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My father had a debilitating stroke three and a half years ago, and it has been a struggle since. 

Yet he had been doing fine, so much so that when discussing the need for kids to rush to his side yesterday morning, my Mom declared, “He’s not going to die today”.

Apparently, God had other plans.

He had been admitted to the hospital Friday night with symptoms of pneumonia.  When my Mom and sister went to visit yesterday morning, he was having trouble breathing, and his blood pressure was dropping.

My Mom whispered in his ear, “We love you, I love you, and it’s OK to go”.

He took one more breath, and then passed away.

I’m going to take a few days off, and be back Friday.

I am eagerly anticipating the new year because of the challenge of trying to beat 2009, the greatest year a guy could have!

On February 25, 2009, I spent the afternoon with Peter Y. Hong from the L.A. Times – it would be a day that changed my life forever.  Here’s how it started:

http://www.bubbleinfo.com/2009/02/26/the-good-old-days/

Peter somehow crafted our conversation into a story that was published April 2nd on the front page of the newspaper, right under the photo of the Obamas meeting Queen Elizabeth II for the first time. 

By 7 am my phone was ringing off the hook, and for months I received well-wishes from people all around the world, from Japan to England.

One of the first callers was Matt Stuart, from ABC News Nightline, which catalputed my 15 minutes of fame into warp speed.  I spent a day and a half with him and Vicki Mabrey, and on April 16th, this aired on national television:

Thank you Peter, Matt, and Vicki!!

With the generous support of blog readers here, I was determined to stay in the game, and be true to what got me here - bringing transparency to the pertinent facts about our local real estate market.  Today, I am fulfilled that together we have done just that!

I am eternally grateful for the support from:

The folks who have become clients as a result of what they have seen here!

The well-wishers!

Readers who comment – thank you for adding depth and breadth to the experience.

Readers who don’t comment – I know you are there, thanks for being here!

The 14 people of Klinge Realty.

My family and friends.

Donna, my dearly-beloved wife, and our two kids – I love my life!

I didn’t run these numbers until this morning, and had to rub my eyes for a minute in disbelief – I am humbled to report:

2009 statistics:

Bubbleinfo posts: 671 

Unique visitors:  167,906

Visits:  738,965

Pageviews:  1,376,283

Avg. time on site:  3:02

Youtube videos:  252

Youtube channel views:  818,678

The numbers are mind-boggling – thank you everyone for your participation!

duncbdunc left this comment a couple of posts back:

“By the way, there is something that I’ve wanted to mention to you for a while and since this is an old thread that nobody’s looking at anymore, perhaps this is a good time to pipe in.”

“Many of my friends, colleagues and aquaintances love your blog but we hesitate to hire you because our presumption is that you are too busy.”

“I wonder if it would be helpful for your business to devote a post to discuss your current level of capacity as I assume that there may be many silent readers/followers that would love to hire you but assume you are too busy to service their needs.”

“I wonder sometimes if you are like the lonely hot chick that nobody ever talks to because they assume that everyone else is.”

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The blog is a side project of mine, intending to be an introduction to Jim the Realtor, and what I do:

Drive around looking at houses all day.

Sometimes I’m talking to sellers about representing their best interests, but because they are exceedingly unrealistic, I don’t take many listings these days.  Instead, I devote most of my time to helping buyers.

Our first meeting is usually at a house for sale.  A new client will see a house on-line that looks interesting, and contact me for my thoughts on it.  I’ll suggest that we take a look at it together. 

Upon arrival you’ll note that the gray ghost is a little banged up, and I am too, but just another regular guy (5′ 10″, 175 lbs.).  We’ll start our tour of the house and I’ll be doing a lot of the talking.

I’m an evaluator, demonstrating how to size up the benefits and burdens of each house so you can make better-educated decisions.

It sounds simple, and looks easy.  But my job is to go beyond the basics, and touch on the things not so obvious, enabling you to fine-tune and expand your evaluating skill.

If you’re picky like most of my clients, you’ll get used to looking at houses you don’t buy.  Buyers sometimes feel guilty for wanting to look at listings that appear somewhat marginal in the MLS, but hey, let’s investigate every possibility.  This is where Richard comes in – he assists with showings, so we can meet people all day long throughout the North County Coastal region.

I encourage buyers to make plenty of offers – it helps people get used to the process, and hopefully have a few chances to read and understand the contracts.  I take full responsibility for writing a powerful offer on your behalf, and always back it up with compelling reasons to convince the listing agent and sellers to sign it. 

But we are just the warm-up act.

Once you find a house and open escrow, you’ll see why we’re successful – my wife Donna takes over.  She ensures that your “in-escrow” experience is smooth and steady, the way it should be. 

I’d love to have the opportunity to sell a house to every one of you.  The next listing you see that looks interesting, call or email me, and let’s go take a look – I have time!

I am very grateful to be busy, and appreciate those who have become clients as a result of the blog.  The package offered here is a result of us paying attention, and trying to provide exactly what the market demands.  If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Reader Susie sent in an article from msn.com called ”10 things your real estate broker won’t say”, which first appeared on smartmoney.com as one of their regular ‘10 things your ________ won’t say’ series.  Because the original only had seven comments, and msn.com’s has over 200, here is their link:

 http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=21755590

My comments on the noteworthy items on their list:

1.”Your open house is really just a networking party for me.”

There are many myths about open houses, mostly made up by realtors who don’t like to work weekends, or those who just kick their feet up on the couch and watch the ballgame – and then wonder why they never sell anything.

If you are thinking of selling your home, ask the agents you are interviewing about how they feel about open houses.  Their answer will tell you EVERYTHING about whether they are the realtor for you. 

This is the right answer:

Buyers are energized by the internet, and gravitate to the fresh new listings. When they see a hot one, they’ll jump in their car and drive by – you’d be smart to have an open house to make it easy and convenient for them to see the property when it is hot. 

When done right, OPEN HOUSES INSTILL URGENCY IN BUYERS.  When the market is hot, like it is now, the only reason a professional open house wouldn’t sell is because the price is wrong.  Get the price right, and use the open house as a tool to incite urgency. 

2. “My fees are negotiable.”

They say you should shop around, but let’s be clear. You should compare the services provided, and then measure whether the corresponding fee is worth it.  You can list your house for $100, so if you just want to save money, just call one of those guys.  But don’t expect that their service, and sales price, will be the same as mine.

9. “My Web site is a dead end.”

Excellent idea to check the agent’s website, particularly for relevant content.  But I disagree with this quote they included by a sales manager, “If a broker has to advertise properties that are already sold, it tells you that he doesn’t have enough inventory to keep his (roster of houses) full.” 

The sold listings help identify the agent’s track record, both in the area you are looking, and how they did price-wise.  Plus, if they have a lot of active (unsold) listings, they are a lousy agent.

10. “You can probably do this without me.”

Absolutely true, but not for everyone.  Whether buying or selling, if you think you can do it yourself, I encourage you to give it a try.

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The smartmoney.com article was another one of these sensationalist pieces, whose intent seemed to be to rile up the reader into thinking all agents are lying thieves.  Speaking of thieves, their article sure sounds a lot like the youtube on broker tricks, which you’ll probably see in the sidebar if you click on my youtube at the bottom. 

One of msn.com’s own authors wrote this article, a much more balanced summary of what to look for in a listing agent:

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108430

If you prefer youtube, here’s one of my first videos, on interviewing listing agents from 2006 (back when my hair really was brown):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-9qpueJik8

(Almost 18,000 views – thank you!)

This youtube video tour was taped a couple of weeks ago – and pertains to the area known as Del Mar Heights, west of the I-5 freeway in 92014:

Here are today’s comps for the entire area, not just the streets mentioned in the video:

dmheightscma1

July 4th is my mother’s 75th birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MA!

I’m sure she’s proud today – from espn.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/photos?gameId=290703125

Friday night’s Dodgers vs. Padres game, and the return of Manny Ramirez after serving a 50-game suspension for using banned substances:

This is my 25th year in the business.

I received my real estate license at the end of 1984, and moved to San Diego to start selling real estate.  Interest rates had just come down to 13% – I thought I had better get in while the getting was good!

Recently I was on Mission Gorge Road (on the north side of the I-8 freeway from SDSU), and stopped at the place where it all got started for Jim the Realtor:

I have a couple of other clips coming that’ll continue the story.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

While Jim the Realtor is on a well deserved and long overdue break he has foolishly handed the helm over to me.  Rob Dawg.  

When last we did this it was a different world.  Think back to the halcyon days of 2007.  A bucolic time when people were still discussing “if” there was a bubble and anyone predicting 10% declines was checked for drug abuse.  We certainly have mostly burned off the excesses in normal residential housing.  It still remains to see if the high end will join the rest.  I’ve loved reading JtR getting an education about San Diego and lots of laughs in the process.  

So, today’s question:  Are there any more shoes to drop on Southern California?  And please, not the old earthquake meme.  

I haven’t seen the Nightline show tonight, but I shot my own version while they were here last week for a day and a half. The TV crew followed while I was showing buyers some potential investment properties to buy in Oceanside, and we were looking for fixers. We found them!

We stopped for lunch to write an offer on a larger, but uglier, house, the one with the beehive between the plywood and window glass pane. We were scrambling because the listing agent already had tentative agreement with another buyer, and we were hoping to spoil their party. Even though we offered more, the bank clerk decided it was too late, even though she didn’t have signatures – so we missed out on that one.

Since then the buyers have seen 40 properties for sale, made 13 offers, and have 2 in escrow.  All decent listings had multiple offers on them.

At the end of the video you’ll see the 6,800sf house next to Camp Pendleton. It was purchased for $1,352,500 in January, 2008, and 90% financed. Not long after purchasing, the owner called me to discuss his plight. He bought it brand new and had been in escrow for months and months, and while he had his concerns, he went ahead and closed. He never moved in, instead he let the bank have it, and it’s currently listed for $949,000.

Here’s the video: