Mortgage prequalification and preapproval

January 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

My good friend, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Jay Thompson and mortgage guru, Shailesh Ghimire offer great advice on mortgage prequalification and preapproval.

Read about it here.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Buyer Tips, Mortgage / Finance

Don’t search for a house …

January 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Buyers working with a real estate agent probably sounds pretty dumb on a real estate website but …

search for an agent instead.

Here’s why. Every real estate agent can show you every house for sale in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market. If you call five different agents, not one of them has any more houses that they can show you than any of the others. So more importantly than finding a home is to find a professional real estate agent to help you with the purchase of your dream home.

I got a call the other day from someone who wanted me to show them a house. It wasn’t my listing, I asked if they had found it on my website and they had. The next question is automatic for all real estate agents, “are you working with an agent” and the answer was yes, but “she is on vacation”. Well, I take a vacation now and then (there is practically no chance that I’ll be available during 4^th of July week or Thanksgiving week) but I can’t help anyone who is currently working with another agent so I had to tell him to wait until she returned or to call the listing agent and ask if they can show the house (and I provided the name and number to him).

Because real estate has a low barrier to entry, there are a lot of real estate agents, some good, some not so good, some full time, some spare time and many part time (and basically in today’s more difficult market, many have been forced to become part time real estate agents and get a full time job to bring home a weekly paycheck).

Here’s what I suggest. If you are online, visit some websites and find some agents who you think will be helpful to you. Send an email and see who responds timely and call a few other agents and see who answers their phone (or returns the call quickly because sometimes they are talking with someone when your call comes in). Find someone you are comfortable with. If you are out driving around and visiting open houses, don’t worry if the house doesn’t fit your needs, maybe the agent hosting the open house is someone you’d like to work with.

It’s your money, it’s an important purchase, don’t trust it to the first real estate agent you come across and remember, if you aren’t working with a real estate agent who is helping you with the purchase of your home, you aren’t represented in the transaction.

As they say, let the buyer beware. Don’t search for a house, search for an agent (and find the very best agent you can to represent you).

Southern Living loves Charleston

January 12, 2008 | 2 Comments

Southern Living Magazine loves Charleston and so do its readers. Pick up a copy of Southern Living and two out of three issues will include something about Charleston with articles about homes, gardens, dining and events or activities occurring in our beautiful city.

The most recent Southern Living featured the Annual Readers’ Choice Awards and Charleston was voted the Favorite Southern City by the readers beating out Savannah and Atlanta.

Charleston also placed well in other categories including the first and third spots for seafood restaurants. Get ready to line up for a table at Hyman’s or make a reservation at Hank’s. In the splurge restaurant category, Magnolias came in second to Commander’s Palace in New Orleans (if I might make a suggestion, The Peninsula Grill owned by Hank Holliday of Hank’s with executive chef Robert Carter is superb). Finally, Charleston was voted second in shopping (King Street is an adventure in spending money!)

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Charleston

Is this a good neigbhorhood

January 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Summerville town square Probably the number one question that all real estate agents get asked by clients is the above, “Is this a good neighborhood”. And much to the dismay of our clients, we really can’t answer the question because of fair housing laws which prohibit real estate agents from steering clients toward or away from a neighborhood.

What real estate agents can do is point their clients to gather the information they need and that is why I and many of my colleagues offer links to area information or school information on our websites. If you want to know about crime statistics or which is the best school district or anything else that you deem important, you must do the research for yourself. It may not sound fair, after all, you’re hiring a real estate agent to help you with the purchase of a home but it is fair (housing).

If I don’t have a link that you need to find information you require, just let me know and I’ll search for it and send it to you. This past summer, I had a client who used to live in Summerville and was returning after living in Europe for the past 3 years. They were very concerned about which schools their children would be attending and because she had learned new schools would be opening in the next year, she wanted to know which neighborhoods would be assigned to which schools. It isn’t the sort of information that I normally link to on my website but I was happy to find it and send her the links.

Teresa Boardman at St. Paul Real Estate just discussed this topic but especially interesting to you might be an article written by an associate of Teresa’s, Eric Hare, who offers you perspective from a real estate consumer’s standpoint on choosing a neighborhood with some excellent advice.

Eric says, “It’s not just a question that a REALTOR® can’t answer, it’s a question people can only answer for themselves … The odds are that you won’t like the things I do, so what good is my advice? Depends what questions you ask me. Getting an opinion isn’t the same as a solid, verifiable statement about what’s in the neighborhood …What’s right for you? No one can tell you but yourself. But what matters more than anything is to understand just what you are looking for and to be willing to search it out.”

If you are interested in finding out more about the communities and neighborhoods within the Charleston South Carolina real estate market, there are questions that your real estate agent can answer and those that they can’t.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Buyer Tips, Charleston Communities and Neighborhoods, Charleston real estate

Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, December 2007

January 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. I’ll update the statistics at the end of January when slow reporting sales from the past month are entered.

Unit Sales and Inventory

Single Family Homes

Month	Sales 06	Sales 07	Change	Inv 06	Mo 06	Inv 07	Mo 07	Change

Jan	785	706	-10.06%	3719	4.75	5719	8.14	53.78%
Feb	858	777	-9.44%	4023	4.69	5861	7.61	45.69%
Mar	1178	1012	-14.09%	4330	3.68	6087	6.12	40.58%
Apr	964	790	-18.05%	4692	4.87	6329	8.21	34.89%
May	1189	957	-19.51%	4900	4.12	6711	8.54	36.96%
June	1322	1027	-22.31%	5235	3.96	6932	7.89	32.42%
July	1028	859	-16.44%	5618	5.49	7022	8.87	24.99%
Aug	1043	910	-12.75%	5849	5.62	7107	8.76	21.51%
Sep	1102	717	-34.94%	5963	5.42	7159	10.81	20.06%
Oct	838	630	-24.82%	6075	7.28	7102	12.66	16.91%
Nov	890	656	-26.29%	5999	6.75	7044	12.27	17.42%
Dec	862	559	-35.15%	5755	6.68	6862	12.28	19.24%
Year	12059	9600	-20.39%

Condos and Townhomes

Month	Sales 06	Sales 07	Change	Inv 06	Mo 06	Inv 07	Mo 07	Change

Jan	331	157	-52.57%	1189	3.60	2403	15.50	102.10%
Feb	276	167	-39.49%	1665	6.03	2521	15.47	51.41%
Mar	374	248	-33.69%	1763	4.71	2618	10.95	48.50%
Apr	435	249	-42.76%	1730	3.99	2740	11.66	58.38%
May	404	319	-21.04%	1971	4.87	2805	11.54	42.31%
June	329	306	-6.99%	2096	6.37	2793	12.75	33.25%
July	345	273	-20.87%	2289	6.63	2811	11.20	22.80%
Aug	313	221	-29.39%	2318	7.43	2873	15.12	23.94%
Sep	284	209	-26.41%	2419	8.52	2941	15.24	21.58%
Oct	268	220	-17.91%	2624	9.79	2921	14.90	11.32%
Nov	209	184	-11.96%	2579	12.40	2923	17.30	13.34%
Dec	244	121	-50.41%	2467	10.10	2828	23.37	14.63%
Year	3812	2674	-29.85%

The “Current Inventory” (inv) column reflects the number of active listings on the market on the 16th day of each Month. The “Months of Inventory” (mo) column is equal to the “Current Inventory” divided by the ”Monthly Sales”. This reflects how many months it would take to sell out of inventory at the current month’s rate of sale. It can also be referred to as the absorption rate.

12 month comparisons

Single Family Homes

Date	Sales	Avg Sale	Median Sale	DOM

12 months 1/1/2006-12/31/2006	12,059	$314,758	$214,000	68
12 months 1/1/2007-12/31/2007	9,600	$315,968	$217,000	93
Change	-20.39%	0.38%	1.40%	36.76%

Condos and Townhomes

Date	Sales	Avg Sale	Median Sale	DOM

12 months 1/1/2006-12/31/2006	3,812	$237,297	$183,000	66
12 months 1/1/2007-12/31/2007	2,674	$257,671	$184,900	106
Change	-29.85%	8.59%	1.04%	60.61%

Highlights:

Unit sales declined by 20% for single family homes and by almost 30% for condos and townhomes. Inventory remained elevated all year and don’t be misled by the slight drop in December inventory, it will be back on the market in January as many sellers take their homes off the market during the holiday season.

Prices remain very stable, single family homes appreciated by 0.38% on average and by 1.40% on a median basis. Condos and townhomes appreciated by 8.59% on average and by 1.04% on a median basis. I still can’t figure out how condo prices are holding up but all in all, the Charleston South Carolina real estate market has not seen the price declines being reported in many other markets around the country.

Here’s what else is new:

This year I broke out the sales for condos and townhomes from single family homes to give you a better perspective on Charleston market trends. Next year, look for sales in the luxury housing market (over $600,000) to be broken out from both single family homes as well as condos and townhomes for additional clarification.

Please let me know what you think and what other information you might like to see. Thanks!

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Charleston Market Trends, Charleston real estate, Statistics

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed

January 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The Charleston MLS and likely most every MLS in the country includes verbiage similar to “information deemed reliable but not guaranteed” on listings, statistics and almost everything else published. The information collected and published by the MLS is based on what the member real estate agents enter, thus the disclaimer.

Every month about this time, I have gathered the statistics, posted them on my other blog and then sent a monthly update email to my current and potential clients including a link to the monthly Charleston market report. I generally do it about a week after the end of the month so that late reporting sales will be included.

But this morning because I was preparing the year end report, I decided to review the numbers I previously published for accuracy and I was shocked at the discrepancies. In 2006, there were 15 additional single family homes sold and 3 additional condos and townhomes, a few here and there from various months. And that isn’t too bad, after all, I remember an agent being credited with making a sale two years after passing away.

But here is the shocker, unit sales were underreported by 739 single family homes or 7.7% out of a total of 9600 sold in 2007 and 300 condos and townhomes or 11.2% out of a total of 2674 sold last year when I published the statistics around this time of month.

Here is what happens: The listing agent is responsible for changing the MLS data to sold and because there are a lot of sales at the end of the month, I’ve generally waited about a week. I always knew a few would sneak in later, never thinking that many would not be entered in a timely manner by the other agents.

So here is what I’ll do. I’ll publish the year end statistics here and on my other blog tomorrow but rather than hurry to post the numbers in the early part of the month, I’ll do it toward the very end of the month instead and provide a little more accurate figures for you.

After all, the information is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Charleston real estate

Go Steelers

January 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment

My wife Polly was born in Pittsburgh and is a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan. We’ll be staying home tonight and cheering for the Steelers against the Jacksonville Jaguars but even she is realistic that it’s going to be a tough game and the Steelers may not advance very far in the NFL playoffs this year especially with the loss of some key players including Willie Parker to injury.

UPDATE: In a wild game worthy of the name wild card, Pittsburgh stormed back from an 18 point deficit with Polly waving her terrible towel only to lose on a late Jacksonville field goal. And I can’t figure out the reasoning for going for the 2 point conversion when they were down by 11, had they simply kicked the extra points, the game could have been tied and may have gone into overtime. Now for the rest of the playoffs but for the Steelers, it’s wait until next year!

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Just for fun

Buyers Market, Sellers Market

January 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Charleston homes for sale In today’s Charleston South Carolina real estate market, we are firmly entrenched in a buyers market, an abrupt change from just a couple of years ago when sellers were firmly in control.

Supply and demand dictates whether the market favors buyers or sellers and with today’s large inventory of available homes for sale and fewer buyers because of tightened qualification requirements to obtain a mortgage, buyers have a lot of choices when selecting a home to purchase and sellers must price their homes competitively and be flexible if they hope to successfully sell their home.

sellers may have to reduce prices to interest buyers in a buyers market In general, a buyers market will have greater than 6 months of inventory, a sellers market will have less than 3 months and the market is considered in balance when inventory is somewhere in between.

I’ll be regularly posting statistics indicating current inventory levels along with the absorption rate (how many months it would take for all active listings to be sold if no new homes came on the market) as well as the average and median prices of all homes sold so you can get a picture of current Charleston market trends.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Buyer Tips, Charleston Market Trends, Charleston real estate, Seller Tips

« Previous Page