elizabeth weintraub: If You Had to Sell Your Wares at a County Fair, What Would You Sell?
- 06/29/11 03:00 AM
I recall advice that somebody gave to me years and years ago about handling emotional upsets. Like, say, your partner up and walked out on your relationship. You're angry. You're hurt. You might want to get even. Do something hurtful back. But the advice that was given to me, which I'll pass along to you, is to instead imagine this person in a favorable light. I realize this is unthinkable to some, but just bear with me. The image was a pink cloud. You could conjure up any happy image you want. So, you plaster this person's face on a pink … (5 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Can You Buy Back or Lease Back Your Home in a Short Sale?
- 06/26/11 03:09 AM
I really dislike those who prey on the vulnerable. I don't care if it's senior citizens they're going after or 2-month-old babies, wounded dogs or unsupervised real estate agents, there is no excuse for doing it. Go pick on somebody who can fight back. Moreover, it makes me growl Grrrr when I see it. Nobody died and appointed me Caped Crusader, but if I spot crooks, I'm gonna say something about it. To keep my mouth shut would make me part of the problem. I would much rather be part of the solution than part of the problem. As a Sacramento … (9 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Sorry, Kevin, You Cannot Buy My Luxury Short Sales in Sacramento
- 06/25/11 03:15 AM
No, Kevin, I do not want to work with your investor who wants to buy luxury short sales. The fact that you emailed me through ActiveRain this morning and that you are not a member of this community tells me you're probably spamming for business. I also thought it was a little odd that your IP address is not registered. But I ran a quick search in Google and discovered you are most likely some guy in his 50s who lives in South Lake Tahoe, probably scrambling to eke out a living in real estate. Sounds like you think helping investors … (8 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Emperor Penguin in New Zealand and a Short Sale at the Med Center in Sacramento
- 06/24/11 03:27 AM
Images are powerful. Some say they are more powerful than words. I suspect that's because you can twist around words in your head or forget words, but it's really hard to forget an image. I keep seeing that image embedded in my brain of the Emperor Penguin in New Zealand, standing on a sandy beach all by itself looking lost. It was lost. Took a wrong turn out in the ocean somewhere and should have been in Antarctica, not stranded on a beach in New Zealand. Authorities said they were going to let nature take its course. Even though the poor … (8 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Why an Estimated HUD is Not a Final HUD and an Orangevale Short Sale
- 06/23/11 02:37 AM
Unlike sellers who can choose which Sacramento short sale agent they hire, as an agent, we can't always choose who we get into a transaction with. Sometimes we get stuck with real doozies. When that happens, I try to tell myself that other people are basically innocent. They are only doing the best to which they are capable of doing. Plus, if I am not being helpful, why am I in the business? A negotiator yesterday for LBPS emailed me to say she needed the estimated HUD to show "Final" instead of "estimated." We don't yet have the short sale approval … (5 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Meeting With Sellers at the Last Minute Isn't Always the Best Idea
- 06/21/11 03:18 AM
A reporter named Whitney Mountain (real name, not making that one up) wrote a story for the Sacramento Bee this morning about auto theft. Whit that says our Central Valley is the worst in the nation for auto theft. California has the highest rates in the country. Sacramento moved from ranking at #11 to #6 this year. Our rate zipped per 1,000 people up to 5.79. Think about it -- don't you know somebody (if it wasn't you) who has had his or her car stolen? My husband had his Honda Civic stolen about 10 years ago. It was missing for … (9 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: We May All Be Connected But There is Nothing Fair Nor Equal About Life
- 06/20/11 02:30 AM
I went to Tower Theatre in Land Park yesterday to see The Tree of Life so you don't have to. This is not a bad movie and, in fact, I liked it, but I would not give it a 4-star rating. Primarily because it's not really a movie as movies go. I'm not sure what you would call it. In the beginning, it made me think about how cool it would probably be to watch this movie stoned on acid, you know, LSD. I haven't had a thought like that roll through my head since I was 17. But that's what … (7 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: How This Sacramento Short Sale Agent Does a Preapproved HAFA Short Sale
- 06/19/11 04:14 AM
There is so much rhetoric and misinformation out there about the HAFA short sale. Agents lament and say they don't work and are a waste of time but that's not true. Well, it's true that agents complain about them, but it's not true that a HAFA short sale doesn't work. I started out on burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff. Yup, I chose to concentrate on the Preapproved HAFA short sale because: the preapproved HAFA is easier on my client the preapproved HAFA is easier on me, the Sacramento short sale agent the preapproved HAFA is easier on the buyer … (15 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: A Wells Fargo Short Sale Closing in Natomas and Celebration at Lounge on 20
- 06/18/11 03:37 AM
I recall a dinner I attended and planned for sales reps from Linotype-Hell in Minneapolis some 20 years ago. Reps came from all over the Midwest. One of them was Bud -- from Iowa. Bud was a big guy who wore plaid shirts, a meat-and-potatoes-and-corn kinda man. The first course was an appetizer. Scallops. Two large scallops. Served on a big plate. Bud looked down at his plate and then glared at me: "Where's my dinner?" he asked. Last night my husband and I had dinner at one of our favorite outdoor dining spots in Midtown Sacramento, Lounge on 20. I … (5 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: I Love Bank of America Short Sales So Much That I Bought BAC Stock
- 06/17/11 03:04 AM
I suspect you guys are thinking the title of my blog this morning is a punchline, but it's not. I really did throw a big chunk of loose change into Bank of America stock. That's how much I love Bank of America and closing Bank of America short sales. Believe it. It's true. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I close a lot of Bank of America short sales. In fact, I have begun to get my clients preapproved in advance. I haven't actually had the pleasure of doing a Cooperative Short Sale yet because all of those clients have qualified … (15 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: A Preapproved HAFA Short Sale is the Best Way to Do a HAFA Short Sale
- 06/12/11 04:08 AM
I love the ActiveRain community. It blows me away how powerful ActiveRain has become. For example, I posted a blog last week about how sellers might qualify for the HAFA short sale program and therefore receive up to $3,000 for doing a short sale. This was something I thought everybody knew about. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I keep my fingers on the pulse of short sales and sometimes must remind myself that just because something seems very common place to me, it's not to others. The blog began as a slight irritation, like many do when you get to … (11 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Why I Am No Longer a Title Searcher and About Seller Credits on a HUD
- 06/11/11 04:25 AM
One of the the things that some people don't know about me is I used to be a title searcher. This was in 1974. I know, people look at me and say: What? Were you 4? That's how I started in the real estate business, though, at First American Title as a title searcher. I worked at several offices. Lakewood and Boulder, both in Colorado. I liked the Boulder office the best because the courthouse was practically right across the street. Plus, my desk sat alongside a window so I could watch people walk by, and friends could stop to chat … (8 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Don't Put on Any Airs When You're Down on Rue Morgue Avenue
- 06/10/11 03:13 AM
When you're lost in the rain in Juarez, and it's Easter-time, too. And your gravity fails and negativity don't pull you through. That's the opening to a song on Highway 61 Revisited, next to Blonde on Blonde, my second favorite Dylan album. He was so cute back then! Up on housing project hill, it's either fortune or fame. You must pick one or the other, though neither of them are to be what they claim. This song, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, is going through my head this morning as I reflect on yesterday's insane activities. Usually Thursdays are a bit … (4 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Does the Bank Pay All of the Costs and Fees in a Short Sale?
- 06/08/11 03:05 AM
I see such outlandish advertising in Sacramento about short sales. Agents put out marketing pieces that say all services free to homeowner. Hate to burst their bubble, but our short sale services are not free to the homeowner. Or, agents will advertise that there is no cost to the seller because the bank pays everything, including commission. Excuse me? The bank does not own the house. One of the biggest worries that sellers have is whether they will have to pay the commission. It's a big chunk. No doubt about it. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I have the lucky … (7 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: About TV Westerns, Meek's Cutoff and a Luxury Short Sale Condo in Antelope
- 06/06/11 03:03 AM
Growing up in the 1950s, I had a crush on Matt Dillon. John Wayne? Oh, puhlease, no, no, no, Matt Dillon. I never liked John Wayne. I once wrote a piece about how the fine folks in Orange County should take his statue out of the airport and stick in the entrance of Newport harbor so pigeons could poop on it. That endeared me to many. But Matt Dillon had character, integrity, ethics and well, who knows what went on between him and Miss Kitty. James Arness died last week at 88. There are no Westerns on prime-time TV anymore. That's … (3 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Do You Choose a Neighborhood Specialist or a Short Sale Agent to Do a Short Sale?
- 06/05/11 05:22 AM
I wonder how an East Sacramento agent does the math on those closed short sales when talking to a prospective seller. It's no surprise that the public has a hard time trusting real estate agents when some of those agents engage in agent fluffery. How does a consumer separate fact from fiction? Moreover, why should a consumer have to decipher what is true and what is not in the first place? Aren't agents supposed to be honest and follow the Code of Ethics, which means tell the truth? I think they get away with it because some of them tell only … (6 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: All Things in Moderation, Especially Calls to Bank of America's Short Sale VP
- 06/04/11 05:11 AM
I got this great Chinese proverb last week inside a fortune cookie from Fortune House, and now I can't remember it. Drats. It was something about gaining pleasure from things in moderation, without excess. All things in moderation. That's true. Just about too much of anything is a bad thing. Too much sun will burn. Too much food will fatten. Too many drugs will kill. You can over do it. When I was 5, I pounded the free cream soda at my dad's company picnic because it was free. And yummy, I thought. I probably drank 8 or 10 bottles of … (55 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: The Secret is to Identify the Weakest Link in That Short Sale and Fix It
- 06/03/11 04:03 AM
You can call up a company to complain about a problem, and you'll probably get shuffled around. That's if you can even get through to the company. You might even hope that pressing zero will get you a live person, but half the time it just disconnects you. Adds to your frustration. So you send an email, but nobody responds. Well, I've stopped doing that. I get much further by blogging about it. Better and faster results. Know why? Because everybody and their uncles have set up Google Alerts for themselves. So I accomplish several things by this. The first is … (6 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: Wait Until Your Colon Stops Working or Fannie Mae Asks for Cable Bills
- 06/02/11 04:03 AM
My colon has stopped working. Not THAT colon. The colon on my keyboard, and the semi-colon ain't working so hot, either. I've removed the key, pulled out all the cat hair, vacuumed all around it, and the darn key just sticks. I don't want to replace the keyboard again because I have painstakingly applied large-print keyboard stickers on every single key. Do you know what it's like to live day after day without a colon key? It's awful. It means no smiley faces for me. Even though I routinely type the parenthesis backwards and make it a frowny face by mistake. … (13 comments)
elizabeth weintraub: It Doesn't Always Pay to Signal Your Turn in a Conversation
- 05/30/11 04:38 AM
My husband believes that some things I say just pop up out of the blue with absolutely no reference point. He says, in conversations, I don't signal my turns. My brain is constantly in transition. Yet, he loves me anyway. During brunch at Bistro Michel yesterday, we were discussing vampire teeth. You mostly see this in women, not men, but I suppose men aren't immune. I'm talking about those long canines. The type that suggest I'd like to bite your neck, in a Bela Lugosi kind of way. They say that the eyes are the windows to your soul, but I … (16 comments)
Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold, Midtown and Sierra Oaks Sacramento office. Co-partner Weintraub & Wallace Realtors. Selling since 1974. Homebuying expert at The Balance. Weintraub & Wallace sells homes from Galt to Lincoln. <
Author Bio: Elizabeth Weintraub is a Sacramento real estate broker, author, home buying expert for The Balance, a Land Park resident, who specializes not only in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento but sells extensively from Elk Grove to Lincoln. Weintraub is prominently known as the #1 Sacramento Short Sale agent throughout the Sacramento four-county area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40+ years of real estate experience to work for you.
I recall advice that somebody gave to me years and years ago about handling emotional upsets. Like, say, your partner up and walked out on your relationship. You're angry. You're hurt. You might want to get even. Do something hurtful back. But the advice that was given to me, which I'll pass along to you, is to instead imagine this person in a favorable light. I realize this is unthinkable to some, but just bear with me.
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