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.
“I don’t know how many people, today, are finding themselves saying God, I really need 4,000 square feet… of dark.”
Another classic JtR quote.
What’s wrong with ceramic tile in a bathroom? What are people upgrading the flooring to?
OK, Jim, now you have me pondering my purchase in Spudville last November that you featured 1/17 here on your blog. I never heard that rule-of-thumb…
Susie – Think Boise will be more populated or less populated in 10-20 years….I think much more. You are fine up there.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/12/31/1472023/chinese-company-eyes-boise.html
The big bombers have a lot of problems. This one seems to suffer from being too deep, hence the dark 2 stories of nothingness. I guess you can put an elevator in later for the aging in place crowd.
In general just too much circulation but hallways count as square footage, right?
I’ve been puzzled by the funny small rooms at the front but I now think it’s a home office set up.
+4,000 sf and the great room is weak and undersized.
Just another example of bad architecture and how tract homes respond to spreadsheets and not location.
Maybe the zoning will one day change and it can be a duplex/condo.
Lol! A 19th century office…tiny with the desk right next to the fire place. They should have went all the way in there and staged a coal blackened desk with an inkwell on it!
In a couple of years (when they don’t cost 80 bucks per fixture like they are now) low power LED lighting can take care of the dark problem. It’ll be a hefty installation fee though.
It’ll be interesting to see what the days on market for that ends up being.
I like the advice about buy what will be popular 10-20 years down the road. It’s always tough to know how people’s preferences will change over time but you can make some assumptions about how you think things will go. Baring a huge leap in energy technology, the holy grail of fusion or the acceptance of thorium nuclear energy, costs for energy will likely be higher. Therefore you probably at least want to think about “green” upgrades, or a home that can easily accomdate those upgrades. Where would you put those solar panels if they become cost effective.
The other assumption we’ve been making lately is an increase of multi-generational housing, which seems to be aa safe bet. So asking yourself how can I make this home ADA compliant or where is Grandma going to stay, might be worth thinking about.
As for the big new house it’s tough to say how people will view those in 10-20 years. I assume bigger will probably always be better as long as it’s affordable. We’ve been building mansions in this country for centuries, the only difference is the number of people that have them now.
“Back in the rah-rah days, aww yeah… we’ll have 3 or 4 family rooms! We’ll have the Stereo Room, the TV Room, the Movie Theater.”
Good riddance.
The cheap tile throughout reminds me of a rental. Another thing that I’d like to see go away is the mosaic tile compass rose in the entryway of newer houses. As though you might become disoriented when you step through the door?
One easy prediction is that the average aging boomer will move toward smaller one story houses as they find it harder to climb stairs abd will want less to maintain. They are starting to retire now and will be around for another 20 to 30 years.
Not all square feet are created equal. String 4000 square feet out in a one-level thoughtful layout and you have a dream home… Here we have a deserted mall atrium without the skylight.
it’s like a first year architect student designed that place.
let’s review:
890K list price, awkward layout, all new flooring required (4000 sq/ft), no view, significant noise factor from Rancho Santa Fe road, small backyard, pool needs refurbishing, and it’s in SE Carlsbad 92009 which is San Marcos schools.
yikes…..
it is no wonder why the premium areas in NCCSD are so hot (Carmel Valley, Solana, etc.). If one could spend around 900k for a house, why buy this turd only to have to put money into it?
This is Arroyo Vista, which is in Encinitas schools and walking distance K-12. As good as it gets for schools.
As for the healthy/unhealthy market, let’s keep it in perspective.
For this era, it is as healthy as it gets, and it’s only the salespeople who want it healthier (when everything is flying off the shelves).
oops, forgive my oversight on the schools.
this house reminds me of the one we sold back in early ’08 at Chesapeake Bay (the Bay Collection). Thank God we got out of that neighborhood when we did!