Sacramento Expert Short Sale Real Estate Agent

Archive for March, 2009

I never thought I would be talking about this subject as this also pertains to my home, and how depressing it is an can be for other sellers.  Selling real estate in Sacramento I have seen so many changes in the last 5 yrs of owning my home. I purchased low, 2 yrs later prices were climbing, 3 yr climbing more, then boom.  Now the prices are below the price I paid for my home.  I did exactly what everyone told me not to do in regards to upgrading, updating and basically making my home all that I wanted it to be.  I thought that my home would give back to me, but I was wrong.  I have learned that no matter what market you are in at the time, that your home will only bring  you what the market value is from a buyers eyes.

No matter what we think, what we do, what we want, we will only get what the market and buyer are willing to pay for the property.  Sure you might get a bit (tiny bid) more for the extra appeal you have added to the property, but you will not get back what you have put into the property.  If you sellers out there are trying to hold out on getting a higher price then you could end up loosing for in the long run. 

You can not argue with what the market says your home is worth.  The buyers make up the market, and market is the value.   So if you are truly considering selling your home then you need to be open for either adjusting your prices as time goes by in order to sell the property or do not list the home for sale at all.  With that said, I would suggest you obtain a good agent  that is willing to help you with the pricing of your home and listen to the market.

Terri

Your local sacramento REALTOR®

Left Behind

When I was showing a property in Sacramento that was an REO, I came across an cat that was left behind inside the home.  This cat had a little of kittens and hiding inside a closet that had cloths inside it all over the floor.  Being an advocate for ASPCA I immediately grabbed these cats up and took them to get help.  I can not believe the listing agent of the home never noticed this before.  There was no way in the home except through the door entries. I started doing some investigations on the topic of Animals Left Behind .  It seems that homeowners in a short sale, and foreclosure are just leaving their animals behind.  This is happening all over Sacramento County where I sell real estate.  If you are an animal lover than please take your animals and turn them in before moving. If you have run into circumstances that prevent you from taking your animals with you then please find them a home or take them someplace safe.

Here is what I found out after researching the New Laws

Any Landlord, REO Lender who discovers an abandoned animal in or on the premises of real property that is vacated is by law to immediately contact animal control.  If you are representing a listing on a short sale and you know the homeowner has moved, then I would suggest you do another inspection of your listing to ensure there are not animals behind.

I would love to hear your stories!!

Terri Wisecarver

Sacramento Real Estate Specialist

Holding open houses can be fun or boring.  Which is it for you?  When you take a listing you are telling your seller you are going to do anything in your power to promote the property to bring in an interested buyer for their home.  Yes sometimes you have nobody show up, but then other times your 4 hours has  come and gone because of all the attraction your advertising has brought you.

I usually enter the open house in the MLS, place an add in the paper, pass out fliers to the neighbors, put out the signs with balloons etc.  But mostly I let everyone know that I offer food, yes I said food. I try to be creative in having some kind of lunch for potential buyers. This also comes with treats and drinks as well for those picky eaters, treats for the kiddy’s.  I also  request  that upon leaving the property that they fill out a card with their contact information and some brief comments on the property. I explain to them that they will be entered into a drawing for a $ 100 gift ( of their choice) just for stopping in to visit.  This seems to get their attention as they know their chances of winning this card are higher than the Lottery, Ha  Of course to just tell you I do not pick the winning name out of the hat, my broker does this for me.  The winner is called within 2 days of the open house and asked what store they would like the gift card from.  I then hand deliver it to their front door. Most people are choosing the Visa Gift Card as this can be used any place any where. 

Now this does not mean you will sell the home to anyone stopping in that day, but you could pick up a buyer that is interested in purchasing a home, just not the one you hosted.  This has happened to me twice so far. 

Bottom line: Sellers  are happy because your exposing their property for sale and they are getting to hear the comments on how their home is seen by others. Potential buyers are happy because they have a full tummy and have a chance to win money. Does anyone out their have any other ideas.  I have more but will save these for later.  Please feel free to make suggestions and give your insight.  I welcome any responses.

How many open houses would you do on a single listing ??

Terri Wisecarver

Sacramento Real Estate Services

CHECK RECORDS in your County is what I would say to any renter out there.  I have a co-worker that has just been ripped off by an owner of a property in foreclosure.  Now of course I am not saying all rental owners are doing this, but this is not the first time I have heard this happening. 

With that said, my co-worker is renting a home that he had to move to because of the last rental home he was in tried to short sale (after falling behind) but it ended up going back to the bank.  Now of course he was wondering where his money had been going on this rental for the last year. This new rental he has been paying on for 3 months has just had an NOD filed and stuck to the front door.  He was shocked to see this as he stated that he and the owner had a conversation before renting this one about his previous experience.  Now of course he called the owner (landlord) and asked him about this situation and wanted to know where his rental money had been going for 3 months, and the owner stated that he did not know what he was talking about.  After he asked me to do some investigations for him I found out that the owner was in default and was 2 months behind in his mortgage.  The renter again contacted owner and demanded an explanation, as this now has put  the renter in a bad situation of having to move again, not to mention coming up with the money and find another home.

The owner tried to tell him that he was caught up on the mortgage and the bank made a mistake.  The renter feels that this too is not true  because  now there have been other people coming by to ask the renter questions, taking photos of the home etc:  I advised my friend to seek legal advise to see about getting back the 3 months rent he just paid and the owner kept in his pocket along with the $1000.00 deposit he will not get back. It looks like he has no choice at this point but to just wait to see what happens.

How many other people are getting ripped off out there?

I also set my friend up with a company that can help him clean up his credit report and manage his finances so that we could help him buy his own home in the next year or so.  He hopes that me writing about his experience will encourage any renters out there to investigate the home with county records before signing on the dotted line.  Unfortunately in this market and the economy, there are a lot of people doing desperate things. .

Please feel free to voice your opinions

Terri Wisecarver

Your Realtor in Sacramento County