Early February a seller called to ask if I would mind stopping by her home after hours. It was dark when I arrived. She lived in the back unit of a duplex in East Sacramento. Most entry-level homes in East Sacramento are selling briskly these days as prices have softened a little bit and financing is extremely cheap. It's a good time to buy a home in Sacramento.
This seller bought the duplex several years ago from Fannie Mae. It was a foreclosure home. She had been reading the headlines in the Sacramento Bee about all the foreclosures and short sales in Sacramento and felt she had a pretty good understanding of the market place. She had also spoken to coworkers and family members who urged her to do a short sale. The problem was it was too overwhelming for her to manage an income property and she wanted to return to renting. For some people, renting vs. buying makes more sense.
See, this is why it's smart to contact an East Sacramento agent before putting your home on the market as a short sale. Because it turned out that this seller had equity. She did not need to attempt to do a short sale because she could make a profit. Not only could she make a profit but she could end up with enough money to pay back the first-time home buyer tax credit she received. If you take the tax credit and then sell during the first 3 years, that tax credit needs to be repaid.
I could see the worry lines begin to melt away on her face as we talked. She had no idea that she had equity and could get out of this investment without harming her credit. Now, there are some duplexes that would need to sell as a short sale in East Sacramento, but this wasn't one of those.
I love happy endings. I'm a sucker for happy endings. We closed escrow this week, and the seller made a nice profit. Plus, she was spared the agony of a short sale.
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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.
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What is this thing called "equity"? I guess there still are some sellers that don't have to short sell these days. Congratulations on the closing.
Elizabeth, I love happy endings too - thanks and congratulations to you and your seller.
Elizabeth, great story. The seller was lucky to have you as her Realtor. Thank you for stopping by my post regarding seller vs buyer agents. You are right, having listings puts you in more control. I had to tell my last buyer to find another Realtor - I couldn't handle any more of low-ball offers I was asked to submit.
Hi Jim: Yup, every so often I get a regular listing again. More often the first part of this year than last year. And the traditional listings are selling just as well as the short sales -- but they are a different type of work. I might not stage my short sales but I do put more into staging the regular listings.
Hi Mary: It was funny to see how surprised she was that she could make money on the sale.
Hi Elizabeth: I really love your name. I had the next door neighbor who wanted to submit an offer, and I probably could have double-ended the transaction, as much as I dislike dual agency. But I suspected he wanted to lowball it. It came in handy though with the offer we received because every time the buyer's agent wanted to negotiate, I told her I'd just take the neighbor's offer, LOL. Put an end to that stuff.