Archive for April, 2009
Short Sale Approvals
Well I have to say that in over the last year I have learned a bunch in regards to short sales by trial and error. That said, it seems to be getting easier to get them accepted if everyone in the transaction is fully educated and willing to do their part.
I have been doing short sales in Sacramento on my own as well as handling them for 2 other REALTORS at the same time for quite some time. There are others that say they would not touch a short sale as far as showing them or listing them. Why is the question I would ask! My last buyer I was working with looked at so many homes and then decided to look at a short sale listing. They fell in love with the home and it had all 5 things that they were looking for in a home. The other homes they would of settled for but why? Holding out for what you really want should be the way to go. Whom would settle for less? After months it was finally accepted and they are so happy.
The banks are starting to get easier to work with, faster in turn around times, and better communication. This of course is from my experience with them. I have had nightmare’s on some don’t get me wrong but walking away from helping buyers or sellers is also not the way to go.
I believe that agents should change with the times and care a bit more about their clients and not the money they will make. Change is good for all people in one way or another. It just takes time to see the good.
I received an acceptance on a short sale I was working on for another REALTOR last Monday to find out the buyer had walked. The listing agent changed the status in the MLS and here came the next offer. I submitted the new offer thinking it would take another 2 couples to get another acceptance and to much surprise I had the acceptance by Thursday of the same week.
I ended up listing 2 homes over the weekend with one of them being a Short Sale. Now no one is to say that anything is easy but how do you grow and learn if you do not try.
I offer my services to work short sales for other agents at no charge up front and work them until the end. There are a lot of companies that offer the same service for a non-refundable fee upfront. Do you really know if they are working your deal? I offer the best service (to agents)and do not ask for a dime until it closes and this is the best service I can provide. FREE until the end. No closing, No costs.
Feel free to contact me at anytime if you should have any questions. If I do not have an answer then I will do my best to obtain one.
Looks are not Everything
How much is a home really worth to you and the desire to purchase it? It is very important to go out and look at the area around the properties you are considering to make offers on in order to place value on them. So representing buyers and selling homes in Sacramento you really need to know the areas you are showing homes in. Representing a buyer, you should take into consideration other factors that can place a price on the home. The desirability for the buyer is the true value here. I have been in the position where I had found a home for a buyer that they fell in love in Sacramento, Ca. but after visiting the home many times during different hours of the day is when we all really began to see the issues that the buyers would have problems with.
We have all heard of Location Location Location!!!! Well this stands true for many reasons. The first showing of the home was great and the buyers were wanting to right an offer. I then showed them other homes around the same vicinity with the same amenities, but they kept wanting to compare them to the first home. We later in the day returned back to the first home they were considering. This time they noticed that there was a very large family home next door. The neighbor said hello to myself and the buyers and proceeded to ask my buyers if they were interested in buying the home. Of course they said yes and this is when the neighbor stated this. Did you know that someone died in the home?
Now of course we did not know this and this did get the brain action working as you could imagine. And of course this should be disclosed to any buyer from the seller if the death occured within the last 3 years. But we proceeded to look again. As it seems after returning to the home 3 more times over 2 days my buyers noticed these other factors that played a part in them deciding to not write an offer on the property.
They were a single couple that wanted not so much noise around the home. Big family next door with about 5 kids played the part.
They noticed the amount of traffic that was going through the neighborhood throughout the times of our viewing.
They noticed the loud music and band set-up in the open garage across the street.
But most of all there was 3 dogs on the other side of the home that would not stop barking at anytime when we were there previewing the home.
So the bottom line is that the buyers decided to go with another home 2 blocks down and walk away from the one they really loved in order to get the piecefull and quietness that they desired. Of course in this market in Sacramento, we do not usually have the time to waste on purchasing homes in this fashion as the homes seem to go quickly, but the other option would be to do your homework ahead of time. Do some research for the buyers purchasing areas and get to know them before showing homes. Investigate all that you can for the buyers, which are now your clients.
Desirability is not just the home itself, it also is the location and what surrounds the home that makes it worth purchasing to the buyer.
Desirability is the value and in the eyes of the buyers and not yours. This sets the price the buyer will be willing to pay. Remember that this holds true to no matter the area or the look of the homes. These things do play a part in the buyers eyes no matter how nice the house is
From high price to low price homes these factors play a part in the buyers price range (payment) and desirability.
Berry Fun in Roseville Ca
Being in Real Estate thought it would be nice to let others know of events in and around the Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado counties that can add some fun into people lifes. I know this is a bit early, but Mothers Day is just around the corner. I thought I would let you all know about the Strawberry Festival on Mothers Day weekend to plan ahead if your looking for something fun to do.
This event is on May 9 and 10th at the Placer County Fairgrounds in Roseville, Ca. The strawberries are certified organic and come from local farmers. This event is full of fun activities for all ages.
Fun for the kids, all day live music, shows, contests. Beer and Wine gardens including famous Strawberry daiquiris. Filled with Arts and Craft shows and Great food. To much to mention.
Bring your own strawberry plant to be judged and win cash prizes.
Create a poster to win some cash
Strawberry Pageant: Little miss Strawberry ages 6-12, Strawberry Princess ages 13-19 and of course the Strawberry Queen ages 19 and up.
Classic Car Showwith awards in 22 different categories.
Buy fruits and vegatables for sale to buy going in or out.
Jam tasting Contest and of course the Strawberry Shortcake eating contest with no hands.
The kids love the Petting Zoo and Pony rides. Along with this is the Fun Zone.
Pancake breakfast
Admission,
5 and under are FREE
Children 6-15 are $6
16-59 are $8
Senior 60 + up are $5
Lets make this a great day for all Mothers out there. Fun Fun Fun
If you want to know of other events local, please contact me at any time.
Terri Wisecarver
Whitman Metropolitan
The Grass can be Greener on the other side
Being in Real Estate and working with buyers and sellers, I try to educate myself in my profession by continuing to grow. Lets all grow together.

As I am sure you all have heard about Going Green!!!! Well after hearing it so much I started to learn a little bit more about it from a REALTORS® standpoint. On the other hand this is an issue that everyone should take part in everyday. We all have no problem doing the complaining about the prices of things, living expenses, spending extra money for upgrades, just the all around cost of life, but do we help change it? Why do we want the Government to help us all out of a mess that WE all have been a part off, when we all have a chance to make a change for the better of all mankind. If we would stand together on Going Green, then we would make so many wonderful changes that we can stop complaining and start enjoying life. So now that I am done lecturing all of us (including myself) here are just a few tips that can help you see things different and maybe encourage all of us make a difference.
Making our home a little bit more environmentally friendly is the way to start. Now of course you can not call your home a Green Home as this has to be certified and designated by a professional. But we can at least make some changes that we can tell people that we LIVE GREEN.
Living Green is just basic everyday things that we do not realize they can change anything, but they do. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle. Almost everything we use through out the day can be recycled, or reused by others for something. Lets start with some basics.
Energy Star appliances, HVAC, drywall that is paperless, windows, water saving features through out the home. Now I know your thinking that you do not have the money for all of this stuff and that is ok. A little at a time is better than nothing. But these changes in itself will save you more in the long run on your bills alone. Also maybe making some landscaping changes with plants that are not so thirsty.
Other things that are re-cycled and reused are:
Cans, glass, paper, cardboard, plastic of course. But have you ever thought about some of the things that can just be re-used by others that do not need recycled in order to be used.
Old fabric ( cut up in pieces if to worn to donate) buttons, coffee cans, toilet rolls, newspaper, hangers, yarn, thread spools, are things that the preschools love to have. They help the children to learn to be creative. They are the future!!!!!!!!!!
Donating old blankets, towels, pillows, sheets help keep our little creatures of the world by donating them to the ASPCA. Just another re-used item.
I know you have all heard of the one about saving the tops (pink) from the yoplait yogurt containers, which has helped to fight Breast Cancer in finding cures and treatment. If you are not able to recycle then find a way to donate.
Lets all pull together. Improve our thinking in everything we do to conserve, restore, re-use, recycle.