The pendings line is barely noticeable on the graph above because it mirrors the 2024 line closely. The number of pendings dropped because so many sales are closing – there have already been 43 NSDCC closed sales in January, and we should exceed last January’s count of 102 sales fairly easily.
But the change in active listings is the lowest of the last three years – only a slight uptick. It would take a real crush of new listings for the active count to get to 400 by the end of the month, and the fires will probably delay any surge this month.
Over 100 people attended our open houses over the weekend, and the home was well received. It is rare to see an 80-year old bungalow improved this nicely!
The first responders have done an incredible job evacuating so many thousands of people at a moment’s notice. It will be one of the major stories of this fire because of how few casualties there are – it’s been a miracle.
How you can help:
You can support the Red Cross by making a donation online, by calling (800) 733-2767 or texting REDCROSS to 90999.
GoFundMe has created a centralized online hub housing all verified fundraising pages related to the wildfires. The hub will be updated with accounts as they are verified by the GoFundme team. At the top of the hub is also GoFundMe’s Wildfire Relief Fund 2025.
The California Community Foundation distributes grants to affected communities through its Wildfire Recovery Fund. The foundation’s team utilizes data from CalFire and CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index to ensure their grants target the neediest communities with both intermediate recovery and long-term support. You can make a monetary donation online or by mailing a check to the “California Community Foundation” at 717 W. Temple St., Los Angeles 90012. Include “Wildfire Recovery Fund” in the memo.
Musicares, a nonprofit safety net of health and welfare services for the music community, is offering anyone in the music industry (with five or more years experience in the music business) with immediate assistance including $1,500 financial assistance and $500 food vouchers. Contribute to Musicares efforts by making anonline donation.
Best Friends Animal Society, has activated two pet pantry locations in Los Angeles that can provide essential supplies including pet food, cat litter, pet beds and other necessary items as well as human sanitary products for those who have lost everything. Contribute to the pantries here: donate online. All funds go toward emergency assistance to pets impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles. Donations top this fund are also directly supporting pet lifesaving work in the area.
There is also a call for supporting the Los Angeles Fire Department by donating to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. The foundation is seeking monetary donations to equip firefighters battling the wildfires with items including emergency fire shelters, hydration backpacks and wildland brush tools. Click here to donate.
My favorite video of a local fire – no homes were lost!
Jackie said I should do a post on the fires, but I don’t have any personal knowledge of what’s happening or have anything to add to what we are seeing on television.
But I’ll add a couple of thoughts.
The Cost of Insurance Will Increase Dramatically – If You Can Get It. The unwillingness of major insurers to underwrite policies in California has caused more dependence upon the California Fair Plan, which has $200 billion in reserves and $300 billion in exposure:
Another concern is what the fires could mean for the California FAIR Plan, the state’s last-resort insurance plan for those who lose or can’t find traditional coverage.
Over the past half-decade, the number of homeowners on the plan — a state-mandated insurance pool with buy-in from private insurers — has more than doubled to around 350,000. That’s pushed the FAIR Plan toward the brink of insolvency.
Many who lost homes in the L.A. infernos were likely on the plan. According to an analysis of FAIR Plan data, there are more than 26,000 FAIR Plan properties in ZIP codes impacted by the fires across Los Angeles County.
If insurers cannot cover those liabilities, it’s possible they could pass on those costs to all of their home and business customers in the form of higher premiums.
“We are one event away from a large assessment — there’s no other way to say it,” California FAIR Plan President Victoria Roach told lawmakers last year. “We don’t have a lot of money on hand, and we have a lot of exposure out there.”
The insurance industry will probably have major changes in store besides premium hikes. The deductible amounts could go much higher, and forget about getting the guaranteed-replacement policies.
One great alternative is private firefighters. They are on the job in L.A., and we’ve seen them in Rancho Santa Fe during the last fire here. Instead of insuring to rebuild your home, how about preventing it from burning down instead? For many, that would be worth the extra cost.
Open Space Is A Major Liability. Cities like Carlsbad are proud of having major portions of their cities dedicated as open space. I’m sure the gnat-catchers are benefiting, but what about the people? Everyone complains about the high cost of housing. Can’t we live with a smaller patch of open space and build more homes? It would reduce the city’s liability from fires and provide more housing opportunities!
Above is Denk Mountain, also known as Dead Mountain. It’s just scrub brush and a few trails for hikers and mountain bikers. There are probably a few thousand people every year who enjoy those benefits, but the vast majority of the 110,000 people who live in Carlsbad have never heard of it and would be radically affected if another fire comes blowing over it like it did in 1997.
Or how about Calaveras? Look at the homes surrounding this open space just waiting to get burned up some day. Try to get fire insurance for one of these canyon-front homes today!
Another benefit? Make the home builder put all the power lines underground while they are at it, which would make everyone happy!
We’ll carve out some trails too, don’t worry. But is the beauty of these areas that great? Not really – not when a nickname is Dead Mountain. Let’s pave paradise – for our own good!
Some have said they have never seen anything like these fires. But it’s happened before:
Are you looking for an updated beach bungalow that is walking distance to everything downtown Oceanside has to offer? This is it! Hardwood floors, like-new kitchen and baths, new paint, 2-car garage, big backyard with detached office plus lemon, fig and avocado trees – wow! Great candidate for adding an ADU.
Recent comps include 208 S. Ditmar 2br/2ba 1,106sf closed for $1,385,000 on 12/16/24; 310 S. Tremont 3br/2ba 940sf closed for $1,375,000 on 10/24/24; 713 Stanley 3br/1ba, 996sf closed for $1,300,000 on 9/19/24.
Why should home buyers be optimistic about 2025? It’s because sales have bottomed (hopefully):
San Diego County Annual Sales of Detached-Homes:
2003: 28,251 (high point)
2021: 25,252
2022: 18,378
2023: 14,003
2024: 14,837
It’s still going to be a challenge though.
This website says there are 530,430 houses in San Diego County, and this one says 634,366 houses. It means that last year somewhere between 2.3% to 2.8% of the total houses county-wide sold last year.
Yes – more than 97% of the detached-home owners in SD County didn’t sell last year!
About the best we can expect is to get back to the 2022 level, which would be a 19% increase in sales, year-over-year. It would take a major price adjustment for sales to go that crazy, because rates are going the wrong way and inventory will probably be going up, not down.
How will pricing break out of the gate? Won’t home sellers – the vast majority of them selling their home for the first time in 10-40 years – want to add a little mustard to their list price, just to see?
It’s easier to imagine that scenario, than agents talking their sellers into a very attractive price this early on.
We’ve received offers on my listing on La Costa Avenue but everyone wants a 10% discount, even though I think I have it priced in already. I’ve been hoping that a slew of new listings nearby will hit the market this month in the mid-$2 millions to make my $1,995,000 list price look more attractive.
How am I doing so far?
Here is the first nearby competitor, and it’s priced the same as mine!
Knowing the number of NSDCC listings in January will give us a feel for how hot the market might be for the rest of the year. If there is a big surge this month (more than +20% over last January’s count), then the market could get sluggish in a hurry. If there is only a modest increase – or maybe just the same as last year – then it’s going to be a fairly hot spring selling season.
There have been 26 new listings so far this month.
We will take guesses until Friday. Here are those received so far:
211 – Eddie89
213 – Shadash
246 – Anne M
267 – Surfrider
273 – Susie
280 – doughboy
303 – Tom
307 – Jun
317 – CB Mark
318 – Nick
328 – Majeed
337 – natalie
353 – Derek
355 – Skip
365 – Leo
421 – Giving Cat
Leave your guess – or revise your old guess – in the comment section!
In mid-February (to account for the late reporters), the guesser with the closest number will receive four tickets to a Padres game!
Need some evidence to make a smart guess? There is more research data on the last post:
To give you an idea where our seats are, I took the photo above at last year’s wild-card playoff game vs. the Braves. The guy with the buzz-cut hairdo sitting next to the dugout is the owner of the Braves. Those seats are reserved for the visiting team’s owners, so you might meet some glitterati when you go! Autographs are certainly in play too, depending on the willingness of the players. Go early!
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
We sold a home with Jim and Donna and from beginning to end they were consummate professionals. Their initial walk through the property resulted in a list of items to be repaired or updated. They supplied a list of vendors and job quotes to do the repairs and updates. We originally wanted to sell ‘as is’ and just get it over with. They gave us a selling price for ‘as is’ and options for doing a few updates/repairs to doing it all with the selling price for each option. We agreed to do all they suggested and we sold for the exact price they predicted. For every dollar spent we got back more than $2 back in the selling price. And they got that price in a rising interest rate environment! Donna and Jim are extremely detailed and guide you through ever aspect of the sale. There were no surprises thanks to their guidance. We couldn’t be more pleased with their representation.
Thank you Donna and Jim,
Jerry and Mary
Heather Quejada
March 27, 2025
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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.
Lou F
March 27, 2025
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
WeI had the pleasure of working with Klinge Realty Group to sell our home in Carmel Valley, and I cannot recommend them highly enough!
Jim and Donna demonstrated exceptional professionalism, offering expert guidance on market conditions and pricing strategy, which resulted in a quick and successful sale.
Communication was prompt and we were well-informed throughout the entire process.
For anyone looking for a dedicated and knowledgeable real estate team, look no further!
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William Sams
March 25, 2025
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
Donna and Jim Klinge of Klinge Realty Group have our highest possible recommendation. From Donna and Jim’s first visit to our house through closing their advice and counsel was candid and honest in all dealings. They kept us fully informed throughout the process. The house sold less than three days after listing with a two-week closing. My wife and I have sold several houses during our lives. This was by far the best experience. Klinge Reality is a premium service realtor. You can’t make a better choice for someone to sell your home fast and for top dollar.
Emily Hernandez
December 29, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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 Adrian Sahagun
November 11, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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.
SABIHA PASHA
July 23, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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!
Anu Koberg
July 13, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
We first found Jim through his blog at bubbleinfo.com, which really showcased his knowledge of SoCal real estate. Since then we've done three transactions with Jim and Donna, and they are an incredible full service agency, with Jim's deep market insight and Donna's deft contract and project management. We trust them implicitly in their analysis and strategy, which is based on years of experience. They're always available and on top of things, and we strongly recommend them to anyone.
Bjorn Isachsen
July 10, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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 bubbleinfo.com 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...
Chris Shea
June 21, 2024
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.
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.
