Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

People find it difficult to believe that when I started in this business in the 1970s, I sold homes without inspecting them. Never saw them. I owned a small real estate company and was responsible for counseling buyers, writing and negotiating the transactions. My agents tracked down the deals. Almost every transaction involved owner financing. To work like that today would be unthinkable and ripe with liability.

I had previously been an escrow officer and before that a title searcher at a title company. I thought I knew everything about real estate. I was young and cocky. That's why I took the California real estate broker's exam 5 times. I didn't realize back then that I needed to learn how to pass the exam. Passing the exam and selling real estate are two different things.

When readers from my About.com home buying site write to ask how they should get started in real estate, I tell them that starting out at a large brokerage is invaluable. Newly licensed real estate agents need to learn the basics from the ground up and align themselves with a mentor. Laws change constantly. The business is complex.

But there is also no substitute for experience. I learn something new every day, even after 30-some years in the business. Because when a person stops learning, it's time to change careers. I will never know it all in this business.

When I moved to Sacramento, I interviewed the major real estate brokers in town. I wanted to affiliate myself with the best. With the company that offered the best support, and provided superior technology and ongoing education and, as a result, I chose Lyon Real Estate -- a leader in the community since 1946.

Because I am a real estate broker and not just a real estate agent, I could work entirely by myself in California. I don't need to affiliate with a Sacramento real estate brokerage. But I choose to work at Lyon Real Estate because it supports me fully by offering the tools I need to do the best job possible for my clients.  As an added bonus, I have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest and most experienced agents in town.

Experience means an agent can predict future problems and head them off at the pass before they can explode and blow up a transaction. It means contracts are written correctly, and one can pretty much figure out which direction negotiations will move and prepare.

Often, when I am about to go into contract with another Sacramento real estate agent, I may look up that agent's production in MLS. I want to know who I am working with. For example, August stats from Trendgraphix show we have 6,267 agents in Sacramento. Of those, 73% have sold 4 or fewer homes this year. 85% have sold 7 or fewer homes in 2009. This means, if I've done the math correctly, that only 15% of the agents in Sacramento have sold 1 or more homes a month this year.

The fact is the more transactions an agent completes, the more knowledge an agent accumulates, or you would hope. And some Sacramento home buyers know this. A first-time home buyer emailed me out of the blue yesterday. She said she wanted to be upfront by disclosing that she's interviewing several agents to help her buy a home. She asked me to send her my last 12 months of production and present inventory. I'd say that is a pretty smart buyer.

Some agents may feel uncomfortable disclosing what they may feel is personal information or be offended, but I didn't have any qualms letting her know that I have closed 33 transactions over the past 12 months -- about a 50/50 split between sellers and buyers -- and I presently have 31 listings, of which 5 are unsold or in negotiations. I don't close $40 million a year like a few agents in town, but I do all right. If you dig for it, all that information is available on my web site; it's not like it's private data.

When I look back over the years, my worst nightmare transactions involved unsupervised agents or agents without much experience. Experience teaches one how to manage client expectations while keeping a finger on the pulse of the real estate market, how to protect a client's interest and comply with the law, but most of all it prepares an agent for the unexpected. Because sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, I know that I'm likely to receive an offer from an agent who thinks she understands the business but has no real practical experience. And I will try to have compassion for that agent because I once stood in her shoes.

I prefer to receive a copy of the estimated closing statement before my buyers sign loan documents, but given the deadlines lately, it's not always possible to get my hands on that PDF. One of the reasons I ask for the buyer's closing statement in advance is so I can let my buyers know how much money they need to bring to the signing.

After signing loan documents in Sacramento, closing generally takes place 2 to 3 days later. Escrow needs the balance of funds deposited prior to the lender's funding. Title companies have 4 recording times in Sacramento, so it is possible for the lender to fund and the transaction to record on the same day.

Getting the balance of funds into escrow, though, can be tricky. Escrow expects certified funds, so you can't write a personal check. You also can't haul in a truckload of quarters or pay in cash. You basically have 2 choices: wire funds or bring a cashier's check, and both can present challenges if you don't handle the deposit of funds in advance.

I've had buyers show up at a bank near closing time, request a cashier's check and be denied because the bank required advance notice before the withdrawal of certain amounts of cash. How would you feel if you went to your bank to withdraw your money and the bank could not give it to you? To get around this dilemma, buyers should ask their bank a few days in advance about its policy regarding withdrawal -- find out your bank's procedure beforehand.

The more common issue concerns a wire transfer. It's not instantaneous. Not in today's economy. Some banks have cut-off times for wires. Others take 24 hours, or more, to wire funds to the intended destination.

A Sacramento home buyer discovered he was short $5,000, due to a mistake made by escrow. The buyer went to his bank Thursday afternoon to wire funds to escrow. By 2:30 the following day, escrow had not yet received the funds. Because escrow could not confirm receipt of the wire, the buyer's lender could not fund and this buyer's transaction did not close. Due to the holiday, the buyer now can't close until Tuesday. It means this poor guy can't move in today, nor will he be grilling a steak in his new back yard on Labor Day.

Sometimes wires don't go out on the day requested. Sometimes account numbers are transposed on the wire. Sometimes the wrong amount is delivered. Mistakes happen because human beings are involved.

Sacramento home buyers need to give themselves a little breathing room and not try to deposit the balance of funds at the last minute. Sacramento buyer's agents might want to inform their buyers that these types of things can happen.

A client called yesterday to share bad news with me. Patricia (not her real name) just received a pink slip and will soon be out of work. She is part of the national growing trend of single women home buyers, and had bought a home last month in College Greens, a popular Sacramento neighborhood just over the river near Sac State. It closed a few weeks ago. But instead of sounding depressed over the terrible news, Patricia was bubbling over with enthusiasm and joy. I was confused.

The reason for Patricia's giddiness was because although many of Patricia's friends had encouraged her to buy the biggest home she could afford to buy, she instead bought a home well below her means. Her mortgage payment is less than rent. She called me to say thank you for guiding her to make the right decision.

I take a personal interest in my clients. They are not just another escrow to me. Part of being a real estate agent means helping people to do what is best for them. I'm not afraid to lay out options for buyers and speak up if I think they are doing the wrong thing.

In uncertain economic times, like those facing us in Sacramento right now, it's smart to think ahead and prepare for the worst. State workers are furloughed 3 days a month, which means about a 15% reduction in pay for many of them. Sacramento unemployment is almost 12%.

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS offers a free 6-month Mortgage Protection Program to first-time home buyers. It pays buyers up to $1,500 a month if that home owner loses a job due to a layoff, but not many buyers are taking advantage of this program. For various reasons, Patricia didn't qualify for that program, but even so, she's not about to lose her home because she can afford her mortgage.

It's not always wise to buy a bigger, more expensive home with all the bells and whistles just because you can. Sometimes, it's better to buy a smaller, more affordable home.

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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.

Photo: Big Stock Photo