An agent emailed yesterday to say he tried to show a listing but the sellers did not call him back. He asked if I could help him to get an appointment. Look no further than the red sparkly shoes on your feet, Dorothy. You've always had the power to go home. Just click your heels together and repeat after me: There's no place like home, there's no place like home.
I am astonished at the number of agents in Sacramento who don't know what "Call First, Lockbox" means when they read it on a listing. Some of them think it means to call the listing agent. It means you call the seller, leave a message and go. It does NOT mean you call the seller, explain who you are, talk about how long you've been in the business and offer up your professional market opinion, describe who your buyers are and their occupations, offer a plethora of showing times and options, recite 3 telephone numbers, repeat, and then wait patiently for the seller to return your phone call.
You leave a message and go.
But bring your MLS printout so you know how to disarm the security alarm, for crying out loud. I put those types of listings into pending status the minute I get an offer because, sure enough, those alarms are triggered almost every day. It's tough for a seller to decide whether to arm a security alarm but they can be assured an agent will probably set it off. I do it myself, sometimes. I'm not immune, either.
Here is a wonderful starter home in Natomas that presents a fabulous opportunity for some lucky buyer to call home. This is a Beazer home, the Reflections model, in Gateway West Village. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a centralized open floor plan. The kitchen is the focal point of the home.
It's located off Duckhorn near Saintsbury. The layout is longer than it is wider. You enter through the formal living room, and there is a formal dining area. The kitchen has tiled counters and bar seating plus a breakfast nook. The family room is toward the back yard. Two bedrooms are down one hall and the master is off another hall.
The home was built in 2000, but the sellers later added the covered brick patio in the back and landscaping. There are trees in the yard. You also get central heat and air, indoor laundry, plus an attached 2-car garage, not to mention, if your kids are elementary age -- what a terrific opportunity to teach them to spell their address! Their learning curve will be way above that of other kids.
2760 Chateau Montelena Way, Sacramento, CA 95834, is offered exclusively by Lyon Real Estate as a short sale at $169,000. For more information, call your Sacramento short sale agent. For a private showing, call Linda Swanson, at 916 607 0111.
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.
I set off the alarm on my own listing and ended up escorting the responding deputy on a tour of the property. We had a great time, but I would have preferred to remember the code correctly and not muff it when the security company called to check on why the alarm went off. That won't happen again.
That's quite an address, forget about elementary school kids learning how to spell it - just remembering how to say it would be a challenge! LOL Nice listing Elizabeth. I didn't set off the alarm but showed a home once that "talked" every time a door was opened - talking houses and security alarms are a little unnerving.
Hi Dave: I explain the problems with security alarms to sellers but most of them would rather pay the fine for a false alarm than be the victim of a robbery.
Hi Mary: It is very unnerving to open the door and hear the alarm screech and not know where it is located to shut it off. My favorite was the house with the alarm situated in the kitchen with a gate and two German shepards inside the gate.