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Real Estate Agent Event at a Treasure Island Winery
Bay Bridge from Treasure Island Vie Winery
How many reasons does a Sacramento real estate agent need to take a quick trip to San Francisco, much less to visit a winery on Treasure Island? I’m betting many readers of this Sacramento real estate blog do not even realize that a) Treasure Island is a drivable exit off the Bay Bridge, and b) Treasure Island features wineries. Because if you’re like me, when you’re driving over the Bay Bridge, you’re keeping your eyes on all of the other bottlenecked vehicles around you, hoping an earthquake doesn’t strike and focused on not getting run off the road into the water.
It was work-related, too, so the trip was a business write off, including the limo service. See, it’s not so bad to drive into the Bay area if you’re relaxing in the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car. My friend and manager of the Lyon Sacramento real estate office, JaCi Wallace, agreed to go with me to Treasure Island yesterday, so we had a few leisurely hours to talk. It was fabulously fun because we chatted non-stop and probably talked off the ears of our poor driver who had to listen to us discuss real estate the whole way there and the whole way back.
JaCi Wallace, Pacita Dimacali, Cynthia Larsen
The main reason for the trip was to meet other Bay area real estate agents and vendors at an ActiveRain Meetup event. These people are agents I know from the ActiveRain website where agents hangout. Unfortunately, we were so busy and enthralled with the event, we — OK, this yo-yo — forgot to take photos until it was just about over.
We sipped wine at the Vie Winery and had an opportunity to meet Bryan Robertson, part owner of the Treasure Island winery and also real estate agent extraordinaire. Bryan hosted this event along with Kathleen Daniels, a broker / owner from San Jose, made sure we had something to eat with all of that wine tasting. Pacita Dimacali, who sells from Alameda to Berkeley, smoothly led the introductions. I had once interviewed Pacita many years ago for my book, The Short Sale Savior, and she told a story about how she received a real estate client who had read that book and called her. Sweetest person you’d ever want to meet.
Elizabeth Weintraub, Antonio Cardenas, Pacita Dimacli
It was over all too soon, and when I looked up, everybody was gone. I was not lying flat on the floor, in case you’re wondering, just standing inside the Vie Winery, mesmerized in a conversation with Antonio Cardenas from San Leandro, ballroom dancer and REALTOR. I had wanted to play Bocce ball with Lottie Kendall, Cynthia Larsen, Ann Wilkins and Melanie Ross, probably a few others whose names I have accidentally omitted, but they had all vanished.
We’re all busy with real estate right now. Which meant back to Sacramento to answer more emails and sell more homes. You can mix work with pleasure in this business. That’s one of the great things about being a Sacramento real estate agent! Great Treasure Island winery, too.
Sacramento Real Estate Agents and Sucky Technology
If you’re going to work as a Sacramento real estate agent and rely on technology, you’ve got to always have a Plan B. It doesn’t hurt to have a Plan C as well because sure enough, if something can go wrong once, it can screw up twice. I’m not simply talking about cellphones, although it would be nice if they made an exceptionally GOOD cellphone but today most phones pretty much do double and triple duty, which renders them unreliable. I’m amazed you can’t stand on your phone and have it read your weight.
You can’t really blame the manufacturers, either. Because they’re just making crap that people want to buy; they are fulfilling needs and wants. We can look in the mirror and thank our own selves for this situation.
Websites go wonky. Internet coverage drops. Fax lines are continually busy. All this crap happens daily. Over the past few days, I’ve struggled trying to fix Trulia because it’s been messing up my listings. Photographs vanish. There are inconsistencies between agent profiles and agent inventory yet data appears pulled from a single source. Almost all of my listings at one point turned into Unknowns and disappeared from Trulia. I know you’re probably suspecting operator error — that good old OE, which is often responsible — but I hadn’t done a thing except visit the page to enter this weekend’s Open Houses. So, I uploaded once again all of the photography, listing by listing. Thank goodness I utilize other websites where I manage my listings. But those mess up, too, from time to time, so I’m not just picking on Trulia.
Digital online signing services sometimes don’t perform as smoothly as they should. So, I have backup plans for that. I also use 3 browsers for different functions. I have not only scanning abilities but two separate fax numbers that go to my email. Yeah, it costs another 8 bucks a month to maintain a separate fax, but when you’ve absolutely, positively need that document, that 100 bucks a year is peanuts in exchange for peace of mind. Forget the 15 bucks a month for the iPad when for $50 you’ve got a hotspot.
If I can’t get in the front door for a service, I’ll find a way to get in the back door or substitute another technology. It’s how I guarantee first-class service to my clients because they deserve it. I would not be an effective Sacramento real estate agent if I behaved otherwise. But jeez Louise I’m thankful for technology, even when it malfunctions.
What Sacramento Buyer’s Agents Want to Know
As a listing agent in Sacramento, I hear almost immediately from a lot of buyer’s agents when any of my new listings hit the market. Ding, ding, ding, my phone rings, one call after another. Especially if the listing is priced well and a turnkey home. The first thing agents want to know is if it’s still available, even if it’s only been in MLS for 30 minutes. That’s not as unusual as it may sound because my photos look enticing, the marketing verbiage is attractive and, in our competitive market in Sacramento, sometimes buyers don’t view the home before writing an offer. With digital online signing services such as DocuSign, buyers can quickly sign an offer within minutes for submission.
Of course, I check the Supra lockbox online showings to determine if the agent representing the buyer has entered the house. But that doesn’t tell me if the buyer was with the agent at the time. The buyer could live in San Francisco for all I know, but I can get a clue from the address on the buyer’s preapproval letter or earnest money deposit check. I can also just ask the agent. This is part of the information I pass on to my sellers as together we analyze the purchase offers.
The second thing buyer’s agents want to know is how much their buyer must offer to buy the home, on top of how many offers we have received. I will answer the third question but not the second, unless the seller instructs me to do it. And since it’s not really in the seller’s interest to disclose how high a buyer needs to go, few sellers will give me the go-ahead, yet buyer’s agents will still ask about it. They need to study the comparable sales and act accordingly; do their job.
Buyer’s agents will say: My buyers really wants to buy this house, so tell me how much they have to pay to get it. Well, I don’t know because it’s not my house. That’s the seller’s decision, and the seller probably doesn’t even know. If there is financing, the home needs to appraise. Moreover, if I tell that buyer’s agent how much everybody else offered, then I have to go back to all of those other agents and tell them how much the other buyers have offered. I can’t treat one agent with preference over another agent. They wouldn’t like it if the tables were turned and it was done to them. I am a REALTOR, which means I have to abide by the Code of Ethics, and I must treat all parties fairly.
It’s not just a made-up code that nobody follows.
Selling Homes in Sacramento is Like Herding Cats
Working in real estate and selling homes in Sacramento is somewhat like herding cats. Just for the record, I don’t run a cat ranch or anything, but there are 3 cats who live in my home in Land Park, so I know a little something about herding cats. Cats will do whatever they want to do. They are somewhat predictable, but there are times a cat will completely freak you out, and the Sacramento real estate market is a good comparison. Just when you think that cat is headed for the litter box, it will abruptly stop and throw up on your feet.
I always look for trends because, as a Sacramento real estate agent, it helps me to properly advise clients. You know, just because buyers were wild and crazy last spring doesn’t mean that activity carries through to August. August is typically a slowing down month. A time for families to finish vacation plans, shop for back-to-school clothes, and prepare homes for winter which, in Sacramento, means closing the garage door.
I’m looking forward to the Sacramento Autumn Home Selling Market. It’s generally spectacular every year, and it shouldn’t be any different for 2013. About a week after Labor Day, the flood gates will open. That’s my prediction. But getting into escrow and closing are two distinct things. Any monkey can get into escrow. Closing is another story.
There are signs of increased listing activity right now. Sellers are calling and asking about selling homes in Sacramento. From just yesterday, I have 3 new listings in Elk Grove on the horizon, a home in Roseville will hit the market today, and I’m meeting with another seller in Citrus Heights this weekend.
Buyers, on the other hand, are a bit slower to submit offers now. They are spending more time thinking about it. Not every transaction that every agent has in escrow will close. I’m seeing more fallouts from buyers with cold feet, buyers who can’t qualify, buyers who probably should not have been trying to buy a home in the first place. There are also buyers who can’t understand that a rising market means if they’re buying a short sale, that price might be higher after waiting a few months.
What we need are incentives like my cat Pia’s freeze-dried chicken treats that we can throw in front of these guys. We need to continually check in with our buyers and make sure they’re still on board and headed for closing. Remove obstacles from their path. Keep the positive vibe going. Because I tell ya, it’s not easy herding cats when you’re selling homes in Sacramento.
How Soon Should You Call Your Sacramento Agent?
A potential seller called yesterday to ask how far in advance she should talk with an East Sacramento agent about putting her home in Elmhurst on the market. She didn’t want to jump the gun or make too many plans before they were ready to sell, but on the other hand, she wanted to be prepared for the sale and have some kind of idea how much she might net from the sale.
One of the things she expected to do was replace a deck because she thought the buyer’s lender would force the repairs. See, the thing is unless it’s attached to the house, it probably won’t be considered for the pest report. Besides, a seller’s opinion and a buyer’s opinion might differ, so this is where consulting a local real estate agent comes in. An experienced agent’s advice can be invaluable.
It’s never too early to talk with an agent. I am working with some sellers months in advance of selling a home in the Sacramento area. Some homes are occupied by tenants, and it’s almost always better to show that home without a tenant in it, so we wait for leases to expire. Other sellers have personal family situations that make home selling at the moment difficult but easier down the road, not to mention, there is such a thing as timing the market in Sacramento because our spring and fall markets are the strongest.
We have cutting-edge echnology at our disposal in real estate. You might use Skype to to chat with your kids across the country, but a Sacramento real estate agent will use FaceTime to take an out-of-area seller on a tour of their home. I FaceTimed sellers in Texas yesterday and was able to show them mold in the bath, potential dry-rot on the eaves, weathered cabinets, a cracked tile, overgrown vegetation, and literally walk them through their home in Elk Grove as we talked, without them physically present.
If you’re thinking about preparing your home for sale and want to work with an agent, one of the services we provide is helping a seller get ready to sell. You can call this Sacramento real estate agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. It’s never too early to talk.
