Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

Have you ever tried to grow an avocado tree from the pit? I was describing the error of my ways last night at a dinner event held at Ella Dining Room and Bar in Sacramento. A farmer was at our table. She brings in Hass avocados from southern Cal to ripen naturally on her farm in Sacramento. I had no idea that avocados are picked and then sprayed with a chemical to make them ripen faster, nor that the more natural way to ripen avocados is to leave them out in the sun. They don't ripen on the vine in any case.

I mentioned that as a kid growing up in Minnesota, I was fascinated by avocados. I tried to grow them by inserting a toothpick in each end and sticking the pit in a glass of water placed on a window ledge. Half the time the water evaporated, but even when I would remember to put water in the glass, the darned things never sprouted.

Well, that's because I was sticking the toothpicks into the north and south poles. Imagine my shock when I finally figured out after moving to California that you needed 3 toothpicks (I always wondered what that extra toothpick was for), because the sprouts occur on the soft ends. Duh. Fortunately, I wasn't the only clueless person at my table.

Here is a home where you could try to grow avocados. However, let me say that I think our winters are too cold and wet for them, but I have had luck in sprouting them and putting them into the garden, where they eventually die when the rains set in. Hey, it was fun while it lasted. Avocados still make a nice houseplant, though.

This is a 2005 one-story, built by D.R. Horton in the Bilby Meadows subdivision of Elk Grove. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and approximately 2,078 square feet. It's on the market as a short sale because the sellers are moving to North Carolina for a job transfer. Why are so many people from Sacramento moving to North Carolina? I have a lot of clients who either choose North Carolina or Texas. Those seem to be the two most popular destinations.

One of the unique features and upgrades in this home is its distressed 5" plank hardwood floors. It really makes a difference in the overall appearance and is simply beautiful. The floors extend from the entry, into the kitchen, dining area and family room.

You'll find plenty of upgrades throughout such as stone on the front of the home, plantation shutters on the windows and a better grade of carpeting. In the kitchen, the counters are quartz, and the cabinets are cherry. The darker wood blends nicely with the hardwood flooring. There is even an island with a sink in the kitchen, which does double duty as a breakfast bar.

Two of the bedrooms are located at one end of the hall and two are at the other end. This is especially nice if you have a baby and want the nursery right next to the master suite.

Although you can't tell it from the photo of the front, this home has a 3-car garage. The single-car garage faces the 2-car at a 90-degree angle. You can access the single-car entrance door from the sidewalk entrance.

10328 Marlaw Way, Elk Grove, Ca 95757, is offered exclusively as a short sale by Lyon Real Estate at $275,000. For more information, please contact your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.

I'm looking for 3 things when I walk through a client's home to do my agent visual inspection disclosure. The first is saleable features. What is it about this home that makes it special? The second is defects. What am I required to disclose to a potential buyer and should the seller fix the defect? The third is presentation. How would I rearrange a room or change it?

Yesterday, as I walked through my new short sale listing in Elk Grove, furiously scribbling on my clipboard, I heard a familiar sound coming from one of the bedrooms. Why was this music familiar to me? I poked in my head and found this little boy sprawled out on the bed with his laptop, playing a computer game. Aha. Plants vs. Zombies. My favorite game! I instantly put down my clipboard and got all excited: "No, no, he's going to eat your sunflower and get runover by the tractors. Put down a pea shooter."

The kid kept telling me that he knew what he was doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The voice of experience in my head realized the dreadful sound of DUM, DUM, DUM was just around the corner. He was losing. Hate to say it, kid, but the zombies ate your brain. I could see it coming.

Sometimes people don't want advice. I recognize that trait. You can try to be the most helpful person in the world, with your heart in the right place, but if the recipient is not receptive, your advice falls on deaf ears and is worthless. Next time, though, I bet he puts down a pea shooter.

Here is a charming 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in the Laguna Vista subdivision in Elk Grove. It's located just east of Franklin and north of Calvine on a delightful street dotted with homes exhibiting curb appeal and pride of ownership.

It has soaring vaulted ceilings with interesting angles in the living room, dining room and master suite. There is a fireplace in the living room, and the dining area is separated by a column.

The kitchen is very large. It has a garden window, sliding doors to the back yard, a vinyl floor, oak cabinets, ceramic counters and an island. There is space in the kitchen for a table as well. First-time home buyers will like this home because it comes with all the appliances such as a free-standing refrigerator and stove, built-in dishwasher and microwave, plus the washer and dryer in the hall laundry room stay with the home.

You can't really see the sliding glass doors in the master bedroom because there is a dresser planted in front of it. But the master does have outside access. The master bath has dual sinks and a walk-in closet.

The back yard is fenced and sports a lemon tree and an orange tree, both of which appear to be producing fruit. There's also a large uncovered patio area.

5400 Lake Pleasant Drive, Elk Grove, CA 95758 is exclusively offered by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $165,000. For more information, please call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

I received an email yesterday from one of my short sale sellers who had closed an Elk Grove short sale on October 30th and bought a new home on December 30th, 2009. This was before FHA issued its new guidelines. The new FHA guidelines this year say FHA will approve a loan for a seller who sold on a short sale, providing the seller was not delinquent on the mortgage. I've been looking for a lender who will do this because none of my sources is funding such loans.

The client was excited to share the news, and added that he bought the home without an agent, using the help of a "sales associate." While I am not thrilled that the client was hoodwinked into believing he did not need to hire his own buyer's broker and therefore did not call me, I am super jazzed that he bought the home. His email made me realize that I need to be more diligent in letting my clients know that I can represent them if they want to buy a new home from a builder.

The last new home construction that I negotiated was a model home. Buying a model home from a builder is a bit complicated because those homes involve upgrades already in place. But builders in Sacramento are hurting financially and are willing to wheel and deal at the moment. Not only did this particular single woman home buyer get her model home at a terrific price, she also received all of the furniture for free. It pays to hire an agent, and it doesn't cost a buyer one thin dime.

The thing that struck a chord with me in my client's email was the fact a bank made him a loan 3 months after his short sale. This is what happened: Even though he was current on his payments to Wells Fargo, the bank made a notation on this client's credit report that the second loan was charged off. We tried to get that verbiage removed from the short sale approval letter, but Wells Fargo refused. After the short sale closed, Wells Fargo reported the loan as a charge off with a balance owing. The client called Wells Fargo and insisted that the loan should be reported with a zero balance because the debt was forgiven. So, Wells Fargo changed the reporting status to: Paid in Full for Less Than Agreed with a zero balance. After that adjustment, the client's FICO score jumped from 651 to 740.

This is why it's a good idea for sellers who do short sales to check their credit reports after closing. Another not-so-lucky client had Bank of America file a foreclosure against her after the loan was paid off as a short sale. And she was current on her mortgage payments when it closed. That was a real mess to untangle.

However, if you are thinking about buying a home after a short sale, and if your payments are current, you might want to contact Flagstar Bank and ask about an FHA loan. Flagstar is funding loans for buyers after selling as a short sale. The minimum FICO score required by Flagstar is 650.

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

After trudging around in the rain yesterday from 9 AM to 6 PM showing property, it was a welcome relief to come home and change into dry shoes. Note to self: wear boots in this weather! Our Sacramento storms have not let up, and tomorrow is expected to be worse than today.

But the good news is one of my buyers wrote an offer last night, I received an acceptable cash offer on another Sacramento short sale, and one of my Bank of America short sales in Elk Grove received approval.

The incredibly patient buyers for this Elk Grove short sale signed an offer in early August. In all fairness, though, Bank of America was a little messed up last fall and has since straightened out those problems by hiring third-party vendors to handle the paperwork. Once we finally got a negotiator assigned in November, the file was processed pretty smoothly.

I've heard some agents say I am really hard on buyer's agents. I simply want the buyers to commit to the short sale process. If these buyers had not committed, instead of going into pending status today -- after 6 months of work -- this home would be going back on the market and my sellers would be back to square one.

My commitment to my short sale sellers is steadfast. I push hard for short sale approval. If the buyer really wants the home, I'll do everything within my power to see that the buyer gets it. Asking a buyer and the buyer's agent to wait for approval is not out of line nor unreasonable.

I know there are Sacramento short sale agents who won't touch a Bank of America short sale with a 10-foot pole, much less a Countrywide short sale. This Elk Grove home had 2 original Countrywide loans. It's what I call a double-Countrywide. But Bank of America is now streamlining its short sale process, so future transactions should not take as long. However, my sellers and I will still insist that buyers commit. That's never going to change.

But I do hope the weather changes. At the moment, it's very windy and still raining. And I'm off to Lincoln this morning to shoot interior photographs of another Lincoln Crossing short sale. I'm gonna wear boots.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

Short sale buyer's agents in Sacramento are wising up and asking more questions upfront about my listings before showing them to a buyer, but I still get the goofy questions about homes that are new to the market such as: Is this short sale approved by the bank? Some banks such as Wachovia and Wells Fargo are putting systems in place to preapprove the sales price but most banks do not. It takes an offer from a qualified buyer to get a response.

I've had only one bank this year tell me that the price on my Sacramento short sale wasn't satisfactory, and that same bank came back 3 months later to accept an offer at that price. That bank, of course, was Bank of America.

Banks are accepting the short sale offers I submit. However, the offers I submit are generally much higher than my list price. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I realize that the market generally supports 2 prices: the list price and the expected offer price.

Simply put, banks want market value. Depending on the bank, however, banks may accept an offer that is priced somewhere in the range of 5% to 12% below market. What is market value? Market value is based on the comparable sales.

When I list a Sacramento short sale, I always pull the comparable sales, and I consider the pending sales, too, because pending sales are indicative of which way the market is moving and will become the sold comps at closing. Most of my short sales are listed about 10% below market value. This tactic brings multiple offers, which tends to push up the offers closer to market value. I advise my short sale sellers to accept the offer from the most qualified and dedicated buyer at a price that is closest to market value.

The problem isn't whether the short sale bank will accept the price, it's whether the price will appraise by the buyer's lender. Sometimes, buyers write offers that are too high. In one instance, I had to tell a buyer's agent that she may want to submit an addendum at a lower price. She had offered, let's say, $350,000 on an Elk Grove short sale listing that was priced at $300,000. I suspected that the comparable sales would not support such a high price and we'd have a problem getting it appraised at that price. So, her buyer lowered the offer to $330,000.

Sure enough, the buyer's appraisal came in at $329,000, and the buyer coughed up the $1,000 difference in cash.

Tip: Before you sign a purchase offer for a Sacramento short sale, ask your agent to give you the comparable sales for that neighborhood and to interpret that data for you. Because often, the listed price means nothing. Some agents ask their sellers to sign listing agreements at prices far less than market value, hoping that the short sale bank will give away that home for free, when the bank will do no such thing.

Lots of home buyers don't understand this, and many can't wrap their heads around the fact that some prices are plucked from thin air. They see a home on the market at a certain price and wrongly assume that they can buy that short sale at that price, when they can't.

I almost always get excited when I take a listing, but I am truly thrilled that I have the opportunity to market this gorgeous Camden Passage pool home in Elk Grove. It's a short sale, but then I seem to be an Elk Grove short sale agent these days, primarily because there are so many short sales in the Elk Grove school district, and that's what I do -- I sell short sales.

This custom two-story home was built in 1999, and it has almost 2,900 square feet. It sits on a culdesac. When you walk in the front door, the formal living room is to the right with bookend windows on the north and south. Directly in front of you is the pool. Through the stately columns to the left is the formal dining room with crown molding, which leads past the wine closet to an open area and the kitchen / family room.

It has 4 bedrooms, one of which is downstairs, an office and 3 full baths. The kitchen is open to the family room. In the kitchen, you will discover beautiful wood cabinets, ceramic counters and a built-in double-wide refrigerator that blends in with the cabinets. The family room has a fireplace with a stone-like surround and a built-in entertainment center, which can accommodate a 42-inch plasma TV.

The real treat is upstairs in the remote master suite. Apart from an office retreat that has a wrap-around desk and cherry wood floors, the master bath is enormous. It's larger than most bedrooms and features a jetted tub with a see-through fireplace. The other side of the fireplace is in the master bedroom. There is also a ceramic-tiled walk-in shower, plus an abundance of cabinets and a built-in makeup station. You could probably put a ping-pong table in this space and still have room to navigate, it's that big.

In the back yard, you'll find a gated pool with a built-in spa, both heated by solar, and a rock waterfall. There is also a patio and a grassy area for a play-set. It's quiet and serene. It's impeccably maintained and unlikely to linger long in this hot market. Call for a private showing before some other lucky Elk Grove buyer snatches this away from you.

8625 Kingslynn Court, Elk Grove, CA 95624

Offered as a short sale exclusively by Lyon Real Estate at $300,000

Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759

Click here for a virtual tour of 8625 Kingslynn Court, Elk Grove, CA 95624

Wells Fargo approved another short sale yesterday for an Elk Grove seller. The negotiator was a chatty guy out of South Carolina who used to live in Sacramento -- on one of the "fish streets" in Rosemont. Very nice guy. I'd like to go on the record as saying that not every negotiator who works for a short sale bank is an evil troll.

In this situation, the seller had tried, unsuccessfully on two separate occasions -- one of which was in the middle of our active short contingent status -- to do a loan modification. He was current on his mortgage, borrowing money to make the payments. I can't blame the seller for trying to do a loan modification because all sellers are entitled to try to save their homes. But I know from my past experience that very few of them are granted. Many of my short sale clients are those who tried to do a loan modification and were denied.

People think that 3 ingredients are required to do a short sale, and these 3 do tend to create the perfect storm:

• The home is under water, meaning the sellers owe more than the home is worth
• The sellers have a bonafide hardship -- loss of job, divorce, illness
  
• The sellers are in default -- they have stopped making their mortgage payments

However, being in default is not necessarily a requirement. Whether a bank will issue short sale approval in a situation where the sellers are current on their mortgage depends entirely on the investors' demands.

I've worked with a handful of Sacramento sellers who were not in default and successfully closed their short sales. Believe it or not, a couple of them had loans with Bank of America. Other mortgages were held by Golden1 Credit Union and CitiMortgage. Given the choice, it's probably better for a short sale seller to continue to make the mortgage payments, but I let every seller make that decision and don't lean one way or the other.

It's the late pays that cause significant point drops on FICO scores. If the bank rejects the short sale because the seller is current -- and I've had that happen -- then we extend the short sale addendum, providing the seller elects to go into default, and simply wait out the required time period. Then we resubmit. Sure, under that turn of events, the short sale takes longer and the buyer could lose patience, but doing what is best for the sellers is an agent's job. If the buyer walks away, we'll just sell that home to another and start over.

If a Sacramento short sale agent tells a seller to stop making the payments, that agent could be in seriously hot water. Scalding water. Water above 212 Fahrenheit. For one thing, we can't give legal advice. Moreover, it might not be the best solution for the seller. We must, as short sale agents, put the needs of our sellers above our own. We have a fiduciary relationship to our clients. And some short sales work out for sellers who are not in default. It's worth the battle in my book.

If you're looking for a home with more than 3,600 square feet in Stonelake, this 4-bedroom, 3-bath Elk Grove short sale home might be the ticket for you. It is located in the affluent area of Laguna and was built in 2001. The entry is tiled with soaring ceilings and lots of windows. Definite curb appeal from the street with its arched windows on the second level. You'll also find a big bonus room upstairs that could be used for a children's playroom, work-out or hobby room.

The first floor has an open floor plan. The living room is open to the dining room, separated by walls on either side with cutouts. The kitchen is massive and overlooks the family room. Lots of stained cherrywood cabinets in the kitchen with white tile counters and an island. Much of the home has white carpeting, and a couple bedrooms have newer light beige carpeting.

It features a fireplace in the family room, which also has sliding doors to the landscaped back yard. The grand staircase winds to the second floor, with cherry-colored railings and spiral posts. Laundry is located on the second floor, too. There's one bedroom downstairs and the other 3 are upstairs.

Price is adjusted for cleaning of the carpets or replacement and painting. With a little TLC, this home could absolutely shine.

9772 Harrier Way, Elk Grove, CA 95757

For sale at $335,000, subject to lender approval.

Offered exclusively by Lyon Real Estate, Elizabeth Weintraub, 916.233.6759

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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 Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

By the time I speak with many upside-down sellers in Sacramento, they have already been turned down by their banks for a loan modification. In fact, in a few situations, the banks offered loan modifications that would ultimately increase the homeowners' mortgage payments, not reduce them. Other banks asked sellers to make reduced payments for a few months to demonstrate the sellers' ability to pay and then filed a notice of default anyway.

Yesterday a seller asked me to list his home in Elk Grove as a short sale. But when I arrived at the home, he told me he was undecided between attempting a short sale or pushing for the loan modification and asked which option he should choose. The home was already vacant. He and his wife had moved to another city.

He figured if he could do a loan modification, he could rent the home for at least $2,000 a month. He felt he was in the clear because he hasn't made any mortgage payments for more than a year, and the bank has yet to file a Notice of Default.

His solution was to list the home as a short sale while he continued to pressure the bank to do a loan modification. The problem with that scenario is I don't know of any banks that will process a file as a short sale while a loan modification is pending, and especially not his bank.

Quick math told me that he owes about $600,000 on 3 loans, part of which was a hard money loan that can carry its own set of complications, tax-wise. Even if the bank would give him a loan modification at 3% interest and grant him interest-only payments for a certain period of time, his PITI payment would still exceed his anticipated rental income. He'd still be taking money out of his pocket every month.

And what happens at the end of the interest-only grace period? He would still owe $600,000 on a home that today is worth about $250,000. Does he think that homes will magically appreciate enough over the next 3 to 5 years to put him in the black? Very unlikely.

My answer was the same that I tell every seller. The seller needs to decide whether to do a short sale or a loan modification, weigh the pros and cons. He should get legal and tax advice. I can't make that decision for anybody, nor would I even try. My job as a Sacramento short sale agent is to sell that short sale and get it closed. I'm not a lawyer nor an accountant. On top of which, I'm not in the business to push a seller into doing a short sale.

But I also know that banks want sellers to occupy the home as their personal residence before granting a loan modification. This seller is a non-owner occupant attempting to rent out the home as an investment. I put a lockbox on it.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

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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 Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.