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On Selling That Real Estate Listing in Sacramento
No matter how many homes a Sacramento real estate agent has sold — and last year I sold around 165 — it is still exciting to have a new listing in Sacramento entered into MLS. It’s a feeling that never goes away for an agent. I’m not alone in this as other agents have expressed the same sentiment. Whether that new listing is 2 homes on a lot in Midtown or a highly desirable single-level home in Elk Grove, it’s still a thrill to baby a new listing. It’s also a reminder to pay extra special attention to the listings that might still be in inventory.
It’s easy for an agent to think after a couple of weeks on the market that an older listing is not quite as important as a newer listing, and that is a trap only naive listing agents fall into. An older listing is often more precious than a brand new listing because a) it involves a lot of work to get it b) a lot of work to input it and tweek photos c) an agent has seasoned feedback after a few weeks, and d) it’s easier to tell exactly what needs to be done to get that listing moved if it hasn’t, for some odd reason, already sold.
I never ever ignore an “aged” listing. I just try all the harder because my goal is never to lose a listing, and I have never had a listing in Sacramento that I could not sell.
My job is to figure out what makes a new listing different from every other listing on the market and to get that listing sold.
I just closed a listing in Sacramento yesterday that by all practical means should have blown up in smoke. I can’t begin to describe all of the ways the buyer’s lender messed up the closing. We were supposed to close at the end of the month and, when I suspected the lender, a major bank, had its share of difficulties, I asked Seterus to give us an extension to July 7th. Nope, said Seterus, no can do.
Part of the problem was I had nothing substantial to give Seterus in hopes of closing. I’ve learned a long time ago in this business that you don’t deliver bad news without a solution, a silver lining to soften the blow. So, I waited until docs were in escrow, when I had proof we could close, and asked again. This time, we received an extension from Fannie Mae that expired on the day we received it. Such a joker, that Fannie Mae.
I asked again for an extension from Seterus. It took a little bit more than a week, with the 4th of July and all, but Fannie Mae gave us 3 days this time to close, and close, we did! The buyer’s agent has one very happy buyer right now. It probably wouldn’t have been so tough on the buyer if the poor buyer didn’t also work for the stupid bank that couldn’t find its way in the dark with two maps and a flashlight. In fact, the buyer’s agent sent me an email that said I was the best agent he’s ever worked with. I hope that means he’s worked with hundreds of real estate agents and not just with those one can count on one hand.
The Highest Per-Square-Foot Home Sold in North Highlands
Holy toledo, I just closed the highest per-square-foot cost home in North Highlands over the past 6 months! This is a typical 1957 tract home, about 1,100 square feet, located in a quiet neighborhood of similar homes, in which the highest priced home sold at $140 per square foot. This home closed at $177. You think we didn’t struggle with the appraisal? You betcha we struggled.
When the appraiser called to make an appointment, I mentioned that if she needed additional comps, she could feel free to call me. That’s polite code for if the home won’t appraise, let me know and I will help. See, I think it’s very insulting for a Sacramento real estate agent to throw comparable sales at an appraiser. It’s telling the appraiser that the appraiser doesn’t know how to do her job. It sends an demeaning message, but agents don’t stop to think about how an appraiser interprets their “assistance.”
Some agents will meet appraisers at the property and hand the appraiser a list of comps. I imagine the appraiser throws them away in disgust. It’s like saying, “Hello, welcome to my neighborhood, you dumb cluck.” I didn’t tell the appraiser that I knew more than she did. I didn’t suggest that she couldn’t perform her job. I didn’t even say if she had a problem that I would help. Because I knew when she ran the comparable sales, she would not be able to justify the sales price.
Sure enough, she sent an email asking if I would send her additional comparable sales. I know the parameters for an appraisal. I know what’s acceptable, which is not exactly the parameters a Sacramento real estate agent might use. I found 3 comparable sales that supported the per-square-foot house with similar sized homes and condition, formatted those comps into a 3-up comparison and sent them.
The home appraised at value. We closed escrow on Wednesday. Sellers who initially thought their home might be underwater are now dancing for joy in their new home in Arizona!
When to Accept a Sacramento Purchase Offer
Sellers today get very excited when they receive an offer but not excited enough to sign a full-price offer for their home in the Sacramento area. Wha? Yes, sellers do not want to take the first offer that comes in. They are savvy and know multiple offers will arrive if they just wait. The problem is a seller can’t wait very long unless her agent specifically states an offer review date in the MLS comments. Some sellers think they can wait as long as they want to accept a purchase offer, but they cannot.
Most residential purchase contracts in California contain a 72-hour clause for offer acceptance. This is by default. It means a seller has 72 hours to respond or the offer will expire. If a seller rejects a full-price offer that meets all requirements, it can be a problem. It can be a problem for the agent, and it can be a problem for the seller.
Agents are required per MLS to state in the comments that the seller has rejected a full-price offer, if the seller has rejected a full-price offer. An alternative is to increase the sales price in MLS to the price a seller will accept. Moreover, once a willing buyer has submitted a full-price offer meeting all the terms and conditions of the listing to a seller, the court typically says the brokerage has earned a commission. It’s not the listing brokerage that usually raises a fuss over this, it’s the selling brokerage, the company that represents the buyer.
Not to mention, just overall, a delay in response to purchase offers can super irritate a buyer to the point that a buyer might withdraw her offer if the seller keeps her waiting too long. While it may be tempting for a seller to wait to see how many other offers a seller will receive, a seller could have a legal obligation to quickly respond to a purchase offer.
The Remote Control Thorn from the Transfer Disclosure Statement
Before I share this amusing story with you about a transfer disclosure statement and remote controls for a garage door opener, let me preface it by saying this is not to single out any particular buyer’s agent in Sacramento because it could happen to anybody. You can’t examine my closed real estate transactions for the month and figure out who I am talking about because I have had a whole bunch of closings this February, but the story made me laugh, so you would probably like it.
To start with, I always advise my sellers when completing their transfer disclosure statement to think before they indicate how many remote controls they have in their possession for the garage door opener. I explain that they might want to put down one instead of two remotes, even if they own 2 remotes. The reason is often there is one person who is the last person in the house after it is sold. This person might go back to check on the house or pick up that last box of belongings, and when this person drives out of the garage and closes the garage door, this person tends to drive away with the remote control and not realize it.
It’s after escrow closes that this Sacramento real estate agent will often get a call from the buyer’s agent. The agent will demand that the seller provide restitution for the missing remote control because the transfer disclosure statement the seller signed promised 2 remote controls to the buyer and there is only one remote control. Most real estate agents I know do not want to deal with the issue of remote controls. We probably don’t even want to hear the words: remote control, yet we do. It’s like a thorn in our sides. That remote control thorn. It grows up out of cement all by itself without water or sunlight.
It all started with the closing last week of this particular home in Sacramento. First the buyer’s agent submitted a broker’s demand after closing asking for a higher commission split, although the commission was clearly shown in MLS. The agent said a speaker at the Sacramento Board of REALTORS meeting had recently explained that commission splits reflected in MLS are incorrect. That’s interesting. Because it is the commission in MLS that governs the transaction, so there is some sort of disconnect going on and confusion. That set me up for the question about remote controls.
The agent insisted that I had told her there were remote controls. Now, I know that I never talk about remote controls to buyer’s agents because, like I said, I do not much care for the remote control thorn. I don’t mention whether there are remotes, where the remotes would be kept, how many remotes the seller would own — I keep my mouth shut about remote controls.
I pulled out the transfer disclosure statement and looked at it. Sure enough, the box for remote controls was left unchecked. The line for the number of remote controls was left blank. The seller did not even disclose whether he had a remote control and, since he didn’t live in this house because it belonged to another family member, he probably did not have any remote controls nor any knowledge of their existence.
I sent the transfer disclosure statement to the buyer’s agent to show there were no remote controls conveyed with the property. The buyer’s agent sent me the AVID I had completed and insisted I noted there was a remote control. Under “garage and parking” I noted there was a garage door opener. I also said doors were stored in the rafters. No mention of a remote control. See, this is how miscommunication can happen in real estate. A garage door opener is not a remote control. It is a device secured to the ceiling that opens and closes the garage door when activated by a button attached to the wall or a remote control, but it is not a remote control.
