Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

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Where Do Real Estate Agents Draw the Line Before Crossing It?

sacramento short salesI have noticed something peculiar happening in the Sacramento real estate market. Now, ordinarily, I do not pay much attention to what other agents are doing because, quite frankly, it's none of my business. My business is to write weekly articles for my homebuying website at About.com, sell my listings -- short sale or otherwise -- put my buyers into contract and write a daily Elizabeth Weintraub blog. That's enough stuff to keep me busy. You know what they say about busy people? If you want something done right, ask a busy person to do it.

Lately, though, I've noticed that some Sacramento real estate agents appear to be courting other agents' clients. Some agents seem to be dancing around the REALTOR® Code of Ethics that prohibit interference and direct solicitation.

I'll give you a couple of recent examples.

After a home inspection, a buyer's agent leaves on the kitchen counter a gift certificate for a local restaurant made payable to a listing agent's seller. The buyer's agent also includes a thank you card with a gushy note, expressing gratitude for allowing the home inspection. What's next? Will the buyer's agent deliver a dozen long-stemmed roses to the seller after the final walk-through? Give the seller round-trip tickets to Hawaii at closing? What a thoughtful agent.

Another agent calls a seller after showing the seller's home to a buyer. The buyer's agent then offers the seller free home staging advice to ostentatiously make the home show better. Starts describing where and how furniture should be arranged. Tells the seller the agent has a lot of buyers who may be interested in the seller's home. Although, none of those buyers has materialized.

What is going on? I'll tell you. These agents have closed only a million or so in sales volume this year, and the year is half over. The agents are not making any money in real estate. Still, that's no excuse. Come on, guys, we're better than that. Aren't we? Please say we are.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

sacramento short sale agentcerfified hafa specialist

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Certified HAFA Specialistelizabeth weintraub

 

equator certified platinum reo elizabeth weintraub

Elizabeth Weintraub reviews 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.

Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

 

63 comments • Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE • June 26 2010 10:32AM

Using Sound Judgment is Different From Being Judgmental, Especially When Dealing with Buyers

flowers in land park sacramento

I don't know about you, but it's not always easy to figure out which flowers are ready to be deadheaded and which are babies. In the past, I've felt pangs of guilt after I've snapped off a flower head believing it was dead, only to discover after the flower was in my hand that it was a new baby trying to emerge from its bud, and I had snatched away its life.

Many new flowers resemble those that are spent. It's hard to tell the difference. It's better to let them be for a while to see if they open up into a new flower.

And it's the same way with people. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes between a bona fide buyer and an unqualified buyer. As agents, we can be quick to judge because buyers might dress a certain way, drive a certain car, live in a particular neighborhood, speak in a different manner, suggest certain price points or otherwise give the appearance that they are not really a buyer.

I've learned long ago that immediate judgment should be reserved, although I can't say it's not tempting at times to jump to conclusions, yet I absolutely refuse to go down the road. Because you never know. Some real estate agents are extremely judgmental, and it typically comes back to bite them.

When a buyer contacted me about buying investments, she was shocked that I picked up the phone within seconds of receiving her email and asked if I could help her. She was asking about buying rentals in a Sacramento neighborhood that has watched values fall over the years -- an area of town where many agents refuse to work. I had no such reservations. All areas are the same to me. It's real estate.

One associate asked me if I was wasting my time because she would never work with a buyer who was looking below prices of $200,000. When did we become so choosy and snooty about selling real estate, I wondered. What difference does it make if you're selling a $40,000 house or a $1.4 million-dollar home?

Maybe I won't earn a big commission check, but I'll be performing a service, one that I am paid to perform over and over. That was my thoughts. Well, yesterday this client asked me if I would also consider working with her loan officer as he wants to buy investments, too.

Using sound judgment is different from being judgmental. I suspect we can all learn to be less judgmental.

elizabeth weintraub sacramento real estate agent in land park

Photo: Big Stock Photo

The Short Sale, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming from Archer Ellison in January 2009

 

sacramento short sale agentcerfified hafa specialist

---

Certified HAFA Specialistelizabeth weintraub

 

equator certified platinum reo elizabeth weintraub

Elizabeth Weintraub reviews 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.

Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

 

51 comments • Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE • October 25 2008 06:19AM