I left Sacramento on Saturday morning with every intention of coming home with an accepted offer. It didn't work out that way. As eager as one of us was, my husband and I did not find an oceanfront home to buy. You wouldn't think it would be this difficult -- but it is because we have to do our own due diligence. There is no easy way to buy a second home. In fact, the coincidence that I am also a real estate broker just makes it a little bit harder.
My own husband asked a seller if he could call them directly if he had other questions. I was standing right there when he said it. Who is this alien? He was talking to a seller who told us not once but several times she used to live on a horse farm in Connecticut. Her husband was no picnic, either. See, there's a reason why buyers should never meet sellers.
This particular listing showed the home as "vacant." Showing instructions said come to the office to get keys. We figured since it was right off the Coast Highway, we'd stop to see if we liked the location. If we did, we'd track down the agent for the keys. Except when we got there, the seller was home. I told him the MLS listing said the home was vacant, but he was accommodating and let us in. After we left, he called my voice mail to leave a nasty message about how we should have made an appointment. Hey, if he wanted an appointment, he should take that up with his agent and not be leaving mean messages on a potential buyer's cell phone.
One of the things this particular seller told us was he had an easement for ocean access. His home sat on a hill across from the ocean in a quiet culdesac. We talked to a homeowner next door, and that guy swore the ocean access was private. And it was his property. He would know. Not only that, but in 1995, the entire hill had collapsed. This home barely escaped destruction. See the things you find out if you talk to the neighbors before buying a home?
Another home near Jenner was supposed to be vacant when we got there. But we discovered relatives of the seller were on vacation and at the home. The view was spectacular. The bottom floor reeked. It smelled like an old, wet cave. No wonder, for decades, runoff water from the street had poured under the house. In fact, water is still running under the house and down the hill through a newly poured cement slab. The supports to hold the hill from falling apart were not yet finished. The sellers had intended to fill the supports over time but now that the house was on the market, there was no reason to finish supporting the hill.
The sellers had tried to sell the home off and on over the years, but now they were really serious about selling because one of them had died. Except that seriousness was not reflected in the maintenance of the home nor the sales price. Oh, and did I mention it doesn't have a furnace? The things people will tell you if you keep asking questions.
Our last possibility was a home the agent assured us had a new cement perimeter foundation and was, by his estimate, about 40 to 60 years old. It is located on Highway 1 just south of Mendocino. Fabulous view of the water but the coastal area to the right has growing vegetation that the coastal commission will not allow a homeowner to clear away. The home was actually built in 1897. The best use of that property is to tear it down.
The seller is in foreclosure. The property next door is a FSBO. There is no easement for a driveway to a garage, and the homeowner next door -- who is also the same seller -- won't dedicate an easement. Plus, the guy wants twice as much money for that tear-down as well. Did I mention the house smelled like cat urine? Those 2 properties are waiting for a bulldozer. The seller will have to grab his vast gun collection and go elsewhere.
I'm not even going to describe the home in Bodega Bay. Except to say that if you nudged it with a crowbar, I suspect it would fall over. On top of the rat traps.
This is what you get for under $500,000 for an oceanfront home in northern California.
Photo: Pelican at Point Arena by Elizabeth Weintraub
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
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The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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