It's Not Always Wise to Mix Friendship With Business: Sometimes Agents Should Back Off

Whenever my neighbor goes on vacation, she asks me to watch her house and pick up the mail from her front steps. This is such a quaint custom in Land Park -- throwing mail on the porch when there's too much or it's too big to stuff into the mail slot. Mail carriers in other parts of Sacramento often stick oversized mail inside the screen door, but not here. Our mail is tossed on the porch like a dead squirrel.

When my neighbor's husband was killed suddenly in a tragic car accident on the W-X freeway, my husband and I were there for her. We invited her grieving family over to our home for dinner, attended the funeral and the year-later celebration. We shared photos of our vacations, vegetables from our gardens and stories of our days.

I had listed her Land Park home a while back. After a few weeks of showings, she asked why her home wasn't selling, and I leveled with her. She needed to take down the paneling in the living room, remove her heavy drapes from the windows and install plantation shutters, take up the carpeting and refinish the hardwood floors, scrape the acoustic ceiling, and paint everything in tones of coffee and cream.

We took the listing temporarily off the market, she hired contractors and did the work. Her home was transformed. Afterward, I sensed that something was bothering her, so I asked what was wrong. She blurted out: "My home is so beautiful I no longer want to sell it." That's all right. I understood. I canceled the listing. It's common for people to feel seller's remorse. Besides, I was relieved she wasn't moving.

My neighbor called yesterday. She asked if I could take a break and come over. Something was up. We talked about her recent vacation. She showed me photos of her granddaughter. Then she dropped the bomb. It was prefaced by: "I don't want you to be mad," and I knew what was coming. Yup, her daughter in Los Angeles knows this guy, a friend of her uncle's cousin or something. He has a real estate license. About 1 in every 35 people in California has a real estate license.

There will be no for sale sign in the yard. And if he can't sell her home in a few months, she'll give the listing to me. This plan makes about as much sense as banging your head against a wall because it feels so good when you stop. Her daughter wants the business to stay in the family. After all, she says, this guy sold one home this year, a home south of Florin in a week. To her daughter, he's perfectly qualified to sell homes in Land Park because he is family. She doesn't believe they need a Land Park agent yet, much less an agent who has already sold $11 million this year.

You know what? Friends come first. Even misguided friends. I don't need to take every listing on my street. Seven years ago, when I moved to Land Park, I might have felt differently, but not today. So, I hugged her, promised to get her information on transferring her tax base and went home, feeling very sad that my friend is moving away. I'm going to miss her.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

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Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.