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Sacramento Realtor Presents Affordable Pool Home at Parkway Estates
Pool home at Parkway Estates is 7509 Circle Parkway, Sacramento, CA 95823
If you’ve always wanted to buy a pool home at Parkway Estates, your time has arrived. Not only does this home have a pool in the back yard, but it is remodeled. It is ready to move into, and it is NOT a flipper house. It is owner occupied by a wonderful family who has loved and taken care of this home, but now finds it is time to move to another county.
This seller’s loss, your gain. The kitchen features granite counters, stainless steel appliances, plenty of cabinets, contemporary lighting and a breakfast nook with a ceiling fan. There is also a bonus room used as a family room off the kitchen, which is probably not included in the square footage.
Living room features a stone fireplace at 7509 Circle Parkway.
The living room features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace as a focal point. It also has beautiful flooring, which extends into the hallway, and looks very much like hardwood planks. I had to feel it with my fingers, it looks so real. There is also a ceiling fan.
Granite counters in the kitchen and baths at 7509 Circle Parkway
All of the baths feature granite, of course, just like you would expect, and the bedrooms are decent sized. The master suite also has exterior access to the back yard. Off the hallway is the laundry room with updated plumbing.
You will be amazed at the size of the back yard, it’s almost 1/5th of an acre. Plus, it features an in-ground pool, for year-round summer fun in Sacramento. This pool home at Parkway Estates is located in a community where many of the neighbors know each other and are often home during the day, probably either taking care of children or retired.
Please come to our open house on Sunday, October 2nd, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. This pool home in Parkway Estates at 7509 Circle Parkway, Sacramento, CA 95823 is offered exclusively by your Sacramento Realtor, Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate, at $250K.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sacramento Home Sales
An outdated kitchen can make it unlikely to sell at the top of the comps for Sacramento home sales.
In my real estate practice of Sacramento home sales, I draw upon my 40-some years in the business when I advise my clients. Experience pays off. My sellers know I will share all aspects of the home sales process with them, and not just say what they want to hear. Of course, every seller loves to listen to praise, they want to hear their home is beautiful, but they absolutely need to know the downside, too.
I’ve heard of some Realtors who spend a lot of time criticizing a home, and what that kind of approach accomplishes, even if the criticism is deserving and true, is cause the seller’s heart to slip into her stomach. Often, sellers are suspicious of agents anyway. They know there are agents they can’t trust — just like there are people in all walks of every profession who are untrustworthy. But they especially mistrust the motives of an agent who can find nothing but bad things to say about their home.
Don’t blame them, either. I wouldn’t appreciate that kind of interplay. Just like I look for the silver linings in the worst situations, I can find positives in anything. Doesn’t matter if the home is leaning to one side, about to cave over, I will find something good to say about it. Like, perhaps the color is bright and cheery. Or maybe the angle lets in more light or air. Plus, it’s likely to be priced within the comps of nearby Sacramento home sales to a place where the lean-to is immaterial.
In the photograph above, I can see many things that are wrong with this kitchen. The cabinets are older, worn and lack hardware (pulls); the appliances are a horrifying white (which buyers hate) and they are mismatched, plus the stove is electric and not gas. There is no effective backsplash. The overhead lighting is not contemporary, and the flooring appears to be vinyl. Colorless walls, too. And let’s not even talk about the fact the refrigerator, which usually does not convey as personal property, supports an upper freezer (not bottom), and that triangle thing — stove, sink and ‘frig — is not working in this space.
On the upside, the kitchen is immaculate. It is perfectly functional the way it is, and all of the appliances are operable. The colors are light, which makes the kitchen appear much larger. The granite-appearing counters are not tile nor laminate, thank goodness, for purposes of this illustration the counters are granite with detailed edging, and they are a darker color so they won’t show marks or dirt. On top of which, the darker color of the granite provides contrast to the rest of the kitchen.
Look at that oversized window, too. It’s dual pane (yay) and runs the entire length of the sink, plus it appears to offer enough room to grow potted plants, which lend a nice touch to the ambience. The view is semi-private and the tree can provide a nest for birds, which means when you rinse dishes in the sink, your eyes can rest upon the delightful sight of frolicking birds, transporting a person away from the mundane existence of her miserable life. JK about that last part.
I share the good, the bad and the ugly with my home sellers. My practice is to downplay the negatives and play up the attractive points. Plus, if I shot this photo, I would remove the edge of the refrigerator; it’s distracting. I would not shoot the opposing wall because it makes the space appear smaller than it is. And I would stage the counters with more appropriate items to draw the eye toward the granite and away from the cabinets.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Sacramento home sales and want to hire a top Sacramento Realtor, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
The New iPhone 7 and Carole King Musical at Orpheum
Beautiful, the Carole King Musical, had its last performance at the Orpheum 9/18/16.
Watching the Carole King Musical at Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco yesterday, I was struck by the odd thought that there are women, even today, who blame the man in their life for their failure to reach dreams. That’s not Carole King’s story, because she was successful with and without her husband, and made it to Carnegie Hall without him. But there are women who like to blame other people because they aren’t living the life they want. Usually they figure it’s some guy’s fault.
They say things like if I hadn’t married him, I could have married Tony from my cultural diversity class who now lives in a mansion in Beverly Hills, where I would be living if it wasn’t for my stupid husband. Or some other guy they hadn’t yet met. I know women like this. The fact is whatever you make of your life is up to you and nobody else. A women doesn’t need any specific person, much less a mate, to be successful.
There are quite a few feminist elements inserted in Beautiful, the Carole King Musical, which is good because there are also millennial females who think we don’t need feminism anymore because we’ve already won everything, when we aren’t even a president. Yet. Women still have a long ways to go. We can’t even get equal pay.
Yesterday was the last performance of the Carole King Musical, so it seemed like a good idea to drive into the City for the matinee. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get there, and we left Sacramento at 10 AM. That made us too late to make dim sum at Yank Sing, so we opted for the lunch at Market Street Grill at Hotel Whitcomb, across the street from the Orpheum Theatre.
Along the way, I discovered that my email sending option did not work on my new iPhone 7 Plus. When I ordered this phone, it was on backorder with a ship date expected between 9/17 and 10/24. Instead, the phone showed up, out of the blue, on Friday afternoon on my front porch. I downloaded everything from iTunes, activated it, and never noticed it wasn’t sending email.
I could receive email; I could not send it.
To a busy Sacramento Realtor, that is like a kiss of death.
My husband got on the phone with our service provider as we drove along. No help whatsoever. Then, as we were sitting at the front of the Orpheum Theatre, with the lights about to dim, I received an email from a prospective seller. My M-O is to respond immediately. But I could not send an email.
I tried to copy and paste the email address into my webmail account, but the lights were dark and the show was starting. I considered dropping to the floor and lying on my back on the floor in front of us, holding my phone toward my face to avoid shining light anywhere irritating, plus it would be a while before an usher would find me on the floor . . .
Opening stage set for Beautiful, the Carole King Musical at the Orpheum.
Abby Mueller, who plays Carole King, struck a few notes on the piano, So Far Away, and I abandoned that idea and turned off my cellphone. I was mesmerized. Not once did I think about the fact I could not send email. Well, at least until intermission. It wasn’t until this morning that I figured out how to fix my email on my iPhone 7. By accident, too. Delete the accounts and reenter. Thanks for making my life more difficult, Apple.
The show was spectacular. It centers on the story of Carole King and her husband / partner Gerry Goffin, and their friendship with two other songwriters in the 1950s / 1960s. It ends with a performance of a few songs from Tapestry, with many delightful girl and boy groups sandwiched in between.
I asked my husband while I drove us homeward bound: are there any women in the world more beautiful and glamorous than Black female singers from that era? I love the glitter, glam, color, feathers, diamonds, just the whole showmanship of groups like The Shirelles. But then I also asked him if anything could be more delicious than my succulent steamed clams at lunch, and he responded yes, a hot dog.
Top 3 Loan Preapproval Mistakes by Sacramento Home Buyers
The biggest loan preapproval mistake is plucking an out-of-state lender off the internet.
Sellers’ agents in Sacramento insist that the buyer submit a loan preapproval with the purchase offer. They want to see that the buyer is qualified to purchase the property and has at least taken the steps to talk to a lender. But the letters themselves don’t guarantee that the buyer will get a loan.
If you want to give a Sacramento home seller ammunition to reject your purchase offer, here are three things you can do to mess up your loan preapproval process:
Choose an out-of-area lender. There is nothing inherently wrong with an out-of-area mortgage broker, but listing agents typically won’t know the lender nor its performance record and, let’s face it, there are a lot of loosely-defined mortgage brokers practicing. Listing agents and their sellers don’t want to watch the transaction fall apart because the buyer tried to get a loan from a lender that could not perform or did not fully vet the buyer.
Submit a prequal letter instead of a preapproval letter. A prequal letter says the lender has had a conversation with the borrower. A loan preapproval letter generally discloses the lender has a completed loan application, obtained the buyer’s credit report, approved it, ran it through actual or desktop underwriting and reviewed the buyer’s documentation. It speaks volumes.
Attach a loan preapproval letter that shows the buyer is qualified to pay more than the asking price of the home. Nothing says to the seller: “Let’s issue a counter for a higher price” faster. In fact, the mortgage broker I work with emails me the preapproval letter in a Word format so I can immediately lower the price, if necessary, before submitting the offer.
I always suggest that my buyers compare rates and terms among lenders, although I have no stake in the lender the buyer ultimately chooses. That’s the buyer’s decision to make. But I do want to submit the buyers’ offer in the strongest light possible, and that means submitting a preapproval letter (not a prequal) with their offer.
If your lender can’t or won’t issue a preapproval letter, then you might want to look for a lender who will. Don’t sabotage your efforts to buy a home by making these loan preapproval mistakes. Call Sacramento Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759 for a recommendation to a local Sacramento mortgage broker.
Reasons We’re Not Gonna Take It
We’re not gonna take it could be a Sacramento Realtor’s theme song.
We’re not gonna take it. I woke up this morning with a song running through my head. I could hear the guitar licks before my feet hit the ground:
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
Never did and never will
We’re not gonna take it
Gonna break it, gonna shake it,
let’s forget it better still
Now, I realize not every client wants to hear the truth — whether it’s the truth about purchasing power, inventory, comparable sales or whether objectives are realistic. However, I am generally very direct. I call it like I see it. Not everybody appreciates that. Some want their information delivered in small sugar-coated dosages. While I try to be accommodating and give my clients superior service, it doesn’t mean I am willing to sacrifice my ethics nor my integrity to do so. Because every time I am tempted to set aside my convictions and policies, I later kick myself.
In my experience, the best thing to do is to let go and remember: You can’t salvage every deal. You can’t take every listing. You can’t satisfy everybody. No matter how hard you try. If you and your client are worlds apart, that’s where deals go to die. Let them die. The world won’t come to a screeching halt.
My policy is six-month listings. Especially in this market. If you don’t trust me, don’t feel loyalty nor believe I will do a good job for you, we should not do business together. I will cancel a 6-month listing after 90 days but I won’t take a 90-day listing. There are plenty of other agents who will; I am not one of them. I spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing; I work hard and diligently for my clients, and I expect support. It’s me or a less experienced agent. Take your pick.
Buyers, if you insist on offering 80 cents on the dollar when the sellers of that home is receiving multiple offers, I’m not working with you. Because you are looking for a needle in the haystack. You are not a serious buyer. I excel at negotiation, but if you don’t get the property because you offered too little, we both lose. My job is to see that your offer gets accepted, not rejected. Take your pick.
To the buyer who now insists that the seller pay for Section 2 work that was not specified in the contract, this is the hill on which you will die. Especially since the seller is paying for your new roof and a home protection policy. The seller has no more money to give you. Your $10,000 deposit in escrow can sit there until the cows come home because the seller will contest its release if you try to cancel. Fight or close escrow. Take your pick.
To the seller who couldn’t sell her home for two years because it was overpriced, I’m not taking the listing at the same price. The reason your home didn’t sell is because it’s not worth what you are asking. Either you make repairs to bring it in line with other comparable homes in the neighborhood or you slash your asking price. Or, hire a brand new agent who hasn’t been around the block, because I’m not one of those. Lower the price or don’t sell. Take your pick.
Every time I stand by my guns, er, guitar, I end up successful. When I make a concession, go against my general nature, I always regret that action. When I am successful, so are my clients. We’re not gonna take it; never did and never will.
