Favorite Photos of 2016
Click on ‘Read More’ for others:
Mr. Lucky
Some degree of luck is involved on every sale.
Favorite Family Photo
One of us isn’t very good at this, but it’s legit – all four of us jumped off the sand about ten years ago. And I don’t have white socks on – those are my feet!
Review of JtR
Are you thinking of moving? I want to be your realtor! The primary focus of this blog is to provide educational materials about our local market, and to demonstrate how I can help you.
Here is how it turned out for one recent seller (thanks skerzz!):
I followed Jim’s blog for several years and decided to contact him (along with several other realtors) when an out-of-state work relocation required me to sell my home in San Marcos, Ca. At our initial meeting, Jim spent a significant amount of time discussing pricing options, strategy, as well as providing recommendations for improvements /upgrades (including recommended contractors) that would help sell our property quickly and return maximum value.
I ultimately selected Jim because of his knowledge of the market, his honest assessment of my property and condition, experience handling multiple offers, contractor resources, professionalism, and pricing.
I am extremely happy I selected Jim (and Donna & Kayla) to sell my home. Jim went the extra mile with regards to all aspects of the sales process; everything from recommendations of top-notch (and affordable) contractors, to the amazing professional photography (including very cool drone photos), exposure of my listing on his blog, driving TONS of traffic to the open house, nailing the listing price, patching pot-holes in our private drive to overcome buyer objections, to his professional assistance in analyzing multiple purchase offers and negotiating sales price, terms, repairs, etc. — Jim more than exceeded expectations.
Once under contract, Jim’s wife (Donna) did an amazing job at pushing forward with the paperwork and all the behind the scenes details to ensure a fast and timely close of escrow.
Ultimately, Jim and his team delivered on everything I was looking for — a quick sale, strong sales price that returned the value he estimated on his recommended improvements/upgrades before listing all while limiting my stress during the process. It was refreshing to work with such a great agent and team. I highly recommend Jim and his team and would not think twice about using him again for any of my future real estate transactions in San Diego County.
For more reviews, see the right-hand column or click here:
My Sellers and Buyers
Long-time reader (and client!) Just-some-guy asked about some where-and-why on my clientele to give folks a feel for who is doing what.
Sellers
| Reason for Selling | ||
| Excess Property | Six of those 7 got big tax benefit | |
| Downsized | 3 in SD, 2 out-of-state. Four purchased | |
| Moved Out-of-State | Three of the four have purchased a home | |
| Moved w/i California | New jobs | |
| Moved Up | I also sold them their move-up house | |
| Divorce | ||
| Estate | Proceeds benefited the Ayn Rand Foundation |
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Buyers
| Reason for Buying | ||
| First-timers | Three of the 4 used 20% down payments) | |
| Downsizing | ||
| Move Up | All were sellers and buyers | |
| Relo from Outside CA | ||
| Relocating here from CA | ||
| Divorce |
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Notes
A. One of the sellers who moved out of state took a job in Toronto. The weekend we sold the house, the temperature in Toronto was 1 degree! I told the seller to hang onto my card!
B. Four properties sold were dual agency – we represented both buyer and seller. It sounds like a high wire act, but I am clear about my duty – I give advice based on what’s best for the person with whom I’m speaking with, and don’t disclose anything about the other party. When you can keep it clear in your head, it’s not a problem. None of them were ‘sold before processing’.
The commercial brokers do it all the time, and it’s likely enough to come to the residential side that keeping my dual-agency chops up will pay off someday.
C. Seven of the 24 sellers sold a house that I sold them. I can’t rely on past clients as my only sellers – people aren’t moving like they used to!
D. Two-thirds of the buyers expected to invest more than 10% of their purchase price into repairs and improvements. Fixers provide additional inventory, and I think we did a good job to adequately discount the price paid.
E. All of my listings were featured here at bubbleinfo.com, and my SP:LP ratio was 99%. Do the video tours and blog exposure help? They must!
F. A sign that the frenzy is over and the market is flattening out is the second negotiation – the request for repairs. None of them go down easy.
Best Real Estate Blogs 2016
Here is a list of real estate blogs that cover a wide range of topics:
http://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-real-estate-blogs/
It’s interesting to see different takes on blogging about real estate. I try to keep our focus on local market data and opinions, but I could include more texture about our neighborhoods plus things to do. I’d like to have more Kayla videos too!
Do you have an opinion on what you’d like to see here?
ESN
Over the coming weeks, we should see the lowest mortgage rates in our lifetime – every house for sale should be selling!
Everybody is smarter about price accuracy after the first couple of weeks of a house being on the market, just based on how many offers have been received. Once a home hits the open market, they will fall into one of three categories:
Everybody Wants To Buy Your House – This is called a market sale. A house in fairly good shape listed with a reasonably attractive price will appeal to many buyers. In fact, every buyer in that price range will probably see the house online within the first 48 hours, and in person by Day Four. Be ready to sell.
Somebody (Special) Wants To Buy Your House – A smaller group will pay a premium if the unique features of the house fit with their specific needs. Expect an occasional offer.
Nobody Wants to Buy Your House – No offers? You have a great house – no one appreciates it like you do! Lower the price until you get offers.
Time is flying by. There are 2-3 weeks left for buyers to find a house and close escrow before school starts!
Happy Father’s Day
The two reasons Father’s Day is so special – Natalie and Kayla!
UCLA
As most of you know, our youngest daughter is wrapping up her freshman year at UCLA. Today, we were faced with the nightmare that comes with being a parent these days – a madman had taken over the campus.
Thanks to BruinAlert, the entire campus was shutdown within minutes, and Natalie was locked down with four staff people and about 50 dance students in a classroom near Royce Hall. We communicated freely by text, and the immediate threat seemed to be manageable.
But the uncertainty over the next 2.5 hours was harrowing, to say the least. At one point, Natalie heard there were four shooters who left the Engineering building and were heading for Sorority Row.
Hundreds of warriors converged into Westwood within 1-2 hours to stop a threat, for which I am thankful. But in this case, the threat was over before they arrived, shouldn’t they have a proper response for that too?
Natalie’s response to me texting her that the police chief had declared the campus safe?
“Dope I’m getting food”
The next generation is getting an education alright.
Handling Multiple Offers
Our listing on Cherokee closed yesterday.
It was the 2,527sf three-story house that backed to the I-15 freeway – the one where we had 200+ people attend the open house.
The final tally at the Zillow page was 3,745 views, and 77 people had saved it as a favorite home, which are both extremely-high counts. (Josh was the seller)
Yesterday, we marveled at how the bidding war ended up. The listing had hit the MLS on a Saturday, we had the open house on Sunday, and by Monday we had six offers.
Because not every bidder knew there was competition, we gave everyone the chance to submit their highest and best offer by Tuesday at noon. I like to keep a tight timeline and promise buyers that we’ll select a winner promptly in order to retain as much urgency as possible.
The list price was $549,000.
At the end of the highest-and-best round, we had a $565,000 financed offer, a $570,000 cash offer, and a verbal $571,000 cash offer (the other three stuck with their $549,000 or $550,000 original offers).
The agent who wrote the $570,000 offer was 80 years old, and was using forms from five years ago. I actually had to hand-write his original offer for him, but thankfully he was able to scratch out a one-sentence H&B.
Because I had concerns whether he could make it to the finish line, I pressed the $571,000 agent to get his deal in writing. But he called back with bad news – his buyer, a savvy, multiple-property owner, decided it was too rich.
I called back the $570,000 agent, knowing that I’d be carrying his luggage for the next three weeks. But he had more bad news – he took his buyer’s family to the house, and they vetoed the sale.
With the other three bidders unwilling to budge, we signed the $565,000 financed offer…..before they changed their mind!
Most people would have been tempted to hold out. Yes, it would have been sexier to close escrow in 2-3 weeks with a cash buyer. But after 200+ open-house attendees and 50+ showings, are there two in the bush?
Though my phone hasn’t rang like this since back in the REO days, there was no disputing the facts – most people didn’t make any offer, and those that did weren’t in love enough to go crazy. It was a trend that was likely to continue.
In spite of casual observers telling me we were giving it away, or it was too cheap, the actual results were telling. The duty of the listing agent is to check the ego at the door, and focus on the facts.
We made the deal at $565,000, and it stuck.
Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
Broker-Associate, Compass
Are you looking for an experienced agent to help you buy or sell a home?
Contact Jim the Realtor!
- 682 S. Coast Hwy 101, Suite #110
Encinitas, CA 92024 - (858) 997-3801 call or text
- klingerealty@gmail.com
CA DRE #01527365, CA DRE #00873197
