Remember the old saying,
“Enjoy the victories because you know another butt-kicking is coming right around the corner”?
This is what I mean – a seven-day journey in pursuit of a hot listing:
33 Comments
Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
Are you looking for an experienced agent to help you buy or sell a home?
Contact Jim the Realtor!
- 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
Man, you are not kidding, that’s one killer view. No unsightly obstructions whatsoever, and not even any obviously questionable looking properties below. Best view I’ve seen in your videos short of multi-million dollar customs.
Losing that one had to be heartbreaking.
Gorgeous view. If I had the money, I’d blow up that place and build a nice custom. I’d move from CV for a view like that.
What a saga that was – thanks for sharing!
if you werent chasing Melora Hardin (i mean Jan Levinson!) around the old office all day…nudge nudge, know what i mean…!?!…now get to work!
Not to point out the obvious but…
If you were stalking this house for over a month. Why didn’t you get a hard money lender involved? After the house was purchased couldn’t the buyers finance through traditional means at their leasure?
Maybe I missed something. The agent did not come back to you for a chance to make an improved offer?
I feel for your clients on this one.
You may have just made the best 10 minute documentary on the madness of being a buyer in a supply constrained marketplace where the lenders own a third of the inventory.
Excellent video Jim. Sean said what I was thinking.
Absolutely stunning ocean view! Heartbreaking for your buyers, Jim. My condolences as I still remember getting heartbreaking news from you back in 2009. It hurts, really hurts. Never easy for buyers or their Realtors, and this video proves it…
#5 – Because you don’t get a warning, and hard money is expensive.
1. They don’t come back to you and say, “You’re going to get screwed unless you make a cash offer”.
They just come back and say, “You got screwed”.
The LA told me that she thought I was the winner, because I was the highest and this lender always takes top dollar.
2. As of Sunday afternoon there were no offers. The lender is SD County Credit Union, a locally-based outfit – not the insanity of BofA. She said we’d get an answer promptly, so we took a chance.
3. Hard money costs 2 points.
If it’s come to the point where you have to make a cash offer on every house just to buy something, sales will be dropping further. Buyers aren’t going to go for that, it’s too expensive, and too uncertain.
heartbreaking…
It can be devastating the first few times, but you get used to it eventually.
JTR – Same thing on the commercial side, only exaggerated as their is effectively no purchase financing available for a semi-distressed asset. We have found that the only way to get real sellers to listen to you (i.e. accept a price that makes sense to a yield driven buyer) is to offer 100% cash an a sub 30 day close. Thus we’ve resorted to buying all cash, spend time stabilizing the deal, then finance cash out post closing when you are not under any time pressures.
We get some ‘off market’ deals presented to us just because of our offer structure.
Institutional sellers value the ‘surety of closing’ over the actual $$$. Private sellers value the $$$ over everything else.
Clearfund- on comment #12-from a residential perspective, if institutions are really interested in closing, then perhaps they wouldn’t screw with us qualified buyers so much and piss us off. 2 or more appraisals, sold as-is, no termite cert, submit ALL your financials to LS with offer, loan pre-approval from owner/lender prior to offer accepted, H&B with no need to prove it, and then and only then will they accept your offer at a trophy price. Oh that’s right, they’re the big hairy gorilla.
To Jim and clearfund:
If it was easy then everyone would be doing it! You make your money from the value you add.
Sounds like it’s time for people to start looking in South Bay or Inland North County if they are not willing to come up on their prices.
An all cash Buyer is always your best offer. If a Seller has listed their property too low you’ll get the feeding frenzy and higher odds of heartache/heartburn.
Nice house, too bad.
Just an idea but…
If you were offer a program that brings hard money lenders together with buyers I think you’d have a hit.
Say you gave up one point in your commission as a buyers agent so 2%, and brought in a hard money lender for 2% the cost to the buyer would be 4% of the sale.
If cash offers allow for lower prices to be accepted paying 4% as a buyer makes sense.
I would love to work with someone that brought everything together allowing me to put cash offers on properties.
The hard money lender could make even more money by selling your buyer a traditional mortgage after the cash price is excepted.
Looking good on the coast. Even this outstanding property is back to the price it sold for in early 2003 and down almost 30% from the 2008 sale price. Should be back to 2001 prices in North County Coastal very soon.
Shadash – One of the ‘difficulties’ in executing your plan (which is a good one, in theory, BTW) are the laws in CA.
A ‘purchase money’ loan for an owner occupant loan is full of regulatory burdens that are hyper-unfriendly to private/individual lenders. Think the major lenders have trouble following the technical guidelines, imagine a private lender. All the forms, disclosures, federal laws, state/local laws, fairness/anti-discrimination laws, etc. Attorneys would have a field day with the lender. The large institutions can spread the risk/cost of compliance over giant pools of loans, not a handful.
This is why private lenders typically stick to commercial/non-owner-occupied/investment properties. Easily quantifiable lending/regulatory risk.
Thus, it is not a very appealing investment (read a lot of risk to an individual) to earn 6%-8% annualized interest for a few short months.
Okay, One and done. But aren`t agents supposed to be there to get the most dollar for the client. No, I`m not that naive/stupid, but if you get more for the property, you get a higher comission. I have yet to sell a property and tell my agent to take the first offer he/she wants.
I would love to work with someone that brought everything together allowing me to put cash offers on properties.
As you know this has been on my radar for the last two years. As clearfund points out, there are considerable hurdles, and there’s risk for all.
But I am onto a good source right now, here are their terms:
2% up front, monthly payments based on 8% to 10% annual interest.
Take your hand off my wallet for a moment, because I’m not sure splitting the upfront vig is enough to make a difference – or would it?
For those who have a CAR purchase contract handy, note paragraph 3K. Even if you say that you are making a cash offer, you are allowed to pursue alternative financing – but the seller doesn’t have to cooperate.
So if you can get by with a 30-day escrow, and can get the appraiser into the house, this is preferred to paying cash, and refinancing.
It’s because the refinancing would be seen as a “cash-out refi”, and require six months seasoning to be able to get a decent rate.
Would you take 8% to 10% now, knowing you couldn’t refinance for six months?
Not only are you paying 6-months worth of payments at the high rate, but you don’t know what the eventual rate will be.
Willing to take a chance?
What LTC is this lender’s target…usually much lower than people expect…
Great video and commentary.
Agreed about the nice view, but I wouldn’t want to tear that one down and rebuild — the rest of the homes on the street look extremely dated. What a shame those ugly houses were built there originally rather than something with at least a trace of style. Man, that ’50s-’70s era just ruined California.
The subject house is also an architectural mess (note the garage door oddly shifted off-center to the right, from under the garage peak!).
Still sucks to lose, especially when you’ve invested a lot of time/prep and rolled in the highest bid (not offer!) to boot.
Deb – Agreed, lenders are 100% PITA. We hate that we’re forced into all cash purchases instead of buying with purchase financing.
However, the possible upside in 10 years is very attractive so the added work seems worthwhile.
Today, most of our clients view real estate as a ‘high yield CD’ (6%+) with an option on future growth. Most are more interested in ‘batting for average’ than ‘swinging for the fences’.
The people that offer all cash, 7 day close will get the sellers attention. Cash is king right now. It is hard to get a killer deal without it.
Does the 6-month seasoning also apply to a regular purchase loan? I’m wondering if the hard-money lender could buy the home, and then turnaround and sell to the actual buyer with traditional financing.
Travis,
It would work on a regular listing, as long as the appraisal came in. On REO listings, both Fannie Mae and BofA have instituted a new no-flip rule for 60 days.
Here’s what came in yesterday:
Bank of America is notifying agents of a new policy that will help stabilize communities impacted by foreclosure. Effective immediately, the actions a buyer may take within 60 days following the purchase of an REO property are restricted.
REO agents are asked to inform all cash buyers that the following verbiage will now appear on purchase contracts and deeds:
The Grantee(s), or purchaser(s), of the Property may not re-sell, record an additional conveyance document, or otherwise transfer title to the Property within 60 days following the Grantor’s execution of this Deed.
Action Required:
In the comments section of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), REO agents must indicate that all cash offers will have re-conveyance restriction verbiage on the deed. Agents should include verbiage such as, “Cash transactions are subject to special deed restrictions.”
Set proper expectations with buyers and their agents regarding the deed restriction for cash purchase. This policy does not impact buyers using financing to purchase an REO property.
I am in Vista Pacific, I know this listing. I always keep an eye on spinnaker hill.
2 bedroom is the deal breaker at least for me. Need min 3. Well the kids haven’t grown up yet. And there is no land to put another extra bedroom.
That could be the reason it’s not going.
Would you take 8% to 10% now, knowing you couldn’t refinance for six months?
Not only are you paying 6-months worth of payments at the high rate, but you don’t know what the eventual rate will be.
—
At this stage of the game, things look good. If the buyer wants the home that badly and the cash offer could drastically increase their chance…
Unfortunately (and even I’ve been looking), there hasn’t been a “cut and dry” solution yet that would benefit almost every J6P that walked through the door for this kind of theoretical solution.
But, the steps and ideas do bring things a bit closer to something working out at some point.
It’s because the refinancing would be seen as a “cash-out refi”
And refi’s are recourse, too.
p.s.: I thought shadash’s description pretty much matched your proposed trustee sale endeavor.
Dealing with the banks is frustrating, no doubt. It takes forever to get answers and everybody is taking their sweet time. We first lost our offer on an REO to somebody else, but at closing time the bank found out that he had a bankruptcy about three years ago and they cancelled escrow and contacted us again. We got the home after all, I have no idea why they didn’t find out about the problems with the other buyer sooner. Anyway – turns out escrow with a BoA appointed escrow company it as close to a nightmare as it gets – but we made it through. 😉 Good luck with the next one, Jim – I’m sure your buyers are disappointed.
Saw this one in person … Its the ONE for your money… but may not work for families with Kids. Very very Niche for old and wealthy.
To annonymous at #17 … my offer for this is 900k … I just dont have it all cash. Also remember its 1970s built 2 room for close to a Million in CASH. Do you really think “its Looking Good” on Coast?
$680K at the court house steps and no takers? Excuse me while I dab my eyes.
Kishan…How was Jim’s 825K bid the highest yet you are claiming to have offered 900K? Maybe you looked at another property?
From the data I see the coast is slowly trending back to 2001 prices. I have seen many that have sold recently at there 2002-2003 price. This one sold in Feb 2003 for 775K, so if it went for 825K or less as Jim stated, it is close the that point.
I am sure the guy thought he was getting a deal in 2008 when he paid 1.1M for this one, it was listed for 1.275M.