Good Restaurants in Elk Grove?

I love Elk Grove; however, my main complaint about this city is the lack of good restaurants. This city is a chain restaurant mecca and while I enjoy a consistent meal from city to city, in my own town, I want variety and non-corporate owned restaurants. So with that in mind, here's a list of good restaurants in Elk Grove.

Elk Grove Brewery --- Elk Grove Boulevard
This is one of the city's gems restaurant-wise. The atmosphere is part brewery, part bar, part kid friendly. The food is absolutely delicious and each dish has its own special recipe. A must eat are the garlic fries. You will reek garlic for days, but they are so worth it. And must drinks are the seasonal beers, brewed right on the premises.

Vince's Italian Restaurant --- Elk Grove Florin Road
Walking into Vince's is like walking back in time...red checked table cloths and 1960's decor. You feel like you're at home here. Food is good and simple Italian with some excellent steak choices. Can't beat the price, number or courses or the carafe of house red.

Silva's Sheldon Inn --- Grant Line Road
If you're looking for a nice dinner of upscale dining and quality food and don't feel like driving into Sacramento, this is the place. It's tucked away just far enough on the outskirts of Elk Grove to make you feel like you've left the city.

La Fuente Mexican Restaurant --- E. Stockton Boulevard
Come here for good, authentic Mexican food. Start out with just the best thick tortilla chips and two types of hot salsa. All dishes are the real deal and will keep you full until the next day. Atmosphere is casual and the staff treats you like family.

Cassidy's Family Restaurant --- E. Stockton Boulevard
For a breakfast full of flavor, butter and rib-sticking power, come to Cassidy's. All breakfast favorites are here... biscuits and gravy, corned beef hash, steak and eggs, omelets, pancakes and good coffee.

So if you're thinking of opening a restaurant that is not a national chain, please come to Elk Grove. We need you and I will frequent your business.

If the Price is Too Good, it's a Short Sale

On a weekly, sometimes daily, basis, I will have a client forward me an email listing of a beautiful home with an incredible, way below market value price. I know immediately that it's a short sale. The short sale speech is one I've gotten quite good at, but it still takes a few times of explaining it or actually living it, for it to sink in.

A way below market price on a short sale home is likely not approved by the bank. It's deceptive marketing just to get buyers in the door and offers to the bank. I'm not saying all agents of short sales do this. Many agents actually do price them competitively within market value. I understand where an agent is coming from in pricing a home low and I truly feel sympathetic for the sellers who are in the predicament of a short sale, but it's still unfair to deceive the public.

If a client is brave enough to make an offer on a short sale, then I have to sound like Ms. doom and gloom explaining in realistic terms that they will not hear back from the bank for at least two months. I have clients who have personally experienced this wait and now believe me. One couple who put on offer on a short sale last December, got impatient and are now living in a home they bought in March, and have still not heard back from the bank.

However, I'm now hearing from agents who are doing short sales that supposedly banks are being more cooperative now that their books are getting inundated with foreclosures. I hope that's true. I have another offer on a short sale for a client. We have been waiting since May 15 for an answer. This client really, really wants this house, so we are holding tight. His is the only offer on the house and there is a true hardship for the sellers, so I'm hopeful.

If a client wants to pursue a short sale, I will do everything I can to get them in contract with the bank. But I will do it only after discussing all the necessary pitfalls and patience needed as well as the potential opportunity to get a great deal on a home and save a seller from foreclosure. I will always hope for the latter.

The Excitement of That First Home

I love first-time home buyers. Yes, there is a lot of hand holding, but there is so much satisfaction in my job as a Realtor to help a client buy their first home. It is exciting and scary all at the same time.

I'm currently negotiating a home for a twenty-something newlywed couple who are first-time buyers. They are very stressed out, but also so excited. They were like two kids in a candy store when they realized they had found their first home. They were visualizing where their dining table and computer would go, checking the different angles on the TV while sitting on the couch, and playing with the stereo for its surround sound loudness. And I was getting excited right there with them. You can't help but smile.

I can remember so vividly -- even though it was 8 years ago -- when I bought my first home. The worry over the mortgage payment, the sleepless nights, the nausea, the stress, while at the same time being so excited about finally getting to own a home. To be able to paint walls, put up curtains, plant a garden . . . all without asking a landlord's permission. I'm in my third home now and it's still a thrill, but nothing matches that first home experience.

Pending, Pending, Sold!

A strange thing has happened in my real estate home tours these past two weeks. I will show homes, the clients will like one or more, I check with the agents, and all of a sudden they are pending. This hasn't happened on just one home, but nearly 10 homes from all over the area in cities such as Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Natomas and Elk Grove. It's like there's been a slight change in the market where homes that are priced competitively and in good condition are selling quickly, which is always the case, but more evident recently.

The Buyer's market mentality has some buyers thinking they have plenty of time to act on a good deal of a home, when in reality, the best ones are still selling quick and many with multiple offers by those buyers who do not hesitate to make an offer on a home.

I previewed a dozen homes today for a client, by the time I got back, one of them was already pending. It's weeks likes these that keep us agents even more aware of how dynamic the market is and how important it is to be one step ahead of the market.

The REO Adventure

REO (real estate owned) homes, also known as foreclosures, are an adventure in home showings like no other. When I'm touring or previewing homes that are REO I never know what I'm going to find. Sometimes it's an absolutely beautiful home and other times, well, not so much.

This past week I have toured over 20 REO properties and while I will have to say that agents of these homes are really starting to clean them up, there are still 20% or so that are quite the adventure. When opening the door of an REO, I'm always a little hesitant as to what I will find, what smells I'll encounter and how quickly I will feel the need to take a shower afterward.

For instance, one such property had a dead bird at the back window and ants in the process of having a very nice dinner. Another home, had a pungent unknown smell that made it hard to breathe. While another, had piles and piles of garbage all over the home. I practically ran out of that one. And lastly, another had no windows, flooring or inside walls. While I laughingly joked to my client about finding the lock box, I noticed the sign said "By Appointment Only."

Since the Sacramento area's REO properties are predicted to quadruple by the end of 2007, my adventures will continue...never a dull day in real estate!