Before I tell you about you about my new short sale listing in Midtown Sacramento, I have to ask if anybody knows what strangeness is up with Bank of America short sales lately? Over the past week, I've received a bunch of phone calls, some really late at night and all from different negotiators at Bank of America. The messages have been identical. It's as though management has issued some kind of directive.
The message is Bank of America wants to know if we can close escrow sooner than scheduled. I mean, it's OK if we can't, but could we please step on the gas and close that short sale faster? It makes me wonder if Bank of America is being proactive about increasing its reserves to comply with the new requirements. It seems to be wanting an influx of cash. And quickly.
I walked by a Bank of America office last weekend in Half Moon Bay. I didn't see any posters or signs about lending money for a mortgage. They were all about opening a checking account or putting money into savings. Just sayin' . . .
Here is a Craftsman bungalow in Midtown Sacramento, which is a perfect example of a home built during the Arts & Crafts period. It has an expansive and inviting front porch flanked by stone columns. If you're looking for understatement, elegance and the WOW factor, this is the home for you.
You'll find oak hardwood floors throughout, original woodwork and panels, boxed beam ceilings, leaded glass, built-in cabinets and generous sized rooms -- it definitely has that 1910 feel to the home.
Apart from its 5 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, there is a room upstairs that is presently used as a music room, plus an additional room for storage. It has a full basement with a wine cellar. There are 2 bedrooms on the first floor and 3 on the second floor. The sellers have turned space that was once the breakfast room into a family room, which overlooks the beautiful back yard and deck.
When you enter the home, you will notice how large and long the entry hall is because it will make you feel like you're walking into a palace. The formal living room with its oversized polished stone fireplace is on the right, and a bedroom is on the left. The front windows in both of those rooms slide up or down to let in the breeze.
From the living room, you walk into the formal dining room with its pretty built-in corner cabinets glittering in the sunlight. Continue straight ahead and you'll enter the kitchen, beyond which is a door to the back yard. To the left of the kitchen and at the end of the hall is the family room, which leads to the deck.
The first floor bath is simply magnificent. It's reminiscent of 1910 and sports a clawfoot tub, chicken-wire floor and the tank hangs up near the ceiling with a pull chain. It's spacious, white and bright and very pretty.
The master suite bath on the second floor is spectacular as well. It's actually 2 adjoining rooms, one with a skylight and tub and the other with a block glass wall for the walk-in shower with dual shower heads. Both of the rooms have a sink. According to the Sacramento County Assessor, this home has 2,802 square feet.
Best of all, is the parking. It's hard to find parking in Midtown much less a garage. This home has 3 garages in the rear, a double and a single, accessed from the alley. An usual feature is the locking gate door. It's an old jail door from an actual jail in Huntington Beach! Traffic is pretty quiet at this end of H Street, too, because the east bound traffic ends at 27th Street, which means the only people driving down H Street are either turning on 27th, which is not a major street, or they live on this block.
2611 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 is exclusively offered by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $499,000. For more information or a private showing, call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub
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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.
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.
Hi Elizabeth, what a lovely home. From your write up, me the reader all the way across the country in Northern Virginia can tell that this home was loved and the owner payed close attention to the details, right down to the old Jail Door that now acts as a gate! I am sure there is someone out there who is relocating to your area that wants a cottage style Craftsman Bungalow. I would be the first one in line if I was heading your way. Good luck with that.
Elizabeth: Met a gentleman who interviewed with BOA's REO division with a head honcho of the bank. He started asking the guy if he would consider a position overseeing their short sale division. Literally told the guy, "It's a total patch up job. The whole department needs to be reworked." Needless to say, this gentleman found a better job with a much more respected bank. Seems to me that BOA doesn't have the systems in place to handle pushing these sales through any faster than they normally go, depsite the fact that they may need the cash.
I don't know what's up with BofA...I'm going on 2.5 months waiting for bank approval on an 'all-cash' deal. So, doesn't appear to me that they are rushing to get their short sales closed!
Your home looks lovely! A home like that in my area would probably go for $800k, maybe even more depending on the location. Looks like a great buy to me!
I love the outside column stone work... beautiful. And 3 garages WOW!
Have no idea about BofA, maybe with all new refi's going on they need cash more than ever. Refi's are really up again here according to my LO.
I wrote a blog post about the surprising phone calls from B of A around the middle of June. In fact, I think you might have posted a comment (maybe?) Yes, I've gotten some of those calls. Cute listing, too!
I'd be happy just to get a call back from Bank of America on a few files.
Elizabeth - I currently have a buyer waiting to hear about an offer he made on a BofA short sale back in April and Equator is supposedly a faster approval system - SERIOUSLY??? No word yet but then that doesn't surprise me since the last BofA short sale I closed last month was just one week shy of six months from offer date to close date. I don't imagine anything has changed much since then.
Great looking house too. LOVE craftsman homes and I also love the stone fireplace and glass block in the bathroom. :)
For being an "Old Arts and Crafts" home, it is gorgeous. I've been working on Equator for the past 7 months on several short sales. Can't get anyone to talk to me.
Still waiting to close one in progress since December...the good news is they are ready to move forward...in another 30 days. I love the feel of a craftsman-style house Elizabeth, the wood floors, spacious bedrooms and built-ins. This one has it all!
I have found the secret to BAC approval is to submit what BAC wants and a complete package. Tasks? Handled immediately. Maybe that's why mine get approved?
Melissa: New glam shot? I didn't recognize you without your blue denim!
Chris Ann: BAC hired Matt and he is great!!!! Can't give that guy too many exclamation points.
Great listing Elizabeth!
Wish I had a buyer but none in that area, unfortunately.
Best of luck to you and your sellers.