You hear about kids breaking off relationships with each other via texting, but they have an excuse. They are clueless kids. Or their parents didn't teach them better manners. However, when we get older, and hopefully wiser, we realize that there are certain situations in which picking up the phone and making that personal call is required. It's not always appropriate to email or text.
For example, as a Sacramento short sale agent, when I receive a short sale approval letter from my seller's bank, I generally call the seller to share the news. It's a milestone. Sometimes, in the short sale business, it's a downright miracle.
I also call my sellers when escrow has closed to give them the official news: their nightmare is over. One seller told me last week it was the first time she had ever spoken to me on the phone. We had never met. I am so used to conducting my business via email, texting or voice mail that I didn't even realize that I'd never talked to her on the phone until we closed escrow.
Yesterday, an agent emailed me a cancellation for an approved short sale. No phone call. It left me wondering why. We had loan docs ordered, the home inspection completed, appraisal done, and her buyer suddenly freaked out. Surely, as a real estate professional, the agent bears some responsibility to personally explain a cancellation.
Real estate is all about relationships. But in California we deal with the prevailing and annoying motto: Dude, I flaked.
That's not how I do business. It's not OK to flake. It's not OK to avoid personal responsibility.
Here are sellers who are doing the responsible thing. They are doing a short sale instead of a foreclosure. This home is in the Sheldon Passage subdivision of Elk Grove at Camden Pointe. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a 3-car garage.
This is a two-story, built in 1995. When you walk into this delightful home, the first thing you notice is how light and airy it is. That's due to the vaulted ceilings and extra windows. The light pours in. It makes you feel good just to sit in the kitchen and stare out at the gorgeous yard.
It's spacious and roomy but not too big at 1,918 square feet, per the assessor. If you're looking for a first-floor bedroom, look no further because you've got it. That bedroom also has exterior access to the yard. Of course, there is a family room with a fireplace, and you'll also find ceramic floors in the kitchen and a kitchen island. It has an open floor plan.
8857 Tritonia Court, Elk Grove, CA 95624, is offered exclusively as a short sale by Lyon Real Estate at $205,000. For more information, call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. For a private showing, call Barbara Dow at 916 761 7398.
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.
given that my 17-year old texts me from his bedroom rather than coming down to see me face/face, I fear for the direction we are going! this problem is likely to become the norm and phone calls/personal interaction are likely to be seen in the future as a pain in the neck?! sigh. I am getting old...
YIKES! As Margo fears the direction....and you demonstrate...sometimes I wonder what the future of real estate holds. As you say, " ...Real estate is all about relationships...." Here is a topic for serious conversation. Is this about simple Business Savvy (or lack thereof) ? Or does it go to a broader issue...Ethics?...
Thanks for the post that has me thinking this morning...I'm "Suggesting" it!
Elizabeth, this is a great reminder that in business as well as life some things must be communicated by phone or in person. That is a very nice home you have listed for just above 200K; I love that covered porch! Thanks Elizabeth, for adding to my vocabulary as well: "Dude, I flaked"! ^_~
Hey Margo: See, that's why I passed on having kids. I can take that from my niece, but I'd kill my own kid.
Hi Asheville NC: I think sometimes we forget this is a people business, and people are flesh and blood and real. We're not icons. We don't communicate via mental telepathy. At least not yet.
Hi Bruce: I simply cringe when I hear the Dude, I flaked excuse. It's all over the place.
Elizabeth, I try to do everything by phone or in person,. Anyone can misunderstand a text or email or take the tone of conversation wrong. It's no good. Sometimes I just don't think technology is all it's cracked up to be!
Crap, Linda, if I did everything in person or by phone, I wouldn't be in business. Where do you find the time to do that? I operate on warp speed all day long, and every so often I still have to slide something from one day into the next. I pretty much do everything except shoot photos via email. I save my phone time for the important calls or when I'm driving.
Elizabeth I love it when a Realtor sends me a text who I never spoken to like I should know who they are just a number I am looking at ? with message ? no name ?
That's too bad, Elizabeth. Hope you find a new buyer soon!!!!
Elizabeth, I like it when you do a Rant! Justified for sure! I can't get over the number of unprofessional agents that simply do not pick up the phone. I get offers and the agent never calls to tell me I have an offer or previously to get the feel or low down on the listing and what they need to do to get an accepted offer. That phone call is so important. Great post! I'm giving up look to see if you bought a vacation home. I hope you found something wonderful and that it will bring you much fun, leisure and relaxation!