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.
Time to register sdrealestatescams.com and start a new blog!
What a disgrace to the industry.
I think Jim should sell his ability to sniff out possible fraud to banking interests. This type of knowledge/info has to be valueable to someone.
For once on Jim’s blog, I’m speechless…
Jim,
Good work, but do society a favor and publish the realtor’s name and website here. This is a matter of public record. Lead the way!
Hopefully you forward the links to interested parties as fyi.
So why did BofA let this happen? Why weren’t they watching the deal closely enough to know that they were getting completely screwed? If the house was sold that far under value I would think anyone with an internet connection and 15 minutes could figure that out.
Banks don’t have time you say? They don’t have staff you say? In this deal alone the bank lost $500k, $1M, something like that, correct? What if the bank went and hired itself an experienced realtor. Put this person on salary, $150k per year. Their job – make sure the bank is getting reasonable market value on its REOs. Find the ones where the bank is getting screwed, fire the agent and get one who will get a reasonable price. While you’re there, find the ones that have been sitting on the market for half a year because they’re priced too high. This one deal alone that Jim highlights would have paid the person’s salary for a year or more.
So this is the job of the asset manager you say? Well, then why isn’t the job getting done? How do deals like this happen if someone is actually paying even a modicum of attention?
Sorry for the rant, but the banks made the loans that got themselves into this mess in the first place and they seemed to have learned nothing from the experience.
as someone who has been trying to buy for the last few years and lost out on several properties, i have to say i am so FRUSTRATED when i hear about stuff like this. how are buyers getting hooked up with agents that will do these behind-the-scenes deals? should i be trying that tactic instead to get a great deal? i know i *shouldn’t* but it is crazy annoying to read about people getting deals on properties while i’m trying to be patient and realistic blah blah blah.
What if it’s just “baked in”?
I mean to say, while the feds loaded up the reserves of the banks, the banks play extend and pretend with the housing fiasco. In the meantime, some crooked shorties pass through the system. Who cares? Just us little guys, that’s all.
It’s no big surprise. Until, or unless, the powers that be (those in control) get a wake-up call (nuclear public reaction/NPR, I’m thinking that’s what it’s going to take) to reinstitute policy, law and/or regulation. And, consequences actually become part of the collection reality, it’s status quo baby!
Many already operate by the lowest common denominator, as set by the current mega-corporate example. Expect ever more examples in the nearer future, because more are going to climb on board the survival wagon in order to make a quick buck and work the system anyway they can.
Whitney has a relatively tame (for him) article today here – http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06152010.html
sdcellar wifey,
I sooo agree. I’ve only been at for seven months, but I can never seem to get these sweetheart deals either. Got the large down payment, great credit rating, blah, blah, but it never has translated to a killer deal.
So I’ve kind of given up on the killer deal and I’m willing to buy at market for the right house. But then there are so many properties that priced above market that just sit and sit on the MLS (the exact floor plan with the same upgrades on the same quality lot just sold last month for $50k less – Hello?). 60, 90, 100+ days they just sit there. No one’s willing to buy them, and the sellers (sometimes banks) won’t come down. So effectively the real inventory that’s available is some fraction of the total number of homes that are on the MLS.
OTOH, the nice ones that are well priced go pending in less than two weeks.
I hate to say this, but I think everyone is getting a bit whiny/childish on this topic of getting the ‘killer deal’.
The world is unfair, deal with it. I rarely get a killer deal, but so be it.
The thing about a ‘killer deal’ is that it is an anomoly. If everyone was getting the killer deal then that killer price would then be new market value and thus the killer deal would not have been a killer deal just a market deal (circular logic here…).
If everyone made $1mm/year, bread would cost $100/loaf and no one would be any better off.
Its kind of like the stock market hitting historic lows awhile back and then complaining that no one told me ahead of time so I could buy at the exact bottom and get a killer stock deal…not fair.
Jim’s crusade is not about getting you the killer deal, its about his profession acting like professionals, not shady characters. JTR isn’t trying to spoon anyone into these quick killer deals, he just wants time for the market to work and get you a chance to compete on a level playing field with other buyers so you have shot at getting the home at market value (and he has a fair shot at earning a commission for his efforts).
Thus, JTRs crusade is admirable from an industry/professional view, but it will never translate into getting that home for $1.5, rather it might have translated into you getting that home for $2mm+…any takers there???
“Thus, JTRs crusade is admirable from an industry/professional view”
Hear, Hear – may translate into corrective policy and oversight.
Hi clearfund,
I understand and agree with you. I would like to get the killer deal, but I never said that was the topic of Jim’s post. There were two separate ideas in two separate posts. #7 was a response to Jim’s original comments. It focused on BofA cluelessness to the fact that they were getting screwed on the REO sale and saying that they should be paying more attention.
#10 was the whining about deals that you mentioned. Kind of separate topic admittedly, but one of the reasons I come here is to vent a bit.
I agree with you clearfund to a certain extent. The problem is the way the market is currently acting these “killer deals” of today are becoming “tomorrows comps” no matter how shady the deal is are how unreflective the price is of today’s market value.
In some sense blaming these realtors for tanking the comps is kinda like blaming the short sellers for taking the market down to 6500 last year. These fringe deals are popping up because the market fundamentals are weak. Perhaps the bank thinks that prices are going to be even lower next year and are just taking whatever solid deal they can get. The only way IMHO for these deals to stop happening would be for the market to strengthen significantly. Right now, there isn’t much sign of that happening unfortunately but I think things will eventually get better. In the meantime we trod along and enjoy JTR’s always fascinating commentary and insight.
If todays ‘killer deals’ are becoming ‘tomorrow’s comps’ then patience is your friend.
Just keep waiting on the sidelines and let the games and shadiness bring the values down over the next year and then step in a at a lower price for an even better house.
Use it to your advantage.
Is there any confirmation (from government records, not just the MLS listing) that it actually sold? Maybe it really hasn’t.
Talking about comps…my buddy, who is a JtR reader, told me about his friend (who is also a JtR reader) who wanted to refi, but my purchase was his comp, and thus, couldn’t qualify for the loan (sorry!).
Patience and today’s killer deals will be tomorrow’s market price (until the economy/housing turns around).
Banks are getting doubled up on a single home, first by a deadbeat, then by the short sale. And people wonder why they don’t trust short sales.
What’s the big deal of just foreclosing? Short sales are only good for scams and people who want to ruin their credit sooner than later (ex. so they can buy another house sooner).
Why doesn’t the bank care? They are the client of the listing agent, and they should have a cause of action for damages against the listing agent. All sorts of fiduciary duties have been breached.
Are the banks that busy, poorly staffed, or just plain stupid.
Or, perhaps, complicit.
how about forwarding this to the FBI? They prosecuted some people in Conn.
(I worked for two years as a full-time marketing assistant for one of the top 20 agents in Chicago.)
You don’t provide us with an address so we can’t determine whether this property was overpriced at $3.2M. I’ll go out on a limb and guess that was the case with this exceptionally bland joint.
As a result, this post comes across as whining, Mr. Mercedes. Most people have been priced completely out of the market by the bubble, which needs to deflate. In 2010 realtors who prop up prices are the scammers.
On your youtube page you complain that this sort of behavior undermines public confidence in realtors. There is no public confidence in realtors, precisely because you refuse to recognize a)the bubble b)your near-irrelevance in the Internet age.
My girlfriend recently made an offer on a house that was in line with local rents, in line with fiscal responsibility (and she makes 50% more than the zip’s median household), in line with the tax assessor’s value. Her buyer’s agent laughed (literally) at her offer. He declined to write the offer up but agreed to pass it on verbally. He got fired. The listing agent failed to return a phone call for two weeks, and finally had someone else call us back. Result? We looked up the owner in the online tax records and sent him the offer directly.
Realtors are superfluous from a buyer’s perspective. As of now, all the stupid buyers have been squeezed through the system. The rest of us know the only thing we need you for is to open the lockbox. That’s worth $20 I suppose.
My point is that only an idiot would buy at market value at this point. If you’re not an idiot, you’re going to find your way around a system that is currently set up to scam you.
If realtors want to regain some sense of integrity, how about starting with some honesty as to where the market is going. And how about changing your fee schedules to reflect your actual social function in the year 2010: taking photos, uploading listings, opening lockboxes, babysitting inspections, and filing paperwork.
The bank is not being scammed. The bank is a scam. Let me wipe away my tears for Bank of America. Oh wait… I have none.
The neighbors, I have more sympathy for. Not everyone was after unearned bubble cash, and owners have suffered large losses. But owners need to understand they were scammed out of their hard-earned money when they bought the overvalued house, not when a legit buyer makes an offer that reflects reality.
Thanks Robert.
Address is 6060 Lago Lindo, RSF 92067.
Amount owed was $3.2, approx value was $1.9 to $2.0.
Agent was Elizabeth Heller, Achiever’s Realty.
I’ll work on my relevance.
Jim,
Thanks for posting that. It wasn’t my intention to come across as a jerk, but my guess is it’s how a lot of buyers are feeling right now, if their experiences with agents have been similar. I know some great people who are agents and I wish them success, but gaining back that trust I think is going to take some serious soul-searching and reinvention. (I do graphic design for a living and I have to reinvent everything I do every two years just to keep up with technology and make a living. It’s stressful to say the least!)
As far as outing the agent — I understand why this kind of MLS behavior is a threat to the profession, and it’d be in every agent’s interest to have a wall of shame for people who aren’t playing by the rules. Banks aren’t going to do that but maybe an enterprising agent can.
Looking at the property price history, we can see it was on the market for quite a while even at a very steep discount off the amount owed (which looks like it must have been HELOC’d quite a bit btw):
05/26/2010 Sold $1,575,000
01/20/2010 Listing removed
10/21/2009 Listing removed
07/11/2008 Price change $2,595,000
04/21/2008 Listed for sale $2,895,000
05/22/2007 Listed for sale $3,475,000
05/13/2005 Sold $2,587,500
So everyone had their fair shot at this property. No takers even for a cool million off the original asking price.
When I worked for a listing agent in ’02/’03 she (and her loan officer husband) knew full-well the bubble would soon pop and leave a lot of people hanging… she was busy squirreling away her cash in anything but real estate, and she wasn’t a rocket scientist by any means.
Therefore, I’m sure BoA knew the score as well, were very reasonably assured they’d get a taxpayer bailout to cover the loss, and here they are now, making money off a brand new loan. Who’s running the big scam?
As for Elizabeth Heller, who knows, she probably has her own oversized mortgage she’s underwater/late on.
Jim,
I can’t believe that post! My jaw dropped….that’s exactly what you’re talking about.
I’ve only met you once in person, but it’s been clear through this blog and even more so in person that you are committed to exposing this fraud. It was also quite clear that you were quite genuine. I know several people that know you (including one from your college days!) and also a couple realtors and they all vouch for your integrity, honesty and commitment to your profession. I just can’t see how there can be so many morally bankrupt individuals in society….everywhere you look.
Keep up the good work! Love your videos!
Any action in Fairbanks?
thank you, jim, for the video.