sacramento just remember, you could be stuck instead on that Carnival cruise ship that broke down in the Gulf of Mexico. Sewage spewing forth down the aisles. No electricity. Rubbing shoulders with 3,000 other people who haven’t bathed and are pooping into plastic baggies. I think that would be enough to make me want to swipe a life craft and jump overboard. Now, that would be desperate times. I wouldn’t even care if it involved a floating orangutan and bananas, I would not want to be aboard that disaster.

Unfortunately, no matter how bad the market gets, there will always be those people who justify their actions based on the extreme market conditions. At least that’s their excuse and they’re sticking to it. Reminds me of that movie clip my husband likes to recite from the Blues Brothers, with John Belushi explaining why it wasn’t his fault. You know: I ran out of gas I had a flat tire I didn’t have enough money for cab fare my tux didn’t come back from the cleaners an old friend came in from outta town someone stole my car there was an earthquake a terrible flood locusts it wasn’t my fault I swear to god except today agents blame their inexcusable behavior on the market conditions.

There is no excuse. If you’ve been less-than-honorable in your dealings with other people, you know it. Own it.

That’s not to say it’s OK. It’s not OK. The other side of the coin is that California mantra of Dude, I flaked. You don’t even have to be stoned when you say it. If you just hold out out your arm and bend your fingers into a gang symbol and wag that hand while sporting a pathetic look splashed on your face, you get your point across. But it’s still unacceptable. I don’t care what you did, missed dinner, late for an appointment, bit the dentist, ran over the neighbor’s dog.

I talked with a guy in Washington, D.C. last night who is having difficulty buying a home in Rancho Cordova. Like most buyers in Sacramento these days, times are tough. It’s worse than 2005. Much worse. He wanted to know what he could do to improve his chances of being able to buy a home. Well, the first thing you do is engage the services of a Sacramento real estate agent and don’t try to go it alone. You need somebody in your corner. A person with ethics, and a person who is willing to work hard for you.

Not excuses. Nobody needs excuses.