Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall. Hey, I hear the Jefferson Starship will play at the casinos this spring. Hard to imagine that it's been 40 years since I was 17.
Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday. The year was 1969. We had reserved seating on the first floor, but when the Jefferson Airplane hit the stage, everybody rushed to the front. There was little crowd control back then. I managed to swipe a front-row seat and stood on top of it as Grace Slick grabbed the microphone.
The audience applauded like crazy. Slick welcomed the screaming crowd, slapped a few hands and asked her fans how much their tickets cost. Some people yelled out $10. Others said $12. I think the advance-purchase ticket price was $8.00. Slick leaned over the stage toward the guy who said $12. Her eyes were wide. She laughed: "You paid $12 for this show? You got ripped off!"
I'll tell you who is feeling ripped off right now. My sellers of an El Dorado Hills short sale in Serrano. A few weeks ago, Bank of America requested an updated HUD to reflect a few minor fees that the bank was unwilling to pay. When we get to that point in a Bank of America short sale, I know that approval is just around the corner, so I often notify the buyer's agent to suggest that the buyers start their loan process. That's because underwriting is causing delays in some transactions this spring. If we don't close by the expiration date in the short sale approval letter, we need to get an extension, and that's not always easy.
We received approval from Bank of America within 60 days of submission to Equator. The sellers were elated. They had moved out of state for employment reasons and their parents were coming into town. Seemed like a good time to go out to dinner with the parents and celebrate. The buyer's agent was excited as well.
Escrow ordered an updated prelim and set a date to close at the end of April. The transaction coordinator sent out the seller disclosures to the buyer's agent. My office assistants changed the MLS status from active contingent to pending. Everybody was preparing to rock and roll. Then the email arrived from the buyer's agent. She said the buyers had gone around her back and hired another agent while they were in escrow with us. This agent wrote an offer on another short sale, and that short sale, surprise, was also approved this week.
The buyers, being smart and rational people, had decided to ask their kids which home they should buy. Their kids chose the other home. When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead. And the White Knight is talking backwards . . .
This seems to be a potential lawsuit waiting to happen . . . a hookah-smoking caterpillar.
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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.
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.
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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.
