Historically, buyer-agents haven’t really had to demonstrate their true value – most buyers just grab somebody they like. But now the buyer-agent compensation is going to be revealed in Washington, starting tomorrow – and it is inevitable that it will happen everywhere. Buyers making smarter decisions about who represents them is a great idea – hopefully they won’t select their realtor purely based on their rate! P.S. This is buyer-side only. I’m not sure the listing-agent rate will ever be public.
Starting immediately, the new rules will make it easier for homebuyers to figure out if their agent is only showing them houses offering a high buyer’s commission, said Greg Gans, a broker at Hardy Realty in Seattle who describes himself as “almost exclusively” a buyer’s agent.
“I know plenty of agents who see a 1% commission, and they’ll show the house, but they’ll say, ‘Oh, this is a problem, and you’re going to have to spend this amount of money on the kitchen,’” Gans said. “Brokers think of crafty ways to steer people away from homes where they’re not going to get the full commission. Or brokers may not put together the most competitive offer” on homes offering low commission.
In the long term, though, the change could lead to a system where buyers and sellers each compensate their own agent, said Windermere broker Russ Cofano, instead of funneling commission through the seller’s agent. That could make it less expensive to sell a home.
Let’s review what it takes to create a solid bidding war.
Maintain and improve your home constantly over the years.
Install a master bathroom like this!
3. List with Jim the Realtor for an attractive price, do $3,200 of staging, and take off for the weekend!
I inputted the listing at 8:30am on Saturday morning with professional photos, and got immediate results – over 100 people came to open house the same day.
Sunday’s open house had nearly as many people, and those who didn’t attend could watch my walk-around tour on video: https://youtu.be/LCEDYc4rkaQ
We’ve received EIGHT WRITTEN OFFERS (seven over list price), and going for more. Three showings set up for today, and Donna and I are fielding questions and encouraging higher bids all day long!
To ensure top dollar, we treat everyone fairly and give them every opportunity to bid up the price. The highest offer so far is $890,000, and others have said they are going higher so we raised the list price from $869,000 to $899,000 on the MLS for added exposure on the realtor hotsheet. I mentioned that we have eight offers too.
Want this kind of attention when selling your home? Hire Jim the Realtor!
The end-of-summer market feels similar to last year, with just a few more pendings over the last five weeks. In spite of the high prices, people don’t seem interested in selling much though.
There was a 13% drop in new listings, year-over-year:
NSDCC Last Five Weeks:
Year
New Listings
New Pendings
2018
434
246
2019
379
257
Diff
-13%
+4%
When is the best time to sell? When there is little or no competition, and rates are in the 3s!
This is one of the safer-looking areas along the Neptune bluff in Leucadia, due to the landslide in 1932 before the area was sub-divided. It gives this stretch some buffer!
This just closed for $3,075,000 full-price cash and 10-day escrow:
MLB star Manny Machado has swung for the fences in the Sunshine State, shelling out $11.3 million for a waterfront mansion in Coral Gables, Fla.
It’s a massive sum, but only about half of the estate’s original asking price of $22 million, records show.
The four-time All-Star is putting his new contract to good use. After a season with the Dodgers, Machado inked a 10-year deal with the Padres earlier this year worth $300 million. At the time, it was the largest free-agent contract in the history of North American sports.
Claiming an acre in the gated community of Tahiti Beach, the property overlooks Biscayne Bay with 121 feet of water frontage. The 8,300-square-foot home sits at the end of a spacious front lawn framed by palm trees.
I had 100+ people attend the open house today, which is a great response.
One of the attendees asked how I did it, and I said that I’ve been here before. When the market gets soft, you have to have both a good-looking property AND an attractive price.
Most of the houses you see for sale has one or the other. This property has both.
When buyers see an attractive listing online, they come running. I literally inputted this listing onto the MLS about 8:30 this morning. At noon we had three couples waiting.
There’s nothing wrong with the market – it’s fine! What’s wrong is your price or condition.
Are you looking for a quiet and private culdesac home with white kitchen and new master bath?
Then check out my new listing in RP! This 4br/3ba, 2,394sf house is 900ft above sea level and gets gentle breezes daily! Open floor plan, 3 full bathrooms, low-maintenance yard, central air conditioning and whole-house fans. The house and yard are great…..but wait until you see the dazzling new master bath! Great curb appeal too – with putting green in front yard!
Here’s a video tour of a recent LVP installation by Ken Calkin.
A commenter on the YouTube side thought that the wood tile is a better solution, but with tile you see the grout lines and have to maintain those over the years. The LVP looks like hardwoods!
I ran into Keith at the Carlsbad Company Stores and wondered if he is more famous than Robbie Krieger or Michael McDonald as the two other most famous people I've met?
Jim the Realtor is legit - I interviewed three brokers; he said list price should be $100,000 higher than the other two brokers; listed it with him and had all cash (no financing) offer in two days, five day contingency period, closing in two weeks - and it closed at his recommended list price. I could not recommend anyone more than I recommend Jim the Realtor.
drp2drp
2020-12-30
When we moved to San Diego in 2005 we rented a big house on Mt. Soledad (La Jolla) with 180 degree ocean views for the same payment as a mortgage on a dump in Chula Vista. Clearly something was wrong. Yet, the media was full of the usual happy-talk nonsense, so I was glad to find Jim's blog. I've followed his honest assessments and data since.
We decided to sell and move to AZ at Thanksgiving. Dec. 1st we met with Jim to sell our home. We closed today (29 days later). Jim orchestrated a feeding frenzy -- we had 25 showings in 2-1/2 days, multiple offers, and sold for well over asking price. I'd say he earned his commission! We have owned and sold homes in 5 different States always using experienced, productive, full-time realtors. Jim outshines them all.
You don't decide to sell and close 29 days later over Christmas (with COVID lockdown) without some miracles. Donna was amazing at performing lots of those miracles and ensuring that everything was done right and on time. They are a terrific team with a very responsive and professional network.
AmberleePiercy
2020-10-21
Where do we begin..2020 has been a year for everyone. When COVID hit and shut down both my husband and my businesses, we were left with a mortgage and very little income coming in. We were stressed, scared and felt stuck. We made the hard decision to sell our home and move out of state. We contacted the Klinges' and spent a good hour going over what we hoped we could accomplish. Jim and Donna came over with comps in hand and suggestions on improvements to get our house ready for the market. It was overwhelming to think about, but Donna was there and one step ahead in every scenario. Basically we just approved what they suggested and Donna handled literally everything. We placed our house on the market and within the first day we had multiple offers well above asking price! We couldn't believe it. We were overjoyed! Jim countered the offers to weed through them, and everyone came back with way more. It was amazing, and we are ?? sure it was because of the staging and repairs the Klinges suggested we do.
Due to unforeseen dishonesty from the buyers lender, we hit a big hurdle when trying to close. We had already moved out of state and were shocked when three days before closing the lender dropped a bombshell on the buyers and us. However, Jim and Donna handled it like veterans, not afraid to play hard ball and represent their clients. After a few phone calls with us, and several between Donna and the lender, they had a plan B-Z to make sure we were taken care of. In the end we closed with even more money than we ever thought possible and with very little work from us. The Klinges handled this entire "2020" worthy event with the utmost professionalism and did everything in their power to not only make this as smooth as possible for us, but we also walked away with more money from the sale of the house than we ever hoped for. After working with Jim and Donna, you don't ever use anyone else. They are hands down the best team to represent you in any scenario.
Cecilia Acevedo
2020-10-01
Working with Klinge Realty Group was a great experience! They are very responsive, professional and knowledgable about the real estate market! I would definitely recommend Klinge Realty Group.
WAH08
2020-10-01
Jim and Donna Klinge made the sale of our condo extraordinarily easy. They know the market and gave us sound advice backed by details and very considerable experience, reflected both in the initial pricing and subsequent negotiations. They work together as a team and are always available to talk. We had a few challenges with our property and they were able to coordinate the resolution to everything, including items that I would not think would ordinarily be their responsibility to handle. They made the whole process effortless on our part. They are folks with high integrity and we cannot recommend them highly enough.
bethamunce
2019-09-26
Review for Member: Donna Klinge
I cannot believe there are no reviews of Donna yet, ugh!! She is the secret sauce of the Jim Klinge/Donna Klinge combo! I will touch on Jim here, but Donna is why I'm so totally loyal to these two (no offense to Jim :)).
I consider myself a rather savvy buyer/seller. I've bought/sold 7 times in about 15 years. On the buy side, Jim is the PERFECT combo of: completely digitally savvy (he will pull data all day long until you feel comfortable with your chosen house, area, school district, anticipated appreciation rate...anything!), he's super well respected and known in the area by other agents, an amazingly cool but strategic negotiator, is totally devoid of desperation for a sale/commission, and more.
Then once you get into contract phase, Donna literally handles every last and final detail in a concierge-like manner -- totally shielding you from the daily back and forth, noodling and annoyances of the buyer's requests. She solves it ALL; it's miraculous what that woman accomplishes over and above what is even expected in a buy/sell transaction.
On the sell side, Jim and Donna do the same, but even moreso. Donna in particular truly takes everything off your plate: she'll manage getting the house painted, the carpets replaced, she'll go on site (as she Jim both did for me when selling our rental properties) to work with the renters and make sure the house is ready to show -- freeing me to have to take time off of work to do so. They work with A+ integrity, too, so you know you are serving all parties fairly and lawfully throughout.
A home purchase/sale is the most considered you'll ever make. HIRE A SAVVY AGENT, not a friend!, and get what you need out of the transaction. Jim and Donna are our agents for life.
Ann Romanello
2019-04-06
Jim and Donna Klinge are by far the most professional, personable and responsive realtors I have ever worked with. They provide VIP concierge level service in every area of the process of selling your home. My home was marketed so successfully that we received an offer the day after our first and only open house. Thanks to Jim's pricing and negotiating, our house is now the highest sold in our community. Jim's vast experience means he has worked with several realtors and knows the market all over north county. Donna is AMAZING in processing everything in the transaction. She scheduled trades people to work on the house in preparation for the sale as well as the repairs needed before closing. She communicated clearly every step of the way about what would be happening. She took the weight off my shoulders for the whole process. I will always use Jim and Donna for my future real estate needs and I whole heartedly recommend them to anyone buying or selling a home.
zuser20160915180743456
2018-07-03
Jim and the team at Klinge Reality are without a doubt the best in the business! Not only was Jim helpful and extremely knowledgeable, he was patient and determined to help me find my first home. Jim and his team have been in the business for many years, and it shows. Jim is a wealth of knowledge and was my biggest proponent despite the temperature of the competitive market. I ended up getting the perfect property in my dream neighborhood all thanks to Jim. From the day my offer was accepted, Donna was a real lifesaver. She was extremely helpful, responsive, and knowledgeable when it came to every minute detail, and held my hand through the process. As a first time home buyer I had no idea what the process would entail, but Donna curtailed every concern I came across and made the escrow process feel seamless. Jim and Donna provided me the best home buying experience, and I am very grateful for all they did for me. It was truly a pleasure to work with Jim and Donna and I am already looking forward to the next time we work together!
melanielogue
2018-04-30
Review for Member: Richard Morgan
Richard is an amazing realtor! He has high integrity and genuinely cares about his clients and their needs. Richard paid close attention to what I was seeking in a home and was very patient in our search to find it. I would highly recommend Richard and will use him for future transactions. Truly a different kind of realtor experience!
shaunccornell
2018-03-28
Could not be happier with my experience with Jim and his team. He helped me sell a very unique and challenging property. Throughout the entire process he was always available, honest, transparent, trustworthy, and always put my interests as a seller first. A (rare) true professional! During close of escrow Jim went above and beyond to complete the deal. It would not have been possible without his experience, fantastic team, and pure dedication. Highly recommended!
Thanks Jim and Donna Klinge!
