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Why a Six-Month Listing is Normal for Sacramento Listing Agents
Every listing I write starts its life as a six-month listing, and there is a darned good reason for that length of contract. Like I explain to my clients, it’s not always possible to close an escrow within 90 days. For one thing, it doesn’t take into account the first buyer who is likely to cancel for some flakey reason and then I have to sell that home again. Or lender delays or any of the other million things that can happen. At least, I figure, our six-month listing will not expire, and it’s one less thing to monitor.
Yet is rare for me to have a listing for as long as I’ve had my south Sacramento listing by Elder Creek. I sold a halfplex in that area a while back, and I recall that was a bit of a problem as well. Not really sure why. Buyers have not been overly enthusiastic to buy in this neighborhood, it seems.
Countless open houses, almost every weekend. Full-blown marketing efforts but no bites. I pulled out all the stops, including taking the home off the market and putting it back a number of times to reset the days on market.
I wrote this six-month listing at the end of September of last year. We just closed escrow yesterday. This home lingered on the market over the cold months of October, November and December, and then we finally snagged a full-price offer. That excitement lasted all of 24 hours when the 1031 exchange buyer canceled as quickly as he signed the offer.
In early January, we received a lower-priced offer from a buyer who could not afford the home. It’s hard to be a buyer who can’t afford the home he wants to buy, I imagine. But it doesn’t mean the seller cares. In fact, the sellers wonder what’s wrong with the buyer that he is writing a lowball offer on their house. In the sellers’ minds, the buyer should focus on homes the buyer can afford.
Finally, in March we received a full-price offer from buyers who had no skin in the game. No money at all. Not even closing costs. NACA was paying for everything, down payment and closing costs. Then, in exchange, NACA demanded a shitload of repairs, and the buyers threatened to walk.
Walk, go away, the sellers said. The repairs noted by NACA were the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around the block. They wanted the sellers to test the ceiling for asbestos and pay for those tests. So of course, regardless of testing, the buyers wanted the ceilings all scraped and the popcorn removed. It just got uglier and more horrible. Nope. Go away.
Under these circumstances, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up my client’s spirits. I mean, I knew the home would sell, but sellers don’t always feel so overly enthusiastic when buyer after buyer flakes out on them. My clients were darlings, though. Always a great attitude, upbeat, optimistic. They were no spring chickens, either. We’re talking 80s and 90s. The kind of people who make an agent want to be a better person for them.
We were near the date of having to extend the six-month listing. In fact, from inception to closing, it was 7 1/2 months. This wasn’t a short sale. Just a late 1970’s ranch home with updates in south Sacramento. It’s also the time of sale that messes up my stats. If I sell 50 listings on average in 10 to 15 days, this one sale will blow to pieces those averages. It’s also 7 1/2 long months for the sellers.
Finally, around the middle of April, we received a good offer. The sellers accepted the offer. No sooner did they sign that purchase contract than we received a second offer for even more money, which we put into backup. When it rains, it pours. This is why April is the best month to sell a home.
6745 Villa Juares Circle, Sacramento, CA 95828 closed escrow May 17, 2018 at $320,000. I’m kissing the ground.
Closed Another Woodside Oaks Condo in Alicante Villas
Some agents have implied that selling a Woodside Oaks condo is too difficult because they believe the HOA dues are too high, so they take too long to sell and agents won’t get a fast sale. Me, I’ve never worried about fast sales. Like I told a seller today, he should go on the market by early June to capture what’s left of our spring market, but he can also wait until he’s ready. Now is optimum for highest concentration of buyers. But if he’s not ready, I’m not gonna push. I’ll wait until next year. Makes no difference to me, although it might to him.
The story of the sale of this Woodside Oaks condo started in January, when I was still working from our second house in Hawaii. I talked with the seller about her objectives. Studied the photos. The flooring was painted cement. A few of the accent walls were deep purple. Nice urban vibe but not right for the market. I suggested painting the walls and installing engineered wood.
This seller had called me because she found out I had just closed another Woodside Oaks condo in that complex. I was happy to help, and I love this complex. It’s so quiet, especially with speed bumps up and down Sierra, and most of the layout is not aligned with Sierra. The HOA amenities make it feel like you’re living at a resort. I’d gladly take any condo listing in Alicante Villas. They are apartment conversions but you’d never know it to look at the units.
We went on the market in early April and immediately attracted an offer from a referral. The referral was a Realtor. Who should have known that she can’t buy that condo as an owner occupant when her first home had not yet sold. There is a 70% rental occupancy in that complex, so no non-owner occupied loans allowed. No sooner did we go into escrow than this situation reared its head and the whole thing quickly canceled.
Enter next buyer, a few days later. This buyer did not offer list price, which was aggressive pricing, yes, but this a seller’s market. We countered at full list price and the buyer accepted. Now, one of the stipulations was the home is sold AS IS, no credits, no repairs, no renegotiations. Sure enough, the buyer asked the seller to repair several plumbing leaks and replace an electrical receptacle, which the seller refused.
However, the appraisal came in $2,000 low. The reason being an agent at my own brokerage with another listing in the complex blabbed to the appraiser and divulged the the sales price of her pending sale. Which was less than ours. So the appraiser came in $2,000 low. Why do appraisers do that, do you think? He could have certainly given us $2,000 for the new flooring and excellent condition of the condo. Petty.
Since we won rejection of the repair request, the seller appeared willing to split the difference in the appraisal with the buyer. Although I suggested she make the buyer pay the entire difference. It was not the seller’s fault the buyer was forced to get a loan. But I also leave these decisions up to the parties. It’s not my house. She can follow my advice or no.
Ultimately, the seller’s choice was to eat $1,000 and the buyer paid $1,000 more. We closed on the Woodside Oaks condo a few days early, on May 10th. Then, the evening of the 10th, the buyer’s agent emailed me a notice that was attached to the door. Guess he did not do a final walkthrough with the buyer or he would have caught this a few days earlier, and not after closing. When there is no seller liability over an unknown circumstance.
It was a notice from the Sacramento Building Permits and Inspection Code Enforcement. Which means some anonymous person contacted the County and filed a complaint, claiming there was unpermitted construction going on at this condo. Except, of course, there was not any unpermitted construction. Was it a neighbor? Was it another agent in the complex? Agents are fiercely envious and would throw their own grandparents under the bus.
Doesn’t matter. It’s the buyer’s problem now. Thanks, friendly good-doer, NOT.
548 Woodside Oaks, #5, Sacramento, CA 95825 closed on May 10, 2018 at $174,000. If you’d like to sell a condo in Woodside Oaks, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
What Buyers Should Do After Moving into a Home
Within the last week or so, I’ve been thinking about what buyers should do after moving into a home. It’s an assignment for The Balance. As my team members yesterday afternoon focused on our Elizabeth Weintraub Team Sunday open houses, I used that time to write an article for The Balance. Many of you might not know that I write for The Balance. That company had been About.com in 2006, which was owned by the New York Times, when I started working for that website on the side. Before that it was the Mining Company.
I know, you’re probably wondering how do I routinely sell $30 million a year and still find time to work a second job? Organization and passion is my response to that.
We were early pioneers. Since then, and especially from being a source others copied, meant that website has today morphed into many different things, with its 1,000 or so experts now split into vertical channels. All the SEO experts agree it better reflects what we are about. My position as the Home Buying Expert also entails other writing duties for the company. However, lately I’ve been toying with the idea of not writing for them anymore. I’m not compensated enough, not like I was initially. It’s a huge commitment to set aside huge chunks of my life to write. But then I love to write about real estate, and the topics they suggest are usually near and dear to my heart.
The latest article I wrote on Sunday is First Things to Do After Moving into a Home. You may enjoy it because I have unique perspectives, at least for a short time before somebody else plagiarizes my stuff. One of the things about that piece that really struck home for me was how people rarely change the locks after moving into a home. This is one of the first things after moving into a home that needs attention. I heard from a buyer’s agent last week whose buyers allegedly had personal items removed from the home. This resulted in a big problem after closing, presumably by a relative with a key.
You don’t know how many keys are out there. Petsitters. Housekeepers. Children’s friends. The neighbors, and let’s not forget the keys hidden in the yard just in case you get locked out.
It is very inexpensive to hire a locksmith. Just make an appointment with a locksmith the day prior to closing. The locksmith will meet you at the house. Your agent will remove the key from the lockbox and use that to enter the premises. Then, the locksmith, right there on the spot can change all the locks in the house to be used with one key. A different key. It takes about 20 minutes.
So while you’re walking through the house with your agent, marveling at all the space and discussing where you will place your furniture or the colors you will paint the walls, you could have brand new keys to secure the home in under half an hour. For about $100 or so. Prices will vary.
If you do nothing else when moving into a home, at least do this one important thing first and change the locks. Ask your Sacramento Realtor for a referral to a locksmith.
The Trouble With Looking at Homes for Sale on Zillow
Because I have been a subscriber to Zillow since its inception in 2006, I am very familiar with looking at homes for sale on Zillow. I’ve participated in all of the changes on Zillow as it has evolved over the years. Watched it move from an inconsequential website with only a smattering of listings to receiving direct feeds from Metrolist. Making it a giant of websites. Then it bought Trulia, so properties feed into Trulia from Zillow.
But the trouble with looking at homes for sale on Zillow is that is not the best place to do it. You’re probably better off searching on Trulia, if you insist on using a non-Realtor website. And using a non-Realtor website is not the best way to search for homes online at all because you might not get all of the information you need. But sellers and buyers don’t always want to figure out how to find a Realtor-based website, so they go the easy route. Which is how they end up looking at homes for sale on Zillow.
Zillow presents a lot of interesting statistics, and if you have a good feel for comps, you can run your own comps. However, many users of the Zillow website struggle with its complexities. Users don’t know what a preforeclosure property is and they erroneously believe it is a home for sale. They do not realize it is simply an unsuspecting homeowner who fell behind on making mortgage payments. This is how a home could end up on a preforeclosure list without the homeowner’s knowledge. More than half of all of preforeclosures are redeemed. Almost all have equity, so few would ever go to sale as a foreclosure. Fairly worthless to track.
If a home does go to foreclosure, it will be sold on the courthouse steps to the highest cash bidder. You’ll compete with professional investors whose job is to buy homes sight unseen.
Users also struggle to figure out whether a home is for sale or for rent. Many Zillow users cannot tell the difference. It’s almost like Zillow needs a different website for rentals. Tenants will click that box that says “I own a home similar to this one and I would like to sell it.” Except they are a tenant. If you ask why they sent that email, they will say they don’t know. There was a box that populated a form with words, but they do not read words. It was a clicky thing, so they clicked.
Others, like the poor young guy who called me yesterday, found a pending sale. It states “pending” right on the listing, but hey, they’re not in real estate. How would they know a pending from an active listing? They all look the same to a consumer. He mentioned last talking to the listing agent during multiple offers. So decided to get prequalified while the home went under contract. They wanted to lie low and just “watch homes.”
Watch homes do what? Sell to somebody else? Because that’s what’s gonna happen when they’re looking at homes for sale on Zillow. In our tight seller’s market in Sacramento, home buyers need to be a pro or to work with a pro. One or the other. But this guy knows a cousin who just got her license and works part-time in real estate. He thinks he might want to work with his cousin. Fine, as long as he doesn’t expect to buy a house, that’s a good direction to go.
When he decides to get serious and become a contender, he needs to hire a professional Sacramento Realtor. I gave him my information and offered to introduce him to an exclusive buyer’s agent. Why a person would leave to chance the biggest purchase of their life or, worse, to inexperience, always floors me. But you can’t make people wise up. Some insist on learning from the school of hard knocks.
Uh, Oh, Buyer’s Agent Warns, We Have a BIG PROBLEM After Closing
“Uh, Oh,” Buyer’s Agent warns, “We have a BIG PROBLEM after closing.” Wow, not what I expected. At the moment, I was busy dashing about, getting ready to meet my team at Biba’s for lunch, when this buyer’s agent called. What in the world could have happened? Immediately, I began wondering. Maybe the house exploded? Perhaps an asteroid smashed into the back yard? Or, the whole place burned down? Seriously, could not imagine why the agent was calling me about this BIG PROBLEM after closing an AS IS sale. Especially since client fiduciary with both seller and buyer agents terminates at closing.
So, what? So what is the problem? First, the agent had to set the stage. To do so, the agent launched into a long story about an estate sale for the extensive personal items and vintage furniture left in the home. Yes, valuable stuff the buyer received for free without paying any additional compensation. Then, something about the estate administrator drawing an itemized list . . . Yes, I know it sounds terrible but I wasn’t completely listening since I already knew the outcome. So, my mind began to drift to other pressing matters. Like, I have to walk 3 blocks to Biba’s and 3 blocks back to my office. Which shoes are best for a six-block hike?
Suddenly, the sound of the agent’s continued saga snapped back my attention, long enough for me to stare hard at my phone. Almost like somebody slipped this phone into my hand, and this is not my phone. My jaw fell open. Honestly, I could not believe the words vibrating out of the speaker on my phone. She reiterated, “We have a BIG PROBLEM after closing,” adding for emphasis, “it is a $500 problem.”
Hey, alarm bells going off. Since when is $500 a BIG PROBLEM? $50,000 is a big problem. $5 million, much worse. What could the $500 be about? I never really got the whole story but somehow a distant relative of the seller came over to the house and removed some of the items slated for the estate sale. Like, Ollie would say to Stanley, “this is another fine kettle of fish . . .” For starters, how did they know the guy? Further, how did he get inside? I dunno. I don’t even know the guy. Not even aware there was a relative living in town. Nope, only know the seller doesn’t live in California.
OK, now the conversation shifts. At this point, the buyer’s agent moves to the meat of the matter. Apparently, the buyer values those stolen items at $500. Moreover, the buyer prefers to settle this amicably.
Well, the logical answer is if a theft occurred, the buyer needs to file a police report at Sacpd.org.
Further, the buyer was not represented by Lyon Real Estate. She was not my client. The buyer and agent wanted to know, would I track down that relative and get his address and his cell phone from the seller? A fragile guy who is barely recovering from invasive surgery on top of the death of two close relatives and throw one more distasteful demand from the buyer at his feet?
Holy moly, on what planet do these people live? My real estate license does not extend to protecting a residence after closing nor negotiating settlements. Most people would hire a lawyer. Or, hire a security guard. Perhaps change the locks like a normal person. Don’t call the Sacramento listing agent after escrow closes, for crying out loud.
