Retro Charmer

by | Jun 3, 2023 | Bubbleinfo TV, Carlsbad, Why You Should List With Jim | 1 comment

Check out our new listing WEST of the 5 freeway in downtown Carlsbad!

1116 Buena Vista Way, Carlsbad

3 br/1.5 ba, 1,000sf

YB: 1958

Lot is 7,100sf

LP = $995,000

Retro beach bungalow on a large 7,100sf lot for this money? Wow! Hardwood floors, vaulted ceiling, new roof, new fence, and new paint too. The lowest sale in Carlsbad this year is $1,050,000 and it wasn’t west of the freeway and walking distance to the vibrant and happening village of Carlsbad! Build yourself a three-car garage with an ADU and you’ll be all set! The 1961 Cadillac limo is negotiable.

Open 12-3pm Saturday June 3rd and 12-2pm on Sunday June 4th.

https://www.compass.com/app/listing/1116-buena-vista-way-carlsbad-ca-92008/1324851182436499489






South Carlsbad/Encinitas 1967

by | May 31, 2023 | Carlsbad, Encinitas, Leucadia, Local Flavor | 0 comments

Here’s a sky shot of the South Carlsbad/Encinitas region in 1967. The La Costa Resort opened in 1965 (in the center of the photo) and another nine holes was added on the north end in 1984.

https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/san-diego-la-costa/property-details/history/by-decade

Leucadia Blvd. didn’t go through until later, and Rancho Santa Fe Road goes up through San Marcos but there isn’t much else east of El Camino Real!

This is the full 1800×1800 image and should allow you to zoom in on desktops and iphones. I’m not having any luck with the pixel phones yet though!

What’s Working For Me

by | May 23, 2023 | 2023, Carlsbad, Why You Should List With Jim, Zillow | 9 comments

We received three offers on our new listing, and all were around $2,000,000….well under the list price.

Once you get over $2,000,000, the buyers are putting up some fight.

If the only strategy is to take the best offer – by far the most popular realtor strategy – what do you do? Just select your favorite $2,000,000 agent with biggest down payment and shortest escrow? Or wait another week (or more) and hope there are two in the bush?

Those are the only two choices being employed all around the county. Home sellers have no idea how much money they are leaving on the table – and neither do the agents. It doesn’t occur to anybody that there is any other way to transact.

Spruce them up the best you can. Do the open-house extravaganza. Then counter ALL offerors for their highest-and-best…..and then tell everyone the current high price, and ask them to beat it. When faced with losing the house, buyers are much more likely to keep bidding.

I haven’t found any other agent who does it this way, but I hope they are out there.

I had the sellers agree to raise our list price to the agreed-upon sales price in order to send a message to the rest of the marketplace.  I don’t want any of the other listings nearby to drop their price, and I want to be supportive to other buyers in general that the market is fine. Three of the La Costa Valley Six listings have gone pending in the last week!

One more note. When possible, I want to pick the winner on Day Four – it is the peak of the buyer urgency, and interest drops off quickly.  Once a listing is more than a month old, buyers are going to lowball – why would you want to be in that predictament? Look how the views taper off:

When the saves are running around 5% of the total views, the online presentation is being well-received. Buyers must like the location, the photos, and the price to want to save another Zillow listing!

Real Estate Navigation

by | May 21, 2023 | 2023, Carlsbad, Jim's Take on the Market, Why You Should List With Jim | 0 comments

The six active listings in La Costa Valley got trimmed to five with Avenida Ciruela going into pending status, and four of the five actives had open house on Saturday! The weather was funky because a 50% chance of rain was forecasted early in the morning, but it never rained. The turnout was moderate (at best) however, and we had one threat of an offer.

We are the least-expensive of the bunch now, and should be the next to drop into the pending category just because of that – but you never know. Camino Serbal has gone quiet and is the one for sale that’s not doing open houses (after having three last weekend), so I think they must be close to a deal.

If we do get one or more offers and can make a deal in the next day or two, it will leave the three in the middle vying for the attention of the remaining buyers:

This is where it will get a little queasy with my sellers.

If we can get into escrow now, and then those three go down later, it might feel like we left money on the table if they end up closing for more. But they might not sell for those prices, or even sell at all.

We’re all in flight, hoping to navigate through a crowded space. Land the plane!

https://www.compass.com/app/listing/2150-corte-cidro-carlsbad-ca-92009/1313902473431353361

La Costa Valley Resort!

by | May 17, 2023 | Bubbleinfo TV, Carlsbad, Jim's Take on the Market, Why You Should List With Jim | 7 comments


Check out our new listing in La Costa Valley!

2150 Corte Cidro, Carlsbad 92009

5 br/4 ba, 2,631sf

0.23-acre lot

HOA + MR = $202/mo

LP = $2,100,000

Open house 12-3pm on Saturday and Sunday, May 20th & 21st!

Are you looking for the ultimate entertainer’s home with resort-style backyard perched above it all on a hilltop mesa with panoramic views? Check out this dream backyard with a tropical solar-heated pool, slide, swim-up grotto, BBQ island, fire pit, outdoor shower, and plenty of party space. The perfect great room overlooks the lagoon-like pool area so you can keep a close eye on the kiddos and it features an upgraded granite/stainless kitchen too! Multi-gen buyers will love the TWO possible bedrooms/full baths downstairs which are ideal for work-from-home or for guests! Other features include hardwoods, new carpet & paint, fireplace, and plenty of natural light. Wow – this is a trophy property!


https://www.compass.com/app/listing/2150-corte-cidro-carlsbad-ca-92009/1313902473431353361

Open 12-3pm on Saturday and Sunday, May 20th and 21st!

Subdued Frenzy

by | May 10, 2023 | 2023, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Frenzy, Jim's Take on the Market, Why You Should List With Jim | 0 comments

We closed escrow yesterday in La Costa Valley! The seller is a bubbleinfo reader so obviously we have analyzed our results carefully over the last month. We felt that we did everything right in preparing what we thought was a superior home in the tract and utilized an attractive price, but it wasn’t enough to set off a wild bidding war like back in the frenzy days.

We received five offers, but when presented with the opportunity to submit their highest-and-best price, NONE of the buyers were willing to go up. It made this sales price feel like full retail and differ greatly from the covid-frenzy ultra-low interest rate days when buyers were desperate and would pay any price to win.

Now buyers seem to be patient with today’s shortage of homes for sale and would rather wait, than go crazy on price (there were two higher-priced sales of this model during peak frenzy last year).

Same thing here with six buyers yesterday, where it was very orderly and nobody went nuts on price:

Or maybe the group of homes that deserve a wild bidding war is much smaller than it used to be? This is peak season, so any remaining exuberance should be worked out by July/August.

Half-Acre Surprise

by | May 1, 2023 | 1-story, Bubbleinfo TV, Carlsbad | 0 comments

If the buyer of this property ends up subdividing it into two lots, they hit the jackpot. But adding a granny flat would be easier. There was a sale of this floor plan in December, 2020 at $1,200,000 that had ocean view – now TWO have sold for over $2,000,000!

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