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More on Translation App Tricks for Real Estate
If you have been using a translation app in real estate, I have more translation app tricks to share. You may recall that I wrote a blog on this subject a while back. Yesterday, something very interesting happened, I received a call from a Chinese buyer with limited English speaking skills. While on the call, I tried to converse using the “Translate Me” app on my cell phone, but the app was not working properly. Then, quickly I used another app, “Google Translate.” It worked perfectly. Free apps, you know. Should not complain.
Unfortunately, after several tries, the female caller had hung up. I had politely kept asking her to speak, please. The app only works if the other person actually speaks, and she had not responded. When I called back, her voice mail was full.
Now, there is a particular setting in the app called Conversation. You click on it after you have selected the languages. In this case I had chosen a Chinese dialect and English. You may not know this, but there are more than 200 Chinese dialects and really no such thing as a Chinese language. Most common is Cantonese or Mandarin.
Here are more translation app tricks in real estate that are so cool. As you speak, what shows on your screen is the conversation written in both English and your selected foreign language, however; it also speaks aloud in the foreign language. If you have your phone set to speaker, the caller can hear you speak and your voice is translated instantly to a different language.
When the buyer speaks, it translates onto the screen in English for me to read but does not speak English out loud. This is the perfect approach for language translation on a cell phone. Additionally, if we were communicating in person, it would work the same way.
This call, however, made me wonder if she had read my previous article or if someone who spoke Mandarin had told her about it? How did she find me? How did she know to ask immediately when I said hello, “You speak Chinese?” I’m going to call her back today using this app. The hope is I can leave her a voice mail message in her language, as there are always more translation app tricks to apply in Real Estate.
As a top Sacramento Realtor, I look forward to extending help to many clients who speak other languages. I am planning to work with our exclusive buyer’s agent, Josh Amolsch, who is very tech savvy. He can help perfect the use of this app for our entire team. We can help so many people that ordinarily we would not be able to understand us or visa-versa.
If I lived in China, I would want to work with a very experienced local top producer Realtor and, if that person knew how to apply translation app tricks to help me, I would hire that agent in a Shanghai minute!
If you would like to work with a real estate team that uses technology to overcome any obstacles in the homebuying or selling process, call the Weintraub & Wallace team today! 916-233-6759.
— Jaci Wallace
Elizabeth Weintraub Sells 3rd Home on Jefjen Way
Jefjen Way is a street in Elk Grove that backs to a school in Quail Ridge. This means the playground and the noise that goes along with that can be disturbing to residents who live on that side of the street. Fortunately, the last listing I took on Jefjen Way sold within 3 days with multiple offers, even in today’s softer buyer’s market.
We went on the market in early December, a time of the year when sales typically slow down. I would have preferred to list and sell the home in April, when our market was much stronger, but that did not happen. Oddly enough, I’ve been expecting to get the listing since April of 2018.
I’m not 100% positive, but if I recall correctly, it was one party’s parents who called me, and it was not the party who was on title. They wanted to talk with agents and help the party in title to obtain an independent and trustworthy agent. Somebody they at least knew, I suspect. And it was through those parents that I was introduced to the actual seller.
Last April, I would have pegged the home to sell for a lot more money because buyers were more willing to overlook homes that needed work at that point. However, by the time the home became available to sell, in early December, we had moved into a remarkably different market.
Homes without updates, such as certain homes in Elk Grove that feature oak cabinets, white tile counters, white appliances and laminate floors, are not in high demand. Throw a little deferred maintenance, a badly needed paint job that wasn’t gonna happen, on top of stained carpeting, and the price needed to come down even more.
I looked at the homes for sale in that neighborhood, in particular a similar home on Jefjen that was not selling, even though it was priced exceptionally well. It was about the same size but it had a much smaller lot than our subject property. However, it presented the same dilemma of no updates. But it was in better condition and it had a 3-car garage. My listing was a 2-car.
The last home I sold on Jefjen Way took almost two months, and the present competing home had already been on the market for two months without selling. My advice to the seller was to price it tad under the competition, which theoretically should attract a lot of attention. We also made it clear the home would be sold AS IS, and to sell AS IS in today’s market, it absolutely MUST be priced right.
My point is always to maximize seller profit potential. The strategy we use is different depending on the competition, the recent sales and the overall temperature of the market.
Sure enough, within days we received an offer. Followed by another offer. They were close in price to each other. However, the second buyer wanted the house a lot more than the first buyer and suddenly bid several tens of thousands of dollars more. Much more than the first offer.
This pleases me to no end to get more money for the seller. Especially when my strategy pays off. It can be a bit risky when moving into uncharted territory, when the methods used over the past 10 years no longer work. You adapt to the marketplace or you get left in the dust.
In the end, the buyers were ecstatic, the seller was thrilled and the home sold for exactly what the market would bear and then some. You can play this market to your advantage. Which it felt good to prove.
This was my first closing of 2019. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about another 2019 closing, a home that I sold three times.
The Ups and Downs of Selling Elk Grove Homes
Although I sell real estate from Lincoln to Galt, I certainly do end up selling Elk Grove homes as a large percentage of my Sacramento real estate business. Probably because that’s where so many homes for sale are located. And fortunately, for this Realtor, I have an office in Elk Grove that I can use, in addition to the office where I hang out in Midtown. This means my sellers of homes in Elk Grove actually get two large Lyon Real Estate offices working for them. Because I put a large panel sign with the number of our Elk Grove office on the property. For example, if a buyer is driving by the home and wants to see it immediately, that buyer can call the large number on the sign panel, and an Elk Grove agent can be there in a heartbeat to show them the home. That’s a nice benefit, don’t you agree?
One of those agents wasn’t too happy yesterday. He called me as I was in the process of taking my cat Tessa to the VCA, the Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center located just south of Elk Grove off Bradshaw. Tessa has a hard lump in her stomach that has become progressively larger. She had an ultrasound a few days ago, and the River City Cat Clinic thinks she could have a small hernia where she was spayed 4 years ago. They suggested a second opinion. VCA charges $170 for a consultation, but our pets are worth it. The surgery alone is between $1,500 and $2,000, the price of a new refrigerator. First class air to Hawaii. Couple month’s rent for some. Enough to power electricity to a large neighborhood in Puerto Rico.
Tessa, cinnamon spotted Ocicat.
After her exam, the vet suggested surgery, and we made an appointment for this morning. I stood at the checkout counter yesterday as the check-out clerks demanded a 50% deposit. Many businesses trust no one these days. They insisted on viewing my driver’s license. I wrote a check for the deposit, which was my last check. The clerk incorrectly computed the total and was off by $100. She asked me for another $100. Oh, just add to the balance I’ll pay on Thursday, I suggested. I don’t have any more checks. Nope, they wanted that hundred bucks right then and there. Really? A hundred bucks? Did I look like a deadbeat in my Hawaiian pearls? I didn’t think so. I had just given them almost $1,000. Why didn’t they take my fingerprints and X-ray me while they were at it?
That whole experience as a paying customer at VCA was not a nice customer service experience. Very unpleasant.
I handed them my credit card. I wanted to add specifically where they could shove it, but the clerks are just doing their stinkin’ job. Silver lining? I’m glad I’m selling Elk Grove homes and not working for VCA. Dealing with shit people.
Which takes me back to the agent from my Elk Grove office who called to complain in an agitated manner. It appears he had gone to preview another of my Elk Grove homes the previous week, and the key in the lockbox did not work. I don’t know why the key didn’t work. It worked when the door was locked and the key was placed in the lockbox. I called a locksmith immediately and paid for a new key. But the guy was still steaming over that because he brought it up.
Because I’m a top producer selling Elk Grove homes, I had another home on tour.
When this agent got there, as luck would have it, the seller, an elderly woman, was confused and would not let him inside. She confessed when I called that she had not read some of my emails, but she agreed they could come back. Like I told that agent in a voice mail (since he ignored my call), if he had just called me from her doorstep, I could have fixed the whole situation. Instead, he preferred to throw a hissy fit and storm off. That’s his call but it seems defeatist behavior to me.
Selling Elk Grove homes is not for the faint of heart. As I left the VCA office off Bradshaw, I realized my closing scheduled for recording that afternoon was just up the street. This was a home in Wildhawk that the seller had tried to sell several times in the past with some other Elk Grove Realtor, not me. I expect I amazed him because I sold the home at list price. It didn’t sell as quickly as homes in the Elk Grove ZIP codes because this home in Wildhawk, although in the Elk Grove School District, is in 95829. Not as many home searches in that ZIP as there are for Elk Grove. Still, it sold in 20 days, still under the average in Sacramento of 22 days, and closed without any repairs or renegotiations. My seller is happy. That’s all I care about.
I drove over to the house in Wildhawk and removed the lockbox. I could hire a person to remove lockboxes for me, but there is something about the finality of the transaction, the completion, reaching the conclusion, that I find comforting. I also called my Elk Grove office to verify that the rest of the documents, remotes, mailbox keys were waiting in Will Call for the buyer’s agent. I could hear Tessa mewing in her carrier in the back seat of my car.
This morning, she is probably cursing my very existence. She doesn’t like being alone in a strange place, and there is a fearful atmosphere at most vet clinics. Not every animal, or human for that manner, comes out of anesthesia. There is always a risk. Yet I hear the surgeons are competent, even if the doctor looked to be 12. When I first saw him, I jokingly wanted to ask if he was old enough to drive, but that wouldn’t help matters. I know when to keep my mouth shut. And, when not to.
Updated Elk Grove Ranch Home on Private Court Just Listed
9034 El Measa Ct, Elk Grove, CA 95624 just listed by Elizabeth Weintraub, Lyon RE.
This Elk Grove ranch home is a darling home, painted a cheery yellow, and it features a red tile roof. How pretty! There is a fenced private courtyard to keep children and pets from running into the street. Although the street is a private cul-de-sac with very little cars except for 11 neighbors coming home from work. It’s located in Emerald Park subdivision, just southeast from the Elk Grove-Florin and Elk Grove Blvd. intersection. Not that far from the freeway, either, but far enough away you don’t hear the noise. It’s close to a lot of shopping and restaurants.
The sellers have been busy updating this home for the past 7 years. That’s how long ago I had this listed. But that was back during the downturn of the market, and the market has turned around, and there is plenty of equity in this home now. These sellers hung in there and kept making tasteful improvements. For example, the kitchen floor is oversized ceramic, there is a new backsplash, granite counters and newer fixtures. New baseboards have been installed, and all the floors are wood laminate except for the baths. No carpet in sight.
You’ll get a family room with a beautiful fireplace, and a formal dining area. Plus, there is space in the kitchen for a table. The home has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and both of the baths are remodeled with planked ceramic tile. There is a covered patio in the back yard in addition to a newly constructed raised deck, plus a cute garden shed. If you need RV, look no further, as the side yard accommodates an oversized motor home or a boat.
The lot is huge for Elk Grove, .1928 acres, according to the County Assessor. The square footage, also noted in the tax rolls, is shown as 1,752. It’s a very spacious and roomy home, perfect for a first-time home buyer or family.
Check out 9034 El Measa Court, Elk Grove, CA 95624, which is offered exclusively by Elizabeth Weintraub at Lyon Real Estate at $395,000. Call Elizabeth at 916.233.6759 for more information. See the virtual tour.
Franklin Crossing Home Sells at Record Price in Elk Grove
10544 Buckland Way, Elk Grove, CA 95757 is a newer home in Franklin Crossing
All it takes is that one highest sale to close in Franklin Crossing and a new comparable sale comes into play, setting a new benchmark. This is not to construe that one comp an appraisal makes, because that’s not how it works, but it does have a major affect on other sales in the same subdivision. It becomes a measuring stick. I just closed yesterday a sale that went into escrow on June 27th. It was contingent but the buyer’s pervious home was only a week away to closing. Although the offer was contingent, it also made the offer all-cash after the exiting home closed. No financing. Which meant no appraisal.
Franklin Crossing is a unique community because it’s comprised of homes in a subdivision that broke ground in 2011 and most of the homes are much newer than it’s closest counter part on the north side of Bilby. This particular home sat across the street from the new George Park, which is now being constructed. The park will feature play areas, horseshoe court, bocce ball, half-basketball, an edible garden, adult fitness and of course, trees and grass for picnic areas, and water options.
The drawback is there are no granite counters in this house, just white tile. Not very many upgrades like some of the other homes in Franklin Crossing. When I met with the sellers, we discussed all of the comparable sales and reviewed identical models. The highest price at that time was $379,900, which was a pending sale (and still is), so we listed at $379,900. We were a little worried about the fact that the back yard was surrounded by towering two-story homes, but given this hot market at the moment, not overly so. Drawbacks like this usually go unnoticed when buyers are in lust.
By day four on market, we had six offers on the home in Franklin Crossing, all exceeding list price, which tells me that buyer’s agents in Elk Grove are in tune with the market, unlike some agents in other parts of Sacramento. Our highest offer was $391,000, but that involved an appraisal. The cash offer was very appealing to the sellers due to no appraisal requirements. They were about to accept the offer when I asked if they would like to issue a counter offer. I think that suggestion surprised them a bit. But that’s what I do as an Elk Grove listing agent. I look out for my client’s interests.
The sellers asked: What if they reject the offer? What if we make them mad? I asked: how much risk can they absorb? Would they be happy with one of the other 5 offers? Just how risky is it? I also pointed out that sometimes I might need to be reeled in because I love to negotiate. I will just keep on negotiating all night until a seller tells me to stop. If I see money on the table, I feel like it’s my responsibility to point it out and not walk on by.
How much more do you you think we could get?
Five to ten grand, I suggested, with five being very likely.
All righty, then. The sellers took the leap, countered the $390K offer at $395K and the buyers accepted. We sold AS IS, of course; it’s in the contract. The buyers were a little bit upset, I heard, that we refused to clean out the gutters nor replace the tile in the hallway, but when it comes time in the future to sell, I would not be surprised if they call me. That’s often how it happens. They’re really upset with me when I’m the listing agent and they’re the buyers, but down the road, buyers come to appreciate what I do as an Elk Grove listing agent. They recall the experience with different eyes. Those of a seller. I’m an agent they want on their side.
And yet, there are still sellers who don’t see the value in hiring an experienced Elk Grove Realtor. They want a cheap agent. Boggles my mind. An experienced Realtor doesn’t cost money, she often returns part or all of her commission to the seller through performance. It’s almost like hiring a free agent and striking gold.
