This latest survey by realtor.com shows that only 11% of homebuyers are concerned about the drought (just edging out the sinkholes!):
Homeowners were the most concerned about tornadoes, at 39%; severe cold or winter storms, at 38%; flooding, at 35%; hurricanes, at 29%; earthquakes, at 21%; wildfires, at 17%; droughts, at 11%; and sinkholes, at 8%.
According to drought.com, 87.9% of California is enduring ‘Extreme Drought’ conditions today, but San Diego County isn’t part of it:
The last severe drought peaked in 2014, and it was only after the fact that we found out that San Diego had plenty of water. This year, the governor has urged Californians to voluntarily cut domestic water use by 15%, and more restrictions are likely to follow.
How will it affect the real estate market?
Hopefully it will cause more buyers and sellers to seek out the truth – that San Diego is in better shape than most of the state. There is a very affluent demand for homes here, and water will always be available….at some price. Buyers with bigger and better reasons to move here won’t be deterred, and besides, what’s the alternative? Move to Florida?
It might cause a few more potential sellers to add one more reason to their list of why they should move, but the fear of water drying up won’t be enough to overwhelm the reasons to stay – weather, it’s-more-comfortable-to-stay, don’t-need-to-move, don’t want to go through my stuff, kids-are-here, etc. Maybe some additional inventory hits the market in selected areas, but don’t expect a flood.
Happy Birthday Doug; it’s hard to believe you’ve been gone for four years already – we miss you, and I wish you would have been here for this insanity! Here we are discussing the 2013 frenzy slowdown, and he was right with his prediction:
Another thought by Doug that didn’t make the video:
The number of oceanfront properties doesn’t change, yet how many millionaires are created daily?
This video probably played here back in the day, but I don’t have a record of it. Doug’s most important point that day: The number of oceanfront properties doesn’t change, yet how many millionaires are we making every day? (1,700)
I’d like to think that Kayla has had the best upbringing of any realtor because she got to hear the sage advice from Doug Harwood – here we are in July, 2014 but his thoughts might be even more relevant today:
The Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe was packed today – over 500 people by my count – to pay our respects to Doug Harwood. Five people spoke from the pulpit, but it seemed like everyone there could tell a story or two about Doug.
I’ll tell my favorite here.
A few years back, I had tracked down the owner of a house that was in default, and told him I had a buyer. Because the loan balance exceeded the value, and the owner didn’t live in the house, he had nothing to gain really. He was an upstanding citizen who was beset by medical issues that prevented him from working, and had gotten behind.
He said he’d be willing to work out a deal, but he wanted his agent to help. Great, who’s your agent? “Doug Harwood”, he said.
Though we had done business before, I didn’t know Doug that well. We arrange a meeting at the owner’s residence, and I came wearing my usual tie and driving the luxury sedan.
Doug pulls up in his older Suburban, and jumps out wearing the big hat he made famous. He then introduces me to his passenger.
“Jim, I want you to meet me Dad. We’re on our way to our weekly lunch.” I had just lost my Dad, and I remember how envious I was for them – and recognized that this wasn’t going to be the usual business meeting.
Selling houses was the byproduct of Doug’s relationship-building. Sure, we would need to get to some paperwork details later, but first – and more importantly – Doug engaged in a jovial conversation between all of us. Most agents would never think of letting you speak with their client, but Doug insisted. We even joked that if the short-sale went bad and the bank screwed us out of the commission, we’d just swap weekends driving the seller’s old Ferrari around!
It was obvious today that this was how Doug treated everyone. Shannon told the great story of how Doug would approach a homeless person. He wouldn’t ask if they were homeless; instead he’d ask if they were ‘living outside’ – and then reel off a hundred-dollar bill to make their day.
David Miller said that Doug loved the ‘Word of the Day’, and recently the word was nexus, which perfectly described Doug. He was the center of the community, judging by the 500 people who attended today, and there will never be another one like him – which makes our memory of Doug even more special.
Our favorite realtor has left us – another cancer victim. Doug and I go back to 1994 on Shore Drive in Carlsbad, and there hasn’t been a more gregarious guy in the business since. I have the utmost respect.
I appreciate his willingness to go on camera and share his thoughts. His talks are the best real estate video you will ever see.
Here’s one of our first together from July 14, 2015, plus a link to others:
I stopped by to see Doug Harwood’s new listing on Neptune on Wednesday. Doug had his Fuji Instax camera, which is like the old Polaroid cameras that produce the photo right there so you can hand it off.
It made us ponder how the real estate selling game has changed over the years.
Much of the selling process is the same, and realtors like it like that.
Things that haven’t changed much:
Open houses.
The back-and-forth negotiations.
Listing agents trying to hustle up their own buyers for their new listings.
The Differences:
We both sang the praises of Docusign, the electronic-signature process. This used to be a real night job, where I’d be spending hours at people’s homes writing up listings and offers in person. But now virtually all signing is done electronically.
No more fax machines. In the beginning, we wrote and signed contracts in person, and then hand-delivered them to the other agent – and sometimes got to present them to their clients. too. Then the fax machine came out – and much like Docusign – everyone wondered if it was a legitimate contract if it was ‘faxed’.
It used to take a few days to get photos ‘developed’, and then distributed for flyers and MLS use. Now the digital photos are instantly sent.
We used to have trouble with photo quality. Now with Photoshop, they are overly-enhanced!
Newspaper advertising used to be a big deal – and agents used to complain about their company’s ads not being big enough.
I used to carry a briefcase of real estate forms in my trunk – and when I ran out, I was out of business. I’ve written two contracts in person in the last eight years.
Remember the Montblanc pens? I don’t even carry pens any more.
Up until recently, we collected a personal check from buyers for their good-faith deposit, and had to keep a hand-written record of trust funds. Now we don’t touch money.
On closing day, the escrow companies hand-delivered the commission checks to the brokerages (some still do). Then I would feel a sense of accomplishment by walking my check into the bank. But now all money is wired – I haven’t been inside a bank in years.
We used to have a problem with storing all the files and documentation. Now the old filing cabinets are just used to collect magnets.
The camaraderie between agents played an important role in getting deals done. But now there are so many agents and companies spread out that we are forced to create instant relationships.
There is complete dependence on the mobile devices – email and text are more common than actually calling the other agent. In fact, we have closed sales without ever actually speaking to the other agent.
It’s not as personal as it used to be, but much more efficient!
I ran into Keith at the Carlsbad Company Stores and wondered if he is more famous than Robbie Krieger or Michael McDonald as the two other most famous people I've met?
Sid Vicious once said “all the critics like Elvis Costello because all the critics look like Elvis Costello” I think about that whenever Weezer comes on
Jim the Realtor is legit - I interviewed three brokers; he said list price should be $100,000 higher than the other two brokers; listed it with him and had all cash (no financing) offer in two days, five day contingency period, closing in two weeks - and it closed at his recommended list price. I could not recommend anyone more than I recommend Jim the Realtor.
drp2drp
2020-12-30
When we moved to San Diego in 2005 we rented a big house on Mt. Soledad (La Jolla) with 180 degree ocean views for the same payment as a mortgage on a dump in Chula Vista. Clearly something was wrong. Yet, the media was full of the usual happy-talk nonsense, so I was glad to find Jim's blog. I've followed his honest assessments and data since.
We decided to sell and move to AZ at Thanksgiving. Dec. 1st we met with Jim to sell our home. We closed today (29 days later). Jim orchestrated a feeding frenzy -- we had 25 showings in 2-1/2 days, multiple offers, and sold for well over asking price. I'd say he earned his commission! We have owned and sold homes in 5 different States always using experienced, productive, full-time realtors. Jim outshines them all.
You don't decide to sell and close 29 days later over Christmas (with COVID lockdown) without some miracles. Donna was amazing at performing lots of those miracles and ensuring that everything was done right and on time. They are a terrific team with a very responsive and professional network.
AmberleePiercy
2020-10-21
Where do we begin..2020 has been a year for everyone. When COVID hit and shut down both my husband and my businesses, we were left with a mortgage and very little income coming in. We were stressed, scared and felt stuck. We made the hard decision to sell our home and move out of state. We contacted the Klinges' and spent a good hour going over what we hoped we could accomplish. Jim and Donna came over with comps in hand and suggestions on improvements to get our house ready for the market. It was overwhelming to think about, but Donna was there and one step ahead in every scenario. Basically we just approved what they suggested and Donna handled literally everything. We placed our house on the market and within the first day we had multiple offers well above asking price! We couldn't believe it. We were overjoyed! Jim countered the offers to weed through them, and everyone came back with way more. It was amazing, and we are ?? sure it was because of the staging and repairs the Klinges suggested we do.
Due to unforeseen dishonesty from the buyers lender, we hit a big hurdle when trying to close. We had already moved out of state and were shocked when three days before closing the lender dropped a bombshell on the buyers and us. However, Jim and Donna handled it like veterans, not afraid to play hard ball and represent their clients. After a few phone calls with us, and several between Donna and the lender, they had a plan B-Z to make sure we were taken care of. In the end we closed with even more money than we ever thought possible and with very little work from us. The Klinges handled this entire "2020" worthy event with the utmost professionalism and did everything in their power to not only make this as smooth as possible for us, but we also walked away with more money from the sale of the house than we ever hoped for. After working with Jim and Donna, you don't ever use anyone else. They are hands down the best team to represent you in any scenario.
Cecilia Acevedo
2020-10-01
Working with Klinge Realty Group was a great experience! They are very responsive, professional and knowledgable about the real estate market! I would definitely recommend Klinge Realty Group.
WAH08
2020-10-01
Jim and Donna Klinge made the sale of our condo extraordinarily easy. They know the market and gave us sound advice backed by details and very considerable experience, reflected both in the initial pricing and subsequent negotiations. They work together as a team and are always available to talk. We had a few challenges with our property and they were able to coordinate the resolution to everything, including items that I would not think would ordinarily be their responsibility to handle. They made the whole process effortless on our part. They are folks with high integrity and we cannot recommend them highly enough.
bethamunce
2019-09-26
Review for Member: Donna Klinge
I cannot believe there are no reviews of Donna yet, ugh!! She is the secret sauce of the Jim Klinge/Donna Klinge combo! I will touch on Jim here, but Donna is why I'm so totally loyal to these two (no offense to Jim :)).
I consider myself a rather savvy buyer/seller. I've bought/sold 7 times in about 15 years. On the buy side, Jim is the PERFECT combo of: completely digitally savvy (he will pull data all day long until you feel comfortable with your chosen house, area, school district, anticipated appreciation rate...anything!), he's super well respected and known in the area by other agents, an amazingly cool but strategic negotiator, is totally devoid of desperation for a sale/commission, and more.
Then once you get into contract phase, Donna literally handles every last and final detail in a concierge-like manner -- totally shielding you from the daily back and forth, noodling and annoyances of the buyer's requests. She solves it ALL; it's miraculous what that woman accomplishes over and above what is even expected in a buy/sell transaction.
On the sell side, Jim and Donna do the same, but even moreso. Donna in particular truly takes everything off your plate: she'll manage getting the house painted, the carpets replaced, she'll go on site (as she Jim both did for me when selling our rental properties) to work with the renters and make sure the house is ready to show -- freeing me to have to take time off of work to do so. They work with A+ integrity, too, so you know you are serving all parties fairly and lawfully throughout.
A home purchase/sale is the most considered you'll ever make. HIRE A SAVVY AGENT, not a friend!, and get what you need out of the transaction. Jim and Donna are our agents for life.
Ann Romanello
2019-04-06
Jim and Donna Klinge are by far the most professional, personable and responsive realtors I have ever worked with. They provide VIP concierge level service in every area of the process of selling your home. My home was marketed so successfully that we received an offer the day after our first and only open house. Thanks to Jim's pricing and negotiating, our house is now the highest sold in our community. Jim's vast experience means he has worked with several realtors and knows the market all over north county. Donna is AMAZING in processing everything in the transaction. She scheduled trades people to work on the house in preparation for the sale as well as the repairs needed before closing. She communicated clearly every step of the way about what would be happening. She took the weight off my shoulders for the whole process. I will always use Jim and Donna for my future real estate needs and I whole heartedly recommend them to anyone buying or selling a home.
zuser20160915180743456
2018-07-03
Jim and the team at Klinge Reality are without a doubt the best in the business! Not only was Jim helpful and extremely knowledgeable, he was patient and determined to help me find my first home. Jim and his team have been in the business for many years, and it shows. Jim is a wealth of knowledge and was my biggest proponent despite the temperature of the competitive market. I ended up getting the perfect property in my dream neighborhood all thanks to Jim. From the day my offer was accepted, Donna was a real lifesaver. She was extremely helpful, responsive, and knowledgeable when it came to every minute detail, and held my hand through the process. As a first time home buyer I had no idea what the process would entail, but Donna curtailed every concern I came across and made the escrow process feel seamless. Jim and Donna provided me the best home buying experience, and I am very grateful for all they did for me. It was truly a pleasure to work with Jim and Donna and I am already looking forward to the next time we work together!
melanielogue
2018-04-30
Review for Member: Richard Morgan
Richard is an amazing realtor! He has high integrity and genuinely cares about his clients and their needs. Richard paid close attention to what I was seeking in a home and was very patient in our search to find it. I would highly recommend Richard and will use him for future transactions. Truly a different kind of realtor experience!
shaunccornell
2018-03-28
Could not be happier with my experience with Jim and his team. He helped me sell a very unique and challenging property. Throughout the entire process he was always available, honest, transparent, trustworthy, and always put my interests as a seller first. A (rare) true professional! During close of escrow Jim went above and beyond to complete the deal. It would not have been possible without his experience, fantastic team, and pure dedication. Highly recommended!
Thanks Jim and Donna Klinge!
