sacramento real estate: Top Tips for Marketing Sacramento Homes
- 03/20/18 06:34 PM
People often ask me where do I get all of my ideas for writing a daily blog, and it comes from working every day in Sacramento real estate. I have more ideas of things to write about than time to do it. Plus, some of it is unsuitable for the internet, LOL. Although that often doesn't stop me. I field many questions from agents and clients. So many that usually I can pick at least one of those to write about, which is how I came to write my blog for today. My seller wanted to know what I would do to … (4 comments)
sacramento real estate: Second Buyer Often Preferred in Sacramento AS IS Sales
- 03/18/18 08:30 AM
Part of my strategy with AS IS sales in our Sacramento seller's market is not to put my listing into pending status right away if I don't have to. Our MLS gives listing agents 3 days to make changes. If the sale is contingent, I don't even have to put it pending, really, I can change the listing to active release clause. My goal is to obtain a backup offer. That way we can let the first buyer pay for inspections and waste time parading about in due diligence before they show us their true colors. At that point, we can pass the paperwork … (11 comments)
sacramento real estate: New Listing in Rancho Cordova with 2% Free Gift
- 03/16/18 09:32 AM
With many new listings, often I can find enough previous photos in MLS to give me a good impression of the home. Good enough that I sometimes don't even need to see it in person to determine market value. But not this home. This new listing in Rancho Cordova exceeded my expectations, through its exceptional beauty and graceful style. I did not expect to see beautiful hardwood floors when I walked into the house, nor feel its expansive layout. It's slightly under 2,200 square feet, and features 3 bedrooms, with 3 vintage baths. It features a banana yellow enamel sink and tank … (3 comments)
sacramento real estate: Creative Ideas For When a Listing Agent Ignores Calls
- 03/13/18 07:10 PM
We've all been there, right? We call a listing agent to find out if she has any offers or when she's presenting . . . and crickets. No call back. We email, we text, we call again. No response. It's hard to represent a buyer if we can't talk to the listing agent. Never mind that we look like a complete fool in front of our clients, right? Clients don't understand why the darn listing agents won't call us back. They tend to think we're incompetent. Which is doubly annoying. Well, I have answers for you. I am not a person who … (10 comments)
sacramento real estate: Sellers: Just Fix It and Don't Offer a Buyer Credit
- 03/13/18 08:59 AM
I went out to Natomas to talk with a seller yesterday who has been working on his house for 10 years. Long distance. He has little flooring, no counter tops, cabinets that scream for paint and outdated light fixtures. He wants a price that is not in line with the neighborhood, and he's doing the wrong things to get a higher price. As gently as I could, I tried to explain to him what our market demands from sellers. I even play-acted being a first-time home buyer and entering his home. Thrusting my hands on my hips: where are my hanging light … (8 comments)
sacramento real estate: Closed Escrow: 6461 Greenhaven Drive in Sacramento
- 03/04/18 08:40 AM
The sellers of this home on Greenhaven Drive in Sacramento are lawyers, and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy working with lawyers. Unlike other Sacramento Realtors. I'm not sure why so many real estate agents in California do not like to represent lawyers and they say such nasty and mean things about them. They might be intimidated but lawyers put their pants on one leg at a time. Or, maybe they don't know how to explain documents or answer questions. Or maybe they're just freaked they'll be discovered doing something wrong and get sued? Selling a home for a lawyer is … (5 comments)
sacramento real estate: Is it Necessary to Stage Every Home for Sale?
- 02/27/18 06:49 PM
My sellers in Sacramento rely on me to provide them with straight-forward honest advice, and I do not let them down. For example, if I think they don't want to hear something, I will explain to them that I believe they don't want to hear what I have to say but I need to say it. They can do whatever they want with the information, but they should hear it. Then, it's their decision on how to proceed. Which means if I feel a seller is making a mistake, I will mention it. Once I've delivered my reasoning, it's up to them … (10 comments)
sacramento real estate: Closing Another Sacramento Condo in Woodside Oaks
- 02/21/18 07:23 AM
One of the reasons I undoubtedly receive a lot of listings of condos in certain complexes is because I write about those condo associations in my blogs. I write about the condos because I am listing a condo and marketing it. Not just as a neighborhood report, like some agents do in hopes that they will "appear" as an expert. I write about condos I actually sell, and that makes a difference to future clients. When I get that phone call saying I found you online, it's not always because my website showed up as high ranking. It is because the sellers resonated … (6 comments)
sacramento real estate: Trump Supporter Cannot Buy My House, Seller Says
- 02/20/18 07:57 AM
My personal website sports a colorful peace sign smack dab in the middle of the homepage. That was my idea. I thought long and hard about the design of that website. My purpose was to choose a picture that conveys a million words, not one thousand. Further, it would differentiate my Sacramento real estate website from everybody else's. That peace sign is personal to me. A British artist created that peace sign when I was 6 years old. It stood for nuclear disarmament. Moving into the 1960s, it represented much more. The peace sign became the emblem for a movement. I wanted my … (20 comments)
sacramento real estate: Your Agent Notes Behaviorisms of Difficult Tenants
- 02/15/18 08:58 AM
You know how sometimes you can meet people and you instantly get an off-center vibe about them? It's not what they say or do, or the smile on their face, it's something else. Maybe it's the way they live, with reckless abandonment, trash piled high everywhere. Or, the fact there are no lights on in the house. Or, their overwillingness to show you around, and they are not the owner, only the tenant. It's a sixth sense in a way, coupled with physical clues. These people are gonna be trouble down the road, is what that sixth sense says. You can read … (6 comments)
sacramento real estate: New Condo Listing at Roundtree in the Pocket (Sacramento)
- 02/14/18 07:24 AM
When I initially met with the seller to inspect this new listing at Roundtree in the Pocket, he seemed surprised that I asked for the keys. I gather he was unprepared for how fast I move on a listing. Hey, the place was vacant and clean. He lives out of town. When did he think I would ask for the keys? This happened last Saturday. We put the listing live in MLS with all of the photographs late last night around midnight. Usually I try to wait until Friday to introduce new listings, but our market is too hot and inventory is … (9 comments)
sacramento real estate: Why Home Sellers Love a Sacramento Sellers Market
- 02/13/18 08:29 AM
There are many benefits to selling a home in a Sacramento sellers market. Competition for the same home can result in multiple offers, but not every home for sale is a candidate for multiple offers. If a seller's home is not a contender for multiple offers, there are still other ways a seller can capitalize on present market conditions. For example, a seller can win most of the standard contractual negotiations. Do you know what that means to a seller's bottom line? You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: What Home Sellers Can Get Away With … (2 comments)
sacramento real estate: A New Listing in East Sacramento NOT in MLS
- 02/09/18 08:00 AM
As the old listing agent told me when I listed this: third agent is a charm. But there are things I do differently as a top-producing Sacramento Realtor, and it's why sellers hire me. I always look for all of the angles. Search for creative ways to bring attention to my new listings. In fact, you could say I turn dark clouds into silver linings. For example, this listing is not yet ready for primetime MLS exposure. The reason is the seller could not spruce up the place, get it staged and have us shoot professional photos until Monday. Should that stop us from … (8 comments)
sacramento real estate: How Can I Get My Phone Number Off an Expired Listing?
- 02/02/18 09:06 AM
February is shaping up to be a great month for Sacramento real estate, and we're only a few days into it. Take yesterday, for example. It should have been a slow day. Thursdays are often what we jokingly term "Realtor's Day Off." Although we never really get a day off unless we don't touch our computer and turn off our cell phones, and seriously, who is gonna do that? Maybe in Cuba. Between running around Target searching for 2032 batteries for my stinkin' security sensors that began beeping, and climbing up and down ladders only to discover I had changed out … (5 comments)
sacramento real estate: Do You Ignore Clients Who Hold Unreasonable Views?
- 01/28/18 09:21 AM
There are some agents in Sacramento who flat out do not work with clients they deem to be too much work. By that I mean buyers and sellers who hold unreasonable views. You know, everybody and their uncle has ideas about how an agent should sell a house or the procedure they should use to buy a home. Often, these potential clients are unreasonable about some aspect. Sure, it can be tempting to say no thanks when a seller wants to list a property at a ridiculous price. It's even easier to walk away from a buyer whose plan is to lowball … (9 comments)
sacramento real estate: Do Sacramento Sellers Get the Buyer's Appraisal?
- 01/27/18 10:04 AM
Sacramento sellers are entitled to receive all of the reports a buyer obtains while performing her due diligence with the exception of an appraisal. Although, there are circumstances under which a buyer must cough it up, it is not a contractual obligation in the purchase contract. Sellers don't always think about the appraisal. Which means it's my job to remind them. They are usually astonished to learn they don't automatically get to receive the appraisal report. They don't see the difference between that report or a home inspection. The main difference is an appraisal is an opinion of one individual (not material … (9 comments)
sacramento real estate: Greenhaven Pool Home First Open House This Sunday
- 01/18/18 08:21 PM
Many Sacramento buyer's agents are struggling to show homes to anxious buyers, and there are not very many homes for sale in January. Our market has not cooled down over the winter. Yes, there has been a slowing of new listings, which means a slowing in sales, but the demand is as high as ever. Not to mention, low inventory simply feeds that fire, that burning desire to buy a home. Rest assured that if you want to make an offer on this new pool home in Greenhaven, you will have the opportunity to do so. But first, you have to high-tail … (8 comments)
sacramento real estate: Even a Trouble-Free Closing in Natomas May Need Extra Work
- 01/08/18 10:32 AM
The trouble with closing all of my escrows in Hawaii this past week instead of being in Sacramento is laptop related. I know there are agents who work solely from cellphones, and that is what usually leads to complications and confusion. Young or old, working from a tiny screen is super difficult. It's harder for me to work from a laptop over a desktop computer with a 40-inch monitor. Always tapping the wrong keys. Inconvenient screen to study multiple documents. And the edges of the laptop dig into my legs when I'm sitting cross-legged in a chair. Balancing it on a pillow … (7 comments)
sacramento real estate: How Many Times Have You Climbed a Fence for a Lockbox?
- 12/29/17 07:18 PM
I would be hard-pressed to imagine that I am the only Sacramento Realtor who is willing to climb the fence to get her lockbox. Invariably, soon as escrow closes, the first thing a new buyer seems to do is buy a lock for the gate and lock it. That's convenient for them but a big hassle for me. Even though I might remind the buyer's agent of when I am picking up the lockbox, when I get to the house, the gate is locked and nobody is home. But that is nothing when compared to the time I climbed a 10-foot chain-link … (21 comments)
sacramento real estate: Avoiding Conflicts While in Escrow is an Agent's Goal
- 12/21/17 09:24 AM
When we go into escrow, my clients receive an estimated timeline of target dates and actions to close. We keep all eyes on those dates. Always looking for red flags that could pop up. And sometimes, despite our best intentions and effort, a third-party messes up. It's like when the listing agent asks for a release of loan contingency and the buyer's agent ignores that request. Or, there are loan conditions and everybody tries to keep that information a secret from the listing agent side. Well, that can happen when the buyer's agent and the mortgage lender are the same person. So … (3 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.
People often ask me where do I get all of my ideas for writing a daily blog, and it comes from working every day in Sacramento real estate. I have more ideas of things to write about than time to do it. Plus, some of it is unsuitable for the internet, LOL. Although that often doesn't stop me.
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