sacramento real estate: What is Happening in the Sacramento Housing Market?
- 12/08/18 08:38 PM
Things are beginnng to look up in November in Sacramento. December has taken off like a bang, too. At least for me, I don't know how well other agents are faring. I can tell you that September and October were very slow months, which has been out of the ordinary for me. Did not take very many listings or close as many as usual. However, right after Thanksgiving, the market seems to be renewing itself.
I managed to list 5 new homes in Sacramento over the past couple of weeks and sold five. You can read more in my personal blog today … (8 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Sharing With Sellers That Offers Are Coming!
- 12/08/18 09:46 AM
I am fond of saying that I could buy my own island in French Polynesia if I had received every offer that buyer's agents said they were sending over the past 40 years. Because it is true. I find buyer's agents are often FAR more excited about the prospects of a house than their buyers are. They tend to see and hear what they want and glam on to every positive thing a buyer says, sometimes not listening to the negatives.
You might be surprised to hear how often agents say to me: oh, my buyers are so thrilled and they are … (14 comments)
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sacramento real estate: What Does it Take to Pull the Trigger on Home Buying?
- 12/03/18 12:44 PM
Rarely do I oversleep in Hawaii, but this morning I did not wake up until the Lowe's contractor guys were hitting my Ring Doorbell, which chimes very loudly in our master bedroom. BTW, I highly recommend getting the Chime feature doohickey for that contraption. Pulled me out of a sound sleep.
I had almost forgotten about the conversation I had about buyers with an agent yesterday. Maybe because I was too busy fending off the agents who wanted to "discuss" sales prices on certain properties. They were trying to "build a case" for their lowball buyer. That buyer sitting on the sidelines, … (3 comments)
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sacramento real estate: This is What Lowlife Scumball Agents Do to Us
- 11/28/18 08:30 AM
Let me be clear that I am not badmouthing all agents. It is always just a few that ruin it for the rest of us. One thing I have noticed over my 40+ years in real estate is there seems to be a) no shortage of scumball agents and b) that puts us always on high alert that a client could confuse the good agents with those guys.
And by "guys" I mean women or men or any other combination of gender preferences.
You would think that by the time a seller has contacted an agent and indicated they want that particular … (8 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Sacramento Home Sales in December Could Be Strong
- 11/27/18 08:39 AM
Yes, my prediction for today is December real estate sales in Sacramento could be much stronger than you might expect. There is a lot of doom and gloom talk going around, and I see the numbers, too. Sure, interest rates are climbing, sales prices have appreciated, and now we are moving into a more balanced market.
As with every year, I also move my business home base operations to Hawaii. There are not a lot of face-to-face meetings toward the end of the year, so it's easy for me to sell my listings no matter where I am physically located. My phone … (7 comments)
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sacramento real estate: The Joy in a Home Pending on Thanksgiving
- 11/25/18 05:43 PM
By the time you read this, I shall be 30,000 feet in the air without WiFi. Yup, on this day of November, I am moving my real estate business from my summer home in Sacramento to my winter home in Hawaii. It doesn't mean I sell real estate in Hawaii. It means I still sell real estate in Sacramento, I just run my base of operations from our winter home. Nothing much changes for me except a few more geckos enter my world.
Above is a photograph from our Thanksgiving at the Weintraub household in Sacramento. Seated are my brother-in-laws from Chicago. … (13 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Buyer Primer for Working with Agents in Sacramento
- 11/25/18 09:41 AM
Last week I accidentally overheard a conversation between a potential buyer an a buyer's agent. The buyer was extremely rude, although I'm not sure she meant to be. Her conversation led her to this conclusion: "Let me remind you there are a lot of preforeclosure experts on Zillow; I can call any one of those experts."
Don't laugh, please.
This was wrong on so many accounts. For one thing, the likelihood of more than one "preforeclosure expert" on Z is extremely unlikely since no such title really exists, and no such type of sale really exists. I'm not even getting into an … (12 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Home Buyers Are Not Delivered by the Stork
- 11/15/18 06:45 PM
Trying to combat some of the misinformation in the real estate industry is like trying to explain how a leader of the free world can make up stuff when so few seem to care. It's like if one repeats a lie often enough it starts to sound like the truth. Which is why it's very annoying when a seller insists that a listing agent has bunch of buyers to work with, when they don't.
It's a little bit like living in Opposite Land.
One of the goals of a real estate agent is to put a buyer into escrow. If an agent … (8 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Finding a Buyer Prior to Listing a Home in MLS
- 11/15/18 09:54 AM
In our MLS system in Sacramento, we are not allowed to market a property before it is published in MLS, unless we obtain an MLS waiver. But that doesn't stop the sellers from chatting with neighbors or the real estate brokerage from circulating listings internally prior to publication, among other things.
Sometimes, I've even had sellers say they wanted to exclude a certain party from the listing, a party who has expressed interest when they decided to sell. Usually I prefer they settle up with that person before I extend a great deal of effort on their behalf. If I don't think … (4 comments)
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sacramento real estate: How Parties Can Sue Dual Agents in California
- 11/13/18 06:42 PM
Who is most likely to sue in a California real estate transaction? I've seen statistics that point to the buyers. Most sellers are getting a big ol' pile of money at closing, so they usually don't have much to complain about. One of the reasons I love working with sellers is it's very easy to keep sellers happy. Keep them informed, be proactive, get them the highest price in the shortest period of time, and they're content.
Buyers are a whole 'nother story. Especially after closing when negative issues pop up and they are definitely certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, … (14 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Agents Pull Out the Stops to Sell Sacramento Homes
- 11/13/18 08:40 AM
Don't ask me where this sign was located in Sacramento or which company because I didn't take the photo, my team member Josh did. He often sends me cute photos of places he goes. Generally it's places like the top of El Capitan in Yosemite or the bottom of river gorges in Idaho, not the front yard of somebody's house.
However, it offered a discussion among the team as to why. Or, as Josh initially put it, we've been doing this all wrong! You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: One Way to Sell a House in … (6 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Explaining the Real Estate Market to Sacramento Sellers
- 11/12/18 09:40 AM
It is really tough to find the middle ground where one needs to take up residence when explaining the real estate market to Sacramento sellers. On the one hand, I don't sugarcoat anything. I give it to my potential clients straight and explain what has happened, what is happening now and what is likely to happen down the road. Everybody agrees that's the best way. However, it's not without drawbacks.
The drawbacks are a bit complicated. For starters, the sellers might not believe their agent. After all, their next-door neighbor's recently remodeled house sold in one day, so surely their neglected house … (9 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Where Are All the Perfect Homes in Sacramento?
- 11/08/18 08:41 AM
Could not resist this adorably cute photo I shot at the Kona Bark Park yesterday. The pooch on the left is some sort of rare breed that my friend Linda rescued. When she adopted Honey Bun, the dog was afraid of everyone. Now, a few years later, she suffers only from separation anxiety, so Linda takes him everywhere she can.
The other dog? I don't know the breed of that dog but he looks like a miniature lion. He is smitten with Honey Bun and would not leave her alone. Like he found his perfect mate. He ignored all of the … (2 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Is It Taking Longer to Sell a House in Sacramento?
- 11/06/18 08:28 AM
Why are these listings still here? This a question I have asked myself lately. We are priced at market value for the most part and no grabs. You might think it would be condition because today's buyers want remodeled, turnkey properties, with all the modern bells and whistles. None of this oak cabinet stuff, white appliances or icky carpeting. Yet remodeled homes are not jumping out the door, either.
I felt the twinge in the air last May when every single listing I had needed a price adjustment. Because back then one could push the prices. My method was to establish a … (3 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Ways Not to Hire an Experienced Sacramento Realtor
- 11/03/18 10:35 AM
All Sacramento Realtors are not the same just like all Sacramento sellers are not the same. Every seller has a different agenda and method that she or he uses to go about picking an agent. Sometimes a seller will say, I am only interviewing one other agent. And when I ask who it is, the seller might refuse to release that information. See, that is a red flag. Sometimes those situations involve a family member who happens to hold a license (one in 50 people in California have a real estate license), and the seller, rightfully so, is worried about inexperience. … (6 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Will the Home Buyer Move Into the House or Rent It?
- 10/31/18 10:41 AM
Apart from my thumb throbbing this morning -- I have iPhone thumb from pushing my home button too much, if you can believe that; it is really sore -- the other nagging pain is the fact our purchase contracts tuck data on page 4 that should be on the front page. That data is whether the buyer will occupy the home as a resident or will be a non-owner occupant, which is most likely an investor.
Whether the buyer is an investor or a person who will move into the house can make a big difference to sellers in buyer's markets. I … (5 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Few People Want to Report a Real Estate Agent
- 10/28/18 10:07 AM
Do you point out potential violations to other agents or do you just report them? That's a dilemma faced by many. I reason people don't like confrontation. It makes them uncomfortable and, for some reason, they often do not want to take the time to reach out to another agent and say, did you know you're not supposed to do that? Sometimes, it is good to give others a reminder. People are not always thinking about their actions or the consequences thereof.
In fact, people often do not think at all. That is the main problem. You can read more in my … (18 comments)
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sacramento real estate: Signs That You Should Not Buy a House
- 10/27/18 10:54 AM
Being a Sacramento Realtor, I cannot stop looking at houses. Which is a good thing given my profession. Doesn't matter where I am in the world, I can't walk past a real estate brokerage without stopping to look at homes in the window. It's kind of like an obsession.
Even while I am in Hawaii and in the midst of remodeling my house there, I look at other homes in Hawaii online. That's because I get the paper, West Hawaii Today, and Friday's edition contains a real estate section . . .
I find when I'm looking at the homes, I become … (6 comments)
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sacramento real estate: When a Home Buyer Wants to Lowball a Seller
- 10/15/18 09:39 AM
Don't get me wrong, there are times when a lowball is called for. Like, when the property is grossly overpriced. I recall maybe 15 years ago writing an offer for a buyer on a home in Land Park. It was listed around a million and my buyers got the place for about $600K. Today it is easily worth more than a million bucks. Thing was it wasn't worth it then. Those buyers didn't get a stupendous deal. They got a fair deal.
The listing agent said to me, "How come no other Land Park agents told me it was overpriced?" I … (7 comments)
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sacramento real estate: A System for Home Buyers to Rate Houses
- 10/04/18 09:25 AM
Quite excited to be listing a home for sale in Carmichael. I met with the sellers yesterday to explain how I do business and what I can do for them, and they hired me practically on the spot. Always very happy when that happens. It means we have made a connection. And while a connection is not always necessary in a real estate transaction, it certainly doesn't hurt to like the clients, and I prefer it that way.
Perhaps the defining moment was when they mentioned to me there was a large water stain around the dining room window. It was puzzling. … (15 comments)
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