Sacramento Home Buyers Can Buy Today and Move Before Christmas

Sacramento home buyers have enough time still to close before Christmas.

Sacramento home buyers have got to be driving up the insanity level of buyer’s agents. There seems to be an increase of activity in which buyers are submitting purchase offers and, upon acceptance, withdrawing those offers. I would almost be tempted to suggest that agents are not counseling nor vetting their buyers prior to writing an offer, but I know for a fact that is not the case in many situations. Just the other day a buyer canceled an existing escrow because the state-mandated natural hazard report disclosed the property is located in a flood zone, although the lender did not require flood insurance. Or, at least that was their story and they were sticking to it.

Most of Sacramento is located in a flood zone. And even if a property is not located in a flood zone, if Folsom Dam bursts, we’re all hosed downstream. Sacramento County is the most at-risk area for a flood in the entire country. Believe it, baby.

It is not the job of buyer’s agents to drag their clients kicking and screaming into escrow. I know some Sacramento home buyers think agents can be pushy but most of the agents I know truly want what is best for their clients. That attitude might be for somewhat selfish reasons because a happy client is a client who refers business to the agent. Unhappy clients push business away. Nobody in her right mind wants an unhappy client. Yet, it’s tough for agents right now.

It’s tough on sellers, too, when Sacramento home buyers fail to perform. Especially when sellers receive a full-price offer and the buyer cancels before the paperwork can make its way to escrow. I’ve had two of those types of situations yesterday, on two different listings. The buyers flaked out. Well, in one instance the buyer could not perform because the agent wrote the wrong kind of offer and made a mistake when she did her homework. The proper way to view that particular situation is: a problem averted down the road. We did not go into escrow as a result but at least we were not the dreaded “back on market” home listing.

With my ear to the ground — the good ear, not the one that I stuffed soda straws into when I was a kid and punctured my eardrum — I hear that almost half of the listings that are pending right now are blowing up. This means we are unlikely to see an uptick in closed sales for December. If it’s gotta happen in any month, December is a good month for a slow down because it’s seasonally a quieter time of the year.

There is still time to buy a home today and be settled by Christmas, though. Call the Elizabeth Weintraub Team at 916.233.6759.