Friday Flowers

June 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

gardenias in bloom The beautiful white flowers of a gardenia. The white is so pure that it makes me think of a wedding. June has always been the most popular month for weddings. Charleston of course is one of the most romantic cities in the country and many couples celebrate their wedding here.

Why are so many weddings held in June? Check this out from the Wedding Blog.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Just for fun

Simple selling tips

June 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Selling your home in today's Charleston real estate market There is a lot of homes for sale in today’s Charleston real estate market so buyers have lots of choices. A quick search in a very narrow parameter shows there are 311 homes for sale priced between $200,000 and $250,000 in Summerville.

Most buyers (hopefully) won’t want to see all of them so when your home is chosen to be viewed, make the most of the opportunity.

A few simple tips:

Make your home available to easily be shown.

Most sellers don’t require 24 hour notice to show their homes by appointment only. If you have a tenant in a rental home that you are selling, then your tenant has rights but discussing the sale of your home with your tenant might allow your home to be shown easier. If your tenant will be uncooperative, you might want to consider waiting until the lease is up before putting your home on the market.

If you have small children and need to tidy up before a showing, anticipate that by keeping everything as straight as possible and make your home available for showing within an hour or two of the call. The same goes for your pets, keep them in a crate or behind a small gate or in the yard (make sure they can be cool and have plenty to drink during the hot summer) or be available to take them off the property.

The best situation is to leave your home every day in no apology, mint condition ready for a showing that might happen on the spot. Quite often, as I drive around with a client, they see a home and wonder if they can see it now. A quick call to Centralized Showing Service to find out the showing instructions might possibly result in a sale.

Straighten up.

Keeping your home clutter free with dishes out of the sink, toys picked up, beds made and ready to show at all times is an inconvenience … but, the buyers will like your home more than many others they will be viewing. I’ve seen it time and time again, a reasonably nice home with good bones, nice floor plan, well priced, etc., be ruled out by buyers because they just couldn’t see past the mess. And don’t forget, if your home doesn’t appear to be clean, the buyers might assume that you haven’t been taking care of the important maintenance items either.

Don’t hang around.

Just about the worst thing you can do is not leave your house when a real estate agent rings the bell and opens the lockbox. You should not be there and if you are, you shouldn’t say anything more than, “hi, how are you, I’m just leaving.”

I once was showing homes to a client and the homeowner answered the door and said, “well, I was just leaving but as long as I’m here, let me tell you a few special things about my house.” She went on to tour the home with us for about 5 excruciating minutes. After she left, my buyer looked at me and said, “let’s go, I don’t like the house and I sure don’t like the seller.” The home might not have worked for the buyer but if it had, the seller may have ruined her chance to get an offer. To me, it just shows desperation on the part of the homeowner to think they have to “tout” what’s special.

Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, selling your Charleston home

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

5 signs it might be time to reduce your price

June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The signs of Charleston real estate today If you want to sell your home and you haven’t sold it, here are 5 signs it might be time to reduce the price on your home.

Inventory levels in the Charleston real estate market are very high currently so buyers have lots of choice. Plus, there are fewer buyers in the market to buy a home in Charleston right now for various reasons.

You should reduce the price:

If your home hasn’t sold.
If your home hasn’t sold.
If your home hasn’t sold.
If your home hasn’t sold.
If your home hasn’t sold.

I know, I know, I’m not a very good comedian but … if you really want to sell your home and you haven’t, then you should consider reducing the price on your home because nothing matters more than price.

Amy Hoak at MarketWatch put a real list together of 5 signs that it’s time to trim the asking price on your house.

Not enough showings.
Some showings but no contract.
Similar homes are now selling for less.
Repeated negative feedback.
You’ve cut the price, but not by enough.

Friday flowers

June 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

One of my wife’s favorites in our garden is the Agapanthus also known as Lily of the Nile. Read more at Wikipedia.

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Just for fun

Carnes is coming soon

June 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

One of the most highly anticipated communities in the Charleston real estate market is Carnes which is being developed by The Daniel Island Company as a “sister” community to Daniel Island. Located in Goose Creek at the intersection of Highway 17A and US 176 just a few miles from the Summerville exit off 1–26, the historic intersection has always been known in Berkeley County as Carnes Crossroads.

The 2000 acre master planned community will become a downtown gathering spot for Goose Creek and the first commercial center will be known as The Market at Carnes Crossroads featuring a Harris Teeter grocery store, restaurants, shops and office space.

Also announcing plans to locate at Carnes are Northwood Assembly Church and Northwood Academy. Roper St. Francis Hospital has announced plans for a medical facility at Carnes.

Home prices in Carnes have not yet been announced but The Daniel Island Company will likely offer different price points in several distinct neighborhoods. Look for the first residents to move in sometime in 2009.

Would you like to be first? Click here to learn more about Carnes.

Technorati Tags: Carnes, Charleston real estate, Daniel Island Company

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Berkeley County, Blog, Charleston Communities and Neighborhoods, Charleston real estate, Daniel Island, Goose Creek

Charleston real estate market report, April 2008 home prices

June 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment

It appears the law of supply and demand hasn’t quite reached the Charleston real estate market as yet because with fewer sales and increasing inventory, you would think that prices might have declined a little more. And while anecdotal evidence does confirm pricing pressure, the statistics haven’t quite caught up as yet.

I use a running 12 month average for the past 12 months compared to the previous 12 months on the chart below. But for those of you who really want to see some price declines, the median home price in the Charleston real estate market declined from $210,000 in April 2007 to $199,900 in April 2008. The median price however is just the middle price of all recorded home sales and since there have been more sales of lower priced homes than higher priced properties, the median has declined while actual prices seem to have held up a little better.

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Charleston real estate home prices