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Best Tip for Winning the Offer in Today’s Sacramento Housing Market
Winning the offer to buy a home in Sacramento does not need to be overly complicated.
When I see buyers winning the offer in today’s housing market in Sacramento, it’s generally because they have done one simple thing. And I often share this one simple thing with their buyer’s agent when they call to ask if I have any offers. It’s as though they don’t want to write an offer until I do have an offer. Every buyer’s agent pretty much is trying to get “a deal” for their buyers when they should be worried about getting their buyer into escrow, period. It’s hard right now to buy a home in Sacramento. Don’t make it any harder than it needs to be.
I’ve noticed an attitude with my sellers that seems to repeat itself. So I share this discovery with my sellers, and even when I tell them what’s going to happen and why, they are still surprised when it happens. I can accurately predict it because lately I see the same thing happen over and over. This is when a home goes on the market on Friday. The buyer notices we have an open house scheduled for Sunday and quite rightly begins to worry about the winning the offer. The buyer’s focus, though, tends to be on how can we buy the home right now, this very minute, rather than what can we do to ensure we are winning the offer.
Because a buyer probably cannot buy the home right now, this very minute. There is no guarantee the seller won’t take the offer, but when the seller has hired an experienced listing agent like me, for example, I will suggest the seller wait until the open house. The seller is free to disregard my advice, but that doesn’t happen very often. Agents who take fiduciary seriously will want to expose the home to the largest pool of buyers possible, which tends to ensure the highest price for the seller.
However, the one thing home buyers can do to maximize chances of winning the offer is to write the offer the minute they know they want to buy the house. It could be while they are walking up the steps to open the door. It could happen when they enter the back yard or when they get back home. But the second they know they want to buy the house, write the offer. Be the first offer. You don’t have to be the strongest offer if you are the first offer. Because the first offer is the offer the seller will think about all day on Friday, all day on Saturday and all day on Sunday.
Why? Because all of the other buyers will wait until after the open house to submit an offer. They wait because they are concerned the listing agent will “shop the offer.” Well, a good listing agent is shopping the offer when all of the offers are compared to each other after the open house. Doesn’t matter if it happens before or after. Further, there will be last-minute buyers who called their agent brother-in-law in another city to write an offer after the open house, and those offers will be sloppy, impersonal. Yes, the first offer price might be countered to be more in line with the other offers. But the first offer has the edge. Think about it, is all I’m saying. Don’t be afraid to be the first offer.
Realtor Diary: Photos From a Sunday Afternoon in Sacramento
Fishing village, Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada, like the landscape in movie Maudie.
It’s hard to be at a loss for things to do on a Sunday afternoon in Sacramento. Having missed out on a trip to Nova Scotia I had planned several years ago when my husband instead opted for the coast of Oregon, I have been wanting to see the film Maudie, filmed in Newfoundland and Ireland; but it was no longer playing at the Tower Theatre by our home in Land Park. We could still catch the movie in Roseville, though, so I bought tickets at Fandango and off we went. The film stars Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, about a real life folk artist, Maud Lewis from Canada.
This is a woman who battled juvenile arthritis, was picked on by kids as a child so grew up pretty much a loner, and married a rather crusty old fish peddler who rated her just below his dogs and chickens, in that order. But she found joy in her life, and expressed this joy through a childlike view of the world by painting nature, such as birds, flowers, lakes, trees and wildlife, including cats. The story is emotional. The film pulls you in, and those winter scenes when you can see blowing snow, hear whistling wind, makes you shiver. It’s also a love story, albeit not a traditional one. I liked it enough to give it 5 stars and intend to buy a few prints. I sense similarities between the work of Maud Lewis and a Picasso print of pigeons I picked up in Barcelona, although they are nothing alike.
Car towing a train up 8th Street in Sacramento.
We stopped by the Sacramento library to drop off and pick up books. While I waited in the car for my husband to come out, a police car circled the intersection of I Street and 8th and blocked off access. Next thing we knew, a car appeared out of nowhere towing a light rail train car. Not every day you see a car towing a train. But this was part of our Sunday afternoon in Sacramento.
The Plant Foundry in Oak Park is located at 3500 Broadway.
After they cleared the intersection, we drove over to the Plant Foundry in Oak Park. This store is located at 3500 Broadway, closer to 35th than 36th. No need to drive to East Sacramento when you live in Land Park to visit a garden store. It’s got everything you expect to find in a nursery and plant store, and then some. Seeds, plants, pottery, soil amendments, bad-ass buddhas and giant metal roosters and cacti. We picked up a couple of plants for the house, and a new planter to replace the broken clay pot our cats smashed last week. If it wasn’t so hot, we would have spent more of our Sunday afternoon in Sacramento at this nursery.
The Oak Park Brewing Company is located at 3514 Broadway.
Since it was so enormously hot outside (the car registered 107 driving back from Roseville, and that was not a radio station, it was degrees) and because I had consumed an entire bag of popcorn loaded with 5 packages of salt at the movies, we were forced to stop at the Oak Park Brewing Company. Fortunately, this establishment is located right next to the Plant Foundry. The beer choices were varied and many. I had originally asked for the Sac Town Union Something Wicked IPA, but they were out of it. Instead I settled for a Broadway Pale Ale, which was very hoppy with a bit of a bite, and a good enough substitute.
Interior of Oak Park Brewing Company features a mixture of tables and low-rise seating.
My husband ordered a pan fried shrimp sandwich with fries, and he said, “Oh, I know what you’re getting. The brussel sprouts.” He was correct. They were served braised in beer, I believe, sprinkled with arugula and tossed in parmesan cheese. Not too sweet and not too sour. Just perfect. A really good deal at $7.00. Another 5 stars for this dish.
Brussel sprouts braised in beer, sprinkled with parmesan and tossed in arugula.
My team members were just finishing up the open houses held by the time I got home, and it was time for me to jump back into work. There is no resting for this Sacramento Realtor at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon in Sacramento, no sirree. It was time to write counter offers and work on selling a few more homes in Sacramento. Two of our four open houses produced buyers and multiple purchase offers.
This Rosemont Home in Sacramento is a Heavenly Vision in White
This Rosemont home in Sacramento is a new listing for sale at $325K.
This Rosemont home in Sacramento is much more than a heavenly vision in white. It is spotless. Truly. It was pretty much impossible to find a crack in the walls or a stain on the floor or even a fingerprint smudge in a doorway. When we say this is turnkey and ready to move into, we mean it. Absolutely no work is required, no cleaning service is needed. The paint on the walls is almost as pristine as the day it was painted, except for maybe a small nail hole here and there. If brilliant white is your favorite color, then you’re in a for a treat.
I’ve always admired those who could live with white furniture, for example. I find it so completely feminine and beautiful. I would love to own a white leather sofa. But then I remind myself that I have 3 filthy felines who utterly destroys every piece of furniture I have ever coveted, including our mango kitchen dining set. One needs to make excuses for pets and look at their destruction with a different mindset, such as, oh, look, how cute, Tessa the Ocicat bestowed upon us a piece of personal artwork by shredding the back of that bench. I shall her treasure her inspired etching.
If you should happen to own a pitbull pup, you might want to change out the carpeting in this Rosemont home in Sacramento, which is also a brilliant white. It’s luxurious. The walls and ceilings are also white. Not off-white, not taupe, but white. White works in this house, trust me. You will love it. Also, one of the nice features of this home is it was owned by the same family for 50 years. The father was a perfectionist and a putterer. He was always making sure the home was running like a well oiled machine. If anything malfunctioned, he fixed it right away.
Beautiful remodeled kitchen features white granite counters and newer appliances.
This is the kind of guy who blows in insulation throughout the walls. He insulted the shed in the back yard. He insulated the garage door. His fence posts are steel, covered in wood. The roof has a lifetime warranty with cement tile and was recently replaced. The HVAC is newer, and is not on the roof like many other homes in Rosemont. The patio cover on the back deck is white aluminum with a foam interior to insulate against heat. There is a ceiling fan over the stamped concrete patio. Much of the cement work looks like bricks, and the walkway wraps around the house. This guy also built workbenches with compartments inside the drawers in the garage. There is a water softener in the garage. The exterior stucco is reflective as well.
Home features an enormous covered patio and a beautiful side yard with stamped concrete.
This Rosemont home in Sacramento is north of Folsom and west of Watt. It is a 3 bedroom, two bath, with an updated kitchen. The kitchen features granite counters and the cabinets, although oak and not white, are as glossy as the day they were new. Although the microwave and gas cooktop are stainless steel, the built-in oven and refrigerator (which stays) is white. Off the kitchen is the formal dining and a fireplace. Come to our open house on Sunday, July 30th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Check out the virtual tour here. 8604 Cliffwood Way, Sacramento, CA 95826 is offered exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate at $325K. Call Elizabeth at 916.233.6759 for more information.
How This Sacramento Realtor Wins Listings Without Listing Presentations
My listing presentations are conversations about Sacramento real estate.
Over the past week, I’ve been on 6 listing presentations all over Sacramento. I call them listing presentations but that’s not really a true sense of the term, not in the way most Sacramento Realtors perform that sort of function. I prefer to think of these visits as a conversation with a seller, including my agent visual inspection. It’s really all about two things: the sellers, what they hope to accomplish; and the sellers’ home, its desirability, condition, presentation and price point. Well, it’s also a little bit about me, but I don’t launch into my life story or anything.
I possess no script. I bring no presentation materials. No software program or video to bore anybody to tears with. I don’t haul in vanity signs and say lookit here, my picture on the sign, how cool is that? I do not advertise on billboards nor bus benches. My approach is always relationship based and educational. It’s very different than how I hear how other agents conduct listing presentations. Sometimes I even forget to leave a card until I’m walking out the door.
Out of the 6 visits with sellers, I expect to list 6 properties. Not all at the same time, of course, but it would be OK if I did. Well, one is a divorce, so it could take up to a year for that Midtown 5-plex. I tend to put a lot of work into my listings upfront. Making sure there are no title discrepancies, the property is clean and presentable, the timing works with the present market conditions. I often agonize over marketing comments. I carefully choose among high definition photos. And each listing is unique. No two are alike, and I don’t treat them in that manner. Each is my personal project.
When I came home from the last of my listing presentations on Saturday, my husband asked what price did we settle on. Price? We didn’t really talk much about a price. The home in Glenbrook was much nicer than I had been expecting, so to be completely accurate, I needed to do a bit more homework. To my amazement, the sellers hired me anyway. On the spot. They had another interview with some other Realtor scheduled for Saturday afternoon but they decided after our chat that I was the agent for them. I was ready to let them have that other interview, but hey, they gave me the keys. I’m their agent.
Perhaps it’s because I explained the present market, talked about what I will do for them, but primarily, I think it’s because I “get” their home. I know what makes it special. I appreciate its qualities. I will do a good job for them, and they have confidence in me. It’s sellers like this who make me want to be the best Sacramento Realtor I can be.
And it just goes to prove Realtors are not required to do formal listing presentations to win a listing. You just have to be yourself. Forget the graphs, the charts, the mounds of paperwork, the gimmicks, the crutches. Talk about what you know.
My Last Day in Hawaii Before This Sacramento Realtor Goes Home
Families and children at Magic Sands Beach, Kailua-Kona.
Spending my last day in Hawaii is always a bit sad because I know I am leaving the island. There are people who go stir crazy on an island and can’t wait to get off, but I’m not one of those. It’s such a place of serenity and inner peace. Not to mention, this time I’m leaving our home behind. It’s different. There is nobody following me to make sure all the lights are turned off, the doors are locked and the security alarm is armed. By this evening, I will be 2,400 miles away.
At least I know when I’m coming back. I have a home here now to return to. This is supposed to make it easier for me to leave. But, I’ve never owned a vacation home before. It’s a bit weird to own two homes. Rentals yes, but not two residences. Well, there was that house in Mexico but I never lived in it. I mention this to our new housekeeper. She had to tell me to bring in our outdoor patio cushions before I go. I have arranged for her to clean our house the day before our next arrival date. And again, before I come for my winter residency.
The best way, I figured, to spend my last day in Hawaii was to go to the beach. I wrote about the Kahulu’u Beach Park earlier, as an alternative to Magic Sands Beach, but this time I decided to visit Magic Sands. It’s always a bit crowded. This time I parked closer to La’aloa Drive and walked north toward Magic Sands Beach. I discovered a small path next to a lava wall and wandered down.
A path south of Magic Sands Beach led to these two snorkelers.
There, I discovered two snorkelers in the water without anybody else around. Looks like a snorkeling paradise to me. No kids screeching or banging their boogie boards into you. No splashing water into your air hose.
Snorkeling beach is north of Magic Sands Beach and past the Kapu.
I am a person who enjoys solitude. I can be around other people, appreciate their company and interaction, but I need down-time for myself. Just to be quiet. People who meet me think I am very gregarious, outgoing and a real people-person but that kind of behavior is only available in limited quantities. In fact, I have a t-shirt that reads: Do I Look Like a People Person to You? Strangers approach me when I wear that shirt, and with a big smile on their face make an unsolicited announcement to me, as though I am cognizant of what my shirt says, when I am not. They stop me on the street and say YES. Yes, you do. It always catches me off guard.
I say, well, you’re wrong. And walk away.
Much of my two weeks in Hawaii have been spent lining up new listings in Sacramento. I have plenty of listing inspections scheduled upon my return that I won’t have time to miss Hawaii all that much. Although, last night a seller I had been speaking to about meeting and selling her home in South Land Park sent me an email. She talked about her friends and what happened when she mentioned she is selling. And you’ll never guess what, she says, they referred me to the most wonderful real estate agent!
I stared at that email. What? Am I in public service and don’t know it. Chopped liver? What’s the deal? This makes no sense. Real estate does not always make sense. People don’t often look outside of themselves; too wrapped up in their own worlds.
But you know what does make sense, keeping my lips zipped and knowing when not to speak. I am in an escrow with an insane agent, primarily unsupervised to say the least. I have a lot of escrows right now, and it could be anyone of those, but it’s not. When the agent said to me, I am doing the best that I can, I was very tempted to say the agent has made that disappointing position painfully clear throughout the entire ordeal. It’s not a nice thing to say, though, even if it’s true. So, I don’t.
Magic Sands Beach is a sugar white beach north of La’aloa in Kailua Kona
There is no need to say unkind things to people. It serves no purpose. The truth is painful enough for most people to handle.
The people I’ve met in Kailua-Kona are all, without fail, some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. They have no agenda. They are friendly, warm and accepting. Maybe because we’re all on an island and in this together. There are 185,000 people who live on Big Island. Aunties and Uncles, who aren’t related and a bunch who are. It’s almost like the outpouring of friendship from people in Alaska, except it’s not so cold.
I spent my last day in Hawaii deciding that now, more than ever, I need to make more of an effort to be kinder to others. That’s a worthwhile goal. Well, unless they want to answer my t-shirt. Aloha!
