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

I would not walk into a listing presentation without a properly prepared CMA, which includes not only the active listings that will compete with this home, but data on the pending sales (even though they have not yet sold, I can generally weasel the price out of the listing agents) and, of course, the sold comparables. I adjust each comparable by adding or subtracting values to arrive at a price in line with the subject property. I also pull the expireds, canceled and withdrawn listings. By the time I sit down with the seller, I am fully prepared to discuss pricing.

Yet, when the demo crew hit my house this morning to tear out the kitchen, they arrived without a dolly, they were tearing the glass sheets off my walls without wearing gloves and smashing at cabinets without wearing protective eye wear. These are professionals. This is what they do for a living.

I suppose I sounded like a mother hen, prodding them to wear gloves, asking them if a sledgehammer would make their job easier.

Imagine if a seller had to tell me how much the home down the street sold for?

I know I said in the past that I would never go on the cable TV show House Hunters, but a few weeks ago I found myself eating those words. Hey, sometimes it happens that we change our minds -- it's a woman's prerogative. After all, I reasoned, I've done a few TV shows, and they are actually kind of fun. Besides, I am certain I will most likely bring a warped sense of humor to the show. Mark my words, I will NOT walk into the kitchen waving my arms to pronounce that "This is the kitchen." Besides, the kitchen in this Land Park home is open to the living room and doesn't exactly have a defined space within four walls.

My clients are pumped about it, too. Which is good because after the producers of House Hunters emailed me, I approached a bunch of clients to see if they had an interest, and most of them were too camera shy. In a few cases, the wife wanted to go on the show, but the husband did not, or vice versa. Others couldn't take off work.

These lucky buyers, though, are buying a magnificent home near William Land Park -- not too far from where I live in Land Park -- which is closing next month. They are beautiful, witty and charming people who will undoubtedly make valuable contributions to the Land Park community. That's all I can tell you about it for now. There is also talk about filming another . . . more later.

Photo: Big Stock Photo

The tree-lined streets of Land Park today rose from their dusty Gold Rush days, founded by names easily recognized in Land Park such as Swanston, Marshall, Cavanaugh, Caruthers, Wright and Kimbrough. Land south of the Zoo was first developed by John Sutter and known as Sutterville. Many landmarks such as the Sutterville Brewery, Riverside Swimming Baths, Edmonds Field and The Land Park Plunge have long ago been demolished. William Land (1837-1911) gave the 166-acre park to the city in 1926.

Here are 26 photos of Land Park homes and our surrounding landmarks.

All photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

If you miss a cactus flower bloom on the day it bursts into splendor, you have missed it forever. There is no turning back the clock. You've got to catch the moment when it arrives or it's gone.

It's very similar to a new listing that pops on the market. The minute a home that fits your parameters appears, you should take action. If you want to sleep on it, call Tom, Dick and Harry to discuss it, it's likely to be gone by tomorrow.

Homes are unique. No two are exactly the same, even if you are looking in a cookie-cutter subdivision.

Fortunately, California buyers have a way to cancel a contract if further inspections don't meet the buyers' standards. It's called contract contingencies. There is no excuse not to write an offer when you find the perfect house. Unless, of course, you are waiting for the next cactus flower to bloom. But that, too, blooms for only for one day.

You can see in the photo to the left that I have a first-bloom flower on my cactus. But this is an old cactus, and it has many more buds just waiting to flower. They're itching to produce the next breathtakingly beautiful artwork. Will the next flower be as pretty as the first? Hard to say.

When it blooms, I'll post another photo, and you can tell me. :)

It looks like the lease2ownhomes web site is for sale now. My guess would be the company is trying to raise money to pay back those unfortunate victims of their rental scam, but I don't know this as a fact. As a side note, the company claims it is going into retirement, but we all know how that one plays out. It's likely the company will set up some other way to scam, er, earn a profit. It's owned by Tucows. Get it? 2 Cows.

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today announced that Lease2OwnHomes needs to repay the down payments and deposits it seized from unsuspecting tenants who fell into arrears. The settlement approved by the Sacramento Superior Court says the company must pay $300,000 in penalties if it doesn't immediately refund $150,000 to the victims whose payments it seized.

According to Section 17500 of the California Business and Professions code, under a lease-to-own arrangement, the lessor can only collect unpaid rent. It can't seize the lessee's down payment.

Lease2OwnHomes apparently accepted just about anybody in its program, even tenants who had no job. When the tenants defaulted or missed a payment, Lease2OwnHomes swiped their down payments.

This just goes to show that nobody should enter into a lease option sale without the advice of a lawyer.

Photo: Big Stock Photo