I was in Las Vegas doing what I could to help Laker great Lamar Odom, and happened to swing by the Z-Group event for their premier agents.
The big wigs rolled out a couple of new features, Stan did his presentation, and then they had breakout sessions that included speaker panels with agents who are devoted customers.
No one could blame them for inviting their most successful agents on stage – it’s what you would expect. But the numbers they discussed were staggering.
Robert Slack was just a single agent for a couple of decades.
In 2014, he had four agents working for him. Now he employs 34 agents – and expects that number to be up to 40 agents by the end of 2015.
Zillow sells ‘impressions’ on a listing page, based on zip codes – he has bought exposure in 92 zip codes in Florida!
His team closed 42 sales last month. He wants to close 1,000 sales in 2016!
Robert works in central Florida, and serves Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Sarasota and Venice. He sells houses priced mostly from $100,000 to $400,000 – which is a very affordable price range. There was another agent from Missouri who had similar success – but his sales were at the same price point.
This team approach built around Zillow buyer leads can be very effective. The team leaders can build the machine and check out too – the Missouri guy said he spent all summer at the beach.
Could realtors in higher-end areas use Zillow advertising to achieve dominance? It’s so competitive already that it would take a major investment for years, but it is possible. Such an effort would really clear out the individual buyer agents.
When there are so few companies doing any exhaustive research about the market – especially at the local level – realtors will take whatever they can get and pass it along to clients. In this case, that message will be positive.
The Spring Selling Season around here traditionally gets started right after the Super Bowl – let’s talk about it!
On Monday, February 3rd at 8:00pm we will be joined here by Rich Toscano and other local experts to discuss the real estate market!
Using Google Hangouts On Air here, you will be able to watch and listen to the panel discussion right here on the blog. We will be taking your questions too – get in early by leaving them in the comment section below.
Yesterday I attended the Bank of America REO/Short-Sale seminar for agents on their preferred list.
They haven’t sent me a new REO listing in about a year, so I thought I better attend, just in case it improves my chances.
They mentioned that they’ve cut 1,200 agents from the list already, and expect to trim it down another 1,000 and end up with fewer than 4,000 preferred realtors nationwide. Uh-oh.
Bank of America’s REO and Short-Sale Seminar highlights
1. Just 18 months ago, Bank of America was acquiring 16,000 properties per month through foreclosure. Today their count is 3,000 to 4,500 per month. There were a variety of reasons given for the dropoff:
The mortgage settlements caused it.
Loan modifications.
They are selling off servicing rights when mortgages go 60 days late.
He admitted that there are probably a lot of people who are living for free.
2. Foreclosure volume is predicted to be FLAT over the next year or two.
3. Once foreclosed, their goal is to dispose of the property within 180 days. Last year the average was 210 days.
4. The bank’s public website that displays properties for sale will have a “coming soon” section where readers can preview new listings. (This site has never been updated frequently so don’t get your hopes up).
5. They are open to selling tenant-occupied properties to investors. Because they see so many cash offers, rather than wasting time and money on evictions, they will consider investor offers in advance that keep the occupants in the home.
6. Out of the other side of their mouth, it was stated clearly that asset managers will not respond to offers until the property has been on the MLS for five days.
7. Bank of America expects to sell or transfer 2,000,000 properties this year.
8. They solicited 15,000 defaulting homeowners last year with the pre-approved short-sale program, offering up to $30,000 in incentives. Only one of eight homeowners took them up on it.
9. They solicited 2,000 defaulting homeowners to accept a deed-for-lease program, and only eleven homeowners agreed (where the homeowner signs over ownership and leases back).
10. Their average short-sale-approval time is 43 days.
11. Fraud is found in 23% of short sales.
12. They have a pilot program underway to sell short-sales through Auction.com. The seller still gets an incentive to participate, and realtors are involved. The properties are offered with a pre-determined reserve price, but at least the auctions will take the buyer-selection process out of the listing agent’s hands.
There were no promises or even hints of increased production – but they say that they want to hurry up the process. The phrase, “think outside the box” was said at least a dozen times, but many of us were skeptical that any major chances were coming.
Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities, believes one in five distressed homeowners in the U.S. are facing, or may face, foreclosure.
The analyst adds that little may be done to stem the tide of foreclosures without greater government intervention or significant principal reduction. Currently, she said 11.5 million home loans are non-performing or highly distressed.
Transition rates of negative equity homes are improving, however, from last year.
“Many banks are opposed to principal writedowns,” Goodman said. “Though it is interesting that they make good use of this for their own portfolios. We think before this crisis is over you will end up with a mandatory principal writedown program.”
Meanwhile, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, maintained an optimistic tone on the future of the housing market. He expects home prices to be depressed into 2012, and adds that the knock-on effect from the robo-signing debacle will be minimal. “It’s not going to be a significant issue,” he said.
“Household formations will pick up,” he added, in a belief that supply will not greatly outstrip demand in the long-term. The current, large inventory will provide the main downward pressure on prices going forward.
Zandi said markets will improve overall, as mortgage rates hover around 4.5%. And, he adds, housing has reached the most-affordable levels in recent memory. “By this time next year we should see measurably better job conditions,” he said.
“We aren’t quite at the bottom yet, but we are getting close,” he said.
And Kyle Lundstedt, managing director of the applied analytics division at LPS, said one in three mortgage delinquencies have been in such a state for more than a year. Perhaps most alarming to Lundstedt is the rise in prime mortgage delinquencies. “The prime markets are the place we’ve seen the most increase in foreclosure,” he said.
Thanks to swm for the idea – let’s make it an ice cream social!
Plan to come this Saturday, August 7th from noon until 2pm at the La Costa Ave Park-N-Ride on the border of Encinitas – convenient for all! There will be more details posted here on Friday, but here is the link that maps the location:
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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