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.
I like the use of the word Odyssey to describe Carson Palmer’s Del Mar home sale. I am not sure that he ever really lived in the home because it was put up for sale shortly after construction around 2015 for $25 million. I would estimate that the house cost around $11 million to build – $4.4 million for the land and $6.5 million for total construction costs ($1K/sq ft). I would estimate the yearly carrying cost at around 7% (5% lost income on principal, 1% property tax, 1% maintenance costs) or about $800K per year. Over 5 years, that’s around $4 million. So, Palmer’s total investment was around $15 million. He may have net around $3 million (maybe less). Not a great investment, IMHO.
I think the primary mistake was the initial asking price. Palmer should have asked for Jim’s advice on pricing back in 2015. If he had sold the house for $18 million in 2015, he would have returned a healthy profit of about $7 million.
Most sellers have gotten bailed out by the length of this bull market. How many do you see that are priced higher today than they were 1-2 years ago? I’d say it’s 20%.
Ego is not your amigo.
Here’s a good example.
The list price was $1,200,000 a year ago.
It sold today for $1,550,000 – check the property history:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1651-Caudor-St_Encinitas_CA_92024_M21067-23080