When $2,000,000 is the entry level for a decent home in Carlsbad, home buyers should really consider what that money will get them just 20-25 minutes away.
The sellers agreed to a proper price reduction yesterday (-11%), and I feel like selling it today!
https://www.compass.com/listing/29482-vista-valley-drive-vista-ca-92084/1760318913447893953/
Ok, ok – I know you don’t want to leave San Diego.
But for those who gotta do something, check this out.
Yes, you will have a lot of $$ once I’m done selling your house here. But if you only want to use $100,000 of it and finance the rest, your payment at 5.49% is only $2,087/month! Your social security will cover that!
They have standing inventory – six homes are available for quick move-in. Get yourself one today!
https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-homes-for-sale/Arizona/Beacon-in-Estrella
Since October, I’ve been blabbing on and on how there were several reasons why the pent-up supply was finally going to bust loose in 2025.
If you want to sell your house this year, you better get on it.
It’s more than just an isolated or local thing. Look at the stats above – there is a cultural/communal thing where there are more homes for sale everywhere.
The cheerleaders will be bantering about how the locked-in effect is loosening and we’re just getting back to normal. But they will shut up in another couple of months when they don’t know what to make of it.
Even if the total number of listings isn’t much higher than last year (NSDCC total listings = +9% YoY for first two months), more are not selling. The unsold listings will be stacking up by June. Or May. It will probably cause buyers to be more hesitant, and that’s saying a lot because they are already being fairly cautious.
We have four listings to roll out over the next month, and while we would never launch before we’re absolutely ready, I’m encouraging everyone to expedite!
The proofs of our new photos are in!
I thought this photo captured the current state of the Klinge Realty Group:
It’s not all about me any more, and everyone is quite happy about that!
From left to right:
Richard Morgan: Team member since 2009 and all-around great guy. Last year was his best ever.
Natalie Klinge: Pro dancer, KRG marketing director since 2020, taking real-estate license test next week!
Donna Klinge: The boss. The most loving, caring boss ever, but still the boss.
Jim Klinge: Licensed broker since 1988, and just getting started. Last year was the best ever.
Michele Bockelman (seated): New mom, yoga instructor, great agent.
Lisa Belasco: Our swiss-army knife – she can do it all. Last year was her best ever.
Kayla Klinge: New York City sales and rentals specialist, great agent!
https://www.bubbleinfo.com/meet-the-team/
Though it will be years before Natalie officially takes over, the succession plans are being actively discussed and this is the group who will usher her into the next generation of the KRG! Kayla will run the Manhattan version of the Klinge Realty Group, and once Natalie’s dance career winds up, she will take over here!
What’s new around here? Yesterday, I authorized a new look for the blog – coming soon!
It’s rare to find a 10,000sf usable lot this close to the beach, so you really can’t blame buyers for paying $1,977,000 (list was $2,050,000). Everything that’s wrong here can be fixed with money:
Here’s the full story so far but you know what triggered this move.
Warren has to be as madder than Reffkin over the arbitrary penalties from the NAR, and their vig was 5x what Compass had to pay:
What will be the impact locally?
Combining the #1 and #2 brokerages will give us 1,800 to 2,000 agents who did $10 billion in volume last year. It should give us at least 30% market share in San Diego County, which is what Reffkin wants to have in the Top 30 metro areas. There will probably be more consolidations too.
If you’re an agent, come on over!
Everyone talks badly about Robert Reffkin/Compass and our stand against the CCP.
It’s because the industry is so sensitive about the thought of agents hoarding their listings off-market to sell them to their own buyers or to buyers represented by other in-house agents. To what extent it is actually happening doesn’t matter – just the thought bugs people.
Off-market sales have happened at all brokerages since the beginning of time. But for those who believe that every home should be exposed to all buyers, it makes them think that shenanigans are in play.
On February 21st, I did this blog post where I described reasons for sellers and agents to sell off-market:
When forming opinions about off-market sales, let’s factor in the market conditions.
We are screaming towards a buyer’s market, and it’s already upon us in some areas. The last time we had a buyer’s market was fifteen years ago – which nobody remembers – and it’s been the exact opposite over the last five years.
You will know it’s a buyer’s market when you hear more people saying that it’s not a good time to sell.
It will lead to conversations like this: “Hey Jim, I’ve heard horror stories from friends and family who are trying to sell their home and nobody is coming by – they have no showings!”
“I don’t want that to happen to me, so sell my house by any means necessary. I still want all my money, and if you think selling my house off-market will accomplish that, then do it!”
When potential sellers see unsold listings stacking up, they are going to consider alternatives, but:
In a buyer’s market, the selling choices seem bleak. It causes potential sellers to jump at a sexy option like selling off-market – if that will get them their money. They aren’t going to take a discount off-market. Instead, they will imagine that it’s the best chance to sell for their price, which is all that matters to them.
Yesterday’s bombshell announcement that Ketchmark will be suing the brokerages that support the Clear Cooperation Policy should be the end of the CCP. Who wants more lawsuits?
Reffkin’s hardball stance against the CCP is very understandable when you consider how we got here.
The quasi-governing body known as the National Association of Realtors casually walks into a Missouri court room and gets their lunch handed to them. Then they settled on behalf of the brokerages? Who gave you the power to levy a $52 million fine against Compass without a chance to defend ourselves? Plus, you’ve done nothing to prevent future lawsuits from happening!
Unfortunately, the anger over how the NAR mis-handled the lawsuit/settlement has turned into a battle about the CCP, when they are two different things. If NAR would step up their game and end the threat of lawsuits while providing expert guidance on the CCP issue, then we might listen. But there is no faith that they will do anything, so we need to defend ourselves while providing our own solutions for our clients.
Reffkin is promoting Private Exclusives as part of a 3-Phase marketing plan in order to offer a comprehensive marketing solution. There is no push by Compass management to sell homes off-market. Behind the scenes, all we have is a simple one-liner list of homes throughout the county, and most of them have no photos, no descriptions, and can’t be shown because they are being prepared to go to market. That’s not a vibrant off-market sales environment – it’s just a parking lot. I struggle to even look at it because there’s nothing there. At least not yet.
Yesterday there were 287 Compass private exclusives in San Diego County, and there are 4,653 houses, condos, and mobilehomes actively for sale on the MLS today. How many PEs are going to sell off-market each month? Maybe five or ten? It’s the same at other brokerages and it’s been the norm for 100+ years.
But it has promise because the sellers are going to want an alternative in a buyer’s market.
Though the off-market listings might look sexy to buyers, they better get good help on pinpointing the value under the current market conditions. It is why buyers should embrace bidding wars – because when there isn’t one, it tells you something too.
Hat tip to CBMark to sending in this gem – it’s only $599,999 and open today!
The problem with the hoarder home is more than just the mess inside and outside.
The hoarder home owner “harasses the children of my best friend, which is directly across the street from my house. Anybody that goes against her—she throws terror underneath their feet to get her way,” said Mead.
Last March, a San Diego city inspector went to the home. According to CBS8, Inspector Justin Welker found trash piles as high as 4 feet, rotting food, and signs of “rodent infestation.”
“Words cannot adequately describe the condition of the master toilet,” he wrote in his report. “It was smeared with brown filth and the stall floor covered in trash.”
He went on to describe the exterior: “The in-ground pool was partially filled with green water, presumably algae, which is a potential breeding ground for vectors, such as mosquitos.”
During that time, the homeowner also appeared in front of a civil court judge who was supposed to decide whether or not to send a court-appointed receiver to the property to clean it up, but the homeowner’s request for a continuance was granted.
The investigation by CBS8 found court filings dating to 2009.
Realtor.com has uncovered a recent anonymous complaint sent to the San Diego Police Department describing a “court ordered, sealed up hoarder home now taken over by homeless.” It was reported on Oct. 18, 2024. Realtor.com has reached out to the SDPD for more information.
See 37 photos here:
https://www.compass.com/listing/5154-mariner-drive-san-diego-ca-92154/1789447471329305089/
We closed the escrow on Clemens today!
Bidding wars can typically go up to 10% over the list price. Even a novice agent can pull it off just by having their listing on the open market. But buyers get jittery going any higher than +10% and without having a great agent assisting them, their bidding tends to sputter out.
The last neighborhood sale was a model-match that closed for $2,060,000 the week before we launched, and because I wanted to be within $500,000 of the last sale, we decided to lower our original list price from $2,600,000 to $2,499,000 for Day One.
After the open-house extravaganza, we received SIX offers!
Having six offers meant that the airplanes flying over the house must not have been a bother.
Could the bidding get up to $3,000,000?
I thought it could if I was able to coax them into believing that was the true value. I sent this to each agent:
Attached is the sellers’ request for your highest-and-best offer.
Some explanation is due.
We deliberately low-priced this home to attract the maximum interest immediately.
1. We had originally signed the listing at $2,600,000 in December.
2. The zestimate on the day of MLS input was $2,719,300 (Zillow adjusts their zestimates to within a couple of bucks of the list price once a home is entered onto the MLS).
3. The homes at the end of Twain being built by Shea Homes will be in the $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 range, according to a neighbor. (I did not know that until yesterday).
Other premium homes:
I saw this one and while it was new it was jammed into the hillside with no view:
https://www.zillow.com/
This had a good ocean view looking south, and a premium location though a smaller lot:
https://www.zillow.com/
This is an old restaurant and good for nothing – just land value here:
https://www.zillow.com/
New but not much view – and close to freeway:
https://www.zillow.com/
https://www.zillow.com/
End result? I think I’m way under-priced!
Nobody has the big ocean view that Clemens has, and now there are several comps in the $3 millions!
Bid with confidence! No matter what the price, you’re not paying too much.
This is where we see the difference between the regular agents and the real professional salespeople, of which there were two.
Most agents will just forward my plea to their buyers, and let their buyers come up with a price.
The real pros will adopt my thoughts and make them their own. Then they will advocate for their clients, and for those buyers who want a guaranteed win, the agent will lay out a solid strategy that will swamp the boat and blow out all other buyers. It’s what happened here!
LP = $2,499,000
SP = $2,975,000 cash, 15-day escrow, waived all contingencies in the offer, and the buyer paid their buyer-agent’s commission.
That’s a winning strategy!
Some before-and-after pics here:
