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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.
It Takes a Lot of Work to Sell Homes in Midtown Sacramento or Auburn
Cow looking over a pond in Auburn, CA
My cute Craftsman home in Midtown went into escrow this morning after hitting the market Tuesday afternoon, and it made me realize how some people will undoubtedly believe that we make it look all too easy. All they see is a home coming on the market and a home immediately selling, and they think to themselves that either agents make too much money or that it’s so danged easy they can do it themselves.
What they don’t see is the work behind the scenes. Nor how 40-some years in the real estate business can add up to a bazillion refinements and tweaks in how the professionals do business. I can honestly say that I improve every year as a Sacramento Realtor, constantly reassessing and adjusting for market conditions. It’s a fluid process.
I start working on many of my listings months in advance, especially to sell homes in Midtown. My conversations with that seller started in November of last year. I am working on a bunch of new listings about to hit the market on September 11. Yeah, yeah, it seems an appropriate day. To take it back without forgetting is to gain strength and power.
I have a new listing coming up in Auburn, and I met with the sellers yesterday. They are referrals from a home I sold in Cameron Park. Beautiful home on 5 acres with an enormous workshop, 45 feet x 30 feet x 16 feet high, insulated, heated and powered to the max. Plus a barn with stalls for horses. We need to make some updates and improvements prior to putting the home on the market, plus we need to optimize the best time for market exposure, so we’re working on that end of it now.
Not to mention the hours I poured through MLS and other online records, studying the comparable sales, analyzing sales patterns and looking for future pricing directions to arrive at a sales price. This is the single most hardest thing to do and get right — and if you mess it up, that home will be stigmatized and tarnished. My entire purpose is to get the seller the highest price possible.
There are no restrictions on horses in Auburn
While I was in Auburn, I stopped to see my assistant who lives in Auburn as well. She took me on a tour of her acreage and ponds in an ATV. I hope you like the photo of her cow standing by the pond and one of her horses. I felt a little bit like Eva Gabor of that TV show Green Acres, in my magenta suede heels, but what the hey. If you can’t take a horse snorting on you, you can’t work with others in real estate. I’ve discovered over the years that selling country properties uses the same principles that apply to any other sale, with just a few slight twists.
But it’s a long process and won’t be for sale until after Labor Day. I’m ordering the drone photography today to get on their shooting schedule. We will set up an open house and, if all goes well, within a week or two of hitting the market, we should snag a big fat fish on our fishing line. Because whether it’s to sell homes in Midtown or selling country ranches in Auburn, my sellers get my 40 years of experience and almost 30 days of prep work to get to this point.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub, country home in Auburn
