Sacramento Expert Short Sale Real Estate Agent

Posts Tagged ‘community’

There are many issues that some agents take into consideration when obtaining or doing Short Sales. One of them is that some agents have never done them so they dont know how to. This comes with changing times in the economy and agents now have to take listings anyway they can. Some agents refuse to do them at all and this includes showing short sales to buyers because of the length of time and effort that goes into them.

This is an example of what I have seen in this market with other agents and the handling of Short Sales.

• I personally have learned to handle them myself because I want to know everything about the discussions with the lien holders. I want to be involved to the point that I know everything is getting done exactly to their demand.  I have learned how to communicate with the banks and know exactly what they require upfront so that when the package and offer is submitted to them it is complete.  This makes the transaction push through the banks hands more efficiently.

• Now do not get me wrong on this point, but there are companies out there that offer a service at a price to handle the paperwork and to do the negotiations with the banks for agents, in order to free them up giving them more time to handle more business.  But sometimes you need to be careful with these companies as they charge a price for this service to the Listing Agent at 20% - 30% of their commission.  I hope that the agents do their clients a good service when choosing these companies, and I can only speak from my own experience on this matter.

When I started doing Short Sales I decided to outsource to a company claiming that they had a 99% acceptance rate with negotiations with the banks.  They made me sign an agreement to to pay them 25% of my commission upon the completion of the transaction.  I decided at this point allow this and provided them with the whole package reequired by the bank to them.  After I had tried to contact them after the offer was submitted to them, they would just state that they were in process of working with the bank.  This went on for months.  Sometimes I could not get a phone call back from them with any updates on my file.  Other times they would say that they were doing all they could and the bank was not cooperating with them.  I told them that I wanted more information as to what the bank (lien holder) was really wanting and that I had concerns as the foreclosure process had already been started on this home.  Needless to say, they did nothing on this file. The home ended up going to foreclosure and I had lost the listing.  The bank ended up getting less than the offer I had submitted at the beginning.

• Now there are other independent people out there that are not even agents doing these negotiations for agents also.  They do not have a license and really do not know real estate at all.  They learn also as they go.  Here is the difference. Again from my own experience of seeing this happen first hand.  It is somewhat similar the the loan modification scams that were and still are going on out there.  Seller Beware.  These independent people would sent out flyer’s offering to help you on a short sale and you would call in and make an appointment to talk with them.  When you get to the appointment to meet with them they also have a Real Estate Agent there to discuss what it is they are offering you.  This independent person states that they charge a fee to YOU the Seller for this service that is to be paid UPFRONT and NON REFUNDABLE for them to handle the paperwork and work with the banks for you.  This money would be about $1500.00 out of your pocket and the agent there would list your home as the short sale. This independent person would then work the paperwork through because they were also working for the agent that listed the property and the agent would also give them money upon the sale of the property.  I believe this is illegal from the agents standpoint as an under the table kickback.

I am not saying that agents do not work well with outsourcing to legitimate companies specializing in working these files, I am  just saying that I myself rather work harder for the seller that is in trouble and needs to sell the home, than to pay someone else to do it for me and not know what is going on.  This is my decision only as I feel I am giving my seller the best possible service I can provide.  Make your decisions to sell your home as a short sale based on what is offered to you by the agent to ensure that everything will be carried out the way that will benefit you.

If I can be any kind of kind of assistance to you by answering any questions, please  feel free to contact me at anytime.

Terri Wisecarver

REALTOR

Sacramento Real Estate

REALTOR

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.

Terri Wisecarver

Whitman Metropolitan Inc.

Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado Counties

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

Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado Real Estate

 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.