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Selling Sacramento Homes From Our Vacation House in Hawaii
Fresh flowers invigorate Sacramento Realtor to sell Sacramento homes from our vacation house in Hawaii
My husband was not really surprised when I proposed buying our vacation house in Hawaii last year, but it wasn’t really on the radar for me, so I was a bit astonished that we actually did it. I spend so much time focusing on Sacramento real estate that I don’t spend a lot of time day-dreaming about the future, like most other normal people. But when the opportunity presents itself, I do tend to yank open that door without hesitating.
To me it seemed simple. I could sell real estate in Sacramento during the month of December from Sacramento, just like any other day in my life. Or, I could sell Sacramento homes from our vacation house in Hawaii. Given the choice between the two, well, you know which one I picked. That’s because I don’t want to wait for retirement (whatever that is) to pretend that I live in Hawaii. I’d rather do it right now.
Since my specialty is representing sellers and selling my listings, it’s a lot easier to do that from a remote location long distance than it is to, say, haul buyers around. Working from our vacation house in Hawaii only works because apart from shaking the seller’s hand, there is really no reason to have to meet in person. I have a laptop, iPad, cellphone, internet service and a wonderful support team. Wired and connected.
In fact, I listed a home in Sacramento that had been listed by another agent without success and sold it almost immediately, it’s closing next week from Hawaii. I never met the seller. Not only have I never met the seller, I never talked to the seller by phone. That’s because my foreign sellers don’t really speak English very well. They can write English, so we communicate via text and email. How about that?
I listed another home in Elk Grove on December 22 and sold it with 5 offers on December 23rd. Not only did I sell it, but the seller received about $15,000 more than his last unsuccessful agent had it listed at. Who buys a home the day before Christmas Eve? Lots of buyers; the Sacramento market is on fire. I sold that home from our vacation house in Hawaii. It’s even easier to sell homes in Sacramento from Hawaii in some ways because I have no distractions at the house.
Although I did stop at the grocery store today to replenish supplies and bought flowers pictured on this page. The flowers are a gift to myself. For a job well done. Today I sent out 3 comparative market analysis estimates and should be picking up a listing this week, another next week and one is for April. I love selling Sacramento homes from our vacation house in Hawaii. This was a good idea!
Mi’s Waterfront Bistro Has More Than Location Going For It
Elizabeth Weintraub on Christmas Eve at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
Mi’s Waterfront Bistro seemed like a fine enough place to enjoy dinner on Christmas Eve in Kona. We figured even if the meal was lacking, the location would be great. That’s because we went to dinner at Sam Choys in the Keauhou Shopping Center the day before, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. A trio of fish lacked imagination, and for a $30 entree, I expected better. Service was slow. They forgot half of my husband’s order but still put it on the bill until we corrected them.
When we have a bad experience at a restaurant, we usually do not return. However, Mi’s Waterfront Bistro was wonderful. I had made a reservation, but when we showed up, the only table available was inside. We elected to wait for a table on the water outside. It was OK, and I’m not complaining. We were escorted to the bar area and ordered a drink.
Bar seating is available on both sides of the bar at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
The thing about dining out in Kona is one is not expected to dress up. I wore an old cotton tie-die dress that had belonged to my mother, and I swiped it from her closet after she died. Somewhere along the way, I managed to rip a hole in the front of it, but that just makes the garment more endearing to me. I topped it off with baroque pearls and matching earrings, although I did not comb my hair nor wear any makeup.
This is how dining out should be. No pretenses. Good service and good food. Our waiter appeared knowledgeable and he was fast on his toes. At first I leaned toward the rigatoni with sausage, probably because I’ve never met a rigatoni I did not love. Since my husband desired that dish, I instead chose the seafood cioppino. Blue crab, scallops, shrimp and marlin simmered to perfection in a rich tomato sauce.
Pacific ocean laps the shore at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
It was so delicious I mopped up my bowl with bread, and I almost never eat bread. A Napa pinot noir was a great pairing with this dish. My husband’s rigatoni seemed short on the pasta and long on the sausage and sauce, but marvelous. I do not recommend the pineapple sherbet, though; it was like shaved ice without the syrup.
If you don’t feel like driving out to the resorts for dinner, you can stay in Kailua-Kona and enjoy dinner at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro in the Waterfront Row Building on Alii Drive. There is also underground parking for 5.00 in the evenings, although the elevators don’t always seem to work, I hear. I’ve been to all the top resorts in the area, and Mi’s Waterfront Bistro is every bit as good as, say, Brown’s Beach House.
Working Sacramento Real Estate in the Cloud Means Hello Hawaii
Working on Sacramento real estate in the cloud can give you this view in Hawaii.
Many Sacramento Realtors nowadays work real estate in the cloud and they don’t even realize what they can actually do. When you look at my background, the fact I started in real estate in the 1970s, you would not think that I might readily adapt to working real estate in the cloud, but then you might not know me. I might be an old fart, yet I adapt to technology easily. I’ve been online since 1991. My entire Sacramento real estate business is pretty much handled not person-to-person but computer-to-computer.
If a client needs to see my cheerful face, I can use FaceTime. I work with many people I’ve never met. Some of my clients I’ve never talked to, never heard their voices. I manage my files and tend to exceed the expectations of my clients without ever shaking hands. My team members can carry me through a home via an iPad, showing me the big picture and the small details, if I need it. So, it’s no small miracle that as I’m about to take off for our house in Hawaii, the day before I ended up taking several listings.
That’s all it takes, you know, it’s the forces of nature. Soon as I haul out a suitcase, sellers who want to sell their homes are dinging my email and ringing my cell. That’s OK. I handle it. Like the sellers who emailed me late Tuesday night to say they wanted me to list their home in Tahoe Park. Said they had been trying to sell it for 6 months and the listing expired. Wha? In this market? Turns out it was previously listed by the same discount agent my Curtis Park seller fired before hiring me. What are the odds of THAT? I squeezed an inspection into my day before leaving and got all the paperwork signed within 24 hours.
Most agents would not list several homes the day before a 6-week getaway to Hawaii. They would be stressed out packing, making sure they didn’t forget anything. If I forget an item, I’ll buy it in Hawaii. My clients come first. In fact, I am betting my clientele won’t even know where I am, unless they are reading this blog. Because they’ll get the same expedient service whether I am in Sacramento in front of my desktop or whether I am lounging on my lanai staring out at the ocean with a laptop in my lap. I love my job.
This is one of the best perks of investing 40+ years in a real estate career and working real estate in the cloud. An organized Realtor can do it from anywhere. Given a choice between 6 weeks of rain and fog in Sacramento or warm ocean breezes, with all other things remaining relatively the same, I sure know which one I’ll pick.
