It was a month ago that the NAR Settlement kicked in, and one new rule in particular was expected to turn the business upside down. From now on, buyers have to sign a contract with their agent before seeing homes in person, which hasn’t been required over the last 100+ years.
I’ve had four parties sign, and nobody has had a problem with it. Two knew me from before, and two had just met me – I was sure to bring it up early on, instead of surprising them later.
What we’ve learned:
Yes, it is a binding contract, but not really. If you are dissatisfied with your buyer-agent, the contract can be terminated with 30 days notice. If you told your agent that you wanted to cancel, I doubt they will be giving you much attention during the 30 days and most would be honorable enough to cancel right away so you could move on.
Having a written agreement should empower both buyer and agent to get down to it – it’s serious now!
The general public are finding out that commissions aren’t negotiable, especially with the best agents. Some agents may offer to work for less, so the rate shoppers need to look around to find a deal. They will find that what we called a commission is now a fee for professional services, and they should examine what services they will get for their money.
The new rule should cleanse the realtor population of the agents that need to go.
You still have to find the right house at the right price, which is the biggest challenge of all.
If you can’t find the right house at the right price, none of the above matters.
The new rules, more paperwork, and the confusion & chaos only serve as distractions to those who choose to be distracted. The highly motivated buyers and sellers will keep transacting with the assistance from the agents who have adapted to the new era and still have plenty to contribute to their clients’ successes.
During the frenzy, any mistakes were erased quickly with the rising prices. But those who have bought in the last couple of years have found out that mistakes are not only possible, they are a lot harder to fix today. Their stories will cast a more-cautious tone over the marketplace.
I think clamor over the new rules has already blown over, and now it’s all about Getting Good Help!
These are examples of public or confidential remarks by listing agents to help sell their listings:
Information in this listing may or may not be correct.
Buyer’s required to submit “financial pre-qualifications” to Listing Agent for review to verify ability to close escrow before disturbing Owner for tours.
RARE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE AT COMING SOON PRICE at $4,999,000 PRIOR to GOING ACTIVE WHICH WILL OCCUR ON 7/25/24 AT WHICH TIME PRICE WILL INCREASE TO $5,1999,000.
Tell your clients to put their best foot forward, please do not ask me to reveal confidential offer info received.
Please do not permit entrance of parties not associated with the scheduled showing. The property is in an Irrevocable Trust; a 45-day Notice of Proposed Action to beneficiaries is required; the seller is hopeful that this process will be completed quickly; the buyer agrees to close escrow within __ business days after notification from seller that this process is completed.
***LUXURY AUCTION SELLS IT AGAIN! CONTACT LISTING AGENT TO LEARN MORE!***
THIS IS THE ONE YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!
Include all documentation in one email, DO NOT SEND IN MULTIPLE EMAILS.
Opportunity for this land is big in the area it’s in because there is plenty of room to grow.
VERIFCATION OF FUNDS/PRE-APPROVAL REQUIRED PRIOR TO SHOWINGS.
Permits status of ADU is unknown as owners are deceased.
MAJOR FIXER. PRICE REDUCED TO REFLECT CONDITION. BUYER TO DEPOSIT NON REFUNDABLE 10% EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT.
Regarding the distinguished koi fish: they can convey with the sale upon proof of your buyer’s true interest in the fish. They have been raised by the owners and their continued well-being is of top concern. If continuing the life of mature koi fish with love and grace is not for your buyer, please indicate in your offer that the fish should be re-homed prior to COE. The pond stays as-is
This is more than just a home; it’s a lifestyle.
Welcome to your new neighborhood in Carlsbad. Rarely available, maybe once in your lifetime.
BIG PRICE IMPROVEMENT! ACT FAST!!
This house brags like a new build.
Painter/handyman has been booked several times but postpones. So, we are going ahead with the listing. You are welcome to slip in.
BUYER MUST HAVE INSURANCE QUOTE w/ offer.
Appointments to be confirmed once a buyer representation agreement is submitted.
Richard Morgan has worked with us since 2009 and he and his wife Anneliese have become great friends. We make it a point to go to at least one Padres game together every year, and last night was a doozy!
School is back in session in mid-September, and on a Monday nightthe Padres game was sold-out! The Padres won 3-1, and they have a great shot at making the playoffs this year. It felt like the playoffs too versus the first-place Astros…..and their fans travel. There were several sitting around us who came from Houston just to watch this series!
But more than anything, it was great to celebrate what has been our best year ever in real estate!
There is more talk about the Fed cutting a half-point on Wednesday. If they only drop 1/4%, mortgage rates will probably rise because at least that much is already priced in today.
It won’t mean much for the long-time active listings unless they lower their price.
Of the 465 actives today between La Jolla and Carlsbad, only 73 were listed in September, with a median list price of $2,995,000. For buyers looking under $3 million, it means there are only a couple of dozen homes for sale that have a chance of being a hot buy – in an area of 300,000 people!
New listings that hit the market over the next couple of weeks will be in the right place, at the right time!
What’s the slogan for Realtor.com? The website realtors trust? Yeah, haha…..who are you again? Realtor.com is the source for some wrong statistics picked up by Fox/KUSI news. The August YoY change in inventory for San Diego County is +31% for all property types, and +20% for detached-homes only. I have no idea where they are getting the +80% but it is way wrong. The 9% decrease in the median list price of unsold homes interests virtually no one, but Fox was happy to call it the ‘median sales price’ in their article to add some extra excitement:
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It may have gotten a little easier to buy a home in the San Diego market, according to a new report by Realtor.com.
In a housing overview of the nation’s largest metros last month, the median sales price for a home in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad area was $999,000 — a 9% decrease from the same time last year, according to the real estate listings website.
In addition, San Diego was among the top three metros that saw the largest growth in newly listed homes compared to last year. Cincinnati reported a 31% growth while Seattle saw 30% and San Diego had a nearly 23% increase, the report showed.
The inventory of homes for sale increased in all 50 of the nation’s largest metros compared with last year, but San Diego was also among the top three that saw the most growth as of last month.
San Diego saw an 80% increase in inventory while Tampa topped the list at 90% and Orlando reported nearly 77%, the report said.
However, although the median listing price for homes in the region fell compared to last year, the price per square foot has increased by just over one percent.
The housing market is also nowhere near its pre-pandemic condition. The median listing price in August for a home in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad market was almost 41% higher than the same time in 2019, according to Realtor.com.
The other 49 metros on the list had a similar story last month. The median price in Milwaukee, Wis., Philadelphia, Penn. and Cleveland, Ohio saw the biggest increases from 2019’s numbers.
Meanwhile, home sales nationwide remain sluggish. The typical home spent a week longer on the market in August compared to the same time last year, Realtor.com said.
In La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe – where being priced to sit is an art form – the active listings are piling up and are at their highs of the year. On the other hand, Carmel Valley is cruising along with their actives-to-pendings ratio is well under our 2:1 healthy mark.
Holy Man Cave! Check out this very habitable 2 br/2 ba country cottage with massive 3,600sf 12-car garage on an acre in the hills of Vista! Are you dreaming about finding the ultimate extra-large workshop with 12-ft ceilings, dozens of electrical outlets, and plenty of room for every toy imaginable? This is it! Or for those ADU builders, you’ll have a terrific head start on creating the perfect granny flat. Check this out! Zillow rent estimate for house is $2,999 per month.
Borrowing this from Rob’s blog, this is known as Amara’s Law in technology spheres.
It goes:
“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
When the zestimates first came out in 2006, their accuracy was really bad – wrong by 10% to 20% – and those of us in the business laughed them off as a joke. The idea of being able to find out the value of a home with one click was inticing though, so Zillow kept throwing millions of dollars into the project.
They found out that putting a value on a home isn’t so easy, and they still state today that their zestimates have a median error rate of 7.49% – which on a $3 million home is +/- $224,700!
From wiki:
While factors contributing to estimates are described elsewhere, Zillow seemingly overemphasizes home square footage as the major metric driving property valuation. This method may not be unique to Zillow, but unduly distorts value expectations. Listings in areas where land is priced at high premiums often reflect an identical Zillow estimate to that of nearby homes with comparable interior square footage, but where the home might be decades older. Condition, age of home, special features, and proximity to nuisances are insufficiently factored into the estimate. Zillow has made some effort to add balance by including an option for owners to provide their own value estimate, but these figures can be similarly unreliable as being opinion instead of quantifiable.
But homeowners have come to adore their zestimate.
Why? Because it’s been around so long, they believe it to be true.
I had a potential seller tell me last week that their zestimate was how much she could sell her house for. Not that it was the approximate value within +/-7% of being correct, and just a starting point. She believed it was going to be her sales price!
It wasn’t a problem during the frenzy because in the 2020-2022 period you could put any price on a home and it would sell. The homeowners were pleasantly surprised at the extra bonus above their zestimate, and didn’t complain.
But it is different now.
I’ve heard it twice in the last week from two different agents that their price is “right in there”, suggesting that they have evidence of their price being right and just get my buyer to pay it. But there they sit, unsold.
Having a zestimate, or having cherry-picked comps to support today’s list price is precarious – it ignores the current market conditions, which are squishy to say the least. The premium, fixed-up, and staged homes are selling briskly, and the others are sitting.
But because the zestimate has been around so long, people believe it must be right. Sellers certainly don’t want to take less! Include 1-2 older sales and sellers and listing agents want to believe the mythical nuclear buyers with 2.2 kids are right around the corner.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
