About Sacramento's Land Park

You know that book Women Are From Venus and Men Are From Mars? The author of that book, btw, John Gray, looks very similar to that creepy guy who was once married to Bree Vandercamp on Desperate Housewives. But with that aside, the Women-Venus, Men-Mars thing has practically become a household phrase, and John Gray has probably made a boatload of money for himself with that catchy term.

He was in the right place at the right time. I remember when his book came out, and some feminists at the time didn't agree with Gray's premise because they somehow thought he was undermining the mission. Although Gray never really indicated one sex was superior to the other, just that they were different. If you really need another example, though, I'm gonna share one with you.

Remember my neighbor who could not sell her home in Land Park because she has 3 kitchens? She has since moved away and rented it out. The person who is renting it turns out to be the buyer of a home I sold several years ago in South Land Park. I represented the seller, not him. See, this is really a small world, especially in Sacramento.

He came over yesterday to ask if he could use our phone. Seems he needed to call the property manager because his dog managed to get him locked out of the house. Or, at least that was his story, and he was sticking to it. It was raining, and my husband answered the door. My husband asked our neighbor if he needed a jacket. "No, I'm fine; it's not that cold," he said. "I'll go wait in my back yard." And he left. My husband closed the door.

I overheard this exchange, grabbed my cell and ran out in the rain after him. He was indeed standing in his back yard in the rain. I had to drag him back to my house.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

I don't know if we ever fully recover after a death of someone we love, but we do find ways to manage that empty spot in our lives. The pain gets easier to bear and it dissolves into happier memories of more pleasant times. For example, I can now talk more openly about the death of my cat, Brandon, without big fat tears rolling down my cheeks, and that's definite progress.

In fact, it's been more than a month now since I said goodbye to Brandon. So, I am proud of myself that my emotional state is such that I am able to adopt a new cat. Check out his photo on this page. Picking him up in 2 weeks. It took me more than a year to adopt a new cat after my previous cat died. That was in 1991, when Brandon came to live with me. Twenty years later, time passes a lot of faster than it did then, and I guess time becomes more precious.

Just for the record, we already have two cats, Pia and Pica, but they are our cats, ocicats, and not my cat.

My new kitten is a flame point ragdoll. He presently lives in San Diego. So, I'm flying down in two weeks to meet him at the San Diego airport. I will personally carry him in the cabin back to Sacramento because I don't want him flying in cargo. He will make his home in Land Park. I realize pets are transported in cargo all the time, but I can't help but feel it's too hard on them and too frightening.

I'm thinking about naming him Jackson. What do you think? Isn't he precious?

Photo: G. Strobel

I was reading Jim Braun's post this morning about helping out appraisers. He's talking about all those phone calls we as real estate agents get from appraisers asking us about value in certain neighborhoods. As a Land Park agent, I can get my fair share of inquiries from appraisers, especially in Land Park. It's where I live and work.

Some agents don't want to take the time to speak with an appraiser. Their attitude seems to be: What's in it for me? How am I going to make money from this call? I'm not, so I'm not talking to you. And that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. OK, maybe it's not the dumbest thing I ever heard, but it ranks right up there with thinking you can buy a Land Park foreclosure for 50 cents on the dollar.

I view the chance to speak with an appraiser as a glorious opportunity. It lets me educate the appraiser. Since HVCC and its recent revisions, you never know who you'll get for an appraiser, and appraisers don't work in every neighborhood every day. But as real estate agents, we do. Year in and year out. We have intimate knowledge to share with an appraiser, which could very well affect our next transaction and the one after that.

This appraiser wanted to know if he could add $50,000 as an additional value for a home facing William Land Park. It's not as simple as that. I know that appraisers are used to adding in another $10,000 for a pool, for example, which five years ago would have yielded another $40,000 and is not gonna happen today. However, the adage location, location, location still rings true. Being on the park is a great place for home in Land Park.

But there are buyers who don't want the traffic and noise. See, the beauty about homes in Land Park is most of them tend to embody the true meaning of market value. The true meaning of market value is when the amount a buyer is willing to pay and the amount a seller is willing to accept, match. In other words, if a buyer is willing to pay a seller's asking price, it will ordinarily appraise at that amount. There are always exceptions, but typically those situations involve agents who can't sell the appraiser on the price or you've got a really inept appraiser.

All kinds of other things come into play such as how far back from the street does the home sit? What kind of updates were made? How big is the lot? What is the layout like? Who was the architect? Who lives next door? How much curb appeal does it have? Where is the master situated? What is the square footage? How large is the garage? When was the pool installed? Where is the library? I could go on and on. And there's always the intangible how does it make you feel?

If you're looking to buy a home in Land Park, the truth is you could pay too much. That's where some of the short sales come from, you know. It's not because prices fell, it's because the buyers paid too much.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, home at 1999 13th Avenue in Land Park, Sacramento.

Disclosure: This is not my home, not my listing and I did not sell this home when it last sold in 2007 at $1,575,000. But if you're looking for a Land Park agent, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759 or email Elizabeth Weintraub.

You know what I hear some Sacramento real estate agents say about buyers? If mama ain't happy, nobody is happy -- meaning it's generally mama who keeps peace in the family. Because if you make mama happy, she'll make everybody else around her happy. And if you don't, she'll make everybody else miserable. So, if mama wants to buy a home, a particular home, maybe a home in Land Park, ya'll better sit up and pay attention.

Except it doesn't always work this way. Sometimes it's daddy who better be kept happy. It's rare that we have a compromise between the two extremes because a balance of power is not always equal.

Around my house, I know who rules. Without exception. It's the cats. Many homes in Land Park are occupied by cats. And right now all 3 of them are sound asleep in the family room, near me and my computer. Among them, Pia is the top cat, although she is the youngest and the only female. Pica is on the left. He's a chocolate-silver marbled ocicat. Pia, on the right, is a cinnamon-spotted ocicat. She doesn't care that Pica wants to sleep by himself on the condo. She is sitting practically on top of him.

If Pia and Pica were looking to buy a condo, Pia would go along with whatever Pica chose. She would not make the initial decision herself, but she would seal the deal. Home buyers aren't that different. But a smart Land Park agent will allow the natural order of relationships -- whatever that balance of power between the parties may be -- to dictate. Without judgment.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

I forgot that I had a taken a photo of my Land Park cactus garden last week. All the cacti have done extremely well this summer. People think that it's difficult to grow cactus in Sacramento, but I have a secret ingredient: Cactus Juice. It's a calcium-based fertilizer. You mix one teaspoon of Cactus Juice per gallon of water every 10 to 14 days, which for this Land Park resident means every other feeding -- during growing season, of course. Now that it's raining, I won't water the garden until next spring.

Last year I surrounded the tender cacti with water wells, but they've outgrown that protection. I generally lose a little bit of foliage on the succulents to frost freezes, even though I cover the garden with protective sheeting. So, if it ever stops raining today, I need to cover up the cactus garden for the winter.

See, this is what happens when you sell short sales in Sacramento and homes in Land Park. Too busy to tend to a regular garden. The only gardening thing I have time for nowadays is to grow cacti. Well, that and playing Angry Birds on my iPad.

What do you think of the "necklace" around the barrel cactus? Looks rather Elizabethan, no?