35 Offers for a Home in Elk Grove

I was so busy last night dealing with purchase offers that I did not have time to call my sister at our usual time to chat. She’s snowed under in Minnesota and freezing her tootsies off. I, on the other hand, am observing goldfinches swoop from my crepe myrtle tree to our water fountain and back. That’s what those birds do, over and over. It provides an excellent show for the cats, which is why we moved the water fountain to the middle of the cactus garden.

It’s nice to have some kind of control over one’s environment because there is no control over the real estate market in Sacramento. It’s simply insane. All together we received 35 offers for a home in Elk Grove. This Elk Grove agent held it open Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon to try to draw a different type of crowd. I posted that home everywhere online, splashed it from one end of the Internet to the other. Tweaked the photographs — agonized over choosing the best among 50 or so for the front photograph — enhanced the colors, eliminated the shadows, all in all I’d say it looks fabulous online. Enough to attract 35 offers from buyers all wanting to buy that home in Elk Grove.

Of the 35 offers, about one in four was an investor. The rest were owner occupants, people who wanted to live there. Two of the offers were less than the sales price, which makes one wonder about those buyers. Seven of the offers were at list price, which makes one wonder about those buyers, too. That meant almost 1 out of 3 offers had absolutely zero chance of acceptance upon inception. Yet, it also meant 2 out of 3 buyers actually had a chance to buy the home. See, the odds are improving. You may think it is hopeless to write an offer, but it is not.

One offer stood out above all the rest. I suggested to the seller that they counter the top four offers, but they picked the offer that gave them exactly what they wanted. That was their choice; it’s their home. That buyer’s agent read the confidential agent remarks and addressed the sellers’ concerns, in addition to writing a perfect purchase contract at a satisfactory price and terms. The hard part was telling 34 other buyer’s agents: you will not go to space today. It was important enough to do that I didn’t call my sister. I hope she forgives me.