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The Problems With California Home Inspector Inspections in Sacramento
We can raise the bar for a California home inspector through licensing or certification.
Part of the difficulty with California home inspector inspections can be traced to why in the world are home inspectors not licensed in California? Yesterday, I wrote a blog about Why There is No Such Thing as a Licensed Home Inspector in California, and in researching this crazy phenomenon, I stumbled across a bill that never reached a vote in the California Legislature. I’m talking about AB 1118, introduced to the 2009-2010 California Legislature by Assembly Member Mary Hayashi. Yes, the same Hayashi whose embarrassing 2012 shopping trip to Neiman Marcus was all over the news for a while.
But don’t hold that incident against her. Representative Hayashi helped to develop a great piece of legislation that never saw the light of day. She wasn’t asking for licensing requirements for a California home inspector, or to set up a new state division to oversee home inspectors. She drafted a proposed bill that would have required home inspectors to be certified by a trade association. Which meant they would have had to achieve some level of competency, through training, field work supervision and testing. Bit the dust!
So the horrific fact that a California home inspector does not need a license nor any type of certification to prepare home inspections in Sacramento continues to this day.
The problem with California home inspector inspections is multi-fold, though. It’s not just incompetent home inspectors who are the culprits causing a crisis. It’s more nuanced than that. For starters, in Sacramento, we typically do not provide inspection reports to the buyer prior to contract acceptance, like real estate is conducted in other parts of the state. Bad home inspections paid for by the buyer are a disclosure once received by the seller, and as such, must be delivered to the new buyer after the existing buyer freaks out and cancels.
That’s a major drawback. Even if the report is bogus, incomplete, and incorrect, it must be handed over to the next buyer. If the seller pays for her own inspection in advance, the buyer will still obtain another, and both reports could showcase different defects. On top of that, we have about 5,000 agents with membership in our Sacramento Board of Realtors. Approximately 90% of those agents sell a house every 3 or 4 months, on average, according to my past research of member records. That’s not very many houses. Agents learn the business through experience.
As a top producer listing agent representing many, many sellers, I warn my clients in advance that the odds of us going into escrow with one of those inexperienced buyer’s agents in that 90 percentile is extremely high. If the home is likely to attract a first-time home buyer, that’s even worse. Because now we face the very real possibility of fighting against what I call the trio of death:
- An inexperienced buyer’s agent who doesn’t sell very many homes
- A first-time home buyer who knows nothing about home construction
- An incompetent California home inspector who could prepare a bad home inspection
You might ask what are those odds? I’m saying they are more likely to happen than not. That’s been my experience, and just over the past 5 years, I’ve been selling on average about 2 homes a week. It means I deal with this crap over and over.
Even though the California Residential Purchase Agreement verbiage says the sale is AS IS and the seller is not required to make repairs, offer a concession or a price reduction, it doesn’t mean buyers won’t jump all over that bad home inspection like tots in a bouncy house. It’s often a mess. The buyer flounders and flails, the buyer’s agent can’t help because she doesn’t know the difference between a polarized receptacle and a doorknob, and the home inspector is out to lunch, pushing his own agenda and bad opinions.
In conclusion, I urge you to write to your state legislature and ask why are home inspectors in California unlicensed? How is this still a thing? You can contact your California State Assembly Members or California State Senators.
This is a relatively new phenomenon in Sacramento real estate. Prior to the late 1990s, home buyers, for the most part, never obtained a home inspection. Now, a real estate agent’s liability is far too great NOT to suggest a home inspection. Almost every home buyer over the past 15 to 20 years now obtains a home inspection. Why doesn’t the state of California see to it that home inspectors are competent?
I help my sellers bypass and / or successfully navigate this travesty in almost every single transaction. My 40+years in the real estate business is a tremendous asset to my sellers. I also seem to represent a lot of lawyers. If you want professional representation from a veteran Realtor who will put your interests first, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Sacramento Real Estate is Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh, My!
Sacramento real estate encounters lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh, my! That pretty much describes the Sacramento real estate market over the past couple of weeks this fall. It also probably explains why I sat up with my husband last night watching the Cubs, which ran way past my bedtime. Then, with “just 2 outs to go,” as my husband put it, I gave up the ghost and retired. I’m not from Chicago like he is, so although I may root for the underdog, I’m just not a big baseball fan — not like I was when a kid and the Twins came to my Midwestern town. Although, I’ve got to admit that grooving on baseball, especially the last game of the World Series, is a good distraction from some of the weirder things happening.
Lately, in my little neck of the woods, we’ve had our unfair share of business that cancels, extends and dies, oh, shit, which is the Sacramento real estate equivalent of lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! I listed a home in East Sacramento the day I returned from a vacation in Barcelona around Labor Day, struggled through 3 days of negotiations between the seller and potential buyers. At one point I even said to the seller, “How is it we have two good offers over list price and we can’t come to an agreement?” This seemed completely bizarre to me. Little did I realize that the seller did not want to sell. Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my!
We helped this same client to buy a million-plus home overlooking the American River. Truly a spectacular setting. Before I even listed the home in East Sacramento, which is pretty much unheard of in a contingent situation. When clients ask for clarification about whether they can cancel and be at no expense, that can be a red flag. Inspections dragged on for weeks. We renegotiated the supposedly good-faith contract and the sellers of that river-front property agreed to an unheard of $100K price reduction. The clients offered no reason for canceling, no apologies. Since it was contingent, they canceled the sale of the home in East Sacramento as well and shattered that poor buyer’s heart.
Further, three escrows that were on schedule to close this week are getting pushed to next week, all for a variety of reasons, mostly related to the buyer’s mortgage. Those sellers had expected to close on schedule, and now those hopes are dashed. Our sole recourse is to make the buyer compensate. Perhaps it’s the fact we are so sick and tired of seeing Mr. Tangerine Man on the news and in the paper? The 2016 presidential election has been gnawing at our souls like rats feasting on shit. November 8th can’t get here fast enough for most of us. Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my!
I am also selling homes in Sacramento more than once. We do our best to vet the buyer, make sure they have the cash or the qualifications to obtain a mortgage, we listen to their buyer’s agent sing their dubious praises with a grain of salt and verify, verify, yet they still buy and flake. It makes little sense. They negotiate so hard and when they win, they cancel. Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! We just go with the flow. It’s bound to get better after next week.
The difference between me and a few other Sacramento Realtors is perseverance. I do not get discouraged. I do not throw in the towel. I never ever give up, and I’m always there for my clients. It’s how I’ve stayed true to the real estate business for 40+ years. Even though I did not catch the end of the World Series, I care about the Sacramento real estate business far more.
Is Syndicated Real Estate Writer Jim Woodard a Dingaling?
Pricing a home too low is pretty much impossible.
Usually I enjoy reading syndicated real estate writer Jim Woodard in the Sacramento Bee. His real estate articles are distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate, and even Realtor.com has picked up his columns. Although I suspect you’re unlikely to find his recent Open House column titled Setting a Realistic Asking Price for a Home on any Realtor website because it’s so skewed. This is what happens when a non-Realtor gives real-estate related advice. Sometimes writers get it wrong. Sometimes they look like a dingaling.
Perhaps other real estate agents don’t read his columns? Otherwise, many busy Sacramento Realtors would be up in arms about it. Which is why I’m sharing it with you today because I have many professionals who subscribe to my blog. There are glaring errors in his advice about choosing an asking price for a home. I have bolded the incorrect statements below:
“If it’s too low, the property will probably sell fast but at a price lower than its market value. If it’s too high, it may sit on the market for a very long time. Then it might finally sell, after reducing the price several times.
“Many owners follow the advice of their broker in determining the price. That’s often good advice, but keep in mind that the broker makes no money until a sale is consummated. A low price will expedite his commission payment.”
Only a dingaling would say something like this because it’s not true. For starters, it paints a broker with a tainted brush. It basically says you cannot trust your real estate agent to tell you the truth. In fact, it implies your real estate agent might be lying to you and pushing you to price a home way below market value, just so the agent can get quickly paid. This is an insane statement, it’s crazy nuts. It’s misleading; it gives readers the wrong impression about real estate agents; and it perpetrates a myth that agents are dishonest and / or only looking out for themselves, their own paycheck, which makes me want to throw a cream pie in the face of Jim Woodard.
Where would real estate writer Jim Woodard pull such a completely false idea from? Don’t answer that. We know where. It makes no difference to an agent if she is paid one week from now or next year. We do not price listings based on how quickly we receive our commissions.
Further, we are in the midst of a super hot seller’s market in Sacramento, like many parts of the country. Because of this type of real estate market — which is limited inventory and high buyer demand — smart agents might suggest a lower than market value in order to drive multiple offers. One simply cannot price a home too low and sell it below market value because vast exposure increases demand, and receiving multiple offers for an under-market price tends to push the final sales price into the stratosphere.
It’s impossible to price a home too low, especially in a seller’s market.
Perhaps real estate writer Jim Woodard is superimposing his own thoughts into his writing? Perhaps if he actually sold real estate, was out in the trenches — and I don’t think he is — he would do that sort of thing. Perhaps he would be dishonest? Maybe he would try to push sellers to price low to screw over clients. How else could he pull such a false premise out of thin air? Such a dingaling thing to write. So insulting. I suppose the logical answer is it’s possible that conviction is lurking deep within Woodard’s personal make-up but it’s certainly not in the heads of Sacramento Realtors nor the standard practice of any other Realtors in the nation.
Woodard, you owe us an apology.
Realtors put their client’s interests first and foremost.
An Autumn Lunch at Firehouse Restaurant for Many Reasons
Asters are the perfect fall flower for the table tops at Firehouse Restaurant in Old Sacramento
An autumn lunch at Firehouse Restaurant accomplishes many things for this Sacramento Realtor. It’s a lovely and befitting way to say goodbye to summer as we make our transition into winter through the all-too-brief season of fall in Sacramento. The rains in Sacramento have already begun. An autumn lunch at Firehouse Restaurant in the courtyard also features a delightful, magical atmosphere — dining outside on a cobblestone patio, surrounded by looming old trees, scurrying squirrels, a bubbling water fountain adorned by a floral arrangement, safe and secure tucked inside the walls of what seems like an old fortress, an enchanted secret garden, quiet and snug in Old Sacramento.
A far cry from shoveling food into my mouth from a microwaved tray as I usually sit huddled in front of my computer, reading the newspaper. Or trying to chew quickly so when I answer my ringing cellphone, I don’t sound like I speak German. I could just not answer my cell while I’m in the middle of lunch and send a text message, but I’m sitting right there in front of my phone and I can’t stand the suspense. It could be a call from one of my favorite reporters like Ken Harney at the Washington Post. It could be a call from a seller in East Sacramento who needs a Realtor to list her home. It could be a call from an agent in San Diego who is referring a buyer for homes in Granite Bay. That’s the thing about Sacramento real estate, you never know what kinds of opportunities pass you by when you don’t answer your phone — which is not my dilemma, thank goodness.
I answer my phone because the odds that it’s a crazy person stoned out of his mind, screaming about buying foreclosures with food stamps, is only about 1 in 10. I’ll take those odds.
Myrl Jeffcoat and Elizabeth Weintraub lunch at Firehouse Restaurant on a crisp fall Wednesday.
An autumn lunch at Firehouse Restaurant offers me the chance to meet friends, like Myrl Jeffcoat, whom I rarely see enough. We met online through an agent website many years back. Although Myrl is a Realtor in Sacramento and a life-long resident, she is partially retired and doesn’t really sell real estate anymore. But just because she is not 100% active in the business full-time, well, it doesn’t mean that real estate has left her body. The spirit of real estate steadfastly clings to many of us who have found a calling in Sacramento real estate. Cannot shake it. It’s embedded forever. When you’re a busy agent, the business aspect can completely consume. Yet, Myrl and I do not converse much about real estate at lunch.
I called Myrl about a month ago to suggest lunch at Firehouse Restaurant. She couldn’t do this week, I couldn’t do next week, so it became an issue of we need to put it on the calendar or life will sweep us up and we’ll never do it.
Elizabeth Weintraub holds an aster at Firehouse Restaurant
If you would like to get away, perhaps pretend that you’re in Europe, then I suggest lunch at Firehouse Restaurant. The three-course Courtyard Prix Fixe is offered 11:30 to 2:30 Monday through Friday at $25 per person, among regular menu choices. We had a goat-cheese green salad featuring thinly sliced ribbons of butternut squash, and the waiter actually asked us if we wanted coarse or fine ground pepper. How many waiters ask that question? We both prefer coarse pepper. In fact, my husband constantly complains that I unscrew the top to the pepper grinder to the point it goes flying off when he tries to grind pepper. I like my black pepper big, crunchy, flavorful and spicy. Finely ground has its place in hot-and-sour soup but I prefer to enhance my dishes with larger cracks.
The next course, seared pork tenderloin medallions, over bacon bits and braised greens, topped with chestnut butter that melts in your mouth was a bit more than I could finish. The sweet sauce begged to cover the last medallion, and I could not leave a lone piece of pork on my plate, abandoned all by itself, looking forlorn and unwanted. Just when we were way too full for dessert, along came dessert. A caramelized wonderful toffee confection over a type of brandy pudding cake nestled by a generous dollop of Chantilly cream. Because, you know, we all need to eat lunch. What better place than an historic converted firehouse in Old Sacramento?
Free House in Tahoe Park and $375,500 for Two Cats
These cuddly kittens can help you get through buying a house in Tahoe Park.
This is a true story about a free house in Tahoe Park and $375,500 for the two cats who live there. I had to battle to obtain this listing because this seller had 3 referrals to 3 different Sacramento Realtors. People presume because I’ve been in the business for more than 40 years that it’s always a cakewalk for me, easy to get listings, and I’m telling you it’s not. I make listing presentations just like anybody else in Sacramento real estate. I don’t use formulas, prepared sales pitches or anything like that. I just talk to sellers, share my knowledge and tell them what I will do.
When the seller selected me, I was ecstatic. You never lose that feeling of excitement no matter how long you have been in real estate. Plus, I really loved her house in Tahoe Park. Experienced Realtors, in touch with how a home feels, can pretty much tell within minutes of entering a home whether it will be a likely candidate for multiple offers. Not every home fits that bill. This home had a few things that were drawbacks, too, like no remodeled kitchen, no central air conditioning, no master suite, but it had plenty of other features I could work with.
We talked about the price of the house in Tahoe Park. My elderly seller had done her research and was willing to sell for much less than my recommended price of $369,000. I felt we were pushing the envelope at $369,000 but that’s my job. To get the seller a top selling price. She also showed me her two kitties for adoption in Tahoe Park. Where she was moving, into assisted living, she couldn’t take them, and this was a sudden, unexpected move. Broke my heart when she said she was taking them to the Sacramento Animal Shelter. In fact, she had gone to the Animal Shelter that morning but by sheer luck it was closed.
The cats lived in the sunroom in the back yard. They are indoor cats. When the listing hit MLS, an inspiration hit me. I asked the seller if she would mind if I told agents that we would give priority to purchase offers from buyers who agreed to adopt the kitties. She was all in. Thought it was an excellent idea. If the kitties had thumbs, they woulda been raised. We received three offers for this house in Tahoe Park.
One buyer’s agent appeared very upset, however, and demanded to know how could we say that offers to adopt the kitties received priority! That was ludicrous. The agent complained to her broker. Came back to announce that neither her broker nor any of the other real estate agents in her office had ever heard of such a thing — making the adoption of the cats part of the purchase offer — and her buyer adamantly refused to participate in such a wild-haired scheme. So, there!
People. What are ya gonna do?
The other two purchase offers both contained provisions to adopt the kitties. One set of home buyers offered to build a catio for the kitties. They wrote a very sweet letter. The seller read all of the offers, all of the letters, thought about it overnight and chose the right buyers for this house in Tahoe Park. The winning buyers paid $375,500 for those two kitties and got a free house in Tahoe Park. We closed escrow this week.
It doesn’t get any better than that! This is why I sell Sacramento real estate.
