Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, 916.233.6759, Lyon RE

I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I love working on Wachovia short sales. Give me nothing but Wachovia short sales in Sacramento and Elk Grove, and I'll be a happy, happy short sale agent.

A Wachovia short sale is like that lone flower growing out of a sun-drenched sidewalk crack. I work on enough short sales in Sacramento to thoroughly appreciate the no-nonsense way that Wachovia handles its portfolio of loans in default. Other banks pale in comparison to Wachovia. I'd say that Wachovia performs like a Gold Medal athlete at the Olympics while, let's say, Bank of America hobbles along like some old guy in a wheelchair with a flat tire.

I met with the manager of Wachovia's short sale department 6 days ago. We walked through one of my short sale listings in Elk Grove as I spoke with the relocated seller on my cell. The manager asked a handful of questions, the seller responded and, yesterday, we got short sale approval.

Not only did we receive approval, but Wachovia is paying the seller $3,500, providing we can close escrow in early December. The seller had gone into default after transferring out-of-state and tapped several credit cards to the tune of about $25,000 to try to keep the mortgage current -- a struggle that proved fruitless in the end.

But wait, the approval gets better; Wachovia is also paying a higher-than-traditional amount of commission. I charge more for my short sale negotiations than many other agents. I figure I'm worth it because I get results. Some buyer's agents snort when they hear about my listing agreement percentage because they don't believe that I'll get it; however, all commissions are negotiable and, on a short sale, subject to bank approval.

It's no secret that short sales are a lot more work than other transactions. I work extremely hard for the commissions I earn. I'm happy to report that Wachovia recognizes this and pays accordingly. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I've been doing them long enough to have established unparalleled systems, which handle the volume, and lets me give my clients the undivided attention they deserve. So, if you are contemplating a short sale in Sacramento, give me a ring. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.

And if you're a Sacramento Wachovia short sale seller, believe me, I'm rolling out the Red Carpet.

People wonder what it's like to be self-employed. Having freedom from a boss is often quoted as one of the reasons that real estate agents go into the business. An associate in Sacramento says that being her own boss means that she's free to choose any block of 12 hours out of the day to work. It's not unusual for busy, full-time agents in today's market to put in 16 to 18 hours a day.

I often start work at 5 AM. It's quiet. I can answer emails and questions from my About.com homebuying site. It's also when I write my Land Park blog and post it on Active Rain. At night, I turn off my cell phone at 7 PM and settle in to watch a movie, but I still answer emails until 9 PM. Every day is generally a long day for me.

Holidays come and go. Leaves drop from the trees; then suddenly they are budding out. The sun goes down early; then the sun comes up early. It's raining, no, it's 115 in the shade. Sometimes, it's hard to keep track. I find there are times when I'm driving past a school that I have to stop to think whether I should slow down to 25 MPH because I don't know whether it's a month when kids are supposed to be in school. I guess you could safely say that I'm pretty focused on real estate.

This is why I look forward to vacations. At least once a year. The more exotic, the better. Come November 30th, I will be in Vietnam. I chose that date last summer because it's when the first-time home buyer tax credit is set to expire. Seems the safest stretch of time to get away.

People ask me if I think the home buyer tax credit will be extended. A bill is already in works but whether it will pass is hard to say. I don't see any reason to try to stimulate the December market. This is a time when many sellers take their homes off the market and the number of buyers dwindle. It would make more sense to motivate the spring-time market buyers.

But whatever happens with the home buyer tax credit, I'll be touring rice fields, experiencing the many diverse cultures in Vietnam and most likely devouring a daily bowl of Pho for breakfast, confident that my associates will competently handle my escrows and Sacramento short sales in my absence.

Until November 30th, though, the market in Sacramento will probably continue to be a mad house. This week especially. Because this is the last week that many first-time home buyers have to get into escrow, with any hopes of closing by November 30th.

Photo: Stan Goodwin

You expect nothing less than sheer perfection in food from Rick Mahan, the owner and chef of Waterboy Restaurant in Midtown Sacramento, and his new restaurant, OneSpeed Pizza in East Sacramento, does not disappoint.

This is truly a neighborhood experience. For one thing, it's difficult to find parking at 48th and Folsom, so you're better off walking or arriving on your bike. As the imprint on the glass window says: OneSpeed Pizza. Bikes. Love. There is a chalkboard at the entrance displaying a message. Yesterday afternoon it advertised a Monte Cristo, probably one of the most fattening yet mouthwatering treats a human being can enjoy.

Since I've lost a lot of weight and want to keep it off, I passed on the Monte Cristo. But just the thought of salty ham and melting cheese continues to linger in my mind.

The heart of the menu is pizza. Not just any pizza, but a variety of choices, each prepared with fresh, local ingredients such as spinach and roasted peppers or arugula and caramelized onions. You can see the pizza oven in the center of the photo, which produces a slightly charred but tasty crust on the pizza.

I started off with an Old Soul latte, from a coffee business co-owned by one of my clients, Jason Griest. My husband stuck with water, served from what appeared to be a refillable bottle. He knew what he wanted: pizza with OneSpeed's housemade sausage. I had a more difficult time deciding what I wanted because it wasn't pizza. The choices are basically big plates or small plates, many of which are salads.

I chose the Bitter Greens salad, prepared with arugula, endive, Asian pears, blue cheese, walnuts and balsamico. You know, I like pronouncing the word: arugula. The accent is on the second syllable, and it makes me feel like a cartoon character to let it roll off my lips. I get a mental image of a bike horn blowing up in my face.

But I also wanted to try the daily soup. It was black bean. I imagine the beans were smashed and simmered before adding more beans because the integrity of the beans were intact. The soup was topped by a dollop of sour cream. A bit salty but delightful. When the waiter spotted my empty bowl, he asked if he could take it away -- like, what was I going to do with an empty bowl? Pick it up and lick it? The thought did occur to me. It was that good.

Overall, the food was exceptional, but the service was very slow. We arrived about 12:30 and didn't leave until 2:15. It took forever to get our table cleared and the check. However, I devoured every morsel that was placed in front of me, including part of my husband's most delicious sausage pizza. He was a bit annoyed that I continued to check my BlackBerry as it buzzed through lunch, sending emails that said I was at lunch and would get back to the callers later. I thought I was being considerate by not answering my cell. Ah, such is the life of a Sacramento short sale agent.

OneSpeed Pizza. Bikes. Love.

4818 Folsom Boulevard

Sacramento, CA

Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner

Home delivery by bicycle available Tuesday through Sunday nights.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

Yesterday, I had 2 closings: one in Curtis Park and another in Carmichael. These listings were not short sales, which in itself is a feat in this market. The bulk of my listings are Sacramento short sales. On top of this, I handled 2 simultaneous home inspections: a home in Land Park and another in South Land Park, plus I conducted a final walk-through of a home in South Land Park. That hectic schedule left me with very little time to play my new computer game: Plants vs. Zombies.

I've made it through all the levels of this game, except for some of the puzzles and mini-games. This is not a mindless game like Bejeweled; it requires strategy. After winning all the levels, some 60 games, I discovered that you can start over at Level I. Because in round two, some of the plants are automatically selected for you, which means you can play Plants vs. Zombies again by implementing a different strategy. It's a bit like selling real estate: although each transaction may have similarities, the mix of clients makes each transaction unique.

At my final walk-through in South Land Park, I spent a little over an hour with a buyer, talking about her new home and the changes she wants to make. It is important to me that all of my buyers are thrilled when escrow closes and that all of their questions are answered.

In this particular situation, the buyer inherited money from her father's estate. This home was her father's final gift to her which, after I said that, brought tears to the buyer's eyes. She expressed a mix of emotions, both very happy and yet a tinge sad.

She was thrilled because the sellers gave her much of the 1960's furniture in the home, she got a good price (while beating out multiple offers) and it was exactly the type of home she wanted. But it's also difficult to get through the first couple of years after losing a parent. Both my husband and I are orphans, so I know how it feels first hand. Often I do a final walk-through in 10 minutes, but this time I felt it was imperative to spend more time in the home and with the buyer.

We talked about what it's like to help a buyer find that perfect home, and I shared examples of the dramatically different types of buyers I'm working with at the moment. She said, "I think you sell homes based on your intuition." She's right, in part. But I also do not think of myself as a person who sells homes. I blurted out: "I don't sell homes to anybody. I simply give buyers what they want."

I thought about that statement as I drove home, with that insane music from Plants vs. Zombies running through my head. Don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't shake it loose? I think that's what makes being a real estate broker so personally rewarding and enjoyable for me. As sappy as it sounds, we do make dreams come true for our clients.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub, Fall in Land Park

Short sale buyer's agents in Sacramento are wising up and asking more questions upfront about my listings before showing them to a buyer, but I still get the goofy questions about homes that are new to the market such as: Is this short sale approved by the bank? Some banks such as Wachovia and Wells Fargo are putting systems in place to preapprove the sales price but most banks do not. It takes an offer from a qualified buyer to get a response.

I've had only one bank this year tell me that the price on my Sacramento short sale wasn't satisfactory, and that same bank came back 3 months later to accept an offer at that price. That bank, of course, was Bank of America.

Banks are accepting the short sale offers I submit. However, the offers I submit are generally much higher than my list price. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I realize that the market generally supports 2 prices: the list price and the expected offer price.

Simply put, banks want market value. Depending on the bank, however, banks may accept an offer that is priced somewhere in the range of 5% to 12% below market. What is market value? Market value is based on the comparable sales.

When I list a Sacramento short sale, I always pull the comparable sales, and I consider the pending sales, too, because pending sales are indicative of which way the market is moving and will become the sold comps at closing. Most of my short sales are listed about 10% below market value. This tactic brings multiple offers, which tends to push up the offers closer to market value. I advise my short sale sellers to accept the offer from the most qualified and dedicated buyer at a price that is closest to market value.

The problem isn't whether the short sale bank will accept the price, it's whether the price will appraise by the buyer's lender. Sometimes, buyers write offers that are too high. In one instance, I had to tell a buyer's agent that she may want to submit an addendum at a lower price. She had offered, let's say, $350,000 on an Elk Grove short sale listing that was priced at $300,000. I suspected that the comparable sales would not support such a high price and we'd have a problem getting it appraised at that price. So, her buyer lowered the offer to $330,000.

Sure enough, the buyer's appraisal came in at $329,000, and the buyer coughed up the $1,000 difference in cash.

Tip: Before you sign a purchase offer for a Sacramento short sale, ask your agent to give you the comparable sales for that neighborhood and to interpret that data for you. Because often, the listed price means nothing. Some agents ask their sellers to sign listing agreements at prices far less than market value, hoping that the short sale bank will give away that home for free, when the bank will do no such thing.

Lots of home buyers don't understand this, and many can't wrap their heads around the fact that some prices are plucked from thin air. They see a home on the market at a certain price and wrongly assume that they can buy that short sale at that price, when they can't.