A reporter named Whitney Mountain (real name, not making that one up) wrote a story for the Sacramento Bee this morning about auto theft. Whit that says our Central Valley is the worst in the nation for auto theft. California has the highest rates in the country. Sacramento moved from ranking at #11 to #6 this year. Our rate zipped per 1,000 people up to 5.79. Think about it -- don't you know somebody (if it wasn't you) who has had his or her car stolen?
My husband had his Honda Civic stolen about 10 years ago. It was missing for several weeks before the police found it and, even then, they couldn't charge the little thug with stealing it because they didn't see him steal it. The thief was arrested for driving a stolen car. He disposed of my husband's CDs and replaced them with his own. My husband said he wanted to show up at his hearing and smash that guy's CDs on the table in front of him.
His car was never the same again. It always had a rank smell about it. Stuff rattled underneath. We eventually sold it and bought a Prius.
But a foreclosure or short sale house is a different story. Once a thief breaks into a vacant house and vandalizes it, the police aren't likely to bust the lawbreakers. Most of the time, a regular homeowner's insurance policy doesn't cover a vacant home. Vacant home insurance is expensive.
The thing many thieves are going after in Sacramento is the exterior AC unit. I've never much liked AC units on the roof because the installation can compromise the integrity of the roof, but right now those on the roof are probably in a safer place than the back yard. Several of my Sacramento short sales have been vandalized recently, and it seems to be happening on a more regular basis, or maybe i just have more listings so the percentage is skewed.
At a short sale home last week, they didn't even remove the unit. They trashed it, tore it into pieces, probably looking for copper, and left all of the pieces on the ground.
I went on a wild goose chase yesterday to meet with a seller from the Bay area who had called me on Sunday. At first I thought it was weird that a seller would call a real estate agent on a Sunday afternoon to ask for an appointment on Monday. I was right, she was weird. She kept saying the tenant just died, he just died, he just died on May 17th. Hey, May 17th was a month ago.
She couldn't get into the house because she had no keys. Her locksmith didn't show up, so she called another locksmith who couldn't get there for an hour at least. I knew she had a cellphone on her. I offered to call my locksmith who could probably be there in 15 minutes and charge her less, but she wasn't interested.
The yard was overgrown with thorns and weeds, but her AC unit was still intact. That was one thing she probably doesn't have to worry about, I assured her. Because my other listing 2 doors down had its AC unit ripped to shreds. If they wanted hers, they probably would have taken it when the iron was hot. I could see that she wanted to get back to eating lunch in the driveway with her companion. She urged me to leave and promised to call me.
Then she added another agent was due to arrive. Oh, really? Who? She couldn't remember his name but it was Doug something. Why she didn't call me when she knew we couldn't gain access was a primary question on my mind. Why? Because she had no regard for my time. I was expendable in her eyes. We're all expendable. We're just real estate agents.
Doug can have this listing.
But still, I hope they don't come back and swipe her AC unit.
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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.
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Enjoyed reading your story. We don't have AC unit thefts, but we do get the odd furnace stolen from new homes under construction.
I had a buyer complaining the other day that they were stood up and how disrespectful the other person was. She went on to say that even being late was disrespectful of her time. "Her time is valuable"!!!
I did give her a funny look, I couldn't help it - SHE WAS LATE for our appointment.
She just looked at me, you could see the wheels turning...YEP...she laughed... She was complaining about her events...and she did the same thing to me.
Enough said.
It sounds like this lady would have driven you crazy if you had gotten the listing. But how rude of her to make an appointment when she still had not yet gained access into the house yet. I cannot understand why the first locksmith couldn't get it as they can always get the door open? Sounds like you are better off but of course you had to prepare for the listing appointment too so that was more wasted time.
Hey Terri: Isn't it odd the type of black markets that exist for stolen merchandise?
Hi Kristin: Yes, preparing all of that paperwork is a huge amount of time. I could assign out that task but it wouldn't get done the way I want it because I am too much of a nitpicker in that regard. All the way home I was thinking to myself: Puhhlease don't call me. I didn't want to be rude.
Elizabeth : This is not just a Sacramento problem. I had a short sale listing in Las Vegas close last Wednesday. Everything was ok when we closed and gave the buyers agent the key. On Saturday morning i received a call from the buyer who is an out of town investor wanting to know what happened to the a/c units !!! There was an article in the bee about farmers in the delta loosing expensive pumps to the same thieves. It's time to crack down on the scrap yards that are buying the copper.
That crazy woman story reminds me of why, even though I am licensed, I prefer to stay on the mortgage side. Good grief!
I had a bank owned property broken into. The police arrested the guy but he was let go even after he was identified in a line-up. His *wife* provided an alibi for him two States away.
I'm with you, Nicole, if the thieves didn't have any place to sell the scraps, they wouldn't be stealing them. But then they'd just swipe something else. We don't have enough money in the budget to pay for an adequate police force. Property crimes sort of fall to the bottom of the totem pole ahead of crimes against persons.
Oh, Ed, if you think I'm gonna buy that there are no crazy clients in the mortgage business -- I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, ya know.
Oh, yes, there are but---they are on the other end of the phone, usually, so way less time wasted than what you experienced! UGH!
They take the stained glass windows, the copper and the kitchens along with the bath fixtures here in Chicago. But they do, on a whole, leave the kitchen sink.
Sorry this happened but I learned something from your story. So, thanks for sharing.