Here’s a sample of the frenzy-like activity spotted all around the county. The zip code for this street is Kensington’s 92116, but one block away is Talmadge, 92115, and City Heights, 92105, and although it may be north of El Cajon Blvd. (by just 1.5 blocks), the negatives here weigh heavily – condition of property, proximity to busy street, tougher neighborhood nearby, plus the house is dark inside.
And there are 5-6 offers in on it!
Here’s the youtube video tour:
Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
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CA DRE #01527365, CA DRE #00873197
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We sold a home with Jim and Donna and from beginning to end they were consummate professionals. Their initial walk through the property resulted in a list of items to be repaired or updated. They supplied a list of vendors and job quotes to do the repairs and updates. We originally wanted to sell ‘as is’ and just get it over with. They gave us a selling price for ‘as is’ and options for doing a few updates/repairs to doing it all with the selling price for each option. We agreed to do all they suggested and we sold for the exact price they predicted. For every dollar spent we got back more than $2 back in the selling price. And they got that price in a rising interest rate environment! Donna and Jim are extremely detailed and guide you through ever aspect of the sale. There were no surprises thanks to their guidance. We couldn’t be more pleased with their representation. Thank you Donna and Jim, Jerry and MaryTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We have known Jim & Donna Klinge for over a dozen years, having met them in Carlsbad where our children went to the same school. As long time North County residents, it was a no- brainer for us to have the Klinges be our eyes and ears for San Diego real estate in general and North County in particular. As my military career caused our family to move all over the country and overseas to Asia, Europe and the Pacific, we trusted Jim and Donna to help keep our house in Carlsbad rented with reliable and respectful tenants for over 10 years. Naturally, when the time came to sell our beloved Carlsbad home to pursue a rural lifestyle in retirement out of California, we could think of no better team to represent us than Jim and Donna. They immediately went to work to update our house built in 2004 to current-day standards and trends — in 2 short months they transformed it into a literal modern-day masterpiece. We trusted their judgement implicitly and followed 100% of their recommended changes. When our house finally came on the market, there was a blizzard of serious interest, we had multiple offers by the third day and it sold in just 5 days after a frenzied bidding war for 20% above our asking price! The investment we made in upgrades recommended by Jim and Donna yielded a 4-fold return, in the process setting a new high water mark for a house sold in our community. In our view, there are no better real estate professionals in all of San Diego than Jim and Donna Klinge. Buying or selling, you must run and beg Jim and Donna Klinge to represent you! Our family will never forget Jim, Donna, and their whole team at Compass — we are forever grateful to them.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. WeI had the pleasure of working with Klinge Realty Group to sell our home in Carmel Valley, and I cannot recommend them highly enough! Jim and Donna demonstrated exceptional professionalism, offering expert guidance on market conditions and pricing strategy, which resulted in a quick and successful sale. Communication was prompt and we were well-informed throughout the entire process. For anyone looking for a dedicated and knowledgeable real estate team, look no further! ---Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Donna and Jim Klinge of Klinge Realty Group have our highest possible recommendation. From Donna and Jim’s first visit to our house through closing their advice and counsel was candid and honest in all dealings. They kept us fully informed throughout the process. The house sold less than three days after listing with a two-week closing. My wife and I have sold several houses during our lives. This was by far the best experience. Klinge Reality is a premium service realtor. You can’t make a better choice for someone to sell your home fast and for top dollar.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Donna and Jim provided exceptional support and professionalism throughout the entire process. We couldn't have been happier with their efforts. They made our house shine, and thanks to their expertise, it sold above the listing price in the very first weekend! Truly a fantastic experience from start to finish.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. This year has been difficult on our family, mainly due to having to sell our home. Thankfully we knew God had a plan for us and working with the Klinge team was a key part of it. It was an obvious decision to work with them again after such an amazing experience when purchasing the same home we needed to sell. The challenge was, how will we do this in so little time with so much going on? Jim and Donna held our hand every step of the way. Whenever an unexpected issue arose they found and provided a solution. Never once did we feel pressured to make a decision and the Klinges were always reassuring after providing the information that the decision was ours to make. Despite the curve balls, they never panicked and exemplified the “can do” attitude, making us feel optimistic and taken care of. Their expertise and professionalism was superb. But of all the reasons to work with the Klinges, the most impactful and valuable is their compassion and genuine care for their clients. We pray that we can one day purchase our forever home and you better believe that Jim and Donna will be representing us - as long as they will have us of course. Thank you again Klinge team! Your execution, experience, and care are unmatched.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Jim and Donna were fantastic! Jim understanding my needs, recommending potential places, pointing out the pros and cons of each property was invaluable. Then when the offer was accepted Donna’s organized guidance through the inspections, paperwork etc made the whole process seem effortless. So grateful that I had them on my side!Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We first found Jim through his blog at bubbleinfo.com, which really showcased his knowledge of SoCal real estate. Since then we've done three transactions with Jim and Donna, and they are an incredible full service agency, with Jim's deep market insight and Donna's deft contract and project management. We trust them implicitly in their analysis and strategy, which is based on years of experience. They're always available and on top of things, and we strongly recommend them to anyone.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. The Good The Klinge Realty Group operates like a finely tuned machine, with a very personal touch. We contacted them on a Sunday and they were talking to us about our family and our needs on our living room couch the following day. They carefully listened to us and worked with us to identify the best and quickest path to listing within 2 weeks to take advantage of the low inventory conditions in our South Carlsbad neighborhood. They knew our tract specifically and had many previous sales there over the years - they came prepared with a thorough analysis of comparative sales and recommended a pricing strategy that they felt confident would yield offers the first weekend on the market. The Great Over the next two weeks Donna coordinated a range of vendors who she knew from experience could get the preparation to list work we needed done on time and with high quality. Our light tune-up involved excellent experiences with their stagers, landscapers, contractors, electricians, and plumbers. Throughout this period Donna's daily communication was clear, concise, and responsive. Any time we had questions Donna picked up the phone or texted immediately - but almost always, she answered our questions before we even knew we had them. The Outstanding We had a tricky situation with a shared fence that could have delayed our escrow. Donna used superb mediation skills to negotiate the terms of replacement and was personally on site with the fence contractor to make sure everything went smoothly. The fence looks great and escrow closed on time. The Truly Exceptional Our house came on the market on a Wednesday and between then and Monday morning Jim was personally at all three open houses. He was in constant communication explaining potential buyer reaction and strength. As he predicted offers began to come in on Saturday and each one was incrementally higher than the last. At the end we had 5 offers, 4 of which were over list, and the final accepted offer was $100,000 over list. In addition to being over list it included rent back terms that met our needs. The Recommendation For all of these reasons we would strongly recommend The Klinge Team to anyone wanting to sell in North County Coastal San Diego. I had been reading Jim's bubbleinfo.com blog for 15 years and knew when the time came to sell that he would be our first call. Jim Klinge is not your standard realtor. He is keenly aware of market conditions and sales strategies. And, works his tail off - though not as hard as Donna . At this point he's gone from realtor to friend and I plan to have him over to grill and chill at our new place to talk real estate, but also just about life and raising kids in San Diego. He's more interested in relationships than his sales numbers - and that's why his sales numbers are so high. We have already recommended the Klinge's to some close friends and another successful sale is on deck right around the corner...Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We recently had the pleasure of working with Jim and Donna from Klinge Realty Group to sell our house, and we couldn't be more satisfied with the experience. From the initial meeting, they listened attentively to our needs and provided invaluable guidance on specific improvements to get our home market ready. Their responsiveness throughout the entire process was truly impressive. Anytime we had questions or concerns, they were quick to address them, ensuring we felt comfortable and informed every step of the way. What stood out the most was their team and extensive network of tradespeople, which made addressing any necessary repairs or updates seamless and stress-free. Thanks to their expertise and dedication, our house sold quickly and at a great price. We highly recommend Jim and Donna to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. They are a fantastic team who truly care about their clients and deliver exceptional results.Load more
Stay classy San Diego!
Great work jim as always
Nice retro bathroom.
Laughed out loud at the picture in the other bathroom. 🙂
Wow. The defining video? Detroit river, graffiti, black toilet, multiple offers!
It could be.
I’m not surprised that there’s one person out there who is motivated enough just to get their hands on something that they’d offer, but 5-6?
This is what happens when inventory tightens – those who really want/need to buy end up moving aggressively.
I surely don’t know the area, but this house has good bones, in spite of the traffic. If it was in BH it would be $1.7. The retro bath is definitely a plus. Too bad about the Picassos on meth – hope the federales got them.
This state is seriously screwed. Not even sure if it’s worth staying.
Chuck
I remember, perhaps naiively in my youth, a boy scout’s motto to leave a place better than you found it. Some people are beyond help.
By the way, hat tip to SW for sending this along – people are now tipping me to houses around town for videos, keep ’em coming!
The picture in the bathroom is hilarious.
The neighborhood, outside, and backyard freeway kill it.
I like the inside though, and the retro bathroom looks great. Gives it some personality. Some graffiti cleanup and I think it’d look real nice.
Nice house (seriously). 🙂
sdnerd,
“Some graffiti cleanup and I think it’d look real nice.”
I think the idea is for the money that you pay for this house you shouldn’t need to clean up graffiti. Also having to clean up graffiti is a bad sign when buying a house.
Kensington, and Talmadge are oasis’s of nice houses in an area that’s generally pretty rough. Jerry Sanders (our mayor) lives in Keningston. Talmadage is one of San Diego’s first suburbs built in the 1920’s on the whim of a silent movie star. Both area’s home prices go up the further away from El Cajon Blvd the house is located. The best locations are on the edge of the ridge overlooking Mission Valley.
If you buy in either area and have kids plan on private school.
I like Kensington. Unfortunately, the middle school and high school for that area are scary. Friends who live there send their kids to charter schools to avoid that problem.
I love the retro bathroom. I wish they’d kept some of the other original stuff… instead they went crazy with slate.
I just reread the post above the video. This is closer to El Cajon blvd than Adams and is south of Adams. (north of Adams adds value). Looks like things are still frothy in that area if that many bids are going in on at that price on a house south of Adams. This is definitely a neighborhood where what block you’re on matters.
Lets try 299 at best.The previous owner ia a total loser.Hope they like renting an apartment or living in moms basement.
That’s discouraging. We were hoping to buy something in central SD for up to 350K anywhere from North Park to La Mesa. Are we now back to the insanity of the bubble years? In any case, I was unsure as to whether you, Jim, work in central SD. I guess you do, so we’ll definitely contact.
Deadbeats… most appropriate description. And like angry infants they kick and scream because “it’s not fair”. I wonder if they liquidated the equity out of the place too. Banks don’t seem to want to waste their time going after recourse anyway.
You’re right, Jim. Inventory tightens and it’s feeling like 2005 again. This is what happens when they manipulate the housing market. Squeeze the buyers, keep the assets off of the markets. That foreclosure moratorium was a terrible idea.
Shadash,
I wouldn’t pay that price for the house.
Maybe I’m too used to seeing JimTV videos with ‘mold like activity’, trains stations in the back yard, purple shag carpet, etc.
I’ve liked the houses in the last two videos. Just not the locations or the prices.
Really, spray paint? Is that the best that you could do? Whatever happened to holes in the walls, dead animals in the attic, cut a few water lines? You could at least have gone with a few satanic symbols to really spice things up.
Actually, that house represents Alan Greenspan’s gift to America.
What did he expect with ZERO percent interest rates for the banks?
Oh, I forgot. Don’t forget the gift of securitization.
Hey, banking is fun (and profitable) when you can pass ALL potential losses onto the next fool.
Here’s an alert: We are not even at the bottom. We will experience at least a decade of MUCH MORE pain than we are currently going through.
The bag is being passed to US tax payers, but that will only happen for so long, and in fact is breaking down, now, as I type this. Reality, eventually, has a way of asserting itself.
Wow, what a waste… of artistic talent! Just kidding. But seriously, that retro bathroom was pretty nice. The rest of it mostly sucks though. No matter how nice the home, the road noise completely kills it for me.
Jim, did you mention the size of the lot and home? If so, I missed it.
I’m feeling really good about paying just $30k more for a 1995 retail home in mira mesa right now.
1,831sf house built in 1936 on a 7,932sf lot.
Laini (the name on the wall) paid $695,000 in October, 2006, and 100% financed. Happy to sign their name to their work!
It did officially go pending this morning.
A statistcial quirk – the lot is .1831-acre.
How many times do you see a 1,831sf house on a .1831-acre lot?
Jim, do you have contact info for the owners? I would like to commission some artwork for my place.
$500K for that house in that neighborhood still sounds absurd to me. Either I am out of whack or the market is still out of whack.
The gated home in Bella Lago/Aviara had some good wall art when it sold as a foreclosure as well. Must be the latest “value added” feature! Makes me glad to be rural north county although I do have duck turd art in my driveway from a pair of mallards that have decided to mate in my front yard and hang out vs migrate.
This is so discouraging.
I agree nice bones on the house, nice size for a small family, crappy local, needs work (a lot probably).
That should be about a median house. ie 4x median HH income. should be $250k, less $25k for the work.
I’m tired of waiting, but no way I would ever pay $500k for that house.
I guess I wait more…
IMO, this reflects the typical scumbag mentality of the people who bought homes with nothing down. Those dirtbags will work at McDonalds and be renters the rest of their lives. Heaven help the landlord who gets stuck with tenants like this.
I bet Laini voted for Obama.
Grew up in Kensington. 45 years ago I spent some times in those canyons. The canyons i hung out were west of Fairmont and north of Aldine.
I always laugh when people want to include Kensington in their loction when they are one block from El Cajon Blvd. Kensington starts one block north of Meade. The city police blotter consider Kensington starts at El Cajon Blvd.