Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

I am tickled pink that another of my Elk Grove short sale listings finally closed escrow yesterday. I had put this home on the market on August 3, 2009, at an offering price of $190,000. It was a double Countrywide short sale, meaning it had 2 loans that had originated with Countrywide and are now serviced by Bank of America.

The seller had paid $422,000 for this home in 2005. You can see the value has fallen by about 50% over the past 5 years.

Because this home had a fabulous view from the second floor, we received 9 offers. It's a Kimball home with peach and pear trees in the back yard.

The winning offer was $215,000. The buyers hired a very smart real estate agent who was savvy enough to run the comparable sales and write a clean offer. Plus, the buyers were patient. Their agent informed them that this could be a long short sale process due to the double Countrywide loans.

You can do the math on this closing and see it took 7 months to close. Now, part of that problem was the file had been initially submitted to Bank of America through its old process, which involved faxing 100 or so pages of documents that the bank would eventually misplace. Halfway through the short sale, Bank of America allowed the file to be uploaded to Equator. It zipped along from that point.

See, the secret to successfully closing short sales is to contact the bank every single week and request an update. Even if there is nothing to update. With some of my short sales, I have almost daily contact with the bank. Success is due to persistence. Organization. The bank notes in the file how often the agent calls, and files with activity tend to receive priority. I sometimes get emails from other Elk Grove short sale agents asking me how to pull their short sales out of that dark hole at Bank of America, and that's what you do. You call or email the negotiator and politely push.

Yesterday morning, Bank of America approved the HUD. Along with the HUD approval, the bank sent an arm's length affidavit to be signed. Why didn't Bank of America send that document months ago?  Oy. To close this, I had about 2 hours to get that affidavit signed by me, the buyers' agent, the buyers and the seller who lived back East. Thank goodness I wasn't out showing homes in Land Park yesterday morning and was at my home office to hammer this thing closed. By 11:30 AM, the buyer's lender had funded and we closed in the afternoon.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, Elk Grove short sale agent

Not every potential home buyer will buy a home in Sacramento this year, regardless of how much a buyer may yearn for a home. How do I know this? Because I speak with first-time home buyers who want to buy a home nearly every day. I listen to their wants and needs. From this information, I determine whether these buyers are realistic and motivated. See, a buyer can possess all the motivation and determination in the world, but if a buyer is stuck in fantasy land, the odds of buying a home are dramatically reduced.

I try to be non-judgmental. I know that buyers are not professional real estate agents and don't possess intimate knowledge of the market. Part of my job is to educate buyers. Especially those who rely on Zillow or other websites that provide inaccurate information. Armed with knowledge, a buyer is then able to make an informed decision.

A few weeks ago, a buyer called to say she was unhappy with her agent because she wasn't getting results. Since agents are generally in the real estate business to make a sale, it was entirely possible the problem wasn't the agent. The buyer asked if I would research a particular short sale home in Elk Grove. Her agent had shown her the property. She had not made an offer nor signed an exclusive buyer's broker with this agent.

I called the listing agent. The agent had 5 offers, several of which were all-cash offers, and those all-cash offers exceeded the list price of $400,000. As with many short sale listings, the price was artificial and below the comparable sales, priced to drive multiple offers. I know the main reason that some banks reject short sales is because many offers are too low, so a lowball offer was not going to fly. Not to mention, it makes little sense to compete in these types of situations if a buyer is unwilling to offer over the listed price.

The buyer asked if she could buy this $400,000 home for $300,000. I explained all of the reasons why this type of approach was not going to work. Even if all the other buyers vanished by the time of short sale approval, leaving this buyer in first-place position as the lone survivor, the bank would not take that type of offer. On top of which, this home was was highly desirable and unique -- which means those other buyers aren't going away.

A few days later, the buyer emailed me to confess that she had gone back to see that home again with her agent. She was so overwhelmed with desire that she wrote an offer on the spot for $300,000. She asked if I would still work with her and show her other homes while she waits for an answer from the seller. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the buyer is not buying this home.

Now, I am not in the business to swipe other agent's clients. There's enough business in Sacramento for everybody. I had explained earlier how real estate agents work and why this buyer should decide which buyer's agent she wants to hire. She told me she really liked her agent but did not feel her agent could perform.

I suggested she stick with her agent. I didn't drop this buyer simply because she wrote an offer with her agent, although loyalty is paramount. I also didn't drop the buyer solely because she promised to work with me and failed to live up to her promise; although, I prefer to work with buyers who keep their word. This buyer performed contrary to her own best interests. I was forced to turn her loose because she could not, would not, did not listen to my advice.

Even my cats would agree.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, from left to right, Pia, Pica and Brandon

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

This is a picture perfect home situated on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Emerald Park subdivision of Elk Grove. Check out the cheery yellow stucco exterior and abundance of mature landscaping with big trees in the yard. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The assessor shows the square footage at 1,752.

The kitchen has been recently updated with over-sized ceramic tile flooring and newer granite counters. The sellers removed the cabinet doors in the kitchen and installed new hardware, but the hardware is the wrong size, which is why the cabinet doors are not secured to the cabinets.

The sellers also installed an antique type of laminate, perhaps a barn oak or tree branch type, in the main living areas and bedrooms. Some of the baseboards have been installed, but not all of them. The front entry area is prepared for installation of the buyer's choice of flooring, but this would be a good spot for ceramic tile, especially to prevent tracking into the home from Sacramento's winter rainstorms.

When you approach the home, you're greeted by a delightful courtyard. The side yard has a covered patio, and there's possible RV space.

At the present, the formal living room with a door to the back yard is being utilized as a home office, but you'll also find a large family room with a gas-piped fireplace.

9034 El Measa Court, Elk Grove, CA 94624 is offered as a short sale exclusively by Lyon Real Estate at $175,000. Call your Sacramento short sale agent Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759 for more information.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I love working on Wachovia short sales. Give me nothing but Wachovia short sales in Sacramento and Elk Grove, and I'll be a happy, happy short sale agent.

A Wachovia short sale is like that lone flower growing out of a sun-drenched sidewalk crack. I work on enough short sales in Sacramento to thoroughly appreciate the no-nonsense way that Wachovia handles its portfolio of loans in default. Other banks pale in comparison to Wachovia. I'd say that Wachovia performs like a Gold Medal athlete at the Olympics while, let's say, Bank of America hobbles along like some old guy in a wheelchair with a flat tire.

I met with the manager of Wachovia's short sale department 6 days ago. We walked through one of my short sale listings in Elk Grove as I spoke with the relocated seller on my cell. The manager asked a handful of questions, the seller responded and, yesterday, we got short sale approval.

Not only did we receive approval, but Wachovia is paying the seller $3,500, providing we can close escrow in early December. The seller had gone into default after transferring out-of-state and tapped several credit cards to the tune of about $25,000 to try to keep the mortgage current -- a struggle that proved fruitless in the end.

But wait, the approval gets better; Wachovia is also paying a higher-than-traditional amount of commission. I charge more for my short sale negotiations than many other agents. I figure I'm worth it because I get results. Some buyer's agents snort when they hear about my listing agreement percentage because they don't believe that I'll get it; however, all commissions are negotiable and, on a short sale, subject to bank approval.

It's no secret that short sales are a lot more work than other transactions. I work extremely hard for the commissions I earn. I'm happy to report that Wachovia recognizes this and pays accordingly. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I've been doing them long enough to have established unparalleled systems, which handle the volume, and lets me give my clients the undivided attention they deserve. So, if you are contemplating a short sale in Sacramento, give me a ring. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.

And if you're a Sacramento Wachovia short sale seller, believe me, I'm rolling out the Red Carpet.

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

---

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