Biography: More than 30 Years of Experience, PLUS a Personal Guarantee of 100% Client Satisfaction.
- 1974: Title Searcher at First American Title, Boulder, CO.
- 1976: Certified Escrow Officer at Stewart Title, Santa Ana, CA.
- 1978: Broker, Real Estate of America, Newport Beach, CA.
- 1993: President, Equity Enhancement, Minneapolis, MN.
- 2003: Real Estate Agent, Lyon Real Estate, Sacramento, CA.
- 2006: Broker-Associate, Lyon Real Estate, Sacramento, CA.
Credentials:
- The Art of Real Estate Counseling (Charles Chatham), 1978.
- Real Estate Certificate from Coastline Community College, 1979.
- Earned Certificate in Escrow from Coastline Community College, 1979.
- Orange Coast College & Dunwoody College of Technology.
- Sac Bee Stock Pick of the Year, 2004 and 2005.
- California Association of Realtor's RECI Designation, 1978.
- Featured on CBS Evening News.
- Special Guest on Good Day, Sacramento!
- Building Unity in Oak Park volunteer.
- Featured Guest on Wall Street Journal Radio.
- Quoted Source for CNN / Sacramento Bee, among other media.
- Writes for The New York Times at Home Buying & Selling Blog
Awards, Honors & Contributions:
"Executive Associate" Continually Awarded by Lyon Real Estate
"Most Improved in Closed Units in Downtown Office" Awarded by Lyon Real Estate
Continuing "Master's Club" Awarded by Sacramento Association of Realtors
Author of "How to Buy Property Outside Your Home State," published by Impact Publishing
Guest Columnist at Sacramento Business Journal
Year-Long Contributor to Sacramento News & Review
Author of "Creative Escrow, Course 212," published by Brown's School of Thought
Featured Selling Select Agent for HomeSteps, a Freddie Mac Unit
Author of "Definancing Real Estate," published by Impact Publishing
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From Elizabeth Weintraub:
I started in this business in 1974 as a title policy typist for First American Title in Lakewood, Colorado. We used carbon paper and typewriters, before the days of the self-correcting IBM Selectric II. If we made a mistake, we had to scrape off the carbon imprint, insert torn pieces of carbon paper between multiple sheets of paper and retype the letter or word until it stuck. I went stir crazy, asked for a promotion to title searcher and moved to the Boulder office.
Every day I would trot over to the Boulder County Courthouse in six-inch heels. I stood on my feet for eight hours a day, heaving the gigantic Grantor and Grantee books to the counter, thumbing through alphabetized sections to trace a chain of title. I used a protractor to draw out metes and bounds descriptions. Do you know there are more names filed under the letter S than any other letter of the alphabet? When I found a gap in title, I used the tax rolls, death certificates and marriage license records to figure out what happened.
But when I later moved to California and applied at a title company, I was informed that most of the searches were performed on Microfiche (a machine that slides negatives under a magnifying glass), so nobody had to know how to conduct a title search at the courthouse. First American suggested I go into escrow instead.
I started as an escrow secretary at Stewart Title in Santa Ana. Within a few months, they promoted me to escrow officer. The following year I earned Certified Escrow Officer status and completed two years of college courses in real estate. I earned my Certificate of Completion in Escrow and my Certificate of Completion in Real Estate from Coastline Community College.
By the late 1970s, interest rates were double digits, buyers were falling out of escrow and most agents were turning to creative financing. I handled a lot of land contracts and lease option sales, building up a respectable following among real estate agents. One day an agent came into my office to complain that a savings and loan association turned down his buyer. He asked me how he could pull the deal back together, and I gave him a few ideas. That's when it dawned on me. He was making $10,000 for that transaction, and I was making $300. I was in the wrong end of the business. LOL.
I became a real estate agent, a year later earned my broker's license and bought the company where I worked.
When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I returned to Minneapolis to care of her, where I stayed for almost 10 years. During that time, I formed Equity Enhancement, a home improvement and staging company that sold pre-listing advice and services to sellers. I also bought, fixed up and sold a half dozen homes, doing all the work myself. I can install skylights, refinish a basement, put in a fireplace, build a garage, and more. Along the way, I volunteered to work a second job as a marketing and communications director for a nonprofit, but my focus was always real estate.
When my mother died in early 2002, my husband and I moved to Sacramento. I quickly reactivated my real estate license and joined the downtown office of Lyon Real Estate. A few years later, I accepted additional work as the Home Buying & Selling columnist at About.com. I spend a few afternoons every week writing articles and blogs for Homebuying.About.com. I'm a person who can never have too much to handle at one time. My main focus is serving buyers and sellers in the Sacramento Capitol Core Region, with a focus on Land Park and surrounding areas. I think about real estate when I wake up in the morning, and it's often the last thing I think about at night. I love this business!
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