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SOLD a Home on 5 Acres in Auburn, CA
SOLD! Home and acreage on Winding Way in Auburn by Elizabeth Weintraub
Having just sold a home on 5 acres in Auburn when I work primarily down the hill in Sacramento was no easy feat but thank goodness the sellers hired this Sacramento Realtor. Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking, so I’ll bring up the White Elephant in the room right away. I am not a specialist for Auburn real estate, but I have sold many homes in Placer County and I’ve done a fabulous job for my sellers. I get 5 star reviews. My position is if a seller has to choose between a Realtor like me with 40 years of experience or a newbie neighborhood agent who attended school in the area, has family in Auburn and knows everybody in town, the sellers are still much better off with an experienced Realtor from the big city. And Sacramento is about as big as we get around here.
Because this Realtor employs big city ideas and has had years of making mistakes elsewhere to learn from. So, yes, I don’t own any Wellies. I showed up wearing heels and a silk dress to meet with the sellers because that’s who I am. Mr. Seller shook my hand and said he had promised me the listing because I had been referred to them from a relative whose home I had earlier sold in Cameron Park, and even though another agent tried to wrangle the listing away, he and his wife were sticking with me. Loyalty. A person of word. Great Realtor selection. 🙂 All excellent qualities in a seller. I accepted the job.
We discussed market value, and I had studied the Auburn real estate market extensively. I showed the sellers my homework. Coming up with accurate price suggestions is one of my strong suits. I examine not only the comparable sales but which way the market is moving and buyer attitudes. My suggestion for a sales price was $595,000 (not $599K, not $625K). The sellers agreed.
Now, I would not be human if I said the Estimates of Value for this home on 5 acres in Auburn that came from my Lyon office in that neck of the woods were not a little bit disturbing. These are called EOVs, and when agents tour new listings in the area, they often prepare an EOV to help the listing agent. I actually figured these agents would probably be the agents to bring us an offer because they represent a lot of buyers in Auburn. I also used the Auburn office listing signs, not my own, on both Highway 49 and the property, which was located at the end of a private road, so that office would get most of the sign-generated phone calls. They could dash over at a moment’s notice to show an interested buyer.
If they read this, and they probably will, there is no way to ignore what happened. So I’m gonna just lay it on the line in hopes they will do better next time. The EOVs I received from the real estate agents at the Lyon office in Auburn for my $595,000 listing were as follows:
- Agent 1: $499,000 to $525,000
- Agent 2: $545,000
- Agent 3: $525,000 to $535,000
- Agent 4: $550,000
- Agent 5: $549,000
I sent the EOVs to my sellers, and I thanked the agents for coming out to tour the home and for preparing the EOVs for me. I am always grateful for the support from my other Lyon offices. However, I could not for the life of me figure out why these 5 agents did not believe the home would sell at our list price. I figured these guys sell in Auburn, that’s their specialized real estate market, and they should know the value. What if I was dead wrong? I reviewed my homework and decided to stay the course, and suggested the same to my sellers. We’d stick at $595,000.
Sure enough, the home on 5 acres in Auburn sold at $595,000 and closed yesterday. They Lyon agent EOVS were all way off base. Maybe it was a freaky thing?
Not only that, but the sellers did not pay for any of the inspections, even though it is customary in Auburn for sellers to do so. We just said no. We got away with it because of the market conditions. Because the sellers hired an experienced Realtor to sell their home who devises custom strategy for each of her sellers as a matter of practice. I truly keep their best interest at the center of my focus. Bottom line, you don’t always need a neighborhood specialist and, in fact, sometimes you’re better off hiring an outsider from the big city with better skills.
When Sellers Develop Emotional Ties to a Home
Tessa, Pica and Jackson watch Sacramento Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub work at her desk.
There is no better way to start the day in the life of a Sacramento Realtor than to begin by entering the term cat constipation into Google. Our diabetic cat Pica appears to be constipated. It wasn’t Tessa rolling cat poop balls around the house for amusement the other week, it was Pica trying to give us a message the best way he knows how. One of the feline sites about constipation even depicted cartoons of cats depositing poop in the litter box and my favorite: active regurgitation. It reminded me of the puking rainbow mouth you can do with Snapchat now. Cats, no matter how you look at it, are gross creatures.
At least they are quiet when my phone rings. But when I answer my phone, there is nobody else in my office area except these 3 cats, so they naturally assume I am talking to them. Even when it’s not my sweet kitty voice. Especially when I’m saying stuff like, this is the worst pest report I’ve seen in 10 years, or what do you mean you haven’t ordered the appraisal yet when the contingency release is due tomorrow? The three cats — they just sit there on the floor and purr. Or rollover to expose bellies to the ceiling.
This will be my memory when we eventually sell our home many years from now, when we’re old and feeble. Everybody develops emotional ties to a home. In fact, my client just asked for photographs this morning of her home in Elk Grove. I always offer to send my professional photography to my sellers so they have a keepsake album of their home. Just because they are selling a home does not mean they don’t have an emotional attachment to it. It’s hard to leave any home if you’ve lived there for a while because all of your memories of years gone by were created in that environment. Unless it’s a home of sad memories.
I have another client who would not go into her home when I showed up to shoot photographs earlier this year. She had too many unhappy memories and did not want to revisit them. She sat in her car in the driveway while I went inside to take photos. When I came out, she appeared severely depressed. I asked if she wanted a few photos of her children that I spotted lying on the floor. It’s not like I wanted to force her to go back inside, but I did want her to know that the photos were there and they might mean something to her. Not to mention, she probably did not want to leave them for strangers.
After she came back outside holding a few mementos, I talked to her for a while, explaining what I would do to sell her home. I don’t think she cared, so I stopped going into detail and just hugged her. That’s when she burst into tears. Selling Sacramento real estate is not about the numbers. It’s about the people. And preserving the emotional ties to a home.
Tips for Selling a Fixer Home in Sacramento as a Short Sale
Selling a fixer home in Sacramento as a short sale requires justifying repair costs.
When I initially spoke to the seller on the phone, I had suggested that she might want to move back into her home prior to initiating the short sale so we could try to qualify her for a HAFA short sale, which pays $10,000 to the seller, but that proved to be impossible once I saw the condition of the fixer home in Sacramento. My office assistant called me after entering my description of the home into MLS. Laughing, that he had never heard a Sacramento Realtor describe the home in such “honest terms.”
The description was partly for the amusement of other agents but primarily for the short sale lender. The bank tends to read the marketing comments. Plus, I’m sorta tired of agents complaining that I didn’t clearly explain the condition when I say, for example, “the bathroom is gutted.” What does that mean to them? I don’t know. The basic problem with selling a fixer home in Sacramento as a short sale is the BPO agents often just do a drive by. They don’t even look at the interior of the property because that’s too much work, evidently, for the crummy $50 the bank pays, or whatever the pittance is for a BPO. Further, even if they managed to inspect the interior, the type of agents who rely on BPO wages to support their lifestyle can’t estimate the cost to replace a roof much less the reasonable cost to adequately repair a fixer home in Sacramento.
On top of which, sometimes the investor for the loan the bank is servicing has its own minimum net guidelines, which has little to do with the actual value. Selling a fixer home in Sacramento as a short sale is a struggle all around, primarily for the Sacramento short sale agent who is pushing for an approval. Throw into the mix the abundance of lowball offers from other buyers, guided by agents who also can’t estimate repair costs in the other direction. Agents call and beg to be in back-up position on these properties and why? Why, when it will immediately sell upon fall-out to some other eager investor and, at that time, at an approved price?
When a home is truly destroyed, selling a fixer home in Sacramento as a short sale is a piece of cake to get an offer, even though it may be a struggle to close. However, when a Sacramento Realtor is selling a fixer home that is not trashed from end to end, it’s less clear how much it may cost to repair. Those homes might require rehabs more for cosmetic purposes than physical damage. This is when we often advise the seller to require the buyer to submit at least a couple of licensed contractor estimates that bridge the gap between the market value the bank will expect and its true value based on condition.
I then submit a revised CMA with the licensed contractor estimates, close-up photographs and, voila, the bank now has tangible evidence to reduce the price. To do anything else means you’re just pounding your head into the ground and hoping it will feel so good when you stop.
Professional Realtors Don’t Give Up on a Sacramento Seller
Professional Realtors in Sacramento stick with their sellers until the home sells.
When the seller of a unique home in Sacramento called this Realtor to inquire about whether I would list her home, she said it was already listed with a friend but not selling. Her friend had tried to sell her home for more than 140 days and could not do it, so he was giving up. Throwing in the towel. Abandoning her, in a sense, while encouraging her to make other arrangements such as renting the home or finding another Sacramento Realtor. I suspect he felt like he was disappointing his friend, but the fact is he probably should have never listed that home in the first place because he most likely was unqualified. Professional Realtors don’t give up.
I realize people hold the misperception that simply holding a real estate license means an agent is qualified and selling one or two homes a year is enough to gain experience when it is not. Agents are not supposed to list properties that they are unqualified to sell. For example, I would not list a shopping center complex because I am unqualified to handle that kind of transaction, and I don’t care how many zeroes are in that listing. If I were to attempt such a feat and any little thing went sideways, I could get sued for incompetence. I stick to what I know, residential real estate, and fall back on my decades in the business.
As such, I would never abandon a client who treats me well. If the client needs me, I am there for the client. I am committed and dedicated and loyal. I don’t care how long it takes to sell that home, I will stick with it until it is sold. Not every home is easy to sell. Some present unique challenges but it doesn’t mean they won’t sell. How do I know this? Well, due to 40-some years in the business, but also I represent the seller who obviously loved the home. If one person loved it, another person will too, I just need to find that buyer. Professional Realtors don’t give up.
This home in Sacramento was a bit of a challenge because the bedrooms were small, there were too many doors to the exterior for most parents’ tastes, the back yard was not private. The first thing we did was remove the fence from around the pool, which blocked the pool and made for terrible photos. Second thing, professional photography. Third thing, home staging. And then we held open that home almost every single Sunday for 4 solid months, until our buyer stopped by.
The buyer wrote a lowball offer, which was countered, and the buyer gave up. Went back to looking at other homes in the neighborhood and after a few weeks concluded this was definitely the best home. We went into escrow and closed yesterday without a hitch. It was a lot of extra work to sell this home, but the Elizabeth Weintraub Team did it. Professional Realtors don’t give up.
How Could That Home Go Pending When You’re Ready to Make an Offer?
You might lose that home if you wait to make an offer.
It’s a fine line to walk when looking at homes to buy in Sacramento and feeling the urge to make an offer. The dilemma is when you spot a home you like, should you make an offer with the possibility that if you keep looking you might find something better, which means you would have to cancel a contract? Or, do you wait to make an offer until you are absolutely certain you’ve viewed every single home that might fit your parameters, opening the window of opportunity for another buyer to step in before you can act? It’s a tough place to be. Moreover, may I suggest that it’s not really a good idea to look at homes if you’re indecisive.
Even some veteran Sacramento Realtors are struggling with their buyers. I followed up on a showing of a duplex in Carmichael to find out if the agent would share his buyer’s thoughts with me. I always like to pass on feedback to my sellers, keep them in the loop about what’s happening, and answer any possible questions that might arise from the showing. The agent said the buyers were interested, but they had other homes they wanted to see over the weekend, which was 4 days away. Why do buyers think they have 4 days to look at homes in Sacramento?
We have limited inventory in Sacramento. The principle for a seller’s market in Sacramento is when you spot a home you like, buy it. Right then. Immediately. Make an offer. Commit. There is no time to soak in a bubble bath and contemplate your place in the world, wondering what would it would be like if we were all living on a blade of grass and not planet Earth. Chop, chop, people, pen to paper or mouse to screen.
I don’t enjoy informing buyer’s agents that we are in pending status now and they can only submit a back-up offer. Another agent texted late yesterday that he had just scanned an offer to send to me on the same duplex in Carmichael. Because of the way texts work, I could see that he had texted me a day earlier at the same time, asking questions about the duplex on behalf of his buyers. I pointed that out, that he had contacted me 24 hours earlier and let him know that yes, the property was pending. Maybe he was a part-time agent who could only work after business hours, I dunno.
His response was he had told me he was sending an offer 24 hours ago and it was STILL today damnit, even though much later in the evening. As though somehow he imagined we would wait for a less-than-list-price offer from him, because I had inquired as to the amount of the offer and suggested that he bump it up. He didn’t bump it. He didn’t even send it. If I had a dollar for every time an agent said he was sending an offer and didn’t . . .. He wanted to know how high the winning offer was, and I instead asked if his offer was still less than list price. Yes, it was. Well, then, day late, dollar short.
If you don’t make an offer, you can’t buy the home. If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding.
