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The Future of Nordstrom, Real Estate and Internet Shopping
Before I jump into a discussion on real estate and internet shopping, let me tell you a secret. A sales clerk working in the Eileen Fisher department at Nordstrom at the Westfield Galleria in Roseville told me that Nordstrom sits on rollers and is not attached to a concrete foundation, a tidbit I did not know. She said the whole building is constructed on top of rollers. I discovered this because in the midst of shopping recently, I suddenly felt the earth move beneath me, and it wasn’t due to Eileen Fisher price tags. The floor was actually moving where I stood. It’s to protect the integrity of the building during an earthquake; it’s a seismic safety provision. It’s not a comfortable feeling, though.
Shopping in Sacramento can be an unpleasant experience as well, as I was warned by our friends in Davis, just before we settled here in 2002. She wasn’t talking about real estate and internet. She was talking about actual shopping. We had moved from Mall of America-land in Minneapolis to the Central Valley. Before that, I had previously lived in Newport Beach, with access to Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, so you can probably sense that moving to Sacramento was a bit of a shopping shock for me.
We don’t have tons of name-brand stores featuring huge selections in Sacramento. Almost any major purchase of furniture, for example, requires a waiting period to ship. Whenever possible I try to buy from a local merchant, but I am turning more to the Internet now than ever. In fact, it’s common practice today for a product to be available only through Internet shopping. What is this? Hawaii?
A few weeks back I received a catalog from Nordstrom. It doesn’t matter that I thew it away because I can still access the catalog online, yet much of the fall fashion-line stuff is not available in any of the stores within a 100-mile radius of Sacramento. I found a two-piece blue tweed outfit I liked and thought, hey, why should I order it, find out it’s the wrong size and have to ship it back? I could wear any of 3 sizes in that particular garment. I called Nordstrom to ask if they would order the ensemble for me in 3 sizes so I could, gasp, actually go into the store and try it on, just like the good old days.
Nordstorm is known for customer service, above and beyond, exceptional customer service, just like I am known as a Sacramento real estate agent. I will move heaven and earth for my clients, and so will Nordstrom. The solution first offered by the clerk at Nordstrom was I should spend a few thousand and order all 3 sizes delivered to the store. That was a not a good idea. She needed to be more creative than that.
Turns out a size 6 is a very popular size, so the only way to order it is online. The store will transfer the 4 and 8 sizes and let me exchange the items there if the size 6 does not fit properly. I tell you, it’s coming. Soon we will not be able to buy anything in a store ever again. We will be forced to order supplies online. Brick-and-mortar stores will disappear. Real estate and internet will change. The futuristic stuff they warned about when Bulletin Boards first emerged in 1991 and we all pooh-poohed is coming true. Those early predictions seem to be right on the mark. Commercial retailers have already outsourced much of its customer service overseas or elsewhere in the country. Retail stores as we know it will probably vanish shortly, and it’s upsetting, don’t you think? It’s bad enough the milkman doesn’t come anymore, dangnabit.
I shudder to imagine what will happen to real estate and internet in 20 years. Because I already conduct much of my Sacramento real estate business online, and by phone or text. It’s rare that I actually get to meet a client anymore. I’m a bit of an anomaly and not your common-place Sacramento real estate agent. But just wait. Enjoy the human interaction when you can — because it’s moving the way of the dinosaurs.
Is There a Real Estate App for That?
We all hate to face the fact, I suppose, that sometimes there is just not a real estate app for a Sacramento real estate agent. A conscientious real estate agent follows up, though, and never lets any sellers or buyers fall through the cracks, and that includes new business. For a long time, I had been guilty of letting new business fall by the wayside and die, even though I’m the kind of busy agent who is very detail oriented and pays attention the world around me. My solution for tracking business, staying on top of my files, was years ago to create systems, the kind of complicated systems with cross-checks.
You know how it goes in life, you’re driving along the freeway, for example, and somebody calls with information and, if there is note-taking involved, you might think: Oh, I’ll remember that, no problem. Except, of course, it is a problem because once other information finds its way to wiggle into your brain, the box that particular data was comfortably resting in gets shoved way to the back of the attic, where the dustballs reside. Phone rings again, dog>squirrel>gone.
My husband, a former journalist, has it engrained to carry a pen and pad, even though he no longer writes for a newspaper. That doesn’t do me any good, though, if he’s not sitting in the passenger seat. I’ve solved that problem, the need for a paper and pen, by a) printing map directions, even though I use GPS and b) tracking vehicle mileage in a book, with extra pages I can rip out. See, you can’t have a Plan A without a Plan B as backup. I always have something in the car to write on, and sometimes I end up writing on my car seat because I’m looking at the road. What was the last number? Oh, yeah, it’s here on the headrest, a number 9.
Now, of course, the trick is to get this information into a format where I won’t lose it. And this is where a third party is helpful. Yup, an actual real live person to keep track of this stuff and a system in which to do it. My particulars for selling Sacramento real estate are too specific for any one app to take care of what I need. Sometimes, what a busy agent needs is a virtual assistant utilizing an organized system to keep things from falling through the cracks.
I’ve already got a fabulous transaction coordinator on my team who handles the paperwork for my clients and makes sure every I is dotted and every T is crossed before we close escrow. But I needed a way to help me track my own business, and to assist my team members. I am really excited to have found a virtual assistant to close the cracks and make us all more productive and focused. Because some things, there’s just not an app for.
The Comparison Between Sacramento Real Estate and Pastries
Sacramento real estate is bit like pastries.
Selling Sacramento real estate is a little bit like selling pastries. Everybody always wants the cherry beignet or creme brûlée, and they walk right on by the original glazed creme doughnuts or cinnamon rolls. Sell out of the chocolate-sprinkled pastries, and people go wild and keep calling, wanting to know when you’ll get more chocolate sprinkles. Or, maybe it bothers me more than I let on that Doughbot has closed its doors over on 10th Street and W.
The thing is once a home goes into escrow, it seems everybody wants it even if for months nobody wanted it before. Bam, pending sale and buyer’s agents start calling to see if the seller won’t at least allow one more showing, puhlease. They want to know how the sale is moving. If we don’t have a release of contingencies on file, we don’t really know for certain how the sale is moving.
The truth is I can’t predict whether a buyer will close escrow on a Sacramento real estate transaction. I can call the loan officer to ask if the buyers have actually filled out a loan application and submitted tax returns, and that’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t assure anybody that the buyer will close. Buyers have a way of freaking out lately, maybe more so than usual. Sacramento real estate has been a bit squirrelly over the summer.
It’s almost like I want to ask the buyer’s agent, are you certain your buyer wants to buy a home in Sacramento? Because a signed purchase offer for that piece of Sacramento real estate is NOT that assurance. It should be, but it’s not. Further, I would like to shelter my seller from any disappointment these types of situations can generate. But we can’t protect them from buyers who will change their minds.
Their agents aren’t likely to ask if they are certain. Their agents are more likely to say sign here and here,?and thanks for the earnest money check. Not because they’re ruthless or whatever, it’s because they often wrongly assume that because a buyer signs a purchase offer that the buyer really wants to buy the house. So, I don’t know how solid an offer is and there is no way I can accurately or honestly tell a buyer’s agent if it’s worth pursuing a pending sale.
If the buyer doesn’t want the chocolate eclair but prefers the creme brûlée, then by all means, put a backup offer on the creme brûlée but that chocolate eclair, I tell you, is mighty tasty. I encourage you to call Elizabeth Weintraub for all of your Sacramento real estate needs.
Why Bay Area Investors Should Hire a Local Sacramento Agent
When the seller from San Jose called this Sacramento real estate agent, he wanted to handle the sale of his duplex in Sacramento the way an agent would deal with such an investment property in the Bay Area. It was more familiar to him and familiarity breeds comfort. But it wasn’t in his best interest to do things that way. Not only that, but it was a stupid idea that would cost him money. I had to explain that top listing agents don’t work like that in Sacramento.
Some listing agents would not discuss options under those circumstances, they would just take the listing and be done with it, happy as a clam to have another listing. Not this agent; I will bring up reasons why it might be better for the client to consider a different method and conduct the sale the way we sell real estate locally. My seller was thrilled that he listened to my advice. We just sold his investment property for the highest price any property in that area has sold for recently!
Even though one of the challenges was the neighborhood. There are neighborhoods that can present unique problems. I see out-of-area investors who are unfamiliar with neighborhoods either buy real estate in the “wrong” areas or they overpay, paying a price that they believe is based on the comps yet not for that particular pocket of homes. If the agent representing the client doesn’t possess localized knowledge, well, it can end up hurting the client. But lots of Bay Area investors use Bay Area real estate agents to buy investment property and their inquiries litter my email, which is just fine when it’s my listing.
I sold two listings like that recently to Bay Area investors who were represented by Bay Area agents. Of course, if I have any specific knowledge about the property, I am required by law to disclose it to the buyers. But I am not required to suggest to Bay Area investors that they should hire a local Sacramento agent to buy. No sirree. My personal thoughts about whether it’s a good idea to buy or not to buy don’t enter the equation because I’m not their buyer’s agent. It is my job as a listing agent in Sacramento to sell that property for the seller and to attract the highest price, so that’s precisely what I do.
I advertise my listings in Sacramento to Bay Area buyer’s agents all the time. I want their buyers to come to Sacramento and buy homes. What luck — so do my sellers! We sometimes focus on Bay Area investors because Bay Area investors tend to pay more than anybody else and ask fewer questions. I often sell investment property that is owned by Bay area investors directly to other Bay area investors. Why not Sacramento investors? Because Sacramento investors seem more shrewd these days. As a group, they typically refuse to pay list price even if list is market and, in fact, they often expect a discount based on their good looks.
The good news is it’s still a seller’s market in Sacramento. As long as sellers are reasonable, sellers can call the shots. If you want to sell your investment property in Sacramento, come over and sit down next to Elizabeth Weintraub.
The California Motto is Dude I Flaked
Do you always do what you say you’re gonna do? Not everybody adheres to the principle of self responsibility. They find ways to rationalize. The California motto, believe it or not, is “Dude, I flaked.” Like it’s OK to break a promise. The Blues Brothers exemplified flakiness with Jake’s excuse, but my viewpoint is different. The way I look at the world seems to have more in common with a rebel, almost a radical renegade, sewn together by the threads of a Midwesterner who survived the ’60s and the Zen of it all.
At the core is my word. I try to do what’s right. I think through actions before reacting. Especially when I’ve got so much garbage coming at me at times from all directions because I happen to work in Sacramento real estate. Over the years, I’ve had to step over the rotting pears, dodge the slippery banana peels and hold my nose as I slip past the decay of what is sometimes presented as helpful real estate advice by others.
I’ll give you some examples. A real estate agent yesterday warned yesterday that I will never sell a property at the price the seller wants. I don’t understand why he said it except his buyer wants to pay less. He had no retort when I pointed out I had recently sold a model just like it for roughly the same amount. Eventually a buyer will pay cash and be thrilled, that’s what my experience says. His differs.
Another real estate agent wanted to argue over a short sale listing, in particular the seller’s insistence that the buyer be dedicated to the transaction. Like, who woulda thunk that we’d actually expect the buyer to commit to close escrow? He said his buyer and he should not be required to marry the property when they should be able to milk the cow at their convenience. This is probably the same guy who can’t be bothered to close the front door when he leaves the house.
He argued there is no inventory and the buyer is unlikely to find another home that mirrors the home she so desperately loves but doesn’t want to be engaged to. This doesn’t sound like the kind of buyer I would want to work with, but then I am not required.
When I drove out to Rio Linda last night to inspect a property that the contractor swore up and down 10 days ago would absolutely, positively, be ready for sale on July 30th. Imagine my horror when I discovered the windows were boarded up, covered in newspapers, ample warning signs of the condition inside. The kitchen had no counters, no flooring, no lights, no appliances except a dishwasher.
The contractor pointed to a 15-year-old stove sitting in the middle of the living room. It was stained by globby drips of dried food flings and partially rusted. He asked if should replace it or try to clean it up. It was a piece of shit. I used those words because they have strength. His hands immediately reached for his ears; then mopping his forehead, he mumbled about his Russian heritage and laughed, nervously. Not everybody resides in reality, and one can’t always count on performance simply because a promise was made.
The California motto of Dude, I flaked, does not exist in my world of real estate. But I can spot those who would appreciate the sentiment should the opportunity present itself.
