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Why Adversarial Tactics Backfire for Sacramento Buyer’s Agents
Why do some Sacramento buyer’s agents feel it is necessary to become adversarial when they don’t get their own way and that employing aggression is the secret to winning cooperation? You would think that after a few times of getting shut down they would give up this defeatist tactic, but some don’t seem to learn from their mistakes, like the rest of us. You always get further with diplomacy than you do hostility. Honey, not vinegar, is the adage. Gosh, didn’t their mothers teach these guys anything? Were they raised in a barn?
Lobbing a phrase like whore of Satan at the listing agent will not get an offer accepted. Total opposite. A pushy attitude is likely to send an offer to the bottom of the rejected pile. Buyer’s agents would improve their buyer’s chances of offer acceptance if they behaved a bit more like, oh, I dunno, Sidney Poitier, I suppose, instead of Kanye West.
I recall way back in my career when I was just a wee lass of a Realtor in the 1970s. I was a buyer’s agent back then and not primarily a Sacramento listing agent. I came into the business believing that presenting offers in person was an excellent way to circumvent the listing agent and speak directly to the seller. Layout my buyer’s case. Show the benefits. I was so naive and determined and wet behind the ears.
Fortunately, I learned rather quickly that adversarial attacks were counterproductive, and the person with whom I should be developing a cooperative relationship was the listing agent, because the agent is the gateway to the seller. Sellers typically trust and like their Realtor. They don’t know the buyer’s agent from Joe Schmo and, in fact, the buyer’s agent represents the buyer, not the seller; sellers could give a flying fig what the buyer’s agent wants.
Sellers rely on their listing agent’s advice. Even if the listing agent is a total doofus and completely incompetent, a buyer’s agent is not about to change that relationship between the listing agent and the seller. Apart from the Realtor Code of Ethics, which prevent a buyer’s agent from interfering in a listing agent’s transaction, it’s just not a good idea to try to implement a personal agenda from an adversarial viewpoint.
Acting like a pompous bully is simply not smart, if you ask me. Yeah, alienating the seller and the listing agent from the buyer’s agent and buyer is pretty much a 100% guarantee that a buyer’s purchase offer is going nowhere, regardless of price and terms.
Get a Real Estate License To Buy A home
This post below, A Real Estate License Won’t Help You to Buy a Home was written in 2012 by my partner Elizabeth Weintraub and is still very relative today. Because the market is strong, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to get a real estate license. Enjoy.
Some people in California think it’s a good idea to get a real estate license just in case they ever want to buy a home in Sacramento. Because if you have a real estate license, then you can collect a commission, which is reflected as a percentage amount of the sales price. All commissions are negotiable and generally paid by the listing broker to the selling broker, so while you might think this could amount to a lot of money, it’s generally not by the time it reaches the buyer’s agent pocket. Not in the overall scheme of things.
Yet, almost one in every 35 people in California has a real estate license. It’s hard to turn around at a party in Sacramento and not spill the drink of a Sacramento real estate agent. Snort as you may, not every person who holds a real estate license should be holding a cocktail much less trying to earn a living from said license, but that doesn’t stop them from getting drunk and / or practicing real estate.
On top of this, we’ve also got the agents who want to represent themselves to buy a home in Sacramento. Especially agents from the Bay Area. You know what they say about that, right? A fool for a client. I look at my own situation. I’ve been in the real estate business for more than 35 years, so I’m not exactly a rookie. I like to think I know what I’m doing. But if I were buying a home out of my area, I would hire a local expert. The few thousand I would earn (and I use the word “earn” loosely) to represent myself is not worth the tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, I could lose.
Besides, my expectations are very high. I’m a high maintenance client. I would not want to work for myself. Some people might call me a pain in the ass. I expect exceptional service. Nope, I’d much rather hire a buyer’s agent and make unreasonable demands of her. That’s part of the service an exceptional real estate agent provides — client management.
If you want to buy a home call Wallace & Weintraub Realtors, with RE/MAX Gold we will help you to save time a call us today at 916-233-6759.
Elizabeth Weintraub
Amazing Home in a Gated Community in Arden Manor Sacramento
Are you a first-time home buyer hoping to find an amazing home in a gated community in Arden Manor at an affordable price? Look no further. Homes in the Villaggio gated complex do not come up for sale very often. All around this neighborhood, you see so much new construction. Developers are building $750K to $900K homes in Arden Manor. When the seller bought this home in 2005, it offered a gated community in the middle of an older, established neighborhood. Today, that community is revitalized with many remodeled homes and quite a number of upper-end luxury homes. This is an excellent opportunity from an investment or long-term hold point of view. You will love the price, too.
The first thing you should consider when buying a home in a gated community in Arden Manor is parking. You don’t have to be rocket scientist to figure out the garage is a one-car. However, look at that space in front of the front door. What is that? I’ll tell you what that is. It’s a carport. And then over on the left-side of the house is a bricked yard with space for two more cars. Yes, you can park a minimum of four cars at this home. More, when we figure out how to stack them on top of each other.
You can’t see the home in this photo because this is shot from the street (Jonas). The home is located all the way at the end on the right, nestled in the evergreens. It’s a very private location. Not only that, but it’s one of the largest lots in the subdivision. The last two homes on the right are set back from the street with a much larger area of street in front. Nobody has verified this, but the seller thinks the property line for each of the houses runs to the middle of the street. If that is true, that definitely makes her particular lot much bigger than the others at .0933, according to the Sacramento County Tax Assessor. That could be wrong, though. Although most of the other lots are .06.
Check out the entertainment space. This room is around the corner from the sheltered entrance. Beautiful oversized ceramic with variances add drama to the travertine around the fireplace. The owner of this home has impeccable taste, wouldn’t you agree? Look at those oversized Hershey’s Kisses on the floor in front of the fireplace. Perfect accessory, no?
If you haven’t guessed it by now, the first floor of this home is for entertaining. There is a half bath around the corner by the entrance, but the rest of the layout is kitchen and family room. Of course, the cabinets are a beautiful maple, and all of the black appliances stay. Over on the left is the area the former owners used as a dining space, but our seller prefers a table in the middle. What do you think? Middle like this? Or dining area in the corner?
Last year the seller painted to keep everything fresh. All of the rooms are the same color for consistency. You will find three bedrooms and two full baths upstairs. The seller uses one of the bedrooms as a TV room and it offers a balcony as well. This is a photo of the master bedroom at the back of the home. You will love the master bath, complete with a separate shower and a soaking tub.
Plenty of time in the day to relax outside. There are many areas around the perimeter of the home to curl up and read a book, due to its remote location. Much of the exterior was remodeled by the seller, including the pergola, patio surround and walkways. It’s a place you really need to see in person because it’s even better than the photos. Why not come to our open houses on Saturday and Sunday, both from 11 AM to 1 PM, September 29th and 30th? If you can’t wait, here is the virtual tour.
2729 Via Villaggio, Sacramento, CA 95864 is offered exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub and Lyon Real Estate at $365K. Call Elizabeth at 916.233.6759 for more information.
The information in this advertisement, including, but not limited to, square footage and/or acreage, has been provided by various sources which may include the Seller, the Multiple Listing Service or other sources. Lyon Real Estate has not and will not investigate or verify the accuracy of this information. Prospective buyers are advised to conduct their own investigation of the Property and this advertised information utilizing appropriate professionals before purchasing this Property.
Why Sacramento Real Estate Teams are the Future
Sacramento real estate teams working together can work in the best interests of clients.
When I look back at my start in real estate in the 1970s, I would never have predicted that today I would lead one of the most successful Sacramento real estate teams in the state of California. In fact, back then I represented only buyers for the most part, and if I had a seller in my portfolio of clients, I matched that seller with a buyer in my portfolio. Dual agency? Who cared? My career began as a real estate consultant, and selling real estate was just a byproduct of an intensive counseling process.
Almost every client was an investor. I helped them to tap the equity in their homes to buy rental properties. Eventually I opened 3 real estate offices in Orange County as the managing broker / owner. I operated that way for 12 years before I decided I did not want to own a real estate company. But I still focused on buyers. Fast forward to my relocation to Sacramento in 2002, via Minneapolis. I volunteered for a year on the Building Unity in Oak Park committee, briefly worked as the marketing manager at the Sacramento SPCA, while eventually hanging my real estate license in 2003 at Lyon Real Estate.
My real estate career in Sacramento began slowly, too tediously. At one point, I asked the managing broker if perhaps I should join one of the Sacramento real estate teams. Her reaction was absolutely not! I can see why she responded that way today, but at the time I didn’t really understand how Sacramento real estate teams operated, so it was confusing to me. I just knew I could do so much more than I was doing. It was an unfulfilled yearning.
It took at least another 5 years of selling Sacramento real estate, working with both sellers and buyers, before I figured out that Sacramento real estate teams are the future of California real estate. My friend, JaCi Wallace, pointed me in that direction. I am grateful to her. Now, many Sacramento real estate teams are different. They don’t all follow the same protocol or rules. I set up my real estate team the way that I feel it benefits everybody on the team. We each pursue our own specialities. I dare say that we have redefined the way to sell Sacramento real estate.
Sacramento Listing Agent Speciality in Sacramento Real Estate Teams
For example, I work closely with sellers as a listing agent. With very few exceptions, I handle all of the listings for the team. Turns out I have a passionate calling as a top producer listing agent. Who knew? I love working with sellers exclusively. It’s easy to make sellers happy. I know what they want. They want maximum price / profit, minimum hassle and excellent communication. I can give them that. That is my focus. I love marketing homes, the creative aspects, and I excel at fine-tuning negotiation strategies. Being a listing agent hits all of my hot buttons. My 40+ years of experience obviously pays off for my sellers.
Sacramento Buyer’s Agent Speciality in Sacramento Real Estate Teams
On the other hand, my team members are free to work madly on their own passions, which is helping buyers purchase a home. We cover four counties. My team members find homes for my sellers who want to sell and move up. They spend countless hours scouring inventory, escorting my clients to view homes and treating them to white-glove service, just the way that I would. We truly complement each other. We probably do twice as much business as any one of us could accomplish alone. Clients always have an agent available to them. We cover each other’s backs, too. The Elizabeth Weintraub Team members are buyer specialists.
No longer do I have to worry: am I representing my sellers fairly? Because without dual representation, my focus is on my sellers. It’s a freedom for me and an absolute joy for them. Teams within a real estate brokerage are the upcoming thing in California. I’ve been managing my team for just about 7 years now. It’s the best of all worlds for everybody. When you only do one thing, you tend to do it really, really well. If you’d like to know more, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
A Twist on Buying a Home Using the Listing Agent
Buying a home using the listing agent is a rookie move.
Are you thinking about buying a home using the listing agent? Sometimes buyers in Sacramento arrive at this silly thought process through desperation and not necessarily through dishonest intentions. Especially in our present market of low inventory in Sacramento. Stats from our trade association says buyers typically have to write two offers to buy a home, meaning they are successful 50% of the time on average, and I’m just thankful those odds do not constitute my professional experience. If a buyer loses out on a home, often the buyer blames her buyer’s agent.
Is it the buyer’s agent’s fault? Depends. Did the buyer’s agent suggest a strategy the buyer ignored? A strategy that would have resulted in the buyer purchasing the home? Then it’s the buyer’s fault for not trusting and listening to her agent, and let me add if you, as a buyer, do not trust nor listen to your agent, what in the hell are you doing working with that agent? Agents are a dime a dozen in Sacramento, and perhaps you should find an agent you do trust and respect. Without trust and respect you have no fiduciary relationship and, without fiduciary, you are doomed.
In these types of situations, sometimes buyers think about a buying a home using the listing agent because they think the listing agent will give them an edge. What kind of edge, you may ask? Information about the seller, mostly. Or they think the listing agent will compromise her ethics because we’re all just snakes in the grass anyway, and will do anything to get paid both sides of the commission. There are a few snakes in the grass in this profession, especially the hot bed of snakes in Orange County (JK), but I prefer to call them unsupervised. For the most part, unethical listing agents are few and far between. Plus, ethical listing agents make up the majority and won’t share personal information about the seller anyway.
I read a series of comments on a public website, generated by a prospective buyer about buying a home using the listing agent. That buyer’s take was agents who say it’s not a good idea to use the listing agent are liars. Further, the elephant in the room is that buyer also believes a listing agent will screw over her seller in order to accommodate the buyer’s offer, which is against the law. That’s a messed-up and confused buyer. Yet it goes to show what some buyers erroneously believe. One bad apple does not rot the entire tree.
Much as I may rally on about why buying a home using the listing agent is sort of a stupid and pointless idea, I have yet another twist that recently came to my attention through an unsolicited email. A buyer wrote to ask about a dual agency situation. Apparently the buyer had decided that buying a home using the listing agent would give him an advantage. This was a fixer upper the buyer intended to later flip. The listing agent made a future listing a contingency of the purchase, of all things.
Yes, you read that correctly. Allegedly, the listing agent, as a condition of dual agency, forced the buyer sign a side addendum promising to pay a certain percentage of commission and promising to list the home through that agent when the buyer was later ready to sell. Seems to be in direct violation of the Realtor Code of Ethics, which states the agent must put the interests of the parties above her own. But perhaps that agent was not a Realtor. Not every agent is a Realtor and there are differences between real estate agents and Realtors. Moreover, it most likely violates California real estate law, on top of a possible breach of fiduciary with the seller.
My advice to buyers in Sacramento is don’t look at hiring the listing agent. A competent buyer’s agent will extract MORE information about the seller from the listing agent than you EVER will anyway. Great agents have skills you don’t. There is no advantage. And I say that as a top listing agent in Sacramento who consistently closes a phenomenal number of sales. Find the very best buyer’s agent, an agent with a long track record of providing superior negotiation skills, and you’ll be light year’s ahead of yourself. If you need a sharp Sacramento buyer’s agent, I can suggest a few. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
