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.
ORLANDO, Fla. (MarketWatch) — Times are tough in the home-building industry, meaning the 500,000 or so new single-family homes expected to be built this year are going to include more practical and value-conscious features and fewer wish-list items. At the top of the list of least-likely features that builders will include in their 2012 homes: outdoor kitchens.
Say yes to Multiple Head showers; I would like to see more of that.
I’ve always thought outdoor kitchens and fireplaces were just overpriced “eye candy” for wanna-be buyers, but really have no long-term sustainable value that subsequent buyers want to pay more for in a resale.
Original buyers may imagine using these two features every week-end, but in reality, after they bought the home, it wouldn’t be used as much as they originally hoped–especially the outdoor fireplace. Don’t these two features alone add $10K-$25K or more to the builder’s list price?
I agree with the entire list–except like Thaylor–the multiple shower heads.
Re: ceiling heights (See JtR’s 1/17/2011 video of my new home). It has a partial 12′ ceiling @ the front door as you walk in, then goes to 10′ in the 15-foot entry, and then 9′ ceilings for the rest of the house. I love it! I don’t want to pay extra money to heat ridiculously high ceilings since heat rises, and I don’t live “up there” anyway. I use fans both in the winter–to push the heat down–and summer (push the heat up). It’s very energy efficient with little cost…
How much for some actual privacy in your back yard?
I’ve been praying for the end of the two story high ceiling for years. If anything says ‘cold, impossible to paint /clean/ design’ these do. Same goes for the rest of the list (ok… keep the shower heads).
Ten foot ceilings are good. I would not mind an outdoor kitchen. I’ll skip the rest.
Two story family rooms can also make it uncomfortably hot if it faces the wrong direction and gets lots of sun. No way to open windows and get the heat out. And such a waste of space not to use it for an extra room upstairs. Never understood this idea.
JtR,
Have you seen the Lennar “Next Gen” homes aka built in granny flats.
Do you think that would catch on?
Yes, the multi-generational buyer groups are plentiful, and not much supply.