Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

Not every potential home buyer will buy a home in Sacramento this year, regardless of how much a buyer may yearn for a home. How do I know this? Because I speak with first-time home buyers who want to buy a home nearly every day. I listen to their wants and needs. From this information, I determine whether these buyers are realistic and motivated. See, a buyer can possess all the motivation and determination in the world, but if a buyer is stuck in fantasy land, the odds of buying a home are dramatically reduced.

I try to be non-judgmental. I know that buyers are not professional real estate agents and don't possess intimate knowledge of the market. Part of my job is to educate buyers. Especially those who rely on Zillow or other websites that provide inaccurate information. Armed with knowledge, a buyer is then able to make an informed decision.

A few weeks ago, a buyer called to say she was unhappy with her agent because she wasn't getting results. Since agents are generally in the real estate business to make a sale, it was entirely possible the problem wasn't the agent. The buyer asked if I would research a particular short sale home in Elk Grove. Her agent had shown her the property. She had not made an offer nor signed an exclusive buyer's broker with this agent.

I called the listing agent. The agent had 5 offers, several of which were all-cash offers, and those all-cash offers exceeded the list price of $400,000. As with many short sale listings, the price was artificial and below the comparable sales, priced to drive multiple offers. I know the main reason that some banks reject short sales is because many offers are too low, so a lowball offer was not going to fly. Not to mention, it makes little sense to compete in these types of situations if a buyer is unwilling to offer over the listed price.

The buyer asked if she could buy this $400,000 home for $300,000. I explained all of the reasons why this type of approach was not going to work. Even if all the other buyers vanished by the time of short sale approval, leaving this buyer in first-place position as the lone survivor, the bank would not take that type of offer. On top of which, this home was was highly desirable and unique -- which means those other buyers aren't going away.

A few days later, the buyer emailed me to confess that she had gone back to see that home again with her agent. She was so overwhelmed with desire that she wrote an offer on the spot for $300,000. She asked if I would still work with her and show her other homes while she waits for an answer from the seller. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the buyer is not buying this home.

Now, I am not in the business to swipe other agent's clients. There's enough business in Sacramento for everybody. I had explained earlier how real estate agents work and why this buyer should decide which buyer's agent she wants to hire. She told me she really liked her agent but did not feel her agent could perform.

I suggested she stick with her agent. I didn't drop this buyer simply because she wrote an offer with her agent, although loyalty is paramount. I also didn't drop the buyer solely because she promised to work with me and failed to live up to her promise; although, I prefer to work with buyers who keep their word. This buyer performed contrary to her own best interests. I was forced to turn her loose because she could not, would not, did not listen to my advice.

Even my cats would agree.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, from left to right, Pia, Pica and Brandon

While I was researching short sales in Sacramento for a client this morning, I noticed my MLS profile needed an update. So, I clicked on it to make the change. At the very bottom is a place for additional languages. I typed in Klingon. Well, I don't really know any Klingon words, so I erased it and typed Pig Latin. Hit the Save button. Apparently, Pig Latin is not a recognized language because MLS would not let me save it. Those MLS programmers, always looking out for practical jokers, I guess.

The listing my client asked about is a short sale home in East Sacramento. It is listed for, let's say, $399,000. This buyer can't go above $350,000. He wanted to know if he could buy that short sale for $350,000. Lots of buyers these days seem to think we are in a buyer's market. I suppose they have difficulty interpreting the market because newspapers and TV yak constantly about foreclosures and short sales. But with falling inventory (we've lost about 2/3rds of our inventory over the past couple of years) and rates below 5%, it's a seller's market in many Sacramento neighborhoods.

I researched this East Sacramento short sale. Looked up the owner's name, which sounded familiar, in Realist. Googled the owner. Yup, the owner is a real estate agent. And the owner / agent works at the same company as the agent who listed this short sale. I read the owner's blog. The owner / agent talked about not really understanding short sales nor believing that they close. Those are all bad signs.

Then I looked up the owner / agent's sales production in MLS for last year. The agent qualified for Master's Club. Doesn't appear to be hurting financially. I ran the name in the tax rolls. The owner / agent owns quite a few other homes in Sacramento. It would appear that the owner / agent may not have a hardship and may not understand that a hardship is generally required to do a short sale. I could be wrong, but I'm probably not.

Well, maybe the owner / agent's real estate buddy has short sale experience? I entered that name as a listing agent into a search for all sold properties from January of 2009. Not a short sale among them. I can tell by the DOM. If the listing agent has never closed a short sale, that's a red flag because the listing agent controls the entire transaction.

I have sold several homes in this particular three-block area, some of which were my own listings, so I know it pretty well. Well enough to know that the market value of that home is more than $399,000, so the bank will probably reject offers at list price. This means a lowball offer won't stand a chance.

I presented this information to my client and asked: "Do you really want to buy that East Sacramento short sale?" I have a feeling he's going to say Ixnay.

I'm one of those rare people who still subscribe to the morning newspaper. In my case, it's the Sacramento Bee. I pick up the paper from my front porch every morning, shake off the icky bugs and toss the paper on the breakfast table. Today's headline was obscured due to the way the paper was rolled. Out of the corner of my eye, I read President Obama Turns to Facebook. My immediate reaction to this startling news was: Who gives a crap?

But then I realized how absurd. Of course, the headline actually read: President Obama Turns to The Pocketbook. But the fact that for one tiny moment, I actually thought Obama might post his State of the Union address via Facebook was a little bit disturbing. Tells me that some of us are a bit too wrapped up in social media, present company excluded.

Apart from participating in Active Rain now and then, I have precious little time for social media. I'm way too busy multi-tasking. I admit to sometimes answering emails while I talk on my cellphone. In fact, when I'm not out showing homes in Land Park or taking short sale listings in Sacramento, I work on 2 computers simultaneously throughout the day. I'm hooked to Bluetooth, but when I'm without cellphone coverage for any period of time, I don't know what to do with myself. No matter what I do, I rely on technology, part of which, whether I like it or not, involves social media.

I couldn't use my cellphone for 2 1/2 hours yesterday. It was agony. That's because I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room in the lower level of U.C. Davis, and there's no reception down there. My appointment was scheduled for 10 AM, but I didn't meet with the doctor until noon. I couldn't Tweet or look up the weather in Minneapolis and, let's face it, I'm awful at BrickBreaker.

Two hours with nothing to do seemed like an eternity. I flipped through a medical equipment catalog. Hmmm . . . so, how much do stethoscopes cost? You'd be amazed. Not that much, $60 to $200. And you can order them in different colors to match your mood. A patient put down a copy of More, that magazine for women over 40. I fit that demographic. Soon I was absorbed, reading about removal of facial hair. Did you know that laser removal is the number one recommended technique? It costs $400 a pop and requires six treatments.

When I finally got to meet with the doctor, he seemed harried. I bet he multitasks, too. He read through my chart and spoke very quickly. "So, you're ready for injections," he said. That was news to me. I asked him to explain himself. He looked at his computer monitor, scrunched his eyes, and scrolled through my health history.

"Tell you what," I replied, "Why don't you tell me why you think I am here." I let him study my file on the computer while I picked up a copy of Sacramento Magazine -- why doesn't U.C. Davis offer that magazine in the waiting room? Sacramento Magazine predicts that 2010 will be known as the year of pizza and hamburgers! Two of my favorite foods.

A half hour later, I was a free dog with a relatively clean bill of health and allowed to leave the premises. Back to cellphone land. Back to listening to voicemail messages about missing garage door openers, short sale approval extensions, loan doc delays, home inspection scheduling conflicts, and buyer's agents calling to see if they can show my active contingent short sales that state in MLS no more showings. The real world. A world where it's not totally nuts to think that President Obama might have a Facebook page.

Psst. He doesn't. I checked. But the White House does have a Facebook page.

As I was driving to Folsom yesterday to meet with yet another charming couple who need to do a short sale, a potential short sale seller from Elk Grove called me. She was interviewing Sacramento short sale agents and had already spoken to an different agent at another company. In her words, this company was "very aggressive." She asked how I separate myself from the competition.

Well, to start with, my clients are not just a number on a file. Some short sale agents put together a huge team and hire a bunch of assistants to negotiate and take listings for them. They want to do volume. The attention paid to these sellers is often minimal.

If a short sale has a problem or challenge, they might not handle it in a timely manner. Some of them toss listings into MLS like worn shoes into the trash. I've dealt with some of these so-called loan modification and short sale companies, a few of which are located in southern California but maintain a northern California presence.

Of course, I manage a big inventory of Sacramento short sales. But my clients are treated as though each is my only client. In many cases, I can accurately predict the red flags that could pop up during a short sale and direct my clients to the appropriate services to mediate those problems.

Here is a Folsom short sale, located in Prairie Oaks. I shot the virtual tour and assembled it myself. This two-story, 1996 Ryland Home, has been recently remodeled. According to the tax assessor, the square footage is 2,434. It features 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a loft, a first-floor den and an open floor plan / great room concept, plus a 3-car garage.

As you walk up the hill toward the home situated at the end of a culdesac, turn around, and you'll capture a fabulous view of the foothills. At the entry, you're greeted by a bubbling water feature. Walk inside, and your jaw will drop open. I could not believe that the wide-planked floors were not wood; it's that beautiful.

The wall separating the living room from the family / kitchen combination has been opened up to allow light to shine through from the multitude of family room windows. Off the hallway is a large den and a recently updated bath. The bath features custom tile work, a tile floor and a vanity with a Decolav vessel sink.

In the kitchen, you'll find a center island with a granite counter, a synthetic granite sink and fairly new stainless appliances. The refrigerator stays, and is the width of the cabinets so it doesn't stick out in the room. Most of this space offers a sweeping view of the fairytale back yard with a spa and a trex deck.

The bedrooms are located upstairs, with 2 bedrooms separated by a loft from the master suite. You could use the loft space as an extra office, playroom or work-out area. The master suite has a ceiling fan and vaults. But the master bath is spectacular. Travertine floor, jetted tub and separate shower, plus dual sinks and custom tile work, including a big walk-in closet.

664 Cole Court, Folsom, CA 95630 is offered exclusively by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $403,750.

MLS # 10006634

Call listing agent Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759 for more information.

Photos and virtual tour: Elizabeth Weintraub (yard photo courtesy of J. Winnett)

THIS HOME CLOSED ESCROW ON JULY 30, 2010 AT $424,000.

Among the many twists and turns a short sale can take during its relatively incessant and torturous life is the often anomalous ending. It ain't over until the fat lady sings. Trying to second-guess the bank's investor guidelines is a crap shoot, but I try to prepare my Sacramento short sale sellers for the unexpected that could materialize upon approval.

I'm finding that second lenders are demanding more of the net proceeds. They don't care who pays them -- the seller, the buyer, the agents. I suppose some figure that their position was 20% of the equation in the first place. So, why should they get the short end of the stick (a measly $3,000) upon payoff? Sellers are often called upon to make a seller contribution to the second lender, especially if that loan was hard money.

But in a strange twist lately, some lenders are demanding a seller contribution in purchase-money situations. In California, purchase-money loans are not subject to a deficiency judgment. This means if the bank loses money, whether through foreclosure or a short sale, if the loan was originally given to the sellers to buy the home, the bank can't go after the sellers. These homeowners are exempt from collection attempts.

At the moment, I have several short sales in which the banks have put forth requests for seller contributions on purchase money mortgages. The way one negotiator put it, the bank's investors want to see some money on the table. It's possible, I suppose, that the PSA would receive compensation through a foreclosure, which could be one reason it's not overly eager to approve the short sale unless the loss is mitigated. In one short sale, the seller is taking an advance on salary to meet the demand because the seller has tapped all other credit options. Overall, whether to contribute is the seller's choice to make.

The seller could walk away and say forget it. There is very little incentive for a seller to comply. Short sales in California are contingent upon the seller's approval of the bank's short sale approval letter. If the seller doesn't agree with the terms and conditions contained in that approval letter, the seller is generally free to cancel the transaction.

However, I've not yet had a seller refuse to meet the bank's demands. I suppose that's because short sale sellers generally want to do the "right thing," which is why they are pursuing a short sale in the first place. They feel responsible. They want to put the ordeal behind them. They don't want a foreclosure on their credit report.

The moral is don't rely on the fact that because your loan is purchase money you'll skate through to closing without a seller contribution. Moreover, get legal and tax advice before pursuing a short sale.

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 honored and humbled to hear I was chosen because, and I quote:  "Elizabeth Weintraub is the best short sale agent in Sacramento." I did not realize I had earned that reputation. Probably because I keep my nose to the grindstone and don't pay much attention to what goes on around me. I'm very focused on my business. But it was nice to hear.

I picked up a key from the property management company, drove to the home in the rain and found a for rent sign on the ground, which I moved to the side yard. Our relentless combination of rain and wind has torn down a lot of fences in the Sacramento area lately, but all of these fences were intact. I picked up the trash from the front yard, and when the rain let up a little bit, shot my exterior photos.

Then, just as I was getting ready to submit the paperwork to MLS, the seller called to say her husband changed his mind and is feeling rushed. So it's back out to Elk Grove to remove the lockbox. Such is life.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

Transporting the birds from Minneapolis to Sacramento was not an easy task. The plan in the spring of 2002 was my husband would drive to Sacramento and get an apartment, while I stayed behind to sell the house. He had to immediately start a job as managing editor of the Sacramento Business Journal, a job he lost due to management changes in 2008. (He's still unemployed.)

As my husband was packing to drive across country, it dawned on me that he could take the parakeet with him. An idea he firmly resisted. It made sense because I knew I would fly to Sacramento only once during our separation, and Northwest Airlines policy would allow me to transport two birds but not three. When he refused, my eyes teared up. I said, "Fine, then I may as well open the door and let all the birds fly away."

He put the parakeet in his car.

A couple of months later, I flew out to Sacramento to look at homes in Land Park and celebrate our wedding anniversary. I put the cockatiels in a breeding box and grabbed a cab to the airport. You have to buy a ticket for pets. They don't fly free. At the ticket counter, the Northwest representative refused to sell me tickets because I didn't have a health certificate for the cockatiels.

My plane was leaving in an hour. I explained it was my wedding anniversary; I almost started to cry. I had to get on that plane and could not leave the birds at the ticket counter. I asked for a supervisor. After much discussion, Northwest gave me tickets.

Going through security was another challenge. I didn't want the birds X-rayed. I don't know what I was worried about. Maybe that it would microwave them? I was still shaken by the fact I almost didn't get on the plane. Security personnel said they would have to look down the birds' throats if I didn't put them through X-ray. The birds would bite me if I tried to touch them. I mean, you try to stuff 2 cockatiels in a breeding box. It's not easy. They went through X-ray.

Finally, settled in my seat with the birds on the floor, the plane took off down the runway. A flight attendant stopped at my seat. "What's in the box? That can't be on the floor; it must go in an overhead bin."

I smiled.

"California snakes."

She gingerly picked up the box and carefully carried it to the closet at the front of the plane.

I tell you all this because last night the birds found a new home. Capitol City Bird Society came to my home in Land Park. They are placing the birds with a new family. It was bittersweet. Of the four who left, only one was an original bird from Minneapolis. I had been searching for someone to adopt them because I haven't been a very good birdmom. I haven't bonded with the new birds. I've been too busy selling real estate over the years to pay attention to them, apart from cleaning out their cages and feeding them. It wasn't fair to them. Birds need human interaction and love.

I already miss their songs and chirping. But keeping birds in a corner of the family room only to listen to their singing isn't right. It's very quiet this morning. And weird. I have a little hole in my heart.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

If a buyer for homes in Land Park asks me to show a short sale listing, I do investigative work before putting that home on tour. There's just no sense in letting a buyer fall in love with a home that might not close escrow. See, the problem with short sales in Sacramento is the entire short sale process is dependent upon the listing agent. The buyer's agent has no involvement after the offer has been accepted by the seller.

I check to see if the Sacramento short sale agent has other listings and whether any of those are short sales. If I discover that agent has several or more short sale listings, I might run that agent's ID number through Prospector to find out how many short sales that agent has closed over the past 12 months. An agent with no track record of closing short sales is a red flag that I pass along to my buyers. Because one of the main questions I hear from buyers is how long may they have to wait for short sale approval.

Short sales are complicated; the challenges are never ending. They change from month to month. Short sale banks are becoming more aggressive and demanding seller contributions as well, even on purchase money loans. Not every seller qualifies for a short sale, and not every agent can handle them.

I probably receive 20 to 25 calls a week from would-be short sale sellers. Each situation is different. So, I run sellers through a series of questions to determine the probability that their short sales will close. If the odds aren't 95% in favor of closing, I don't list them. A seller who falls into the 5% probability-of-closing-category said she wants to sell because she's tired of making payments on a mortgage that is twice as much as her home is worth. She has no hardship. She just wants to dump the house because she's worried about the economy, her job stability and afraid that something awful will happen down the road. If something bad were to happen, she could not afford the home anymore.

While I empathize, I needed to find a delicate way to explain that she most likely does not qualify for a short sale. Her income hasn't taken a hit, both she and her husband are, in fact, making more money than when they bought the home. Finally, I said, "I hate to say this, but what I'm saying is call me back when something horrible happens to you." At least I made them laugh.

Before showing a Sacramento short sale, I try to figure out who the lenders are, whether the loans are held by Fannie Mae, if a Notice of Default has been filed or an auction scheduled.  Handling as many short sale listings as I do, I've gained information over the years that helps me tremendously when I'm representing buyers for short sales. I also run the comparable sales to analyze the list price. Often, short sale list prices are artificial. They may be too high or too low.

This lets me make a fairly close estimate on value so I can advise the buyer how much to offer. Because if the bank won't approve the price of that short sale, the buyer can wait several months to find out that the short sale was rejected by the bank. Pricing is a huge issue. When I am the listing agent, I often meet the bank's agent at the property to review the comparable sales so the BPO comes in at the offer price. But not every Sacramento short sale agent goes that extra mile. Some just throw lowball offers at the bank, and those are rarely approved.

Of course, even after I thoroughly investigate the situation before advising my buyer to enter into contract, even though the odds may be high for short sale approval, anything can happen. Last summer, my buyers waited 3 months for a short sale home in Land Park. At the 11th hour, the listing agent called me to say that short sale seller had suddenly found employment. So, he decided to pursue a loan modification and canceled the short sale transaction. Much as I try, I can't remove all the risk for short sale buyers.

I'm often amazed when I receive an out-of-the-blue offer for a listing, meaning the buyer's agent has not made prior contact with me. It's sort of like they figure that buying a home in Sacramento is on par with flipping through a Macy's catalog. Photographs and the sales price of a home tell only part of the story. There is always a story.

This weekend, I'm showing homes in Land Park, Midtown, East Sacramento and Carmichael to several sets of home buyers. I work with buyers based on the homes that they want to see and the homes that I think they would like to buy. But I would rarely show a home if I haven't made an effort to communicate with the listing agent. For one thing, that home could be under contract and not yet changed in MLS. Or the agent could be in the middle of a counter offer. (I've snatched some homes for buyers because the buyer who made the counter didn't act fast enough.) Or the agent might have information that could influence the price and terms my buyers might want to offer.

When buyers send me an advance list of homes they want to tour, I go to work. I do not print them out, stuff the buyers in my car and hit the streets. I've got behind-the-scenes work to get done before my buyers see any of those homes. Buyers might not know what an experienced buyer's agent does for them, but it's far more than being an order taker.

The first thing I do, of course, is make sure the home is still available for sale and the information in MLS is correct. It's not only wasting my buyer's time to look at homes in Land Park and East Sacramento that are not available, but it's wasting my time. Moreover, if the information in MLS conflicts with the tax records, that's a red flag telling me my buyer might have a problem in underwriting.

Ken Stieger, the Sacramento County Tax Assessor, came to my office last week to talk with all the agents at Lyon Real Estate. The question of discrepancies in the tax records came up because sometimes the tax records are incorrect due to human input error. Mr. Stieger explained that if a Land Park agent, for example, is about to list a home in Land Park and discovers the home has four bedrooms but the County records show three, that agent can call the County and get the tax records fixed. Simple as that.

Conflicting data in the tax records is not the only potential problem I look for. The second thing I look at is whether the seller owes more than the home is worth. If I find an encumbrance that makes it appear as though the home could be in short sale status, but not listed as a Sacramento short sale, I get in touch with the listing agent. It could be a home equity line of credit that has not been tapped. Or, the seller could be planning to bring cash to the table to close, which could make that list price pretty firm. Or the agent might not even know the seller owes more than the list price.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, though. Tomorrow I will talk about the other things I do before showing homes. Because there's a lot more to buyer representation than meets the eye. Stay tuned for part 2.

What's the worst thing that could happen to an East Sacramento agent? Or to any real estate agent, for that matter? Well, apart from rolling over a guard rail in the rain. Over the last week, 2 vehicles at different locations slid off the freeway while going around a curve and landed on the road below. They survived, thank goodness.

We've had so much rain and wind in Sacramento; it's like an obstacle course driving through East Sacramento and Land Park -- swerving to avoid downed tree branches, blown over trash cans and unemployed real estate agents angrily stomping in rain puddles.

The worst thing that could happen to an agent is to be out showing property and discover that the eKey doesn't work or the lockbox won't open. I am all too familiar with that bzzzzzzzZZZT sound when the lockbox malfunctions. If the lockbox won't open, it's generally due to one of two things. Either it's on a timed access and I'm there at the wrong time or I've punched in the wrong code on my eKey.

Once I had a camera crew from Good Day Sacramento shivering in the road at 6 AM waiting to film one of my homes in Land Park. It slipped my mind that I could not open the lockbox prior to 8 AM, so I had to drag the seller out of bed to come over and let us in. Ever since that episode, I generally make an extra key for my listings, which I tuck away in my car's console.

But I never want to be in the position of showing homes in East Sacramento or anywhere else in Sacramento and discover that my eKey won't work. There are dead spots in Sacramento where cellphones don't receive reception.

The problem I've had lately is that sometimes I can't update my eKey through a wireless connection. For some reason, which only tech gods understand, a BlackBerry Bold is not designed to be used as an eKey without using another device that pairs with it. This fob converts the Bluetooth to infrared. But it's another device I have to carry around. And it has a battery. To change the battery, I need a special screwdriver, and the screw is very tiny. One of these days, that battery is going to die on me at the most inopportune moment. It's a stupid solution.

There are 3 things I can't live without. And it's not necessarily life, love and the pursuit of happiness. It's my eKey, MLS access and my cellphone.

I spoke to Supra eKey about this problem with my BlackBerry and its 9B25 wireless network coverage error. Supra said I should remove the battery from my BlackBerry and put it back. Sure enough, that solved the problem. Because I can get an update code only from Supra's website between wireless synchronizations. But I don't want to have to take apart my phone every morning. That's idiotic.

Since I'm the type of person who always has a back-up plan B, I guess I will have to buy some other type of display key and pay an extra monthly subscription fee for access to Supra's lockboxes. I could buy an extra phone, but that doesn't solve the potential dead spot problems. One of the benefits of eKey access is I can check showings of my Sacramento short sale listings and immediately follow up. So, I think I need both services. But it seems sort of silly.

Of course, it beats going over a guard rail in the rain.