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Luxury is 10 or 11 Hours of Sleep a Night
Not everybody enjoys the benefits of a good night’s sleep.
This Sacramento Realtor is a firm believer in obtaining a good night’s sleep; it’s the key to being so completely productive during the day, on top of my files and in a cheery mood to help my clients. To obtain this preferred state of Nirvana, I have invested in all sorts of sleeping aids, from a new Select Comfort bed with memory foam top to a dual-controlled electric blanket and fluffy down pillows. Retiring early at 9 PM is a huge help, too, because it means I might even wake up by myself, without an alarm, around 7 AM to plop myself bright-eyed and bushy tailed in front of my computer.
The sales people at the bed store took great delight in explaining how certain beds can solve snoring problems. My husband claims he has heard me snore. Well, the only way to stop me from snoring is to eject me out of the bed. Is there a button for that? Like the ejector button in the Batmobile. No, the bed adjusts slightly by raising the offending person’s side of the bed, thereby clearing the airways, supposedly, so the snorer stops snoring.
I should have been working on my business yesterday instead of frantically searching the internet for a silent alarm clock. Yeah, that sounds like an oxymoron, but it beats a cattle prod, you know those things that send an electronic shock, which I must say has actually crossed my mind. The reason I need this thing is because my husband now uses his iPhone to wake up, and he gets up before me. Except he uses the snooze button over and over. This was never an issue when I was up at 5 AM and at my computer working, he could wake, snooze, wake, snooze to his heart’s delight.
But I haven’t had to get up at oh-dark-thirty since my listing inventory is no longer 75 listings at a time, due to the drop in overall listing inventory in Sacramento and how much the short sale business has dramatically decreased.
Now I handle a normal listing load more like 15 to 25 at a time during the year. That’s a lot more doable, and I don’t have to be at work at 5 AM anymore. I’ve discovered what a luxury it is to sleep in longer. You would think the cats would wake my husband since it’s feeding time, but they don’t make that much of a fuss and I apparently can sleep through any amount of cat puking. The cats just listen to my husband hit the snooze button over and over. But I’m no picnic either. I steal all of the blankets, often sleep sideways across the bed and throw pillows at the cats.
A more suitable solution, though, would be a silent alarm clock. I found a site where a prototype was in development, like a bluetooth rubber ring to wear on your finger. It vibrates when it’s time to get up. Except it’s not for sale yet. They should crowdsource it. I was thinking about this as I searched for flights to Spain for this fall. A good night’s sleep is so important that I don’t want to sleep in a cabin with 80 other business class passengers on an a380, making noises adjusting the angle-flat seats, which his not the same thing as completely flat. Looking at the prices, I just note that it’s a good thing one of us in our marriage sells real estate.
The Best Day to Write an Offer on a Home in Sacramento
Presenting an offer on a home in Sacramento on Sunday might increase chances of acceptance.
Looking for the best day to write an offer on a home in Sacramento? It occurred to me this morning that I have not yet purchased airline tickets to Portugal and Spain for our fall vacation — because the best fares for international travel are typically 150 days to 225 days prior — which naturally made me start thinking about the best day to write an offer on a home in Sacramento. I usually prefer to postpone reservations for connecting flights because the airlines tend to alter a few weeks prior and it’s a fight to get back your original schedule. Sacramento is unfortunately a lousy origin for connecting flights, too, but regardless, I need to get cranking on those reservations now.
Timing is often crucial and knowing the right time can increase your benefits.
Of course, we all know the best day to go on the market in Sacramento, at least from a top listing agent’s point of view, and that day is Thursday at midnight. The best day to buy a home in always, hands down, right around Christmas time. The worst day to close on a home is the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, primarily because everybody and their uncle is closing on that day so the chances of screw-ups are increased, plus buyers often pay a premium to movers then due to high demand. But when is the best day to write an offer on a home in Sacramento?
I propose that day is Sunday afternoon. For starters, many agents don’t work on Sundays, often for religious reasons some of which involve the adoration of rolling green hills and tiny little white balls, others go out of town, which means fewer offers and less competition in our hot seller’s market in Sacramento. The open house is most likely finished, and even if a buyer came through that open house and intended to buy the home, that buyer probably wants to sleep on it — the old snooze you lose scenario.
Further, the seller is most likely relaxed. Phones are probably not ringing, bosses aren’t demanding deadlines, kids aren’t screaming for dinner, it’s just a nice quiet Sunday afternoon — which in reality can be sort of a depressing time for some people. Especially for single people, I hear. Not in a Kris Kristofferson Sunday Morning Coming Down kinda way but just alone, isolated. A buyer could definitely brighten that type of seller’s afternoon by choosing Sunday as the best day to write an offer on a home in Sacramento! Imagine the elevated mood.
I know when I call sellers on a Saturday, for example, to discuss purchase offers, some home sellers might say they can’t talk because they’re working. What a coincidence. So am I, I might add. Yet, when I call on a Sunday afternoon, sellers are generally much more receptive to long discussions about the pros and cons of an offer and they tend to work with the offer. Especially if there have been no other offers during the open house.
Now that I stop to ponder, I put more listings into contract on a Sunday than any other day, so I’m fairly confident that Sunday could be the best day to write an offer on a home in Sacramento. What do you think?
Things a Sacramento Realtor Cannot Say About a Listing
There are amazing things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing.
An online newsletter I received this morning contained a synopsis of an ethics case that was interesting not because of things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing but because of the things the Realtor did not say. I am very cognizant that at all times a Sacramento Realtor who represents the seller has established a fiduciary relationship, which results in a legal duty to the seller.
Solely seeking seller representation makes my job easy, because I focus on my sellers. I have a duty to treat the buyer fairly, but my alliance is aligned with the seller. This means when a buyer’s agent asks: Is there wiggle room in your listing, I might reply they can pay more than list price.
That’s a seriously stupid question anyway because no agent, I don’t care who she is, knows whether there is “wiggle room,” (she’s not the seller) and even if the seller told her he would accept less, unless the seller has explicitly given the agent instructions to disclose that fact, her lips better be zipped. There are things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing, and this is one of those things.
The thing this ethics case disclosed was the agent never told the seller that in his opinion the property was priced too high. Instead, he shared this opinion with other prospective buyers. He violated his fiduciary by not disclosing his conflicted viewpoint with the seller, among other things. I think some agents are scared to tell a seller what they think because they are worried the seller will cancel the listing or get angry with them if they do not see eye-to-eye. But we are required (and we are hired) to share our professional opinions and thoughts with the seller.
I don’t take a listing that I don’t believe will sell. And because there are things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing, I do not suggest to other agents nor buyers what they should offer for a home, apart from list price or above. That’s my job. Don’t ask me what kind of offers we’ve received, whether you can offer less or how high you need to go because I won’t give you the answers. Although I always suggest that my Elizabeth Weintraub Team members ask those questions of other listing agents because some will cooperate. Those are the agents who forget about the things a Sacramento Realtor cannot say about a listing.
Brasserie Capitale in Downtown Sacramento for Valentine’s Day
It was so dark at Brasserie Capitale, even the servers needed flashlights.
While lunching recently at my favorite restaurant in Sacramento, Ella Bar and Dining Room, with one of my favorite persons in the world, my right-hand and friend Shaundra, I noticed that Darrell Steinberg had some sort of political gathering going on across the street at Brasserie Capitale, and I wondered if we should give that restaurant another go. I’m sure that Darrell Steinberg does not remember me when I first hit Sacramento so many years ago, but I recall his graciousness and willingness to talk to me and answer my questions when I was a contributing writer on the side to Sacramento News & Review. Every month I covered events and interviewed community leaders in Oak Park and volunteered in the group that met weekly for Building Unity in Oak Park, while I simultaneously began to build my real estate business in Sacramento from the ground up.
The rest is history, por supuesto. My business soared, and I turned my writing efforts to strictly real estate-related matters for About.com and blogging.
I figured if Darrell Steinberg’s campaign favored Brasserie Capitale, we might go back. We were last at that restaurant around the time it first opened last May, with my husband very much anticipating the coq au vin and who was sorely disappointed when it was unavailable that day. My recollection was slow service and OK food, plus it was fairly warm inside with the glass doors open to K Street. Brasserie Capitale occupies the former location of the old Broiler, monopolizing the bottom of the 1201 K building. Completely remodeled: red oak paneling, pewter bars and la mesas, velvet drapes and a beautiful painting of a dog adorns the wall upon entering. With an open mind, we made a reservation for Valentine’s Day.
This time around, the service was much improved, the dishes arrived within a decent period of time, despite the packed size of the crowd, and the coq au vin was available. At first we discovered my husband was holding one version of the Brasserie Capitale menu, and my menu was different. I ordered the pork chop and that happened to be the very item that was not available on my husband’s version of the menu, so I settled for the pork tenderloin, which arrived medium rare, bursting with flavor and sweetened by raisins. We started with the Boulettes de Viande (meatballs stuffed with cheese, and served in a creamy mustard and tarragon sauce, so delicious that I wanted to pick up the bowl and lick it to savor every last drop).
I saved that fun impulse for when our server returned. She asked if we were doing something else to celebrate after dinner. She might want to rephrase that question in the future, especially on Valentine’s Day, because I gave her the only appropriate answer possible under the situation when I replied, maintaining my real estate negotiating face: yes, wild sex, with all the sincerity I could muster. If you know me, you know I am a troublemaker. The woman at the table next to us slightly giggled. When she looked up to spot the shocked look on the face of our server, she burst out laughing. My job was done.
Not wanting chocolate to keep me awake all night, I opted for the alcohol infused rum cake for dessert. I kept telling my husband I could not taste the rum, but then he had to peel me off the floor to drag me to the car, so you tell me.
Cat Playing Piano and Listing Homes in Sacramento
A cat playing piano would happen all the time in our house if we had a piano.
People imagine that my husband and I spend inordinate amounts of time entrenched in serious conversations about consequential, essential issues facing society but we are very content to watch a cat playing piano, if you want to know the truth. In fact, a discussion over breakfast last week involved if our 3 cats played in a band, which instruments would they play? He says Jackson the Ragdoll would play a saxophone, but as laid back as he is, I envision him playing bass guitar. Jackson loves rubber bands, or as people from Minnesota refer to those things: binders.
Pica the Ocicat, on the other hand, would play a bass drum. He’s got the big paws to do it, and isn’t fast enough due to age and diabetes for the snare drum. Tessa would play everything else. Simultaneously. She’s like an ADD cat. Her favorite composer is Trent Reznor. Or maybe Dave Grohl. And that’s what it felt like yesterday as I balanced the number of phone calls coming in from potential clients wanting to list homes in the Sacramento area. Like a cat playing piano. It’s taxing, but doable.
We have no control in the Sacramento real estate business how fast and furious the business pops in. People have their own time schedules, and we, as Realtors, simply adjust to those schedules. It seems like yesterday was a break in the dam of Sacramento home listing trickles, though. We have such low inventory in Sacramento. I checked out a few homes in West Sacramento (only a few minutes from my home in Land Park), have another home in Carmichael to list on Monday, a condo in Arden coming up, and a single family home in Elk Grove.
I focused so intently on finishing the comparative market analysis for each that I spaced out my usual eyedrops, which meant my husband had to pluck my fried contact lenses off my eyeballs before bed. See, this is an excellent reason to be married.
And speaking of bedtime, I spotted a Beatles Yellow Submarine comforter at Target in the paper this morning. Instant craving. Yes, I love this comforter. While I enjoy the calming Ethiopian influence inherent in our bedspread, what better way to ensure interesting dreams than by crawling under a Yellow Submarine comforter? Perhaps the comforter could induce a dream involving a cat playing piano? We all have our diversions that keep us sane.
