short sales: Is it a RESPA Violation When Sellers Pay For and Request a Title Company?
- 05/17/10 03:07 AM
I considered making this a "members only" post but decided instead to throw it out there to stimulate discussion. All real estate agents are or should be familiar with RESPA. It's been around since 1974. But new sections are added all the time.
Section 9 says: "RESPA prohibits a seller from requiring the home buyer to use a particular title insurance company, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of sale. Buyers may sue a seller who violates this provision for an amount equal to three times all charges made for the title insurance."
It's obvious that Section 9 was created … (14 comments)
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short sales: A Real Estate Agent Is Not Required to Show Homes to Every Home Buyer
- 05/03/10 02:45 AM
Lots of strange things happen in the real estate business. That's why it's important to maintain a sense of humor. Otherwise, quite frankly, most real estate agents would all go stark-raving mad.
The other day I received an email out of the blue. It was from a person I had never spoken to. This person said her brother was coming to Sacramento this week and asked if I would show him homes in Land Park. I responded to that request and asked for more information, which was not forthcoming.
Apparently, this guy wanted to look at short sales and foreclosures that … (5 comments)
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short sales: The Secrets to Happiness as a Short Sale Agent
- 04/12/10 02:14 AM
Agents and clients sometimes ask me how I can be in such a good mood when I'm a Sacramento short sale agent. Why is my voice mail message so cheery? In part, I suspect it's because they hear all the horror stories about short sales and the toll they can take on an agent. How sometimes lenders demand seller contributions from people who don't have two nickels to rub together; how banks don't respond and lose documents; how buyers vanish at the moment of short sale approval, and all the other compounding problems that can exist in a short sale.
How … (10 comments)
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short sales: Tom Stephens is to Mercedes as Elizabeth Weintraub is to Real Estate
- 03/19/10 02:10 AM
Some of the most beautiful glass chandeliers in the world are made on the island of Murano in Venice, Italy. But if you touch the glass, even for a moment, salesmen come running to ask if you have questions and will try to sell you a chandelier. The trick is to not let them see you touch it. Don't even think about poking a string of glass to watch it spin and sparkle unless you're prepared to listen to a high pressured sales pitch. Some salesman are all the same, no matter where you go. Except for Tom and me.
I … (7 comments)
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short sales: Short Sales Make Up 45% of the Pending Sales in the Sacramento Market
- 03/16/10 02:21 AM
I'm going to show you a chart, but it doesn't tell the entire story of the real estate market in Sacramento. It's just an overview. In fact, at first glance, an observer might come to the conclusion that sales are falling in Sacramento, but they aren't. The surprising tidbit in all of this is that pending short sales in Sacramento, which are not the active short contingent listings, make up almost half of the pending sales at 45%. These pending sales will morph into closed sales.
Well, most of them. I have a pending short sale in Roseville right now that … (6 comments)
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short sales: Ever Think About How Baby Giant Anteaters Look Like Aliens?
- 03/13/10 12:51 AM
A couple of days ago, a baby giant anteater was born at the Sacramento Zoo in Land Park. This was a first for the Sacramento Zoo. I was mesmerized by the photo of the giant anteater and thought about going over to the Zoo to see if I could snap a photo. But the infant is confined to close quarters in a den with its mother, Amber, so the best that I can do is give you that link where you can see the actual photo for yourself.
The baby giant anteater looks just like an alien. And you know I've … (15 comments)
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short sales: Seven Red Flags About Program 3648 and Program HR 3648 Short Sales
- 02/27/10 01:18 AM
Due to my high visibility online as a Sacramento short sale agent, I receive a lot of email spam, much of it centering on short sales. When I received an email from Program 3648, I deleted it, and all those that came after it. I mean, who calls itself Program 3648 or Program HR 3648 -- is this the X-Files?
But on Wednesday, I stopped to read one of these emails. The email aroused my suspicions because it talked about Administration Policy and promised full commissions on short sales, while naming a bunch of major lenders. I know that full commission … (86 comments)
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short sales: Selling Homes in Land Park and Sacramento Short Sales Earned Weintraub an Award
- 02/25/10 01:19 AM
The last time I won a third-place prize, I was probably about eight. Somewhere, I have an old newspaper. My mother was an editor in the 1950s at the Circulating Pines, which was a local newspaper in a suburb of Minneapolis. She put a story and a photo of my brother and me on the front page. I am holding in my lap a long-haired black cat named Spittsboo, sitting on the front steps of our childhood home in Circle Pines, Minnesota, next to my brother. He is holding a salamander on his shoulder.
I placed third in a pet contest. … (12 comments)
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short sales: A Flood of Weintraub's Sacramento Short Sales Suddenly Have Approval
- 02/12/10 01:11 AM
In an unexpected turn of events yesterday, I suddenly noticed that I have 9 Sacramento short sales in escrow. I usually don't count or track my sales, I just put them into escrow. All of these short sales are pending. A pending short sale is different from an active contingent short sale. When a short sale moves into pending status, it means the bank has approved the short sale.
Every day is like Christmas for me lately; because receiving a short sale approval letter is exciting. I don't care how many short sales I close over the years as a Sacramento … (12 comments)
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short sales: Here Was a Sharp Starter Home Offered as a Short Sale in Foulks Ranch in Elk Grove
- 01/24/10 11:45 PM
The President of the Sacramento Board of REALTORS personally called me last Friday to ask if I would list a short sale in Elk Grove. The seller had called the Board, asking for a recommendation to a Sacramento short sale agent. Often, when an agent calls to ask if I will work with a client, that agent expects a referral fee. I don't pay referral fees on my short sales because then I'd make even less than the 25 cents I already earn.
However, the President assured me a referral fee was unnecessary because the client's needs come first. I was … (6 comments)
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short sales: The Look in Their Eyes Tells Me They Think I Have Gone Off the Deep End
- 01/12/10 01:13 AM
I've been pretty busy lately listing short sales throughout Sacramento and in Land Park. In fact, I just listed another short sale home in Land Park last night. This is a home that had previously been on the market for a long time, listed with several other real estate agents at prices that buyers for homes in Land Park would not accept.
Since this weekend, I've taken 3 new short sale listings, which I will negotiate for those sellers personally. At all my appointments lately, after I explain how the complete short sale process works, I've noticed the same thing happening, … (10 comments)
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short sales: Is This a Good Time to Buy in Sacramento? Check Out These Real Estate Stats
- 10/13/09 02:13 AM
An investor called me from the Bay area yesterday to inquire about the real estate market in Sacramento. She asked the familiar question: "Is this a good time to buy?" That's sort of like asking a street vendor with hot dogs for sale if it's a good time to buy a hot dog. What's the vendor going to say? No? He's got product to move.
But I am straight-forward with people. It seems like a good time to be an investor in Sacramento but it's a struggle. It's not easy to buy a house in this market. I suppose Bay area … (5 comments)
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short sales: Here is Steve Earle in Concert at the Crest Theatre Downtown Sacramento
- 10/06/09 03:16 AM
Despite my busy day yesterday -- cleaning up my short sale listings, doing a presentation to Lyon agents, attending a short sale closing -- I mustered up the energy to go to the Steve Earle concert at the Crest Theatre last night. The stage was bare, except for a table holding 2 bottles of water, a microphone, couple of speakers and 2 instruments. Most shows start on time at the Crest, but this one began about 15 minutes late.
Steve Earle walked on stage, dressed in faded blue jeans, a red and brown plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to … (10 comments)
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short sales: Sacramento Home Buyers Are Confused About Active Short Contingent Listings
- 09/17/09 01:41 AM
The problem with some listing status modifiers such as "active short contingent" in the Sacramento MLS -- and other MLS systems around the country -- is that home buyers don't know what they mean. Some agents don't understand the modifiers either. In fact, MetroList abbreviates this modifier as "active short cont," which seems to add to the confusion. People wonder are they talking about writing a contract on a short sale? What does it mean?
I uncheck this status when I set up automatic MLS listings for my prospective home buyers. But, then they pop around other web sites and email … (9 comments)
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short sales: Home Sellers May Want to Look at the Sacramento Market Through Buyers' Eyes
- 09/16/09 02:23 AM
A reporter from CNBC called me yesterday to talk about selling your home in today's real estate market. She said I blew her away. She had no idea the market in Sacramento was so wild. We talked about home staging, home pricing and home marketing. Apparently, CNBC is doing some sort of fall special promotion about home selling.
She primarily wanted to talk about preparing your home for sale. But I focused on pricing because pricing is key. Basically, I explained if a buyer walks into the home and asks: does anybody lives here? -- then it's staged correctly. But the … (7 comments)
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short sales: Short Sale Listings Comprise Almost 60% of MLS Listings in Sacramento
- 08/15/09 01:50 AM
When I read my recent Trendgraphix report -- available exclusively to Lyon real estate agents before anybody else gets this information -- I was astonished to learn that the number of pending short sales in Sacramento County has jumped 471.9% over the past 15 months. That's an incredible percentage. Made my eyeballs pop out of my head.
I've been listing and selling a lot of short sales in Sacramento -- been busier than I've ever been in my life -- but seeing the numbers in color solidified why my business has increased so dramatically. Above is a chart from Trendgraphix … (11 comments)
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short sales: Whether You Get Seller-Paid Repairs Depends on the Market, Seller Type and Contract
- 08/12/09 02:10 AM
Many home buyers do not realize that California purchase contracts contain verbiage that says they are purchasing a home in "as is" condition. A seller is under no obligation to make repairs nor offer buyers a credit based on the findings of a home inspector. But that doesn't mean that a seller will refuse. Much depends on the type of market and type of seller.
Often a Sacramento home buyer will say to me: "But when we bought our home, the seller paid for X and Y and Z." They don't realize that a single transaction doesn't dictate how negotiations will … (31 comments)
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short sales: House Hunters in Sacramento Day 3: If Something Can Go Wrong, It Will
- 08/08/09 02:11 AM
You know how sometimes you get this nagging feeling like something is wrong, but you don't know what? I was getting dressed yesterday to film that last day of touring homes in Sacramento for House Hunters. Something kept bugging me, but it just wasn't coming to the top of my mind. As I brushed on mascara, it hit me. The home where where we were to be filming did not have a lockbox. It had been removed, and the sellers had the key.
I quickly called the sellers and asked if they could run over to the home at 9 AM … (8 comments)
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short sales: House Hunters in Sacramento Day 2: Room Tone, Music to My Ears
- 08/07/09 01:35 AM
The order in which we film the show for House Hunters is not necessarily the order in which the homes are viewed on TV. In fact, I have no idea how each of the homes we are filming will appear, whether you'll see home #1 as home #3 or vice versa. But I do believe that viewers will have a difficult time figuring out which home these Natomas buyers actually purchased.
I opened the home in Natomas early yesterday because I am supposed to meet with the producers about an hour before the buyers get there. That's to give them time … (10 comments)
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short sales: Some Sacramento Agents Write Short Sale Offers Without Checking Comparable Sales
- 07/17/09 02:27 AM
How much is that doggie in the window? The one with the waggly tail. Remember that song? OK, maybe not, but it came to mind this morning as I was reminiscing about a recent office meeting about short sale home prices in Sacramento. Our managing broker told the agents in attendance an astonishing thing. She said buyer's agents can't rely on the listed prices for short sales when writing offers for buyers. Imagine that? The agent must either know the neighborhood and pricing or run the comparable sales.
You know, this has always been true in real estate. It doesn't apply … (16 comments)
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I considered making this a "members only" post but decided instead to throw it out there to stimulate discussion. All real estate agents are or should be familiar with RESPA. It's been around since 1974. But new sections are added all the time.
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