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What Sacramento Buyers Need to Know About Loan Contingency
When to remove the loan contingency is specified in the purchase contract.
What home buyers don’t know about a loan contingency can come back to bite. It’s not just home buyers in Sacramento who might not understand how a loan contingency works, either, it’s also some of the mortgage lenders. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard a mortgage loan officer tell a borrower on the due date, we’re not ready to release the loan contingency yet. What?
If I get wind of it, as a Sacramento listing agent, you can bet hell is gonna break loose. For starters, I represent the seller, not the buyer. If the buyer is not ready to release her loan contingency on the date it is due because her lender is dragging feet or her lender feels “uncomfortable,” that is not my seller’s problem. It is not my problem, either. It is the buyer’s problem.
Because the likelihood is that purchase contract says the buyer will remove the loan contingency within 21 days. This does not mean the buyer has a loan contingency that runs all the way to closing. It means the buyer has agreed to release the loan contingency within 21 days. If a buyer had no intentions of honoring the purchase contract, well, that is pretty dishonest. I’ve had buyer’s agents tell me, “Let me check with the lender to see if it’s OK to release the loan contingency.” That is not the lender’s call.
Makes about as much sense as asking your next-door neighbor. Or one of those creepy guys on Fox News. I guess you could consult a Magic 8 Ball. If the buyer doesn’t want to release the loan contingency, boo-hoo.
This situation is magnified in a hot market like our seller’s market in Sacramento this spring. We might have a backup offer, it could be all cash and ready to close in 5 days. The market could have gone up during our first 3 weeks of escrow. The seller could decide for any reason to enforce the contingency release. The seller can issue a demand and cancel the buyer within 2 days if the buyer doesn’t release the loan contingency. Yet, time and time again a loan officer will try to stick her unauthorized nose into the purchase contract by telling a buyer not to release the loan contingency.
This makes no sense. The lender is not a party to the contract. Potential home buyers should discuss contingencies with their buyer’s agents when they sign a purchase contract. If a buyer needs a little more time, the best course of action is to bring this to the seller’s attention by submitting an extension of time addendum and requesting additional time. However, sellers are under no obligation to grant the extension. Sellers can refuse. And then where are you left?
Elizabeth Weintraub Named to 100 Most Influential Agents
Elizabeth Weintraub named to 100 Most Influential Agents in Northern California but she doesn’t know why.
Before I talk about being named to the 100 Most Influential Agents in Northern California by Real Estate Executive Magazine, let me say there are days I wish I had a public relations person who could handle my promotions for me, because I really don’t like to do it. I’d prefer to spend my time marketing my listings and not writing about awards. I’m honored that I’m nominated for most stuff, as long as it doesn’t involve a back-door sales job like so many of these so-called nominations and awards do.
In fact, I’ve yipped about the con jobs some of these companies pull to the point where they have stopped informing me that I made their list of the top-whatevers. They would probably like to pull me off the list but they can’t because my numbers are solid and I’m there whether they like it or not. But they don’t email me anymore to notify me that I’m on their list, and oh, by the way, wouldn’t I like to pay them an enormous sum of money to receive my very own plaque or perhaps a life-size statue carved in my likeness? I leave that to the other suckers, er, erst well deserving agents.
These companies comb private sales records to determine which agents have sold a dozen or more homes a year, and then they “honor” these agents with awards. All media and their uncles do it.
I’m not even sure that being named to the 100 Most Influential Agents in Northern California carries any weight, but at least they didn’t try to sell me anything. Real Estate Executive Magazine held a conference last week in Sacramento, and my team member, Amy McMullan, received the award on my behalf. She enjoyed the conference at the Sacramento Convention Center and got to meet other top producing agents from Northern California, and many heavy hitters. However, I should point out the award is not engraved the recipient’s name, so it’s not really all that cool.
There are so many scams going on involving awards to Sacramento Realtors. Like all of the publications that have jumped on Master’s Club. To make Master’s Club, an agent has to sell at least 8 transactions and close $4.5 million in sales. That’s not a very high bar. Once an agent is accepted into Master’s Club, every year all of the major newspapers and magazines in Sacramento solicit agents to pay to have their photo and advertisement published in their publications. If an agent doesn’t pay to be published, a client might wonder why, so agents pay the extortion. The public thinks the media publishes this stuff as news instead of what it really is, a paid advertisement.
I don’t like it. What a racket. But I’m probably in the minority. No wonder the public is skeptical about real estate agents with this sort of stuff going on.
Note to Real Esate Executive Magazine: The next time you hand out 100 Most Influential Real Estate Agents awards, perhaps one could include qualifying criteria with that award and engrave the recipient’s name on the plaque. Just a suggestion.
Sacramento Home Buyers Need an Edge in Market
Sacramento home buyers won’t buy a home this spring without an agent.
Hey, all you Sacramento home buyers, are you ready for the spring market? This is going to be a tougher market than you’ve ever seen in your life to buy a house in Sacramento, but don’t let that little thought discourage you. Unless you’ve been working in real estate full-time with a ton of transactions under your belt, you probably are not prepared to meet the demands that this market is putting forth for you. It is not impossible to buy a house, but you better be working with an experienced buyer’s agent or you might not buy anything at all.
I talk to Sacramento home buyers who often call from a or sale sign or because they spot a home that sold two months ago on an unreliable website, and I try to explain to them that they need to align themselves with a Sacramento Realtor. It won’t be this agent because I don’t work with buyers, but my team members do, or they could pick an agent at another company. Whatever choice, they need to get hopping with an agent. They can’t do this alone. They won’t get a heads up on the best homes for sale, and by the time some of these DIY Sacramento home buyers hear about a home for sale, it will be in escrow.
We have 1,481 homes for sale in Sacramento County right now. This includes all condos and single-family homes. That is peanuts. It is miniscule. We have 1,687 pending (in escrow). It will take us about 3 weeks to sell every home instead of the more healthy 3 to 4 months. I don’t know if Sacramento home buyers skim over housing reports that say inventory is falling and they wrongly think the market is falling when it is not, it is going up. Or why they aren’t more concerned about haphazardly calling an agent here and there to try to buy a home. It won’t happen for them that way.
We used to have 10,000 homes for sale. That number is insane compared to today’s inventory. Yes, at the height of the market in August of 2005, we had over 10,000 homes for sale. We have way more Sacramento home buyers in the market at the moment than homes to sell. Almost every single listing of mine receives more than one offer, some 10 offers. But even so, don’t let THAT discourage you because with the right agent, you WILL buy a home.
So many transactions in Sacramento are negotiated between agents. If you don’t have an agent, you really don’t stand a chance. A buyer’s agent is paid by the seller, not by the buyer, so if you want a home, give us a ring. You can call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759, and I’ll pair you with the perfect agent on my team. Just don’t keep calling on homes that have already sold and be disappointed. Don’t keep kicking that can down the street.
If you’ve been writing offers and been unsuccessful, maybe it’s time to think about hiring a more aggressive and experienced buyer’s agent?
Tips for Selling a Home as a Successor Trustee Under a Trust
Selling a home as a successor trustee is easier if sellers release the trust documents in advance.
It seems like lately I’ve been working with sellers who are selling a home as a successor trustee under a trust. I’d venture to guess that perhaps 30% of my transactions are for sellers who are successor trustees. A successor trustee is an individual named to manage the trust in the event of a death or an inability of the existing trustee to handle the affairs. Apart from the legal end of title, the sale itself is fairly similar to selling anything else, although generally the successor trustee is exempt from certain seller disclosures.
What I have found in working with sellers who are selling real estate as a successor trustee is they are often under a bit of stress and duress. The home might be a family home where parents once lived or maybe even where the successor trustee grew up. It’s bad enough to be grieving and dealing with your own personal issues after a person you love dies, nobody really welcomes the additional stress they think selling a house will cause.
As their Sacramento Realtor, I try to be sensitive to the attachments and emotions of successor trustees. Not only do they need to deal with selling the house as a successor trustee, but often there are beneficiaries of the trust and distributions of assets that can cause all holy hell to break out. People sometimes get very weird dealing with a death in the family, and there is a side that can rear its ugly head when there are emotions and money involved.
I’m not gonna get into all of the infighting I have witnessed over the years with family members struggling for control and ownership, suffice to say it exists and it’s common. I just try to keep the peace between all parties the best I can. One aspect many people don’t realize is they can’t list a property subject to a successor trustee or sign a contract with a power of attorney. They must sign as the successor trustee.
I also ask for a copy of the trust so I can send it to escrow to determine if we have all of the documents that are required. Sometimes there are pages missing or it is unreadable. More often than not, the affidavit of death is missing and needs to be recorded. It’s a good idea to take care of all of those small details before going into escrow to keep the transaction running smoothly for the successor trustee and heirs.
There are plenty of other things for heirs to argue over. They don’t need to be involved in the technical details and we don’t need problems popping up just before closing. A wiser solution is to handle them in advance. If you’re thinking about selling a home as a successor trustee, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Sacramento Duplex Sold in Four Days With 10 Offers
2323 Matson Dr, Sacramento, is a Sacramento duplex that was for sale at $265K.
The sellers of a Sacramento duplex were referred to me by a previous client. With the exception of my internet marketing, all my other clients tend to come from referrals, but that’s what happens when a Sacramento Realtor has worked in the business for 40-some years. Veteran agents (who are also top producers) are not out there in the dirt, scratching for business. I thank my lucky stars every day for that.
The sellers are simply delightful people, and I truly enjoyed selling this duplex for them. When we met to discuss price, they thought my suggested listing price was too high. They had done a bit of research and were prepared to sell for much less. See, you can’t get values online. This is one of the main reasons to hire a good Sacramento Realtor who will tell you the truth about your sales price with her finger firmly placed on the pulse of the market. I can often predict the sales price that will attract a buyer. What I can’t always predict is exactly how high the bidding will go, but I can surely set the stage for multiple offers.
The first step in listing a Sacramento duplex is to talk with the tenants, meet them face-to-face and have a conversation. Tenants have fears about their home being sold, and it is my job to extract their cooperation while alleviating those fears, and I accomplished that objective. Next is to position the home attractively among the active listings and begin to push for multiple offers in a non-threatening way.
The one thing this Sacramento Realtor does not do is discourage offers nor tell buyer’s agents offers will be “collected,” as that kind of strategy undermines the effort to obtain maximum value. It often eliminates buyers before they become a potential candidate. Offers can be managed in a more practical manner that do not disclose the seller’s intentions.
This wasn’t a huge sales price, either. But it was important to my sellers that we sell the Sacramento duplex for the highest price possible. Their eyes were pretty big when I told them $265,000 would be a good starting point. By the end, we had 10 offers, and it sold at $275,000, with financing. There were no repairs, no concessions, no credits, no home inspection hassles, either, no work completed.
So, yes, I guess sellers can have the best of both worlds. Highest price and a stress-free transaction. If you’re looking to sell a home in Sacramento, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. I’d love to manage that sale for you.
