Living and Working in Charleston SC

Charleston SC Average Home Sale Prices Finally Drop in September

October 8, 2007 · 1 Comment

The conditions have been right for home sale prices to drop for some time with inventory levels continuing to increase. Yet, month after month, average home sales prices Charleston wide have continued to increase.  The average sale price finally dropped in September. (see below)  We saw a similar drop in July, and then back to an increase in August so we still don’t know for sure that we have a trend.  October is another month.  You can drill down into just about any part of town, even to the subdivision level, and prices have been increasing…in spite of increasing inventory levels. 

Charleston is a great place to live.  We have weather to die for with four seasons, lot’s of things to do for all ages, good schools.  Cara and I have lived and worked in this area for 15 years.  After living here for 10 years, we moved to Georgia in 2002-2004 and moved back.  If you aren’t already sold on Charleston, you simply haven’t spent enough time here.  If you’re already sold on Charleston, and are planning your move, the timing is right.  It could get better possibly.  Who can tell?  I definately don’t subscribe to using market timing for investing in real estate.  What you want to avoid is a “bubble” situation.  There simply isn’t any evidence that suggests that we have that sort of thing here in Charleston.  We don’t have any one industry like oil or technology that dominates our economy.  There are a lot of people that still want to move here, and if anything is slowing things down, it’s that they’re having difficult selling their homes where they are now. 

It’s certainly getting more difficult to buy a home now.  100% financing with moderate credit scores are going to go away.  That will definately affect the number of buyers out there. 

Sales and Inventory History

Monday, October 08, 2007
Category - Residential

Month Year Monthly Sales Avg ListPrice Avg Sale Price % Diff Sell/list Avg DOM Curr Inventory Months Inventory
January 2006 1180 $320,178 $312,341 97.55% 63.0 5403 4.58
February 2006 1180 $280,734 $274,314 97.71% 62.0 6182 5.24
March 2006 1627 $306,203 $298,971 97.64% 66.0 6581 4.04
April 2006 1441 $303,275 $296,733 97.84% 62.0 7042 4.89
May 2006 1660 $325,230 $316,575 97.34% 60.0 7461 4.49
June 2006 1773 $289,490 $281,986 97.41% 65.0 7934 4.47
July 2006 1466 $299,368 $291,011 97.21% 63.0 8541 5.83
August 2006 1435 $298,007 $289,876 97.27% 68.0 8832 6.15
September 2006 1464 $279,815 $271,870 97.16% 71.0 9059 6.19
October 2006 1184 $310,670 $299,181 96.30% 76.0 9476 8.00
November 2006 1166 $286,093 $277,676 97.06% 79.0 9456 8.11
December 2006 1176 $282,242 $271,683 96.26% 88.0 9150 7.78
 
Total 2006 16752 $298,442 $290,185 97.23% 68.6 7,926 5.83
  
January 2007 893 $316,597 $304,946 96.32% 97.0 9157 10.25
February 2007 977 $284,609 $274,896 96.59% 99.0 9524 9.75
March 2007 1296 $303,094 $293,067 96.69% 94.0 9998 7.71
April 2007 1086 $303,123 $294,057 97.01% 91.0 10412 9.59
May 2007 1329 $315,476 $304,580 96.55% 92.0 10705 8.05
June 2007 1360 $336,438 $324,334 96.40% 89.0 10724 7.89
July 2007 1160 $310,905 $298,938 96.15% 91.0 10685 9.21
August 2007 1133 $332,407 $319,387 96.08% 94.0 10649 9.40
September 2007 878 $306,711 $296,856 96.79% 95.0 10705 12.19
 
Total 2007 10112 $312,151 $301,229 96.50% 93.6 10,284 9.33
  
Total 2006-2007 26864 $305,297 $295,707 96.86% 81.5 9,105 7.50

Let us know your thoughts.  It will be very interesting to see what happens to the supply of buyers out there. 

→ 1 CommentCategories: Charleston Neighborhoods · Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

Charleston Real Estate Market Update July 2007

August 4, 2007 · No Comments

First, the numbers.  Then we can go into interpretation. 

July 2007 total versus July 2006:  

Overall including all residential

Sold Units: 1070 vs 1465

Average Sales Price: $315,000 vs $300,000

Inventory:  10432 9.8 months vs 8483 5.8 months

Now, the same numbers for townhomes and condos

Sold Units: 251 vs 349

Average Sales Price:  $265,000 vs $225,000

Inventory:  2857 or 11.4 months vs 2347 or 6.7 months

 And Single Family

Units:  784 vs 1026

Average Price:  $342,000 vs $335,000

Inventory:  6801 or 7.3 months vs 5655 or 5.5 months

 Sales Peaked in July 2005 at 1553 overall residential

It doesn’t take a financial expert to see that in 2005, investors were looking for alternatives to the Securities Markets, where they felt vulnerable.  The securities market is stronger now, and let’s face it…it’s a hell of a lot easier to go online or call your broker to invest in securities than it is to flip houses or deal with renters.  That’s the extent of my commentary related to the tie-in with securities.  Interest rates were very low in 2005, still fairly low in summer 2006, and they’re higher now.  That means that for primary residence purchases, those that can wait, are waiting. 

This is a blog, not a newspaper column, so you tell me.  Are some of you waiting for prices to come down?  My guess is, probably so.  Around the water cooler, talk is that prices are coming down.  But the real numbers don’t reflect that.  The buyers we have been working with are willing to pay to get exactly what they want.  90% of the buyers with whom we work start with a monthly budget figure, and work from there.  I don’t know how much of that has to do with the way we guide our buyers.  But that’s a different story.  Of all the buyers we’ve worked with recently, one has started with his criteria, and then negotiated downward, versus starting with a price (directly connected to a payment), and then searched for the most home they could find for that amount.  Does that make sense? 

Averages can be very misleading.  In Charleston, all it takes is a few ocean front or downtown sales to drive up the numbers.  I recently had a buyer client ask me for a report on a specific zip code.  29412, which is in James Island.  Here is the report.

Sales and Inventory History

Saturday, August 04, 2007
Category - Residential

Month Year Monthly Sales Avg ListPrice Avg Sale Price % Diff Sell/list Avg DOM Curr Inventory Months Inventory
January 2004 30 $225,765 $222,910 98.74% 60.0 187 6.23
February 2004 47 $226,481 $222,438 98.21% 82.0 167 3.55
March 2004 64 $222,894 $214,768 96.35% 52.0 148 2.31
April 2004 56 $237,296 $231,750 97.66% 73.0 133 2.38
May 2004 77 $247,477 $243,064 98.22% 58.0 113 1.47
June 2004 82 $247,330 $242,721 98.14% 57.0 118 1.44
July 2004 74 $270,009 $263,825 97.71% 35.0 134 1.81
August 2004 67 $235,317 $233,479 99.22% 39.0 124 1.85
September 2004 48 $252,111 $246,677 97.84% 38.0 117 2.44
October 2004 50 $225,221 $222,726 98.89% 44.0 127 2.54
November 2004 36 $269,284 $268,695 99.78% 101.0 136 3.78
December 2004 62 $264,438 $260,887 98.66% 58.0 124 2.00
 
Total 2004 693 $243,635 $239,495 98.30% 58.1 136 2.67
  
January 2005 37 $272,255 $267,438 98.23% 66.0 122 3.30
February 2005 55 $237,936 $233,938 98.32% 39.0 111 2.02
March 2005 61 $248,796 $244,632 98.33% 51.0 83 1.36
April 2005 44 $282,979 $278,688 98.48% 55.0 92 2.09
May 2005 65 $365,120 $352,738 96.61% 49.0 82 1.26
June 2005 58 $271,732 $265,134 97.57% 36.0 90 1.55
July 2005 58 $309,385 $304,750 98.50% 27.0 107 1.84
August 2005 59 $325,487 $315,737 97.00% 34.0 107 1.81
September 2005 51 $313,225 $309,449 98.79% 34.0 102 2.00
October 2005 64 $288,618 $284,765 98.67% 30.0 118 1.84
November 2005 50 $393,313 $382,044 97.13% 65.0 131 2.62
December 2005 44 $312,173 $304,434 97.52% 40.0 125 2.84
 
Total 2005 646 $301,752 $295,312 97.87% 43.8 106 2.08
  
January 2006 37 $315,370 $307,643 97.55% 44.0 144 3.89
February 2006 34 $336,710 $329,082 97.73% 50.0 168 4.94
March 2006 48 $331,996 $326,632 98.38% 49.0 182 3.79
April 2006 45 $301,653 $294,423 97.60% 31.0 212 4.71
May 2006 68 $398,917 $382,446 95.87% 64.0 248 3.65
June 2006 79 $310,501 $299,390 96.42% 52.0 286 3.62
July 2006 49 $318,496 $312,127 98.00% 46.0 317 6.47
August 2006 57 $327,172 $319,646 97.70% 69.0 339 5.95
September 2006 32 $346,309 $335,052 96.75% 57.0 359 11.22
October 2006 33 $364,677 $351,467 96.38% 63.0 368 11.15
November 2006 46 $382,576 $367,702 96.11% 76.0 340 7.39
December 2006 50 $296,468 $287,316 96.91% 78.0 317 6.34
 
Total 2006 578 $335,904 $326,077 97.07% 56.6 273 6.08
  
January 2007 40 $438,090 $426,033 97.25% 102.0 297 7.43
February 2007 44 $335,457 $326,190 97.24% 81.0 306 6.95
March 2007 60 $327,395 $311,932 95.28% 74.0 340 5.67
April 2007 54 $400,578 $385,334 96.19% 113.0 344 6.37
May 2007 56 $390,830 $371,406 95.03% 98.0 353 6.30
June 2007 49 $341,226 $330,051 96.73% 106.0 353 7.20
July 2007 44 $349,186 $336,703 96.43% 89.0 350 7.95
 
Total 2007 347 $368,966 $355,378 96.32% 94.7 335 6.86
  
Total 2004-2007 2264 $312,564 $304,066 97.28% 63.5 213 4.50

Even though we’ve drilled down into a smaller area, the report still seems to support the same conclusion, that prices are continuing to climb.  There are a lot of different ways to go with this conversation.  What’s relevant us an our clients is, what can we do with this information? 

For those of you that are trying to time your purchase, I would look more at interest rates, than average home prices.  It’s hard to build a solid case that the market is going down.  With the current inventory levels, we can help you use this to your advantage to get more for your money, or pay less for a home that exceeds your criteria.  The inventory levels ARE continuing to rise…but so are the average sales prices. 

For those of you that want to use your market knowledge to get the best price, or to sell your home for the best price, the answer is simple.  Just work with us.  There are many posts in this blog that tell you how to do it…and any agent has access to this same information.  They may not be able to look it up, but they do have the same access we do.  There is one point I can’t emphasize enough for  those of you that want to use your primary residence to get ahead financially.  SELECTION AND IMPROVEMENT CHOICES ARE EVERYTHING!!  When you go to buy your home, you need to look past what are your likes and dislike and consider very seriosly the next person that is going to live in your home.  Sorry for getting off track…we were talking about how to use the market to your advantage.  Will most of you will use the market to get more home, with more upgrades, with more space, on a better lot etc.?  Or will you stick to your criteria and try to save some money? 

→ No CommentsCategories: Uncategorized

Stay Tuned for July Market Update

July 22, 2007 · 1 Comment

Hello Everyone.  Sorry updates have been al little sparce.  I’ve been in Chicago attending a n executive development seminar.  Cara and I are getting caught up getting ready for a Summer trip to New York.  And we’ve been pretty busy with closings and other business related activities.  I guess this is our time to make hay.  So not so much fun stuff.  I will be keeping you up to date with the monthly market update, so you can get the latest right from actual MLS statistics. 

 We’ve recieved a lot of good feedback on our articles and updates, which I really appreciate.  There is so much spin out there, it’s good to know our work is having the desired effect.  Our intention is to help you make the best possible decisions for you and your family…even if it means you end up renting or staying put…and therefore, we don’t get paid yet.  We have people ask us all the time about whether they should rent or buy.  Is now a good time to move to Charleston?  What does the fact that the Charleston real estate market is levelling mean to me if my circumstances dictate that I have to move to Charleston now.  We just had two families close on their new homes in the Summerville area.  In Summerville, the appreciation isn’t what it was in 2005/6, but values are still increasing.  It is not a buyer’s market right now in Summerville, unless your home is cosmetically challenged.  Or if you’re up to taking on someone’s cosmetically challenged home as a buyer.  There are so many choices of brand new homes, it makes selling a previously owned home a lot harder, if it’s not been well maintained.  I started this discussion speaking about the two families who most recently closed.  They will be well positioned for the value of their homes to appreciate, because they had expert assistance picking out their homes.  Their agent (me) helped them make their decision based on all the pertinent factors, not just the ones that would facilitate an emotional decision.  I will actually try to talk people out of making an offer, or following through on a counter, if I think we can do better in our time frame.  This is what it means to be an “agent” of the buyer, versus a salesman.   The difference is, an “agent” is a trusted advisor, where a salesman may put their interests before yours.  Presumably, they will be fair an honest, and they won’t misrepresent anything.  (not if they want to keep their license), but they won’t necessarily look for trouble either.  A trusted advisor will look for trouble to help you avoid problems down the road.  A salesperson wants to make a sale as quickly as possible so they can move onto the next customer. 

Sorry for drifting off topic, but I am very passionate about educating the public about the differences between “client” level services and “customer” level services.  I want to be a member of your trusted advisor team, and for you to recommmend your friends to me down the road.  This means that I have to put your interests before my own, and that my role is to advise you to help you make the best possible decisions, not just ride you around, pop open houses, and deliver your offer. 

Stay tuned for more with July’s real estate market facts, and more on “client” level services.  Thanks for reading. 

→ 1 CommentCategories: Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

Cracked Foundations in the Charleston Area

June 29, 2007 · No Comments

Theories vary about why we have cracked foundations here mostly for homes built in the 70’s.  Some think it’s because we have an earthquake fault in Summerville.  Others believe it’s poor site prep.  Probably a little of both.  Mount Valley and Ram Jack would be able to speak more autoratatively than me.  My approach is from a real estate standpoint.  It’s a pretty bitter pill to swallow for the owner to ante’s up the 10 to 20 g’s to get the repairs done, only to find their home is still devalued. 

Cara and I  actually bought one of these homes two years ago.  We were trying to get the most home for our money, the repairs were guaranteed, and we were thinking we were going to be here for quite a while.  Our theory was that it devalued the home by about $10,000 and we negotiated accordingly. 

When we’re working with buyers and we see one of these homes, what we tell people is that it puts a cloud of sorts over the property and makes it less marketable.  It will take longer to sell, and an educated buyer is going to want at least $10g taken off the price, when the repairs have been completed…and more if they haven’t.   You do have the possibility that someone will fall in love with your home and pay closer to full price, but that chance is pretty slim.  Whenever we’re looking at homes, we always inspect the garage carefully to look for any obvious cracks.  You can tell if it’s cracked all the way through by seeing if the crack is level….if both sides of the crack are on the same level.  It the two sides of the crack are at different levels, then it’s not a surface crack.  We also look for excessive cracking in the bricks outside the home if it is a brick home.  And we look for horizontal cracking inside the homes.  Vertical cracks are more typical from standard settling.  Horizontal cracks indicate potential structural issues.  You’ll want to have your inspectors look more closely. 

The biggest problem with buying one of these homes, is that you can pay 100 engineers to inspect the property, and they are all going to qualify any statements they make with disclaimers that say the the inspection is limited to what they’re able to see. 

→ No CommentsCategories: Uncategorized

Mt. Pleasant Market?? Is this a good time to buy?

June 25, 2007 · 1 Comment

 The answer is as usual, it depends??  If you’re a first time home buyer looking to buy in Mt. Pleasant, and you have control over your timing, you might benefit by waiting.  Prices are more likely to drop than they are to go up in my opinion.  But we’ll definately know more in six months.  And you have little to lose by waiting. 

If you’re moving to the area, or for some reason, don’t have this kind of control, I think the timing is good for you.  You should be able to get a better deal than two years ago when multiple contracts were very frequent occurences.  Prices might go a little lower by the end of the year, but so far, they’re holding fairly strong.  The reason why I’m saying to first time home buyers that they might be better off waiting, is more because we’ll know more in six months than we do know…not that prices are definately going down.  So, if you are buying right now, feel good about your situation.  Charleston is still a hot destination.  Every year can’t be as hot as 2005, and 2006 was an excellent year as well.  So still, things are more returing to normal in Charleston.  Make sure you have a good agent representing you, and you should be able to BOTH find the best choices and get a good deal.  It’s possible prices will drop slightly before going back up.  In 2005, if your home in Mt. Pleasant was in a so-so location, or didn’t have great curb appeal, you could still get close to asking price, because buyers didn’t have very much from which to choose. 

Almost everyone makes some sort of trade-offs when buying a home.  If you’re buying now, you have great selection and you have a much better chance of getting all or most of your “nice-to-haves” satisfied versus 2005, when buyers may have been compromising “must haves” both because of the scant selection, and because they had to act so fast to avoid having to compete with another buyer. 

Judge for yourself. 

Sales and Inventory History

Monday, June 25, 2007
Category - Residential / Area: 41, 42

Month Year Monthly Sales Avg ListPrice Avg Sale Price % Diff Sell/list Avg DOM Curr Inventory Months Inventory
January 2004 123 $278,622 $272,218 97.70% 83.0 637 5.18
February 2004 134 $269,017 $265,136 98.56% 73.0 605 4.51
March 2004 202 $306,984 $301,695 98.28% 91.0 567 2.81
April 2004 174 $295,221 $289,983 98.23% 61.0 581 3.34
May 2004 201 $302,589 $299,346 98.93% 53.0 534 2.66
June 2004 246 $314,971 $312,444 99.20% 73.0 508 2.07
July 2004 236 $333,449 $328,154 98.41% 57.0 497 2.11
August 2004 187 $317,158 $314,685 99.22% 47.0 485 2.59
September 2004 157 $321,021 $315,561 98.30% 56.0 437 2.78
October 2004 156 $308,291 $305,020 98.94% 41.0 431 2.76
November 2004 158 $333,331 $326,958 98.09% 40.0 392 2.48
December 2004 194 $316,726 $312,637 98.71% 69.0 376 1.94
  
January 2005 169 $346,989 $338,094 97.44% 60.0 390 2.31
February 2005 187 $296,755 $293,329 98.85% 46.0 403 2.16
March 2005 214 $338,474 $333,567 98.55% 47.0 409 1.91
April 2005 240 $324,477 $320,567 98.79% 43.0 475 1.98
May 2005 241 $339,802 $335,452 98.72% 40.0 481 2.00
June 2005 324 $375,971 $371,017 98.68% 35.0 509 1.57
July 2005 257 $401,070 $395,249 98.55% 40.0 686 2.67
August 2005 279 $384,712 $378,539 98.40% 35.0 723 2.59
September 2005 228 $394,044 $386,245 98.02% 44.0 713 3.13
October 2005 220 $385,501 $379,188 98.36% 40.0 749 3.40
November 2005 247 $312,639 $308,014 98.52% 42.0 794 3.21
December 2005 322 $289,432 $284,302 98.23% 49.0 837 2.60
  
January 2006 198 $381,799 $371,678 97.35% 57.0 910 4.60
February 2006 146 $390,724 $385,140 98.57% 63.0 1172 8.03
March 2006 191 $434,460 $425,638 97.97% 67.0 1316 6.89
April 2006 170 $416,010 $406,886 97.81% 61.0 1382 8.13
May 2006 230 $412,126 $403,485 97.90% 58.0 1509 6.56
June 2006 193 $419,513 $409,645 97.65% 61.0 1557 8.07
July 2006 244 $416,162 $406,240 97.62% 68.0 1666 6.83
August 2006 204 $421,141 $410,018 97.36% 76.0 1666 8.17
September 2006 212 $411,933 $400,191 97.15% 77.0 1704 8.04
October 2006 172 $454,935 $433,791 95.35% 91.0 1756 10.21
November 2006 136 $415,439 $397,467 95.67% 93.0 1720 12.65
December 2006 157 $374,422 $357,116 95.38% 112.0 1588 10.11
  
January 2007 127 $438,884 $422,646 96.30% 98.0 1538 12.11
February 2007 119 $461,424 $442,102 95.81% 130.0 1572 13.21
March 2007 165 $496,216 $480,843 96.90% 126.0 1656 10.04
April 2007 155 $447,657 $431,443 96.38% 104.0 1716 11.07
May 2007 169 $394,783 $380,454 96.37% 96.0 1829 10.82

→ 1 CommentCategories: Charleston Neighborhoods · Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

What is an “Agent”, and are real estate agents really agents?

June 22, 2007 · No Comments

It depends on who you’re working with.   Most real estate sales training instructs students and new agents to carry a contract in the house and be ready to start filling it out on the kitchen counter.  Most real estate sales training says to try to show as few homes as possible…no more than seven and preferably less.  So, if it seems like the agents with whom you’re working seem a little old school, it’s both because they are, and because most real estate training given today is still pretty old school.  Ongoing real Estate sales training also minimizes the implications of dual agency.  And ongoing real estate sales training addresses why it’s a good time to buy. 

An “Agent” by definition and according to South Carolina’s buyers agency agreement is supposed to be someone that’s looking out for your best interests, putting your interests before not only the other parties, but theirs as well. 

I’m not sure how one could consider it in a buyer’s best interest to rush to fill out a contract, even in the hottest of markets.  I always recommend to my clients to consider their choices carefully.  To me, that means they need to sleep on it…or at a minimum, go have a cup of coffee before coming back to the office. 

And the only way that I could see showing less than about 15 homes is that if I had been out previewing about 30-40 homes before narrowing it down.  In my experience, people are a lot clearer about what they want after they’ve looked at 5-10 and see what some of the possibilities are.  So even if I did do the work to preveiw all those homes, I’d be concerned that I mistakenly eliminated one that would either be right, or highlight a feature the buyer wasn’t aware of that they’d really enjoy. 

Having said all that, I do believe it’s important to be efficient.  All the people with whom we work are busy….do you know anyone who isn’t.   And so our team members strive to make the best possible use of everyone’s time.  But that doesn’t mean taking shortcuts.  And it never means pressuring people.  If it’s time to decide, I find that people generally already know it without me telling them. 

Listen very carefully to what your “agent” says to you over the phone and in your first meeting.  If, after the first day, you feel like you’re being sold, you’re not working with an agent, you’re working with a salesperson…and there is a huge difference.  When push comes to shove, a salesperson will put themselves first, no matter what their agreement says.  An “agent” thinks long-term, wants you to be a raving fan after you’ve completed the process, and never pressures people.  Not only do they desire to protect you every step of the way, they are capable of doing so.  They may or may not be the most “likeable” personality you come across, and may even run across the grain from time to time, because they don’t ever want you to be surprised because they weren’t up front with you.  Or because they allowed you to believe something that wasn’t true. 

One last note, since we’re on this subject.  It requires no “training” to become a real estate agent in South Carolina, you don’t have to actually know how to do anything.  You have to recieve about 60 hours of instruction, none of which is training.  If you want to become a cosmetologist, you recieve training so you can cut and dye hair and do other things cosmetologists do.  You have to perform and demonstrate proficiency in many techniques.  You see, the haircut industry couldn’t survive if they didn’t they didn’t have a labor force on which to draw that they knew could cut hair. 

In real estate, the real estate commission allows salespeople to represent the public as agents.  There is no “agent” license.  So be careful out there. 

→ No CommentsCategories: Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

“They Don’t Build Them Like They Used To” Oh Really?

June 22, 2007 · No Comments

Does anyone remember Hurricane Andrew?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew Provides a concise summary.  In 1992, I was a territory manager for Senco Products, a major manufacturer of automatic nailing and stapling products.  The reason I bring up Hurrican Andrew, is that prior to this hurricane, the building codes for nail specifications, and other fasteners to address wind uplift forces went largely ignored. 

 This past week, I attended a pre-drywall inspection, and a final inspection for two different brand new homes built by Centex.  For the record, there are two reasons why you see so many positive reports on my blog about Centex.  One, the inspections I’ve intended, of both brand new, and used homes; and positive reports from my clients.  And two, their superior JD Power ratings.  I could actually make a lot more money selling other brands who offer huge selling bonuses.  D. R. Horton for one offers DOUBLE commissions of 6% for selling their homes.  Kind of makes you wonder about a few things, but that’s not the subject of this article.  Beazer has a volume plan where you can work your way up to 4 1/2%.  Centex offers 3% and no extra bonuses no matter how many you sell…for the record. 

 Anyway, since Andrew, inspectors pay much more attention to the types of nails, nailing patterns, and the connectors used to fasten the home down to the foundation.  After Andrew, a lot of people caught hell, and building inspectors topped the list.  Even though the newer codes were virtually indiscernable by anyone but an engineer, especially with regard to “hurricane ties”  If you look at a new home built today, you’ll see that from the roof trusses, all the down to the sill plates, are fastened together by some type of metal strap.  Short of  tornado, or a direct hit by a cat 5 hurricane, they aren’t going anywhere.  

 That doesn’t mean that new home builders are perfect.  The people that oversee the construction have too many homes to supervise, typically around 20, assigned to them.  So you need to hire your own inspector, and negotiate with the builder so that things get completed in a reasonable time frame.  I am biased of course, but I highly recommend having a real estate agent on your side of the table to help out as well.  Consider it free insurance.  Just make sure your agent is actually your agent, and not a salesperson pretending to be an agent. 

On the finished home, most of the drywall work was great.  Two joints in the living room needed to be re-floated, and two other joints needed to be cut out and reworked.  Must have been a bad day or the end of the day for the dry waller, because the rest of the house looked great. 

On the pre-drywall inspection, the walk-out door was on the wrong side of the garage…whoops.  That will be fixed.  And there was about a four inch piece of OSB near the top of the roof line with a couple of pieces busted out.  Apparently, the code doesn’t specify the width of the last piece near the end of the roof sheating.  I’m not a code expert…so I can’t really evaluate that from an expert standpoint.  Seemed pretty hokey to me.  But those were the only things we could find.  Myself, a certified inspector and the buyer. 

I learned this week that the site supervisors are incented based on thier J. D. Power Survey results.  If they don’t average a 9.3 or better, they miss out on a significant bonus.  Sounds like a good plan.  They stay in touch with the customers and do everything they can to make them happy.  

I’ve heard people say that because of the way they grow trees now, that older lumber is more structurally sound and that is probably true.  It remains to be seen how well the vinyl siding will hold up after 30 years in our sun and rain.  They were using Cedar in the 80’s, and without flawless maintenance, they need to be resided because it rots in the humidity.  Brick is an extra $20,000, a great investment.  And cement plank siding is great, my favorite actually.  It’s not inexpensive, almost as much as brick, but it looks great, and is proven to last.  It does require caulking to prevent leaking. 

In Charleston, I feel great about recommending Centex, Brentwood, Harbor, and Weiland built homes.  If you need help comparing builders and communities, please feel free to contact me.  843-991-5184. 

→ No CommentsCategories: Charleston Neighborhoods · Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

Park Circle for Under $200,000

June 22, 2007 · 1 Comment

Here’s the long-anticipated Park Circle Post.   “I want a home with some character where I can walk to parks, restaurants and shopping.” “Can you find me an investment property that will experience better than average appreciation?” Both of these are available in Park Circle.  Those familiar with the Charleston Market know this, but I wanted to go explore for myself.  I don’t get paid to be a reporter, but being in my third year in real estate, and having had some success of my own, I’ll be looking to gain some tax advantages and use my real estate knowledge to my own advantage.   So, I had just a couple of hours to learn as much as I could.  Investors typically want something that will provide positive cash flow, which in Charleston means that it needs to be priced around $160k and rent for $975/mo.  Here is what I learned. There are several sections in Park Circle, some of which are very nice, and others, not so much.  The homes in areas not so nice didn’t seem to priced that much lower…it’s as if they thought the “Park Circle” brand name would carry them. The homes currently in the MLS for the most part, are leftovers.  What do I mean by leftovers?  There is something clearly lacking that explains why no one has bought it yet.  Things that can’t be changed, or not very easily.  For example, one home, which was on a nice street by the way, had four bedrooms, but two of them where in an area over the garage where you had to walk through one bedroom to get to the other two, and through the second bedroom to get to the third.   In another case, the home had been added onto in such a way that it was just way overpriced.  People tend to search around for advice and find someone that will tell them what they want to hear.  So they find someone that says, “Oh, your home is 1400 square feet, we can easily get you $190,000.”  What they don’t say, is that six months later, they’ll be looking for another agent, because they picked the agent based on price, instead of picking the agent based on their integrity, and discussing price later.  A much wiser approach if you think about it. A third case, the home had been completely rehabbed, and was right across the street from a park.  They were asking $179,000 for an 803 square foot 2 bedroom one bath.  A little ambitious possibly, the owners are obviously willing to wait to get top dollar.  Someone will eventually fall in love with it, even though some of the improvements were done, “on the cheap”.   Some homes I didn’t even bother going into.  I wouldn’t want my sister or mother living there, and will let someone more adventurous take them on.  There is money to be made in blighted neighborhoods, but not by me.  At least not at this point.   So, what’s the answer?  Having driven by dozens of houses, and going inside a few in just a couple of hours,  I had a theory.  Maybe the best homes, the ones that are priced realistically and are good opportunities either for families to live, or investors to make a fair profit are sold very quickly. Sure enough, I checked the MLS, and properties in Park Circle under $200,000 were more typically under contract in under a week, and in many cases were sold before they were listed.  You have two scenarios.  First, there are about 100 (of the five thousand) real estate agents in the Charleston area that make six figure incomes, and need tax shelters.  They have access to the MLS real time, and are poised to jump on opportunities.  I’m not quite there yet, but well on the way.  The second scenario is that experienced investors who are direct clients of real estate agents that are too busy to do the down and dirty work of searching for properties.  They have agents working for them, and a plan to strike quickly when opportunities arise.   If you’re serious about finding a high demand property, you need to be prepared, and you need to have a plan to strike quickly That plan needs to have these critical components: You need an agent you can trust implicitly to help you make good decisions, that will never “sell” you.You need to be prepared to view the property the day it hits the MLS.You need to be prepared financially with bank information, or a pre-approval letter.  You need to be prepared to deliver a solid offer, that makes it easy for the seller to say yes…preferably “as-is” with a free look period.   Once you have a “ratified” contract, I suggest having the property inspected immediately, so you can clear the inspection contingency, or obtain a release from the contract.  Basically, you just want to know that the property is structurally sound, and whether or not costly repairs will be needed.   I hope this helps you.  Some of the things you learned here can apply to any home purchase.  If something online seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Investor/agents are always on the lookout for the best deals, and they area gone in days.   Your agent needs to be up to speed on technology to take care of you properly.  They also need to know the market in which you’re looking.  They need to know why properties on one street tend to be worth more than those on another and why.  The Move2Charleston Team has agents assigned to different areas so you always get someone that knows the area in which you’re looking.  I will help you sort through the different parts of town with the pros and cons of each and assign a local expert to you. 

→ 1 CommentCategories: Charleston Neighborhoods · Having Fun · Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

Stay Tuned for “What Does $200,000 Buy You in Park Circle”

June 19, 2007 · 1 Comment

A lot of people want a home in a downtown area where they can walk to shopping, restaurants etc., and downtown Charleston is way out of reach, but for the very few.  Park Circle is the up and coming area in Charleston, they call it “transitional”.  I’ll be going out this week to preview homes and reporting back to you on what I find.  You should know that there are a lot more homes over $200,000 than under.  So if you’re looking for that ideal investment property for $160,000 that will rent for $1100/month and cash flow, it might be too late.  Let’s see what we find out. 

→ 1 CommentCategories: Charleston Neighborhoods · Make Your Move - Charleston Real Estate Problems, Tips

Did I Forget to Tell You How Great it is to Have Year-Round Good Weather?

June 19, 2007 · No Comments

I was hanging out with a friend of mine today, and we were talking about how cool it is knocking around Charleston in Golf Shirts, Khaki’s, and no socks.  I’m not a no-socks guy, it feels clammy to me, but many are.  I do enjoy flip flops, but that’s not exactly appropriate work attire.  My friend Randy and I are both salespeople, so we’re out and about quite a bit.  It’s great not having to worry about bundling up in the winter, shoveling snow, and having extra gear in the car like boots, shovels, etc.  Most of the time, it’s just downright pleasant.  Yes, the Summers are hot and long, but it’s not so bad with khakis and a short sleeve shirt.  And it’s not like the Summers aren’t brutal up North.  We do have seasons here, the leaves fall off the trees, but we always have lots of evergreens as well as Live Oak trees so we don’t have that God-Awful Greyness in the winter. 

And for you golfers, imagine NOT having to fly down to Myrtle Beach with your buddies to play a few rounds of golf.  You can still having your getaway, but it’s a two hour drive to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and Savannah.  You can all climb in the car and go. 

I do like rubbing it in once in awhile. 

→ No CommentsCategories: Having Fun