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.
Those 3.45% rates in April 2013 certainly helped the frenzy. Even though prices had risen about 10% between 2012 and 2013 the monthly payment of a traditional loan was less than 2010 and 2011 (rates were close to 5% in these years). It’s only now in 2014 with the higher rates and higher prices that really spiked the monthly payment to a point that’s probably putting pause on this market.
This little table will probably format poorly but it does give you a sense of how affordable things got when the rates dropped hard in 2012 and 2013.
Assume
Avg SqFt 2500
Year | Avg Price/SF | Avg Price | Loan Amount after 20% down | Interest Rate | Monthly Payment
2010 | 388 | 970000 | 776000 | 5.1 |4,213
2011 | 383 | 957500 | 766000 | 4.84 | 4,037
2012 | 380 | 950000 | 760000 | 3.91 | 3,589
2013 | 416 | 1040000 | 832000 | 3.45 | 3,713
2014 | 469 | 1172500 | 938000 | 4.34 | 4,664 – This is a big jump compared to last year