Charleston real estate market report, June 08 sales and inventory
July 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The left axis (red line) represents unit sales and you can clearly see the trend of fewer sales during the first half of this year compared to last year. The right axis (blue line) represents inventory which has remained at elevated levels.
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Try carbonite
July 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I was just talking with a friend and the subject of her recent computer crash came up and it was somewhat timely to me because I faced a blank screen the other day and was obviously worried about losing everything on my laptop.
Thankfully, turning the machine off and then back on miraculously got my screen back in working order but I had heard of an online backup service called carbonite that I had been intending to look into.
Hearing the story from my friend who wasn’t as fortunate sent me immediately to their website to sign up. You get a 15 day free trial and one year costs $49.95. It seems like inexpensive peace of mind. Click here for more info.
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Randy Pausch
July 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Randy Pausch passed away yesterday after his most courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Read about Randy by Tim Walker in The Independent. And find the time, 76 minutes and well worth every second, The Last Lecture. Powerful and inspirational.
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Friday flowers
July 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
These are just some daisies we planted and they’re cute and all but there was another reason for planting them and a lesson for all homebuyers.
You see, my next door neighbor just doesn’t seem to have a clue where her property ends and mine begins and of course, she runs her lawnmower well onto my grass and if that isn’t bad enough, she doesn’t bother to clean up after mowing.
So after repeated attempts to nicely ask her to stop, my only solution was to plant the daisies at the property corner with a cute little mini picket fence in order to get her to stop at the property line.
The lesson, you can pick your neighborhood (and we love our neighborhood and most of our neighbors) but you can’t necessarily pick your neighbor.
And I can always hope that one day she’ll move.
Charleston homes [not] for sale
July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It’s a good idea when selling your home in today’s Charleston real estate market to make sure that your home is as available for buyers to see as possible. There is a lot of choices for buyers today and if they can’t view the home when they would like to see it, in many cases, it’s on to the next.
There are situations when the dogs might have to be put away or taken for a walk or you might want to straighten up your home from the mess the kids generally make. But the more available your home is to view, the better your chances of selling your home.
Recently, an amazing 3 homes out of 12 selected for viewings (out of 95 available meeting my clients’ criteria) could not be seen when calling for appointments.
In general, if a buyer can’t view your home, they generally are not going to want to buy it. Make sure your home doesn’t have a DO NOT ENTER sign, if it does, replace it with a traditional FOR SALE sign, it works much better.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Charleston homes for sale
The current state of real estate
July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Charleston real estate agents are trending towards sending lots of emails to all real estate agents on the Charleston MLS roster. They are touting their listings and I am noticing lots of price reductions, offers of bonuses to other agents and indications that the home is priced below a recent appraisal.
My personal opinion, this stuff doesn’t work to sell a house. After all, in my case, they are winding up in the spam folder of my inbox (and I had to dig them out to write this post). And wouldn’t it be better to just price the home for sale in the first place. Statistics show that homes priced properly from the start will sell for more money than a home that is overpriced and eventually reduced.
As to agent bonuses, I would prefer to see the price lowered by that amount to benefit the buyer. Much as I would like to make a little more commission when selling a home, I won’t be “bribed” by an offer of a bonus.
And finally, an appraisal has no value in resales, what a property might have been worth as a basis for a loan does not mean that a qualified buyer values it the same.
Bottom line, if you want to sell your home in Charleston, price it right from the start. Ask me how I’ll market your home for the best possible price in the shortest possible time and with the least inconvenience to you.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, marketing
Charleston property tax
July 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I work with many people who are considering relocation to Charleston, many from very high property tax states who are always concerned with how much property taxes are on any property that they are considering in the Charleston real estate market. The good news is that property taxes in South Carolina are generally quite low especially when compared with many other states.
Furthermore, once a home has been assessed, there are limits on increases to 15% every five years. But when a home transfers from one owner to another, the cap is removed and the assessor can raise the assessed value of your home to the current sales price.
But don’t worry; the property taxes will still be reasonable, just not as reasonable as your new neighbor who may have lived in his/her home for a number of years. And a point of sale property tax increase is how many places in the US reassess the value of your home. A good conservative rule of thumb is to estimate 1% of the sales price of your home for property taxes. The property taxes on a $200,000 home should be approximately $2000 and property taxes on a $500,000 home should be $5000.
If property taxes are important to you, you should consider getting a written estimate from the tax assessor prior to writing a contract on any home you are considering purchasing.
And make sure to apply for the 4% tax ratio on your principal residence, it will save you a lot of money.
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Friday flowers
July 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
A beautiful lily from our garden. For information on many more exotic lilies available, click here for The Lily Garden.
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All your eggs in one basket
July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I work with a lot of out of town clients, most of whom are considering relocation to Charleston. Many start their search very early in the process and request listing alerts that give them a very good idea of the Charleston real estate market. Sometimes they fall in love with a home well before they plan to move to Charleston.
A slightly different case this week. An out of town client has been online looking at and asking me further questions about a specific home in Charleston that he would like to purchase as investment property. His plans called for him to arrive this weekend to view it.
But just recently, if went under contract and he cancelled his plans. Then the contract suddenly fell through and his plans were back on and especially appealing was the fact that the price was reduced. But just yesterday, the home went under contract again.
Bottom line, whether you are planning to relocate to Charleston or just want to invest in Charleston real estate, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. There are lots of nice available properties, certainly more than the one you might have your eye on.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, relocation to Charleston
A sign of the times
July 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
From the wouldn’t you know department, a foreclosure tour of distressed Charleston real estate. I can only wonder what the late night infomercials are currently recommending.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, foreclosures
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