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It Takes Two, Baby, a Selling Agent and a Listing Agent
There are times in the Sacramento real estate business that I am reminded how it can really take two REALTORS to close a transaction: both a listing agent and a buyer’s agent. Just for the record –and because it tends to confuse both agents and the public alike — a buyer’s agent is a selling agent. A listing agent is a seller’s agent. The listing agent represents the seller but can’t really sell the property without an agent who represents the buyer, which would be the selling agent. No agent is an island in real estate. It takes two, baby. God, I hate that Marvin Gaye ear-worm and can’t believe that I, at any time in my life, could possibly have sung along to it.
I am very grateful to work with selling agents who on occasion can save my butt, too. I am not forced to interact with selling agents throughout every transaction, but I generally prefer to communicate directly with my fellow agents. Unless, of course, they are an asshole. Then they can talk to the wall for all I care. It is possible to never communicate through any type of technology, if one so chooses, and some agents are like that. Hi, this is Joe and I answer my phone during blue moons between 1:15 and 1:17. But I don’t run into very many of those, maybe one a year if I’m unlucky. For the most part, selling agents are professional, smart, funny and a sheer delight, even though we represent opposite sides in the transaction.
There are people who think the selling agent and listing agent need to maintain an arm’s length distance, and while we cannot divulge any confidential information about our clients to the other agent, it doesn’t mean we can’t work together toward a common goal and still have fun doing it.
Here’s an example of above-and-beyond cooperation for you. I listed a vacant home in Roseville a while back that had a series of apparent issues, fogged-up windows, no carbon monoxide detectors and no keys. The seller lived across the Pacific. To expedite matters, I hired a locksmith and paid for a new set of keys. I also bought 3 carbon monoxide detectors to install on each level of this tri-level home, and plugged them into the respective walls.
When the home sold, the buyer’s appraiser could not locate the carbon monoxide detectors. They all had vanished. Carbon monoxide detectors are a huge, huge deal, a bigger deal than whether a home has a functioning air conditioner or a solid finished floor. A carbon monoxide detector is to real estate as a door frame is to a door: without it, you’re not closing. And somebody had stolen the carbon monoxide detectors. I tried to imagine a mother collecting CO detectors throughout the tour and stuffing them into her baby bag. Why? Or, a real estate agent blazingly walking out the door carting all 3 in his hands.
Nobody broke into this house. Whomever swiped the CO detectors entered through the key in the lockbox.
Yet, the selling agent didn’t shrug once, and she replaced the carbon monoxide detectors, even though it wasn’t really her place to do it. We all do what we need to do to take care of our clients and each other. At least the professionals do. The others apparently walk off with carbon monoxide detectors.
To put 40+ years of experience to work for you, please call Elizabeth Weintraub, Broker #00697006, at 916.233.6759.
Getting More Money Out of a Low Appraisal in West Sacramento
When the seller of a home in West Sacramento contacted this Sacramento REALTOR, he already had a different listing agent in mind, an agent who would charge less than the commission that agents like me charge and he was just about ready to hire this other real estate agent. See, this is where some sellers typically go off track. They tend to focus solely on the commission and not on results. They don’t know any better. They think about saving 1% of the sales price, for example, and don’t look ahead to how much they are probably losing during escrow because they’ve hired an inexperienced agent who can only sell herself by discounting her fee.
Getting into escrow, into contract, is just the beginning. There are home inspections, disclosures, repair requests, and more negotiations that happen during escrow, including dealing with shaky buyers who can’t get a mortgage.
Fortunately, this seller listened to his friend who had referred him to me, and he listened to my advice. He decided it was worth it to hire the best Sacramento REALTOR he could find, a top producer. I explained what I would do and how I would do it, and then he asked me how much his home was worth. The comparable sales reflected, let’s say for practical illustration purposes, a price of $650,000, tops, and that was stretching it. Because any agent worth her salt realizes an appraiser will use comparable sales within a 1/2 mile radius of the property and within the past 3 months. Appraisers are supposed to compare condition, location, age, upgrades, size, etc, and pick similar homes. But every appraiser is different, just like every real estate agent is different.
I didn’t ask the seller how much he wanted because in most cases how much a seller wants is immaterial; instead he shared in no uncertain terms that he expected to get, let’s say, $675,000. Would I take such a listing? Could I get him $675,000? I licked my finger and held it in the air to confirm which way the wind blows. Yup. I could. I shot terrific digital photos that showcased the home in all of its glory, and it was a stunning home. I tell stories with my pictures. If the photos speak to me, they will speak to the buyers.
This home in West Sacramento sold at, let’s say, $675,000. Then, the appraiser, an old-school dude who has his own way of doing things, submitted his final estimate of value. $650,000. Market demand is not a value. We got a low appraisal in West Sacramento. We were $25,000 short. This is NOT what the seller desired. I asked the buyer’s agent to discuss the situation with the buyer and put forth in an addendum the buyer’s best cash contribution.
The buyer offered an additional, let’s say, $12,000 in cash to bridge part of the gap. This was a good workable situation because now we knew the buyer has access to additional funds. We were in negotiation, not at the final step. We countered the buyer’s contribution, and the buyer’s countered back. We countered again. The seller asked if I could find additional money anywhere else. Ha, ha, ha. No, there are no other pockets. Oh, wait, we didn’t talk to the lender.
For a small adjustment to the interest rate, the lender was able to find more money that suddenly became available to pay much of the seller’s closing costs. By transferring a large chunk of the seller’s closings to the buyer’s side of the settlement statement and allowing the lender to pay it, the sales price did not need to increase by the full $25,000 to net the seller his desired amount.
Was this worth hiring an experienced agent who charges more than a discount agent? You betcha. I could not ask for a more ecstatic West Sacramento home seller. At closing the seller called me a “Real Estate Rockstar.” I go that extra mile for my clients. Would you like to be my client? Let’s talk. Call Elizabeth Weintraub, Broker #00697006, at 916.233.6759.
Why the Sales Price a Sacramento Home Seller Wants Does Not Matter
One of the questions a Sacramento home seller asked me last week during a FaceTime interview is why didn’t I ask her how much they wanted to sell the home for, because every other agent they talked to had asked this question. I was very honest, as is my nature, and I explained that it doesn’t matter. Because it doesn’t matter how much the Sacramento home seller wants. That’s actually pretty much immaterial in a transaction; what is more important, what takes center stage, is the appraised value, which is based on comparable sales.
In fact, asking how much a home seller wants is a way to nail a seller to a lower price. It’s also a way to determine if a seller is crazy. Those words: how much do you want? are never the words that come out of my mouth because I want to do a good job for the seller, not take advantage of a seller. I would advise a client not to work with an agent who asked that question as though it was important to the matter at hand. It’s not.
Being honest like that probably cost me that listing. I could tell they didn’t like the answer. And in retrospect, when I noticed that reaction, I could have soft-shoe pedaled around it but I didn’t. The truth is there are many values to a property:
- what the seller wants,
- what the agent thinks they can get,
- what the buyer will offer,
and none of those really matter one iota if the home doesn’t appraise for those values.
However, I work for the seller, so I do whatever that Sacramento home seller wants and what is best for the seller. My clients can always count on the fact that I will protect our fiduciary relationship and do the best job possible.
These particular sellers wanted a list price from me on a home I had not viewed in person. That’s pretty difficult to do unless it is a tract home in Elk Grove or Natomas or Lincoln. Mid-Century modern homes that are custom built on acreage, well, you’ve gotta see it in person and feel the vibe, as kooky as that might sound.
Then I can give an accurate list price, a number in line with pricing the home to sell. Which might have nothing to do, btw, with our final projected sales price. Those can be 2 different numbers as well, depending on strategy, type of market and timing. Each home that I sell in the Sacramento Valley is unique, and I don’t really sell any two homes in any identical manner. I apologize that it doesn’t matter what the Sacramento home seller wants because we all want to feel that our opinions and desires are important and they matter, but what I want doesn’t matter, either.
It’s only what the appraiser determines. The appraiser has the last word. Unless . . . and that’s another blog for tomorrow. Call Elizabeth Weintraub, Broker #00697006 at 916.233.6759.
Selling 2 Homes to Buy as a Couple
A couple called yesterday to inquire about a pending sale I have listed in West Sacramento and whether they could see it. They plan on selling 2 homes in Sacramento to buy one as a couple. I’m not sure where they found the listing online but not every website out there lists the status of homes online. Many just show the home for sale and they don’t tell the website visitor whether the home has sold or is pending, which is why it’s oh-so-much better to get your listings directly from a Sacramento REALTOR who can sign you up for automatic emails from our mothership: MLS.
But if you’re just starting your hunt to buy a Sacramento home, you don’t think of that. You think, oh, look, here is a website of homes for sale, and there you go. You just want to get an idea of what’s for sale. Sure, you bought a home before, like this couple who called, because they each own a home. He owns a cottage among the leafy streets of homes in East Sacramento. Her home is in Sacramento. They have decided that West Sacramento is a good place to look for a home because a buyer gets so much more for the money.
That’s true. A comparable home in East Sacramento would cost at least $100,000 more than similar sized homes in West Sacramento, and most likely double. This couple had not yet talked to a mortgage broker, but they knew they wanted to sell at least one home. We discussed making a contingent offer on a home to buy. That was enlightening, because they weren’t sure how to go about selling 2 homes in Sacramento to buy one.
The thing is a mortgage broker will need to qualify this couple to own 3 homes. To make 3 mortgage payments. You can’t say you will rent out one of the homes because there is no rental record if they are not now rentals. Most lenders today want to see at least 6 months to a year or more of rental receipts. There are bridge loan options available but they are expensive. It would be much better to get preapproved, put one home off market in MLS until they find a home to buy and then write the offer subject to selling the home, which then immediately goes live. That’s the best option that safeguards this couple if they follow through with selling 2 homes to buy one.
Well, the number one option is sell both homes and use the cash proceeds to buy a home without a contingency in West Sacramento, but that’s not a) convenient for most people or b) really necessary. We can write contingent offers and get those offers accepted. We do it all the time.
The problem is waiting for that oh-so-perfect beautiful home that 3 other buyers want, and you have no preapproval letter and no homes on the market. If you’re in that situation, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. We’ve been helping people in this situation for decades.
Chickens in the Road and Fairytale Town
My office is always running some kind of “togetherness” team-building promotional event for its real estate agents, but expecting this Sacramento REALTOR to dress up like a chicken should not be one of them. To be fair, this did not happen in real life but it is what I dreamed last night, and let’s face it, sometimes dreams turn into reality; at least mine often do.
They styled my hair into a chicken comb — btw, am I the only person in the world to google: what is the name of the thing on top of a chicken’s head — and dressed me in white skinny-leg pants, paired with a yellow top and painted scary looking chicken toes on my feet. It was some sort of Mardi Gras party and there was me, dressed like a chicken. You know, I can see the reason I had that dream. But it’s not what you are probably thinking.
When I was in Molokai earlier this month, one thing you can’t help but notice is all of the red hens and roosters –chickens, running in the wild. You see them everywhere on the island, pecking in the grass, sprinting through the trees along side the road. If you ask Don, who looks like he’s been driving Midnight Taxi for decades, he’ll tell you it’s because the plantation guys brought in chickens around the turn of the 20th Century for cockfights. He’ll also groan about the guy on Kamehameha Highway who won’t share his mangoes with anybody, even if you politely ask.
On top of that, I spotted a chicken yesterday walking around the parking lot outside of Fairytale Town. I suppose they can fly. Or maybe some careless kid left a gate open. It was strutting back and forth, wondering why it had black tar under its feet instead of sand, I imagine, or maybe it was enjoying exploration beyond the fence and sending text messages back to the other chickens: nope nothing here in the parking lot except for some Sacramento REALTOR pounding on her cellphone and blowing up Ingress portals.
I felt the need to stop at Fairytale Town on my way home to Land Park after shooting photos of a new listing in Freeport Park, just across the road from Hollywood Park. The portals beckoned. For more info, call Elizabeth Weintraub, 916.233.6759. There are a ton of Ingress portals at Fairytale Town. And that one chicken running loose.
