We had five offers to purchase this 1979 custom home, but because it is hard to look at, buyers expect a BIG discount. Here I review a simple plan to bring it into this era. The comp that just closed this week for $2,895,000 is a three-story house – have you ever seen a decent 3-story? Me neither – they are usually two great floors with a converted attic or basement, so the effective square footage would be about the same as this house. But we’re way off the busy street and right on the 4th hole at La Costa! Only $1,995,000.
Sounds like a fair compromise to me – if they can get around the construction-defect litigation that seems to come with every new complex. Two-story is preferred vs. three-story:
Owning a home has long been a core part of the American Dream. Today, however, there simply aren’t enough affordable options, and that ideal is increasingly out of reach. There’s a sensible way to address this shortfall, but it requires moving beyond the antiquated vision of a big house with a fenced yard in the suburbs.
The new American Dream should be a townhouse — a two- or three-story home that shares walls with a neighbor. Townhouses are the Goldilocks option between single-family homes in the suburbs and high-rise condos in cities.
Though townhouses have long been perceived as starter homes for young couples who hope to later move to a larger place, developers say that stereotype is changing. Today, townhouses are popular options for many kinds of households — couples with one child, single parents, people who live alone, couples in their 30s and 40s with no kids, and empty nesters in their 50s looking to downsize. People are drawn to the low-maintenance lifestyle and the sense of community. Many people don’t want to isolate themselves in suburban homes where they have minimal contact with neighbors and are fully dependent on a car.
“We absolutely love our next door neighbors,” said Katherine McKay, 40, who lives in a townhouse in Silver Spring, Md., with her wife. They met their neighbors — a retired couple — when they were all outside one evening on their back decks. They immediately bonded over the fact that they all enjoy having just enough space for a “postage stamp” garden. “Our townhome is 1,700 square feet. I don’t want more to clean.”
Hat tip to Jakob who left this in the comment section but it deserves full exposure. If you live within a half-mile of a transit station in the City of San Diego, this type of ADU construction is permissible.
Hi Jim, here’s one of these ADU complexes for sale. They bought the 1,385sf house for $1.1m two years ago (it was listed for $899,000). Then built 10 1br ADUs in the back and converted the garage to another 1br. For sale now as a 12-unit for $5.5m.
These guys are advertising on sports-talk radio and at first I thought it was just another ADU builder.
The problem with SB9 is being able to sell the newly-built ADU.
In order to obtain regular financing and title insurance, either the property would need to be condo-ized to sell the homes separately, or the lot would need to be officially split.
You can process the lot split yourself, if you have the time and patience.
How much are you willing to pay for convenience?
If you wanted to build an ADU for your own use and had no plans to ever sell it separately, then carry on. But if you have a larger lot and didn’t mind selling off part of it just to watch a new home be built and sold there, then take a look.
San Diego has emerged as the most active real estate market in California.
Our latest report, covering construction trends from 1980 to 2023 — a time frame that spans a millennial’s lifetime — reveals fascinating insights into the key drivers shaping the city we see today.
Ranked tenth in the nation for overall development, America’s Finest City is making waves with impressive expansion in the multifamily and office sectors. This growth cements San Diego as a real estate powerhouse in California, ahead of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and one of the nation’s most dynamic economic centers in the country.
Key highlights from the study:
Single family sector: In the past 44 years, San Diego has issued permits for over 76,000 single family homes, the highest number in California. Although the market remains active, the momentum has dramatically waned from the construction boom of the 1980s. In the first half of the 2020s, the average number of single family home permits issued annually is around 500, representing just 14.7% of the yearly output during the 1980s.
Multifamily growth: San Diego ranks ninth in the nation for apartment construction, having issued nearly 173,000 permits over the past five decades. Although still below the 1980s peak of 6,700 units per year, apartment construction has made a strong comeback, averaging an impressive 4,400 permits annually in the 2020s.
Office space expansion: In the last 44 years, San Diego has added over 77 million square feet of office space, leading California and ranking eighth nationally. Driven by thriving software and biotechnology sectors, this impressive growth solidifies San Diego’s role as a major economic hub.
Addressing the need for extra space: San Diego leads California in the self storage sector, adding over 7.3 million square feet in the past 44 years. Despite this substantial growth, demand remains high, with average rents for San Diego storage units hovering around a steep $183 per month.
Industrial revival: In the past five decades, San Diego has added over 56 million square feet of industrial space, placing sixteenth nationally. The recession caused a sharp slowdown, with annual deliveries falling from over 1.2 million square feet in the previous decade to just 280,000 square feet in the 2010s. However, the 2020s have sparked a remarkable comeback, with more than 1.9 million square feet delivered annually, marking a robust revival in the city’s industrial sector.
Retail sector slowing down: The retail sector has been San Diego’s slowest-growing area, with just 24 million square feet added since the 1980s, placing the city twenty-fourth nationally.
The ‘Villages of La Costa’ was the name given to the development of four large areas of south Carlsbad. La Costa Valley (bottom left) was graded and model homes being built when this photo was taken. La Costa Oaks South is the green patch to the right, La Costa Ridge in the middle, and La Costa Greens in the upper left, next to where Bressi Ranch and Rancho Carrillo were being graded in this photo.
Here’s a good summary of what Fred had to endure to get the Villages built:
We knew that Toll Bros are building 42 homes next to the Chevron gas station on La Costa Avenue and the freeway. They are doing the same treatment as the builder did at Halia – burying the contaminants instead of removing:
David Hill, a Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation board member who specializes in water quality management, criticized the developers for encapsulating rather than removing what he said were 6,300 tons of hazardous materials, including organochlorine pesticides, buried beneath the planned homes.
Another surprise is the planned hotel to be built next door:
Golf-course redevelopment is a terrific solution to providing new housing in the middle of town. They will work out the kinks like building enough roads.
A judge’s ruling halted construction this week of the 536-unit Junipers development in Rancho Peñasquitos — and could complicate and delay approvals of other dense housing projects across San Diego.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Frazier nullified an analysis of how the Junipers would affect nearby traffic, noise and wildfire threats, saying it had failed to account for two large nearby housing projects. In a ruling that made final a tentative ruling he issued last week, Frazier halted construction of the Junipers, where 36 units are complete, and said it can’t resume until the analysis is redone to account for the long-term presence of the 331-unit Millennium PQ and 826-unit Trails at Carmel Mountain Ranch.
The resident group that had sued to stop the Junipers called the ruling a victory for San Diego’s neighborhoods because it will require developers to provide more robust mitigation when they build impactful, dense projects.
In particular, the residents want Junipers developer Lennar Homes to pay for building more evacuation routes for their wildfire-prone area.
“Our goal in bringing this lawsuit forward is to require the city of San Diego to perform environmental review to address wildfire impacts on redevelopment in our area,” the PQ-NE Action Group said in a statement. “We are very pleased with the final ruling.”
The city and Lennar, which declined to comment Tuesday, could appeal to a higher court.
Or Lennar could settle with the residents, for instance by agreeing to construct additional evacuation routes.
If the ruling isn’t overturned on appeal, attorneys for Lennar and the city say it could have far-reaching impacts on how government agencies must analyze the effects dense housing projects might have on traffic, noise and wildfire threats.
“It would potentially grind development to a halt,” Deputy City Attorney Ben Syz told Judge Frazier in court last Thursday. “The city needs certainty as to what it’s looking at and what it’s analyzing.”
Donna and Jim provided exceptional support and professionalism throughout the entire process. We couldn't have been happier with their efforts. They made our house shine, and thanks to their expertise, it sold above the listing price in the very first weekend! Truly a fantastic experience from start to finish.
jesus a sahagun
2024-11-10
Verified
This year has been difficult on our family, mainly due to having to sell our home. Thankfully we knew God had a plan for us and working with the Klinge team was a key part of it. It was an obvious decision to work with them again after such an amazing experience when purchasing the same home we needed to sell. The challenge was, how will we do this in so little time with so much going on? Jim and Donna held our hand every step of the way. Whenever an unexpected issue arose they found and provided a solution. Never once did we feel pressured to make a decision and the Klinges were always reassuring after providing the information that the decision was ours to make. Despite the curve balls, they never panicked and exemplified the “can do” attitude, making us feel optimistic and taken care of. Their expertise and professionalism was superb. But of all the reasons to work with the Klinges, the most impactful and valuable is their compassion and genuine care for their clients. We pray that we can one day purchase our forever home and you better believe that Jim and Donna will be representing us - as long as they will have us of course. Thank you again Klinge team! Your execution, experience, and care are unmatched.
SabihaPasha
2024-07-22
Verified
Jim and Donna were fantastic! Jim understanding my needs, recommending potential places, pointing out the pros and cons of each property was invaluable. Then when the offer was accepted Donna’s organized guidance through the inspections, paperwork etc made the whole process seem effortless.
So grateful that I had them on my side!
dodyfrancis
2024-07-10
Verified
I appreciate Jim & Donna's great teamwork, sound advice, and guidance that eased the stress of selling our Carlsbad home. Their professional input and assistance throughout the process was very helpful. Highly recommended!
sbisachsen
2024-07-10
Verified
The Good
The Klinge Realty Group operates like a finely tuned machine, with a very personal touch. We contacted them on a Sunday and they were talking to us about our family and our needs on our living room couch the following day. They carefully listened to us and worked with us to identify the best and quickest path to listing within 2 weeks to take advantage of the low inventory conditions in our South Carlsbad neighborhood. They knew our tract specifically and had many previous sales there over the years - they came prepared with a thorough analysis of comparative sales and recommended a pricing strategy that they felt confident would yield offers the first weekend on the market.
The Great
Over the next two weeks Donna coordinated a range of vendors who she knew from experience could get the preparation to list work we needed done on time and with high quality. Our light tune-up involved excellent experiences with their stagers, landscapers, contractors, electricians, and plumbers. Throughout this period Donna's daily communication was clear, concise, and responsive. Any time we had questions Donna picked up the phone or texted immediately - but almost always, she answered our questions before we even knew we had them.
The Outstanding
We had a tricky situation with a shared fence that could have delayed our escrow. Donna used superb mediation skills to negotiate the terms of replacement and was personally on site with the fence contractor to make sure everything went smoothly. The fence looks great and escrow closed on time.
The Truly Exceptional
Our house came on the market on a Wednesday and between then and Monday morning Jim was personally at all three open houses. He was in constant communication explaining potential buyer reaction and strength. As he predicted offers began to come in on Saturday and each one was incrementally higher than the last. At the end we had 5 offers, 4 of which were over list, and the final accepted offer was $100,000 over list. In addition to being over list it included rent back terms that met our needs.
The Recommendation
For all of these reasons we would strongly recommend The Klinge Team to anyone wanting to sell in North County Coastal San Diego. I had been reading Jim's blog for 15 years and knew when the time came to sell that he would be our first call. Jim Klinge is not your standard realtor. He is keenly aware of market conditions and sales strategies. And, works his tail off - though not as hard as Donna . At this point he's gone from realtor to friend and I plan to have him over to grill and chill at our new place to talk real estate, but also just about life and raising kids in San Diego. He's more interested in relationships than his sales numbers - and that's why his sales numbers are so high. We have already recommended the Klinge's to some close friends and another successful sale is on deck right around the corner...
user19164788
2024-06-21
Verified
We recently had the pleasure of working with Jim and Donna from Klinge Realty Group to sell our house, and we couldn't be more satisfied with the experience. From the initial meeting, they listened attentively to our needs and provided invaluable guidance on specific improvements to get our home market ready.
Their responsiveness throughout the entire process was truly impressive. Anytime we had questions or concerns, they were quick to address them, ensuring we felt comfortable and informed every step of the way. What stood out the most was their team and extensive network of tradespeople, which made addressing any necessary repairs or updates seamless and stress-free.
Thanks to their expertise and dedication, our house sold quickly and at a great price. We highly recommend Jim and Donna to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. They are a fantastic team who truly care about their clients and deliver exceptional results.
cali4neal
2024-05-07
Verified
We had a wonderful experience buying our home with Donna and Jim! In particular I was very impressed with their efficiency and support through the purchase process. As we were doing the walk through, Donna started contacting roofers, plumbers, aircon, electricians, etc for all the areas we needed potential repairs - by the time we were done with the walk through appointments were already set up to get estimates for all the major services. When we had to change an appointment, or couldn't make one, Donna was there to arrange things to fit our schedule. Even after we closed on our home, Donna helped set up the repairs we needed before move in day. They truly went above and beyond to deliver exceptional service. I'll be calling them for our next home!
zuser20160809095816651
2024-03-16
Verified
The sale of our home exceeded our expectations - Jim and Donna Klinge are the best!
We’ve followed Jim’s Bubbleinfo blog since the 2006 housing bubble. After he helped us buy in 2017 we stayed in touch and Team Klinge were the obvious choice when it came time to move. They guided us through the preparation of the house, including a kitchen refresh - Donna and Lisa skillfully managed the various contractors for us after we had moved out of state. Donna’s excellent attention to detail and regular communication made the whole process run smoothly from a distance.
Jim’s market knowledge, expert negotiating skills and candid opinions, together with Donna’s responsive communications and problem solving, set them in a league of their own.
Highly recommended!
bourmakin
2024-02-09
Verified
Jim and Donna have exceeded my expectations with sale of my house. It was best experience with house sale. Professional, responsive, superior negotiating skills. I would recommend them with 5 star (I would give them even more than max) rating. Sale of my house was closed for really good price in 10 days. Jim and Donna perfectly handled house preparation for sale. Thanks a lot!!!
user1916779
2023-11-17
Verified
Jim and Donna have exceeded my expectations and made my most recent move back to California go so much more smoothly than I expected. Jim’s Bubbleinfo blog was full of useful information about the current market conditions. His experience helped us make a successful offer for the home we wanted in a desirable neighborhood. After the purchase Donna organized the work we needed done in the house without us having to make an additional trip. We were pretty worried when we started searching for real estate that not being in the area was going to makes things really difficult but Jim and Donna made the process so much easier. I enthusiastically recommend them.
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