From Reason.tv:
“When I come into a house with buyers, I start picking it apart,” says San Diego’s Jim Klinge, known on the internet as ‘Jim the Realtor,’ a wise-cracking real estate agent who posts his honest, painful, and sometimes hilarious assessment of bank-owned properties on his Youtube channel.
While both the Bush and Obama administration have advocated programs aimed at keeping people in their homes , Klinge argues that this is the exact wrong approach and is only prolonging the agony in the housing market.
“If they wanted to do what was best for the market, they would just unleash the floodgates and let it rip,” says Klinge. “It would cause a frenzy of buying to see all of these bank deals, and people would come running.”
Reason.tv met up with Klinge for a walkthrough of a bank-owned property in North San Diego County, where he pointed out the issues with the home and talked about the past, present and future of the housing market.
When does he think the market will bounce back and bring values back up to peak levels? “We need to be prepared for it being never,” he says. “I hate this whole investment thing. Buy a house because you like it, and you want to raise a family. The good news is, I think today’s buyer is exactly that.”
REALLY Good interview, jtr.
This one deserves to go viral. Too much truth and honesty for that though. Your ‘peers’ would suppress it at any cost. The turd-eaters in DC wouldn’t be pleased either.
Strong letter to follow from Funny Yunny? . . .
Congratulations.
You are a class act.
Just saw the video show up in my YouTube subscription stream. Excellent work Jim.
There are already a lot of positive comments about this video on the Reason TV YouTube channel.
Always knew JtR was a closet libertarian!
Luved the vid. Watched it twice.
But why the black suit?
It’s the only thing I had that went with my Italian loafers?
I always over-dress for TV, figuring that most will expect a typical realtor to be wearing a hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.
“I always over-dress for TV, figuring that most will expect a typical realtor to be wearing a hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.”
Nah. Gold jacket.
Keep on preaching Reverend Jim!
Clear out the deadbeats and bring on the real buyers.
Fantastic soundtrack on this one – love those weepy horns!
Crazy how the concept of buying a house just to live in somehow became foreign… Refreshing video.
3rd Generation, Jim’s peers are the honest and competent brokers and agents. I am a broker and I have been a fan of Jim’s for years. Pointing out the flaws (and good points, if any) to your buyers when looking at a house is simply good business, buyers are not stupid and you earn their trust by being competent and trustworthy.It’s good business in the long term.
“I hate this whole investment thing. Buy a house because you like it and want to raise your family”. – JtR
Yeah, what he said! Congrats, Jim! What an awesome interview. Too bad most agents aren’t as truthful as you. *Chuckle* Jeez, you got all dressed up, but where’s your POWER tie?
People used to buy a house because they liked it?!?
Unreal!!!
😉
(That’s why I bought my old condo many years ago. The place still managed to more than double in price when I sold it just before the bubble burst)
Thanks 3rd Generation and others!
The youtube has 4,000 views already!
Here is their corresponding blog post:
http://reason.com/blog/2012/03/21/reasontv-time-to-take-our-medicine-bring
What a thoughtful, well put together piece. Why can’t the mainstream media do journalism this well?
I ran the numbers on my own home using my theory that the true value should be what the home was worth in 2001 plus inflation. Assuming an annual inflation rate of 2%, the home should return to its peak bubble value (which is considerably more than I paid for it) sometime around the year 2040.