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.
A debt-to-income ratio above 35% still makes no sense to me.
The sand states are all green.
Investors buying bombed-out properties put down higher down payments than government-supported primary-residence buyers.
Jim, you might like these bathrooms the British arent keeping coal in ;D http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertypicturegalleries/9001886/Homes-with-spectacular-bathrooms.html
I guess Michigan’s 13.24% doesn’t count for the top 10???
I just lost out a bidding war to an all cash offer.
“Average” doesn’t mean much.
Chuck
Sorry to hear that Chuck, and yes, I agree – the who cares about the average down payment stat.
I liked the excerpt about qualifying though, which is outrageous in California when the lenders qualify you based on your GROSS income and between fed and state taxes you deduct 30-40%. If the mortgage payment + debts = 55%, you barely have enough for gas and food, let alone home repairs/improvements or college eduction for the kids.
Yes Jim,
If you exclude people who are plunking down significant amounts of cash; meaning “average” people… prices are still quite high, especially compared with other states.
I suppose you can see it as paying for California (jobs, weather, lifestyle). Or, you could see it as precarious and people are pricing in a rosy future.
I don’t know, but as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance.
Chuck
PS, we bid 30K over asking on a 750K listing. News is that the buyer was a little above and waived appraisal contingency. I think we bid pretty much at the high end of the appraisal range, so their waive was probably pretty valuable to the bank. We have made 4 very strong offers over the past 3 months. There’s very little for sale now in South OC in our target area, so we’re being patient. Sub 4% rates, though seem very tempting and are having the desired effect in the housing market.