Category: Charleston South Carolina Real Estate

5 Steps to a Successful Short sales & Foreclosures

Buy a short sale can be a very exciting thing when you are someone who is price conscience because you feel you are getting a deal, but WAIT. Buying a Charleston, SC short sale or anywhere is not an easy process and you must be patient and be prepared to deal with a lot of annoying bumps in the road. When buying a distressed real estate property in Charleston, SC or wherever in the United States buyers must beware that it isn’t a simple and quick process and many times the bank will make you sit and wait for months or years. The reason why is because they are trying to see how many offers they can get before they are forced to decide on one. Once they are convinced they have gotten all the available offers in, will they decide on them. In most short sales there is a standard disclosure from the seller’s bank that says essentially, “we don’t care about what you want, you buy the house on our terms, and we owe you nothing.” You think I am kidding, but I am serious. They do things on their terms, and their time frame, and you either play by their rules or don’t buy the house. Key #1:The listing agent must know the proper step-by-step process for shorting various types of loans, as the process for shorting an FHA loan is different than the process for shorting a VA or Conventional loan.Key #2:The listing agent must know what documentation is required to make up a complete short sale package for the lender they are working with and how to submit that package in a format that will get the lender’s attention, satisfy their requirements, and get an approval. There are many many more disclosures that are required when entering into a short sale transaction, but considering that this has become so common place most attorney’s and agents are aware of them. Verses a few years ago when transactions like these were “new” to most of us.Key #3:The listing real estate agent must know how the lenders calculate what they have to “net” in the short sale transaction, so that they can then effectively price the property in MLS to generate an offer that will be relatively quick, but sufficient to meet the lender’s requirements, as well as cover all of the seller’s closing costs and the broker commissions. Often times most banks have a negotiator that will help them see the benefits of the deal and be the middle man between the loss mitigation dept for the seller’s bank and the buyer’s.Key #4:The listing agent must know what terms the lender (sellers bank) will and will not approve in a buyer’s purchase offer. There is really no way of knowing this until you begin down the road of negotiations, and be prepared for the seller’s lender not to negotiate. Many times, you have to come with your best offer the first time, because if the property is priced low there will likely be a bidding war.Key #5:The listing agent must know how to establish his/her credibility and an effective rapport with the loss mitigation rep who ultimately holds the key to the short sale getting approved and closed.

Some Info From http://rismedia.com

Charleston Real Estate Market Stays Strong

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Existing-home sales waned in December but tighter supplies of homes for sale continued to send prices up around the low-country, the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. Total existing home sales declined 1% in December adjusted downward in November. They were 12.8% above December 2011 levels. Pent up demand is sustaining the recovery in the market, which started to take hold last year, says Mount Pleasant, SC realtor James Schiller.” Record low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory and restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are limiting sales,” he said.

The inventory of homes for sale continued to shrink, down to a 4.4 month supply in December based on the month’s sales pace. That’s down from 4.8 months in November and is the lowest level since May 2005. Realtors consider a 6-month supply to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Homes are selling faster than a year ago. According to NAR, 31% of all homes sold in December were on the market less than a month. The median time on the market for all homes was 73 days last month compared with 99 days in December 2011. Single-family home sales slipped 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in December from 4.41 million in November, but are 11.5% above the December 2011 pace, NAR says. The nation’s median existing single-family home price was $180,300 in December, up 11.5% from a year ago whereas, here in the Charleston SC market home prices are up 4.4% to over $190,000. Median prices are affected by the mix of homes sold and can go up or down depending on whether higher-priced homes make up more of the market.Distressed homes — foreclosures and short sales — accounted for 24% of December’s sales, down from 32% in December 2011. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 17% below market value while short sales went for 16% under market value. Short sales are homes that are sold for less than their unpaid mortgage amount. Market researcher CoreLogic, whose data includes repeat sales of like homes, says home prices in November were up 7.4% year over year.A shrunken inventory of homes for sale in Charleston, SC— and less distressed properties on the market — have helped lift prices. Improving job growth, low interest rates and rising prices are convincing more people that the market has bottomed and that it’s time to buy. While new home construction is still far from healthy levels, home builders started work on homes in December at the fastest pace since the summer of 2008, the Commerce Department said last week.Home builder sentiment in January remained at a six-year high but didn’t move higher as it had in previous months, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index also showed last week. CoreLogic expects national home prices to rise 6% this year, on top of a 7.5% increase last year. Yet the tight supply of homes for sale is a big concern in many markets where rapidly shrinking inventories are leading to multiple offers and higher prices.

According to USAToday.com

Charleston Real Estate Market Trends and Activity

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CHARLESTON, SC—(October 10, 2012) According to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR) 876 homes sold in September, surpassing last September’s mark by more than 100 sales. Pricing in the Charleston area has made positive gains throughout the year, with September’s closings resulting in a median sale price of $190,000.

The year-to-date and inventory figures show the Charleston market’s continued progression back to a healthy, balanced and sustainable market. Year-to-date, MLS data shows a 10.5% increase in sales and a 5.6% increase in median price for the region. In 2012, 7,879 homes have sold at a median price of $190,000. At this point last year, 7,125 homes had sold at a median price of $179,850.While it is common for inventory to decline heading into the fall and winter months, it is significant that tri-county inventory has dropped below the 6,000 benchmark, with 5,878 homes listed as actively for sale with the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service (MLS). MLS data shows 6.7 months of residential inventory—most experts consider 5-6 months a mark of a healthy and balanced market. Charleston SC home builders also report seasonal declines in contracts to build new homes during the winter months.“The available inventory is pushing our market not only towards balance, but slowly back towards the seller’s favor. We’ve been squarely in ‘buyer’s market’ territory for several years now. The market has made its corrections and we’re well-positioned for sustainable positive progress going forward,” said Herb Koger, 2012 President of the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS®.Average days on market has declined significantly as well, with all three counties reporting 100 days or less to sale, and Charleston County averaging a speedy 87 days in September. The faster pace of buying activity is being encouraged by a significant number of investor buyers in the Charleston market, who deal largely in cash, negating the wait time for lender approval.August Adjustment Preliminary data reported for August 2012 indicated 1,014 homes sold at a median price of $198,757. Adjusted numbers now show 1,025 sales at a median price of $199,900.Berkeley County Preliminary data shows 197 homes sold at a median price of $175,000 in Berkeley County in September; with an average of 92 days on market. Year-to-date, sales volume has increased about 1% and prices have grown by 6% compared to last year, with 1,689 sales in the county at a median price of $164,300.Find additional reports on Berkeley County, here. Charleston County, SC Preliminary housing data shows 502 residential transactions in Charleston County in September, at a median price of $216,768. Days on market dropped to a year-low of 87 days. Year-to-date, sales have increased 17% and pricing has made a healthy 2% gain over 2011 data. Thus far in 2012, 4,494 homes have sold at a median price of $225,000 in Charleston County.Find additional reports on Charleston County, here. Dorchester County Preliminary data shows that 153 homes sold at a median price of $175,000 in September in Dorchester County, in an average of 100 days on market. Year-to-date, sales volume has grown by 3% and prices have increased by nearly 4%, county-wide, compared to last year. In 2012, 1,428 homes have sold at a median price of $167,222.

Article By CTAR

Seller’s Market in Charleston, SC?

buyers Charleston Real estate improving market conditions sellers market

By most accounts Charleston, South Carolina has been the one glimmer of hope throughout the country in the housing sector. We have been on top of the housing recovery almost from the start. If you live here then you are not surprised by this. The area’s most populous county accounted for 502 homes sold, 57 percent of all homes that changed hands last month within the three counties, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors’ monthly home sales report released Wednesday. SEE LATEST CHARLESTON, SC MARKET STATS.Charleston, SC home sales are on the rise —->Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties combined for 876 sales in September, 13 percent more than the same month a year ago.

Seller’s Market in Charleston

The association’s monthly reports have been showing encouraging residential real estate trends since the fall of 2011. Sales have been rising, inventories have been falling and the uptick in median sales price suggests that broader real estate values are starting to rise.The Charleston area sold 7,879 homes through September, a nearly 11 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago. The median sale price also has risen to $190,000, up from $179,850 a year ago, according to the association.Charleston County also is leading the charge in slimming the average number of days a property sits on the market before being sold, bringing it to some of the shortest spans since before the last recession. All three counties averaged house listings before sold in 100 days or less on average. In Charleston the average was 87 days.Charleston SC home builders even have reason to be excited as national new homes at an annual rate of 750,000, up 29.1% compared with a year earlier. They applied to build another 803,000 new homes on an annual basis, a 24.5% jump compared with August 2011.Home builders have become increasingly bullish — a confidence index from the National Association of Home Builders reached its highest level since June 2006.

Excerpts by the Post and Courier used:

Home Sales Increasing Charleston, South Carolina – Real Estate Market Better

buyers charleston home sales mortgages Sellers

Existing-home sales kept up their recovery in July, rising 2.3% as prices jumped 9.4% from a year ago, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, but the market’s progress disappointed analysts who expected more.Smaller inventories of homes for sale let sellers push prices higher, the association said. The average price of a new home rose 9.4% to $187,300, aided by a shift in the mix of homes sold, with fewer low-end units included. “I am seeing multiple offers within in first week a nice home comes on market,” Isle of Palms Realtor, James Schiller.

Nationally, the number of homes sold rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million. The numbers missed economists’ expectations of about 4.52 million home sales, according to Drew Matus, an economist at investment bank UBS.“Mortgage interest rates have been at record lows this year while rents have been rising at faster rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Combined, these factors are helping to unleash a pent-up demand. However, the market is constrained by unnecessarily tight lending standards and shrinking inventory supplies, so housing could easily be much stronger without these abnormal frictions.”Independent economists are looking for the housing market to begin slowly reversing its more than 30% slide in prices, though most do not expect substantive price gains until at least 2013 or 2014.“It was a little below expectations but still good,” said Mike Zoller, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. He said the sharp gains in prices reflect the smaller percentage of foreclosure-related distress sales included in the numbers, as well as the shift to more higher-end home sales.

Tight credit or worries about jobs may be prompting buyers to stay on the sidelines, said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The gain in home sales was the second-smallest reported this year, he added. As long as the buyer has good credit, money to put down, and good job security getting a loan is still easy by most standards.

“These are not great numbers,” Newport said. “We have record-low mortgage rates. Something is going on.”The economists also disputed the Realtor association’s argument that sales might be stronger if more homes were available.Nationally, inventories of available homes work out to about six months’ worth of expected sales, Zoller said, a level he called “reasonable.” The proportion of homes that are vacant is still above 2%, Newport said, citing Census data. That’s higher than a historical norm of about 1.7%, he said.The bright side is that the overhang of foreclosures are finally seeing a decline, relieving an overflow that pushed prices lower, Barclays economist Michael Gapen wrote in a note to clients. About 24% of sales were foreclosure-related, down from 29% last July, he said.

Most Content Courtesy of USA Today

Pricing Home in Charleston to Sell

Charleston Real estate home listing MLS on market pricing selling

A first-quarter survey of home buyers and sellers done by HomeGain.com, a real estate services website, revealed that 76 percent of homeowners believe their home is worth more than the list price recommended by their real estate agent. To See Charleston SC Real Estate Market Stats. –

Home buyers usually have a better grasp of current market value in the area where they’re looking to buy than do sellers who own and live there. Buyers look at a lot of new listings. They make offers, know what sells quickly and for how much, and what doesn’t and why. HomeGain reported that homebuyers still think sellers are overpricing their homes.* Your home is worth what a buyer will pay for it given current market conditions.This may not be the same as your opinion of what your home will sell for, or what you hope it’s worth. Relying on emotion rather than logic when selecting a list price can lead to disappointing results.The prime opportunity for selling a home is when it’s new on the market. This is when it is most marketable. Buyers wait for the new listings. Usually, listings receive the most showings and have the busiest open houses during the first couple of weeks they are on the market.Real Estate Charleston SC Sellers Agent help for selling your home and pricing it to sell.

By: Inman News

Foreclosures on the Decline in Charleston,SC prices increase

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Although Charleston SC real estate is performing better than most cities around the country, the good news is that foreclosures are on the decline. If you have been sitting on the side lines and are waiting for that great deal then you have missed the boat. If you read my post below from last year you’ll see where distressed sales were on the decline then, and now they are down even more. Trying to pick up a deal on a house now is gone. Prices have risen dramatically in last 6 months and the time to strike is long gone.In June, 60,000 homes turned into completed foreclosures compared to 80,000 foreclosures a year ago, CoreLogic reported Tuesday (08/2012). Charleston, SC Foreclosures and Shortsales

Charleston, SC Foreclosures and Shortsales

The analytics company stated the yearly drop puts completed foreclosures at 2007 levels. Month-over-month, there was no reported change in completed foreclosures for June. Since September 2008, 3.7 million homes have been lost to foreclosure.“The decline in the flow of completed foreclosures to pre-financial crisis levels is more welcome news pointing to an emerging housing market recovery,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “However, we believe even more can be done to reduce the inventory of foreclosures by decreasing the level of regulatory uncertainty and expanding alternatives to foreclosure.”

The number of homes in national foreclosure inventory in June stood at 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage. June’s figure is a slight drop from a year ago when the total was 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent. From May, the figure was unchanged. CoreLogic defines foreclosure inventory as the share of all mortgaged homes in some stage of the foreclosure process.“While completed foreclosures and real-estate owned (REO) sales virtually offset each other over the past four months, producing static levels of foreclosure inventory for most of this year, they are beginning to diverge again,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Over the last two months REO sales declined while completed foreclosures leveled out. So we could see foreclosure inventory rising going forward.”The states that saw the highest number of completed foreclosures over a one-year period since June 2012 were California, leading with 125,000, followed by Florida (91,000), Michigan (58,000), Texas (56,000) and Georgia (55,000).The top five states accounted for 48.4 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.Florida (11.5 percent) led as the state with the highest share of inventory in foreclosure, with New Jersey (6.5 percent), New York (5.1 percent), Illinois (5.0 percent), and Nevada (4.8 percent) taking the next four spots.Meanwhile Charleston SC has one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the United States.James Schiller – Charleston SC Real Estate Agent

(article by: Ester Cho of DS News)

Housing Market Still Little Iffy…

Charleston Real estate Housing Mortgage rates Real estate Sales

Story By USA Today

The National Association of Realtors says sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.4% in June from May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million homes. That’s the lowest rate since October.

“It is only one month and the rest of the housing indicators have all continued to show improvement,” saidJennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “Let’s hope this June decline is a blip.”Where as here in CHARLESTON, SC—(July 10, 2012) Home sales in the Charleston region maintained their consistent and steady pattern in June, with continued growth in sales volume and ongoing stability in pricing. 1,033 homes sold at a median price of $200,000 in June according to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR). Last month, adjusted figures show 1,002 homes sold at the same median price.National real estate sales are up 4.5% from a year ago, evidence that the market is recovering. But the annual sales pace is well below the 6 million that economists consider healthy.First-time buyers, critical to a housing recovery, made up just 32% of sales. That’s down from 34% in May. In healthy markets, first-time buyers make up more than 40% of the market.The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $189,400 in June, up 7.9% from a year ago, according to the NAR.Here in Charleston SC – Inventory declined again, with 6,277 homes listed as actively for sale in the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service (CTMLS) as of July 10, 2012.

Mount Pleasant Homes For Sale

How you should present an offer to buy home in Charleston SC

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Learn the Do’s and Don’ts when trying to buy.

Don’t offend. Unless you are offering on a property which has been held purely for investment, the seller is emotionally invested in his property. Do not try to be Donald Trump; trash-talking the seller’s shelter is not a winning strategy. Statements like “This offer reflects the fact that the premises will require professional cleaning with a blow torch prior to possession” may just get you and your offer kicked to the curb.
Do get personal. Write a cover letter summarizing why you believe this is the right home for you. On many occasions, I have seen sellers accept a lower offer because they felt a connection with the buyer. The seller has a dog? It never hurts to mention that your own Scruffy, who has been on Prozac since moving to your current top floor studio apartment, is (or soon will be) “digging” the large rear yard. The seller raised his children in the home? Why not mention that the glow cast by the cozy brick-trimmed fireplace will be the ideal backdrop for your own little Einsteins to read Tolstoy aloud as they so often do? It may not help, but it can’t hurt.
Don’t defend your offer the wrong way. As in, by saying it is all you can afford or that you are basing it on what you believe values will be during the next lunar cycle. This approach will likely leave the seller with the notion that there is a buyer out there, one who isn’t you, who can afford his home and at the price it is worth now.
Do know the seller’s circumstances. Does the seller want to move or does he need to move? Does he need to be out of Dodge by sundown, or is he just toying with the idea of relocating to the Catskills if he can get “his” price? Circumstances will dictate whether there is a bargain on the horizon, and knowing this in advance can save everyone the aggravation of a long trip to nowhere.
Don’t preach. Your Charleston SC real estate agent has given you information on comparable property sales. Beating the seller over the head with your 16-column spreadsheet will not endear you to him. He has set a price, presumably after having taken this same data under consideration. You may believe his price to be high, but it is his price. Insulting his intelligence (even if you believe this intelligence, based on the price he is asking, is of the artificial variety) will not further your cause.
Do be prepared to negotiate. No buyer wants to think they paid too much, and no seller wants to think he sold out. Expect to go a round or two. “Take it or leave it” offers are rarely met with high-fives and bear-hugs from the seller, regardless of the price and even in this market. In negotiations, everyone wants to feel like they were in control and that they prevailed.
Don’t be unreasonable. There is value, and then there is crazy-talk. If a home is offered for X, and you are willing to pay 10% less than X, do not offer X minus $2 million and then ask the seller to throw in his bedroom furniture and a pony. You will not be taken seriously.

Lets sell your home

Today’s real estate market in Charleston South Carolina is teeming with opportunities for the buyer. Great values, values relative to prices a year or two or more ago, are plentiful. But, insanely great “deals” are still needles in the proverbial haystack, because market value will always be determined by what a buyer is willing to pay. This buyer might be you, but if you are unrealistic or even simply careless with crafting your offer, it will probably be someone else.

James Schiller Charleston’s best Real Estate Agent

Charleston South Carolina Housing Improves Faster then National Average

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If you live in Charleston S.C and are considering selling your home, now is as good time as ever. According to USA Today the Charleston SC area is performing better than the national average.“Inventories also shrank faster than the national average in Minneapolis; Charleston, S.C.; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Miami; and parts of Southern California, Zillow says”.

Change from a year ago in the number of homes for sale in May by price tier in 100 top markets:
Market	Bottom third	Middle third	Top third	Average

Charleston, SC

-41%

-22%

-20%

United States

-12%

-17%

-15%

It now costs more to rent than to own a home in 98 of the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas, says real estate website Trulia, which tracks rents and home prices. In some of those markets, however, the inventory of homes for sale has shrunk.But low interest rates are luring more buyers, as are home prices that are down 35% from their 2006 peak.Nationwide, 35% of existing single-family home buyers in April were first-timers, according to the National Association of Realtors. In healthier times, first timers account for 40% to 45% of the market, says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. Tight credit and a still-shaky economy have kept many first-timers out of the housing market, he says.Rising prices could boost supply

Home inventories have shrunk because fewer foreclosures are coming to market. Many homeowners don’t want to sell, because they don’t have enough equity in their homes. Others are waiting for higher prices.“They’ve waited out five years of declining prices and don’t want to sell at the bottom,” says Stan Humphries, a Zillow economist. As home prices increase, more sellers will likely emerge, he says, which will add inventory. Or, buyers might back off if the economy softens.If you are in need of Charleston area real estate advice please feel free to contact me.James Schiller – Realtor in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms.