Ever thought about building your own house? Here is the first video on vacant-lot sales:
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Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
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- 682 S. Coast Hwy 101, Suite #110
Encinitas, CA 92024 - (858) 997-3801 call or text
- klingerealty@gmail.com
CA DRE #01527365, CA DRE #00873197
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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
FAKE lawn? Fake lawn? No, no, no.
Ecosensitive building practices.
Come on Jim.
driving slow… got both hands on the wheel
LOL!!!
Can you even get reasonable financing on vacant land these days?Anyone know of a reputable lender that is still lending on land?
Born, you’ve never been able to get reasonable financing on land.
Cost of land is where the cost of housing is. The difference between 2500 sq ft of “sticks and stucco” in La Jolla vs the same 2500 sq ft of sticks and stucco in Temecula is location of the parcel of land it sits on.
Raw land costs are a big part of why our housing costs are so high. Sticks and stucco cost about the same, no matter where you are building.
Where does one research county zoning (unincorporated 92084) and lot splitting possibilities? Is it published somewhere. For instance, folks on our street “say” we are 1 acre min. But some of the homes are not on an acre. If you have septic you need ample space for perc test and leech lines as well.
Raw land costs are a big part of why our housing costs are so high. Sticks and stucco cost about the same, no matter where you are building.
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Very true. And we can see in Jim’s video how delusional the land buyers are, even in this market. Everyone wants to be a spec builder and throw up their grand monstrosity in once-modest neighborhoods so they can pocket their first million and “live the good life.”
It’s frustrating for those of us who just want a nice, relatively modest house in a decent neighborhood when these specuvestors destroy these neighborhoods.
Dirt buying 101: we’re buying dirt/finished lots in Phx, Vegas, riverside, Etc in failed subdivisions (150 lot project with 50 built homes/100 finished lots). So long as you buy the lots below the cost to physically improve the lots (street, sewer, power, grading, etc) you get the improvements at a discount and the dirt for free. Just bought 100 finished lots for $9k/lot…developer spent over $50k/lot to buy/entitle/finish…I say thank you mr. developer.
Very easy to wait the market till builders go crazy (and they will) and begin overpaying. thus we look for dirt anywhere at less than it costs to put the improvements in…the only starting point that every makes sense….and it is out there.
PS: don’t leverage it until ready to build…carry dirt all cash, or not at all!!!
clearfund, how would one go about coming up with a cost to physically improve (street, sewer, power, etc.) Is there a general assumption on cost? Expect grading & paving to be xxx per yard or something like that.
I suppose for a spec builder, they already have a pretty good idea on the cost from experience – but for a would-be dream house shopper looking for dirt, how could they do a back-of-the-napkin cost to know if they are getting a worthy deal on the dirt?
Art – Wish it were that easy. It also varies from area to area as you need to bake in all the water fees, sewer fees, impact fees, kangaroo rat fees, school fees, extortion fees, f the developer fees, etc. these vary wildly from city to city, etc.
my suggestion is to talk to any good civil engineer and they could hone you in for the type of site you are talking about. single lot, lot split, subdivision.
In the riverside areas our cost to improve (and drag sewer 1/4 mile), grade, etc was $95k/lot (for 65 lots with fees) PLUS DIRT!!! Sold the site in Dec 05 to a builder (map in place but not physical work done) for $150/lot. Profit of $50k/lot.
that site is still not built, is in foreclosure, and we’re trying to buy the development loan from the bank for $35k/finished lot.
Dirt is good, and easy, but never build as they value of the spec home is in a builder ready lot. That is where you take all of his profits away from him before he even pours the foundation.
Art – last one, take market value of a decent home in the neighborhood, subtract a 20% profit from the JTR value, then back out everything to get it done (and I mean everything) including all permits, carry, const, arch, eng,etc and what is left is your lot value.
Then compare that number to what the seller is asking and you’ll laugh at how high his number is.
Likely, the value of the land most markets discussed on this blog today, carries a residual value of ZERO (or negative).
its a beautiful time to be a picky dirt buyer.
its a beautiful time to be a picky dirt buyer.
Provided you have cash and can sit on it for at least a decade. That’s what you call “long-term investing”!
tj…it may well be a decade if you pay retail prices for anything. However, it won’t be a decade until a wide-eyed builder comes along thinking he can build his way to a fortune and overpays for the dirt.
But we’ll never lose our dirt to the bank!
Builders are out of lot inventory and their business is the manufacturing of homes, not real estate investing. They are already looking to refill the pipeline. if they don’t build, they get real hungry, real fast. Thus they can convince themselves of their proforma with very little convincing.
Interesting, thanks Clearfund!
My guess is that a buyer on a larger scale is in a better position to get dirt at a good cost than your person looking for a single lot to build on. I haven’t seen much drop in prices on good, buildable lots yet.
Which kind of surprises me but it may be more of the seller derangement syndrome the Jim mentions all the time. I’d have thought the spec builders were mostly hiding in bear caves right now as their is a huge oversupply of housing. With spec builders hiding out, the market for single lots in established areas should be pretty good for would be dream home buyers…but I’m not seeing it.
A good spot to note Rob Dawg’s assertion years ago that all previous assumptions don’t apply.
It used to be that spec builders who bought the dirt at 1/3 of the value of the finished house, you’d do fine. All you had to do is be able to calculate what the house would sell for, and pay about a third of that for the lot.
I’ll do more dirt surveys to see if I can find a lot that would fit this bill, but don’t have my hopes up. Like clearfund said, between the permit-and-fees costs eating you alive and the parts and labor, most lots are now worth zero or less.
Like clearfund said, between the permit-and-fees costs eating you alive and the parts and labor, most lots are now worth zero or less.
Totally agree with this (as Jim knows).
…so much for that idea.
“most lots are now worth zero or less.”
Somebody please pass that on to the sellers, they seem to have missed the memo 🙂
And another thing….
I’d imagine that a person looking for dirt is likely not planning to build a McMansion and max out the lot, which is probably the only way for a spec builder to make a profit (which would lead back to why the current trend in building has been to max out the house size on a postage stamp lot.)
See if you can make this one pencil:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/oct/31/copley-press-puts-la-jolla-land-market/
All I know is Encinitas, but assume they are all similar.
Water meter $19K
School fees $14K
Flood fee $2K
Traffic “mitigation” fee $3500
Parks and Rec $11K
Grading permit/check $10K
Building permit/check $10K
I’m sure I forgot some.
Then the actual work begins, starting with remedial grading of an already flat and engineered graded lot. About $40-50K when you add in the soil tests and observation fees.
Good times.
Art – I pass along the ‘worthless dirt’ memo daily and get laughed at, but patience is a virtue…much better than overpaying.
I offered a bank in AZ NEGATIVE $300K for a small subdivision…yep, told them to write me a check for $300k and I’d take the land…obviously no deal got done, but they are still holding the site and are about $150k deeper than they were 9 months ago…
Disciplined math doesn’t lie…
As for 1/3 of finished value as lot value that was a good starting point for a 100% finished lot with no grading needed. I’ve always operated in the 1/4 starting point as I’ve never seen a const project finish on time/budget.
Speaking with most of the major national builders they have drasically lowered their formulas for lot purchases from 35% for a finished lot to 10% during this crisis…telling…we should all be doing the same and lot values will follow in due course.
The subdivision is worth negative $300,000. Hilarious.