List (asking) price vs sales price May 2008

May 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Charleston real estate prices

With almost 12,000 homes currently available for sale in the Charleston real estate market which is almost a 16 month inventory if no additional homes come on the market. 

If you really want to sell your home, you must price it to sell.

As you can see, the asking price is significantly higher than the prices paid by buyers in all classifications with the only exception being luxury condos and townhomes.

The current sales price to list price according to Charleston MLS statistics shows that homes are selling at a 5.23% discount to list.

That is the highest rate I’ve seen yet asking prices are even higher per the chart above. Something has to give and my best guess is that it won’t be the buyer.

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

Friday Flowers

May 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Lantana

Lantanas bloom spectacularly from spring to fall and once established require very little maintenance.

We learned a great deal about growing our lantanas from the Clemson University Extension webpage.

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Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Just for fun 

Charleston home prices

May 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Charleston real estate home prices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Median and average home prices in the Charleston real estate market over the past 12 months. Despite declining unit sales, high levels of inventory, prices have remained fairly stable.

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

Are HOA and regime fees fixed

May 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The short answer is no.

Here’s why.

The short answer is that costs may rise in the future.

The HOA sets a budget for the year and bills the homeowners an annual fee. This takes care of the neighborhood including landscaping of the common areas as well as maintaining the clubhouse, pool, playgrounds, tennis courts and other amenities available to the homeowners. The HOA generally makes a contribution to a reserve account to save for scheduled capital improvements when they become necessary.

A monthly regime fee is common when purchasing a townhome or a condominium. The regime fee may or may not cover insurance on the building exterior, flood insurance, termite bond and maintaining all or part of the property including landscaping of the common areas as well as landscaping of the individual units.

Let’s just use the price of gas as an example. Most communities set their annual budgets when gas cost $3 per gallon. Today, it is nearly $4. The landscapers use gasoline to run their lawnmowers and other equipment. Their costs have gone up this year and you can bet that they will increase their price next year if gas continues to increase in price.

Now who is going to pay for that increase. The community will do their best to negotiate the very best price for landscaping services but the cost of gas impacts every landscaping firm so it’s likely that all will be charging more next year. The bottom line to you, the annual fee can increase.

When you buy a home, if you obtain a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, you can be assured that your monthly payment for principal and interest will not change over the course of the loan. But if your insurance or taxes increase, you are going to have to pay a little more each month to maintain your escrow account.

If you are cutting your own lawn, you still have to fill up your little red gas container once in a while. It costs more to do so today. The same is true on a larger scale when the HOA takes care of your maintenance.

But don’t forget that the homeowners have a say in the management of their community. Read more about homeowners associations at wikipedia.

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

Memorial Day 2008

May 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

While you enjoy this holiday weekend, let’s not forget those who gave their lives so that we may continue to enjoy our lives as we choose.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Announcements and Events, Blog 

Friday Flowers

May 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Sourthern Magnolia

The beautiful flower of a Southern Magnolia. The street that I live on is landscaped with magnolias.

One of our favorite restaurants in Charleston is Magnolias owned by Hospitality Management Group and Chef Donald Barickman.

Read more at about Magnolias and Southern Magnolias at wikipedia.

 

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Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Charleston, Just for fun 

Top Ten reasons your home isn’t selling

May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Charleston real estate homes for saleDan Melson at Searchlight Crusade doesn’t pull any punches on why your home isn’t selling. Sure, he’s got some of the usual suspects: schools, clutter and condition.

He placed price second and your choice of an agent first. As an added bonus, he suggested homeowner attitude, that the owner does not really want to sell.

I think that ties into the price, if a homeowner doesn’t really want to sell, they generally will not price their home to market. With today’s Charleston real estate market conditions, if you don’t really want to sell, you should not be listing your home for sale. It will languish unsold and it isn’t worth the inconvenience. 

Read all the reasons your home isn’t selling.

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

Mark your calendar

May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment

AnnikaCharleston is going to be absolutely jam packed and busy with the start of The Spoleto Festival this weekend and The Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika beginning next week.

The annual festival, a cultural binge featuring music, theatre and dance will be held over the next 17 days beginning this Friday.

Annika Sorenstam recently announced her retirement from golf effective at the end of this year so this will be your last chance to see her play competitively in Charleston and will she be able to win her own tournament. Head out to Rivertowne Country Club in Mount Pleasant to find out.

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Posted by Howard | Filed Under Announcements and Events, Blog 

Home buying primer, the conclusion

May 19, 2008 | 2 Comments

My friend Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, always has time to write something somewhere on the World Wide Web while his wife Francy is busy actually selling homes.

But Francy just found the time to finish part 4 of her series focusing on escrow and inspections.

Some states like Arizona use a title company for closing while in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market, attorneys are used to close the sale. The term escrow isn’t used in South Carolina but the process is handled pretty much the same.

I thought Francy made a wonderful point about home inspections with the sad story of a seller who couldn’t afford a home inspection when purchasing their home and finding out about serious problems when trying to sell.

If you can’t afford a home inspection when buying a home, you can’t afford to buy a home.

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

Fridays are fun in Charleston

May 16, 2008 | 2 Comments

carpet-rose.jpgIt seems that many real estate bloggers from around the country have adopted a Friday theme. Jonathan Dalton from Phoenix introduced Friday afternoon theme music, Teresa Boardman from St. Paul declared Fridays are for fun a while ago and just to be different, the great Larry Cragun from Seattle long ago told everyone not to bug him on Saturday.

This Friday, here are carpet roses from my garden.

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Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Just for fun 

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