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Which REALTORS are Bad Real Estate Agents?
Bad real estate agents in Sacramento can seem like they outnumber the good Realtors.
There are some neighborhoods in the Sacramento metro area where I won’t leave a lockbox on the house because of the behavior of bad real estate agents. I’m not sure if it’s due to the fact some of these agents seem to work for brokerages that don’t spend a lot of time on training or if they are so new to the business that they are still wet behind the ears. Or, maybe it’s because they just don’t think, which is generally the cause of many problems with bad real estate agents in Sacramento. You know, if they would simply pause, consider the ramifications, the consequences of their actions before they . . .
Oh, who am I kidding? In my dreams. Like that’s gonna happen.
These are the agents who think it’s OK to open a lockbox and access a home before looking up the showing instructions. As if every home in that neighborhood with a lockbox is sitting idly, enticing them, begging them to trespass. I’m not sure what goes through their minds. But I do know this. Those guys are bad real estate agents.
It’s probably about time that the National Association of Realtors stops pretending that all REALTOR®s have a clue or that they are worthy of working with a client. A license does not give an agent the right to violate procedures, laws and common decency. And clients don’t know any better. They can’t tell an experienced agent from a novice, most of the time. In fact, I’m not sure clients know how much experience an agent needs. I’ve heard some clients say 5 years is a good length of time to get your feet stabilized in the business, but the years are worthless if the agent doesn’t sell very many homes.
My sellers get a good look at the underbelly in the Sacramento real estate business and the bad real estate agents. It’s not that I go out of my way because I most certainly do not. Agents do it to themselves when they call to make an appointment to show the home. I hear it from sellers after the agents call, and their opinion overall of buyer’s agents is generally not very high. I’m not even sure what it is the agents say or do, but I know some of them tend to alienate the sellers because the sellers tell me they don’t like the agent. It’s not really my business why.
That’s not good news for a home buyer trying to buy a home in the Sacramento area who is represented by one of these bad real estate agents. The buyers could be losing the offer before it’s ever written. Let’s not even discuss the unprofessional agents who turn belligerent when their buyer’s offers are rejected. If you have to ask, that would be your sign. Trust your gut instincts.
What is Wrong With This Sacramento Home Offer?
It is rare to receive a perfect Sacramento home offer.
The way I sell real estate in Sacramento works extremely well for my sellers because I am on the constant look out for what is wrong with this Sacramento home offer. My first instinct, unlike many Sacramento Realtors, is NOT oh, boy, we have an offer, let’s sign it. As in: press hard, third copy is yours. My sellers and I intend to close the transaction. To us, a purchase contract is a legal and binding contract issued in Good Faith. To other agents, though, we can be at opposite ends of the spectrum before ever going into escrow.
Of course, as with any purchase offer, the way it is completed by the buyer’s agent is more than half the battle. First the offer needs to be completed correctly (spelling, math errors, unchecked boxes, blank lines, wrong forms) and much of the time it is not. But that is no surprise and not the primary issue. Those are clerical errors we can fix.
The real issue is the motivation, intentions and qualifications of the buyer. In a hot seller’s market in Sacramento, the most obvious sign in a Sacramento home offer is typically the sales price. Too low or too high can be a red flag, and I never know which we will receive. Digging deeper, we might find, for example, that the buyer has never seen the property. When buyers don’t view properties, it means they might have more concerns and try to renegotiate later.
It can be a kiss of death to remove a home from the market and put it back on market. Sellers lose the momentum of being a brand new listing in a hot, hot Sacramento market. Now the sellers’ home is damaged goods. And why? Because some agent tried to take a short cut and not show the property, and then tried to induce the seller to accept the Sacramento home offer by offering pie in the sky.
There are many other factors that enter into the work of analyzing a Sacramento home offer. The result can be as simple as a buyer offering less to entice a counter offer, which means once the counter is out, another offer is likely to arrive at full-price without the bickering, and the seller will jump on it, and withdraw the counter. Bickering on the front end can lead to bickering in the middle.
This Sacramento Realtor is patient. I wait for what is best for my sellers and advise accordingly. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Affordable Home for Sale in The Pocket of Sacramento
6985 Waterview Way in the Pocket is for sale at $349,000.
If you’re looking for an affordable home for sale in The Pocket on a quiet street with little through traffic, this Sacramento Realtor has an amazing gem for you. First and foremost, it is priced at $349,000, which is a price you can’t really beat for a home of this caliber, size and location. It’s not a misprint. But there is a reason for the price, and the reason is the home could use new flooring and paint.
Even though I stated exactly that in the marketing comments, I still received a few calls yesterday from agents asking why we didn’t disclose it was a cosmetic fixer. I don’t know what to say without sounding snarky about it. I mean, how hard is it to read: home needs flooring, paint and updates? I know my photography can make any home look beautiful, but I thought the photos were fairly straight-forward.
Living room features a fireplace and vaults with beams.
It’s a buyer’s point of view, btw, that says the home needs updates. From the seller’s point of view the home is fine and functional just the way it is, thank you very much, and I can see that point of view. Unfortunately, some of today’s buyers simply demand the granite counters and the new cabinets that all the flipper investors install. But one could pay over $400,000 for a home like that in this neighborhood.
This is a perfectly lovely home that has been neglected and could use attention. Flooring is not terribly expensive, and paint is certainly affordable. You love hardwood floors? Hey, here is your chance to put them in. Can’t afford hardwood? The new laminates are incredibly realistic and affordable. A 203K FHA loan could help with repair costs for a buyer, so don’t think you have to pay out of pocket. You can finance the future repairs into your existing mortgage today.
Call Dan Tharp at Guild Mortgage: 916.257.1470, and he’ll tell you all about the benefits of an FHA 203K.
This new listing has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, is 1,670 square feet per the assessor, a single-story ranch built in 1976. The seller might very well be the original owner. You’ll love the open floor plan, the kitchen overlooks the dining area and family room. The family room features a vaulted ceiling with a scattering of real wood beams.
Call your Sacramento Realtor, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916.233.6759 for a private showing today. 6985 Waterview Way, Sacramento, CA 95831. Listed exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate at $349,000.
Difficult Tenants Who Refuse to Cooperate With Home Sale
Better options exist for Realtors who want to tear out hair over difficult tenants.
A fellow agent in southern California wrote on an agent website about struggling with a listing in which he is dealing with difficult tenants who refuse to cooperate with the sale of that home. The tenants wrote a lengthy letter to the seller, filled with demands, including a snotty retort about social non-responsibility because the seller wanted to put grass in the yard. I could see them kicking back with a few craft beers among friends, composing the letter, scratching off sentences, changing the format and laughing their fool heads off.
Of the 35 or so comments received by other agents, almost every real estate agent said they would not take the listing under those circumstances. They expected the sellers would evict the tenants. But the sellers did not want to evict the tenants and lose the rental income. Like many, the sellers want the rental home home sold with the tenants in place.
I guess I must be the oddball agent in that group because I most certainly will take the listing occupied by crazy tenants. It’s not my place to demand that the seller evict the tenant. Oh, I will suggest eviction and explain why, but if the seller refuses, that’s the seller’s prerogative. It’s not my house. I’m hired to sell that listing with the difficult tenants, so that’s what I do. My sellers make their own informed decisions. I give them the phone number of the best eviction lawyer in Sacramento. If they don’t make the call, it’s still all good.
Solutions for Dealing With Difficult Tenants When Selling a Home
The first step is to get inside to shoot photos, and I can generally arrange that with a bit of finesse. I put the home on the market. If the tenants remove the sign from the yard, we put it back. When I show up to initially meet with the tenants, I size them up. They think I’m there solely to inspect the home, but I am checking them out. I also hand them a Notice of Sale and document the delivery.
Then I slip the listing into MLS with a notation that all offers will be subject to interior inspection because the tenants refuse to cooperate with the home sale. Now, I know some of you will say, hey, the seller has a right of entry with 24-hours notice, and that’s true. But difficult tenants means even if you secure a showing, the tenants will most likely do everything within their power to discourage the buyers, and I think you know exactly what I mean.
Rodents. ¡La rata! Mold. Health and safety issues. Noisy neighbors. Meth lab. Leaky roof. They make up shit.
After we receive an offer — and we will receive an offer, you can bet your bottom dollar on that — we can arrange for the home inspection to occur at the same time as the buyer’s initial inspection, with the seller present, if necessary, and after posting a Notice of Entry the day before on the front door. Once it closes, the new buyers are free to evict the difficult tenants. I refer a spectacular lawyer.
But not take the listing due to difficult tenants? That seems silly. Call Sacramento Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub, 916.233.6759.
Finding the Address of an Off Market Sacramento Listing
Ask an agent to set up an MLS account for you to find new listings in Sacramento.
Inventory is so dramatically low in Sacramento — we have 1,735 active listings in the county at the moment — that buyer’s agents are contacting top listing agents to beg for details on an upcoming or off market Sacramento listing. They want to look at the home in Google maps or drive by or send their buyers to investigate, all before the home comes on the market. Some try to locate an old listing in the MLS archives with photographs or maybe they check Zillow where old photographs go to die.
I’m not gonna say they go so far as to park in front of the house and wait for the owners to leave for work, but it’s a possibility. They definitely want to peek in the windows. Be first. Get a glimpse. Trespass. They don’t think of it as trespassing or invading privacy because people are often too danged wrapped up in themselves and their own needs to care about how they appear to others or the consequences of their own actions. They live in the surreal world of “I want it, so it must be OK,” and they don’t give any of it a second thought.
Personally, I blame those parents and educators who tossed out awards like candy when the kids didn’t really deserve it. Because everybody in Johnny’s class is a winner! No, everybody is not a winner. Some kids are losers. Like Donald Trump, for example. Why they need to be instilled with grandiose ideas is beyond me, but I do know this, I am NOT disclosing an address of a new listing unless my sellers authorize it, and no sellers do. An off market Sacramento listing is just that, off market.
Well, except for my Elizabeth Weintraub Team members. I do share information with them. They work closely with buyers.
Negative Housing Inventory Fuels Push for Off Market Sacramento Listing
It’s not for any of the reasons some agents might presume. I do not disclose off market addresses to protect my sellers’ privacy. It’s rough enough to go on the market and be bombarded by calls to show, agents who traipse through and leave on lights, doors unlocked, flipped-up duvet covers because they were crawling around and looking under the bed for whatever reason. It’s an inconvenience, albeit for a short period of time.
We don’t need the advantages of Coming Soon in Sacramento this spring. It’s already crazy enough.
We Have More Homes Pending Than Homes for Sale in Sacramento County
We have 1,928 listings pending in the county of Sacramento today. That’s more than the number of homes we have for sale (see first paragraph). Do the math. It means we’re at a negative for “months of inventory” as compared to the pending sales. The median days on market for 3-bedroom pending sales is 10. The average days on market for 3-bedroom pendings is 27. Nobody is gonna get a jumpstart on an off market Sacramento listing until it goes on the market.
Then everybody can fight over it. Maximum exposure, maximum profit for my sellers. That’s what I care about.
If you’re interested in talking about selling your home in the greater Sacramento area, I work as a top producer and cover 4 counties. I pay attention to detail and offer personalized service. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
