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.
Hey Jim,
Definitely enjoying the videos!
How bad do you think this “wave” will get?
Thanks
I’d like to see you drive your pickup truck through RSF next time 🙂 Nice you are getting back around to 92024, but what about the house next to 510 Camino De Orchidia? Something smells funny, but I could be wrong. Also, the second house from the corner back towards Requeza is for sale and the lawn is looking browner. I use these homes as an indicator of what is to come. Every other week a mid to upper tier +2000 sqft home in 92024 is listed/sells in the low to mid 600 range. 1618 Blossom Field is a new REO listing at 541K and the Agent said they already have 8 offers. However, the house requires new carpet upstairs and downstairs. The hardwood flooring needs to be pulled and replaced, and the roof is leaking. It needs a new coat of paint inside and out and there is a strong pungent odor throughout the house. Basically it is all original. Compare this to the comp on Village Center and Hummock Ln (both non zero lot line, same school district and located further away from power lines and traffic noise from Mountain Vista Dr). Wait, I just checked Hummock and it looks like they increased the VRM price and spread to 650-725K – I thought it went pending a few days after it was listed? Well, so much for the low comp. But hey, I should be jumping for Joy 😀
Didn’t you do a story about the St.Regis recently, Jim? I read this on the LA Times online edition at midnight: “St.Regis Monarch Seized by Citigroup”.
In part:
The seizure of the St. Regis Monarch Beach, where American International Group Inc. sponsored a luxury retreat just days after accepting a federal bailout, is the most dramatic sign yet of the deep troubles in the market for high-end hotels.
Citigroup Inc. took over the Dana Point hotel and golf course Monday after months of negotiations over a $70-million loan that was in default. A foreclosure auction slated for today was canceled after the lender realized there would be no serious bids for the property, according to a knowledgeable person who was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
…As twilight fell one night last week, a single person lounged by the resort’s main pool while only a few couples sat in the restaurants and a piano player performed for an empty lounge. A person knowledgeable about the resort and the negotiations with Citigroup said that only about 15% of the hotel’s rooms had been rented this summer.”
Link to article:
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-stregis
foreclose21-2009jul21,0,625590.story
ETA: I went over to the St. Regis website for fun. A three-day stay (Friday-Sunday) for 2 adults(king) with 19 room choices in mid-August ranged from: $502.50 – $1,185.00/daily rate per room.
Other taxes and fees were available on another link but were excluded from the above total.
We’ve been checking out some of the higher-end hotels just for fun, and they are NOT offering anything even remotely tempting. You’d think they’d drop their prices to attract some customers, but nope. Gonna sit their with their wishing prices just like so many home sellers.
It’s no wonder these resorts are going out of business. With $500/night++ rates, they deserve what whatever they get.
Jim,
where do you position your camera why your driving?Is it in one of your hands or on your head?
“We’ve been checking out some of the higher-end hotels just for fun, and they are NOT offering anything even remotely tempting.”
Agreed. I stayed at Hilton so many times for biz trips that I have 2 free nights (still!) that I’m using in a couple months. But now the Hilton hotels look dramatically overpriced. I switched to Hotels.com since they offer 1 night free up to $400 for every 10 nights (over $40/night) that you book. I’ve been booking $40 and $50/night rooms at quite nice hotels…Hilton won’t price-match that.
On a recent trip I booked to Vegas, my first night didn’t even qualify for the $40 level, and this was on the Strip! I chose to stay at Imperial Palace vs. the Mirage, TI, or Caesar’s. I doubt I’m the only one finding deals at the cheaper hotels and opting for them vs. the name brands.
-Erica
Jim, I was wondering exactly what you meant by your “Honda in the driveway” comment.
If someone drives a Honda and pays over $1 mil cash for a house, they’re my hero. I’m very frugal and could see myself doing the same thing a few years from now. Although I don’t think I would pay 100% cash for a house unless I had a substantial emergency fund first.
BTW, I drive a ’97 Honda Civic :o)
They are my hero too.
The Honda to me is a symbol that they are probably modest, regular people that intend to live there.
Not flippers, drug-dealers, money-launderers, or other bad people that were mentioned here last week by a commenter (that said that cash buyers are bad for neighborhoods).
Where does the cash come from? I’d guess that it’s split between hard-working savers, people who cashed out of other properties and are bubblesitting, and inheritance/gifts.
BTW, I drive a 1966 Chevy. 😉
Re: your line about nice/decent homes for $1 mil in/around the covenant…
Now THAT would be something. You can’t even touch one of the (lame) remaining lots for that now. I’d be surprised if even teardowns hit that level.
Jim would be fine in the Chevy in RSF. He’ll simply be mistaken for a landscaper!
$1M for nice in the covenant? Jim’s a *bear*!!! 😉
p.s.: Jim, what did you mean by the one place being “noisy”?
I think he meant it is near Del Dios hwy?
Yes, thanks 3, it’s noisy because it’s on Linea Del Cielo, the main artery coming into RSF from the west/freeway. The house I sold on La Glorieta a couple of months ago was 3.6 acres and backed to Linea, which still put the house a couple of hundred yeards away – and it was still noisy.
Uh-oh Jim,
You sound permabear-ish…$1mm for Covenant? Seriously?
I’ve seen some “Covenant” houses just in the past few years (since the peak) in the million-ish range. They’re usually the older homes, but they’ve been out there.