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. –
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.
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
If you are interested in bidding on a piece of property in Charleston County, SC, which has been foreclosed upon and is scheduled to be auctioned for sale in the near future, the following are some things you may find helpful to know:
1.) When real property is ordered to be foreclosed in Charleston County, a judge called the Master-in-Equity will issue an order directing the mortgaged premises (or part thereof as required to satisfy the claims established) be sold by or under direction of the Master.
2.) The judgment (often called a Master’s Decree of Foreclosure) will contain a legal description of the property being sold, a provision for the necessary legal advertisement, the time and location of the sale, and notice of any senior liens, taxes or other rights to which the property to be sold is subject.
Sales are held the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 11 a.m. at the front entrance of the Charleston County Judicial Center located at 100 Broad Street in downtown Charleston.The judgment also will specify the amount of good faith deposit necessary at the time of the sale, which is usually 5% five percent of the successful bid at the sale. Compliance must be made with the bid by 4 p.m. that same day. This deposit is required to be in cash or certified funds and is not refundable. The plaintiff or any other party may be a purchaser on such sale. You have 30 days to comply with the balance of the bid with cash or certified funds.Some Plaintiffs seek a deficiency judgment against the Defendant. This means the Plaintiff is not only foreclosing its mortgage but is seeking a money judgment too. Unless the pleadings state that no personal or deficiency judgment is demanded or any right to such judgment is expressly waived in writing, the bidding will not be closed upon the day of sale but remains open until the thirtieth day after such sale exclusive of the day of the sale. When the sale is re-opened for final bidding, the highest bid is accepted. The Plaintiff can only bid at the first sale.Short Sale– is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property’s loan.If you want a short sale the process is very much like a traditional real estate transaction except in one way. The hassle. For you to take advantage of a short sale, you’ll definitely want a local Charleston area real estate agent on your side. Primarily because the bank is technically the seller. Even though the seller might still be the owner of record, for a short sale to occur the seller’s mortgage lender has to approve it. Unless the seller just sells the home for less than they owe and pays the difference to their lender.If the seller can’t do that then the lender with the mortgage will have to O.K the home being sold for less than is owed on it. The largest problem with purchasing a short sale home is that the bank is not willing to work with you (the buyer) to make the purchase easy or cheap for you. Usually when putting an offer on a home that is approved for a short sale the bank will only sell the home “As Is”, and doesn’t care if there are problems with the home even if you get a home inspection. Secondly, they usually will drag their feet because if you make an offer they probably have a couple other offers on the table that they will work against you so you must make sure you have a large earnest money deposit ready, and no contingencies. Otherwise they will not consider it and/or they will contact the current offers they may already have.When looking to buy a home that is a short sale you must keep in mind that since the home isn’t being sold for profit that there is no room for the seller to pay a buyer’s agent commission. Therefore, be prepared that you may have to pay a buyer’s commission out of your own funds. However, President Obama and HUD have instructed banks that they have to allow agents to be paid when representing a buyer in a short sale, but this isn’t always the case.*Don’t worry. If this seems like too much of a scary proposition, there are plenty of unbelievable cheap homes on the market that are great deals for sale the traditional way.There are only two common loan programs that offer 100% financing NO money down on the purchase of a new home.
1.) VA Loan – First thing and most obvious you must be an active duty service member in the armed forces or be a veteran, and you must be able to meet all the other criteria of eligibility for the VA Loan. Visit this site about Charleston SC mortgages to see if you qualify and to check rates.
2.) USDA -The other way to buy a house in Charleston South Carolina with No money is by going through the USDA. You must meet the certain USDA income criteria and agree to purchase a home in an approved community/city/area. See the local list below. To speak with one of our agents about seeing a home in one of these communities call 843.478.8061 or Contact Me here. See the rules for eligibility for qualifying for USDA loan click HERE.
CHECK USDA SITE FOR ADDRESS ELIGIBILITY Mortgage Application
Charleston Trident Association of Realtors® — (May 9, 2012) – Median existing single-family home prices are firming in many areas of the low-country, while improving sales and declining inventory are creating more balanced conditions, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors®.Last April, preliminary figures showed 776 homes sold at a median price of $175,000, following an almost equal number of property tours.“The number of showings our REALTORS® are completing in 2012 is almost equal to the number of showings we saw in 2009, when the market was significantly depressed, but inventory was much higher. This tells us that the prospective buyers in today’s market aren’t just looking. They are serious buyers, making offers and closing transactions” said 2012 CTAR President, Herb Koger.The national median existing single-family home price was $158,100 in the first quarter, which is 0.4 percent below $158,700 in the first quarter of 2011. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less. Distressed homes2 – foreclosures and short sales which sold at deep discounts – accounted for 32 percent of first quarter sales; they were 38 percent a year ago.Heading into what is typically the busiest season of the year, year to date figures reflect a market that is in the midst of sustainable, healthy growth. Inventory is 29% lower than it was at this time last year; sales volume is almost 6% ahead and prices have increased a healthy 4% from this time last year.Total existing-home sales,3 including single-family and condo, increased 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in the first quarter from a downwardly revised 4.37 million in the fourth quarter, and were 5.3 percent above the 4.34 million level during the first quarter of 2011 when sales spiked. We are seeing more people coming back into the investment and second home market buying homes for sale in places like Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island.Mount Pleasant SC custom home builder-owner of Sand Dollar Homes, said there are more opportunities in today’s market. “Historically favorable housing affordability conditions are making it easier for buyers to enter the market despite the unnecessarily tight credit conditions,” he said. “Housing supply and demand are roughly balanced with overall housing supply at the lowest level in six years, putting sellers on an even footing with buyers in most markets.”CTAR REPORT –Berkeley County
170 homes sold at a median price of $154,945 in Berkeley County in April. This represents even sales and an increase in pricing compared with April 2011, when 170 homes sold at a median price of $145,000.Charleston County
476 homes sold at a median price of $228,125 in Charleston County in April. This represents an increase in sales and pricing from April 2011’s 451 sales at a median price of $208,000.Dorchester County
151 homes sold at a median price of $165,000 in Dorchester County in April. This represents a significant increase in both sales volume and pricing, as 129 homes sold at a median price of $147,490 in April 2011.
There are essentially 4 types of newly built homes you could choose from if new construction is what you have to have.
Just as its name states, custom homes are as YOU want them. As the prospective home owner you would be expected to hire an architect whereby with regular meetings you, your architect, and 
home builder would design a home according to your direction, and vision. After you have signed off on the design of your home it then has to be stamped by a licensed engineer to make sure its design features are structurally sound. Beware of a fully custom home because they take much longer to build, and they require many many meetings with a plethora of different people all of which are there to make sure you get exactly what you want. Also, here in Charleston, South Carolina, downtown specifically there is an ARB (architectural review board) which oversees the construction of every building in historic Charleston. However, there is a good reason for this. Aside from the normal responsibilities of ensuring the safety of each property, it too is responsible for preserving the look and historic significance of one of the United States most respected and historically relevant cities in the country. If you are considering building in Mount Pleasant, Folly Beach, Isle of Palms, or surrounding areas there is less chance you have to be too concerned with having each phase of your design and construction signed off on from an aesthetic point at least. However, many newer suburban communities also have restrictions and rules that have to be adhered to there to preserve a consistent feel of the neighborhood. For instance Kiawah Island home builders have to make sure their customers know that they can not use white for their exterior trim color.
A semi-custom (similar to spec) home usually refers to a type of new construction home whereby the builder will either provide you with a multiple different home plans to choose from if they (may or may not) already own the dirt. Yet the home buyer can make small changes to the plans, but usually not to the structural elements as well as they get to choose the finishes mentioned in 1.a. This kind of home is probably your most commonly used option, and many of your local & national home builders prefer to offer this as it is the most flexible to most people who want a “nicer” option but don’t want hassle of custom. Here are examples of SC new construction homes.
You feel as if you are getting a fully custom home without having the additional time, and expense of hiring and meeting with an architect. Since the builder is familiar with the floor plans they usually are fairly confident with giving you a estimated close date and cost depending on the finishes you choose.
Spec homes are where a builder (national or local) will pre-build a newly constructed home, choose the floor plans, and the finishes, landscaping, etc. hoping that a prospective buyer will be interested in buying it as he or she designed it. They are “speculating” that there are enough interested buyers in the market, hence the name “spec home”. These homes are usually built in established neighborhoods often times in nicer communities consisting mostly of custom homes.
Usually your most affordable option – As defined by Wikipedia – Tract housing is a style of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract of land which is subdivided into individual small lots. Tract housing developments are typically found in North American suburbs that were modeled on the “Levittown” concept and sometimes encompass large areas of dozens of square miles.
These types of homes although new are usually of lesser quality than the first three options because the builders know exactly what it costs them to build each home as cheaply as possible because believe it or not their profit is in the land. Most of the national builders whose names you’d recognize such as: DR Horton, Beazer, Pulte, Toll Brother and Centex, are considered tract builders. The expense and “power” is in the dirt. If you own the dirt or tract of land to build then you have the power because buyers have no other choice other than to buy your product if they want to live in certain areas. These home builders like DR Horton will buy large pieces of land all over the country and develop the dirt, but in order to compete with local builders will many times offer a semi-custom feature into their plans. Whereby, they will have usually offer 6, sometimes 8 floorplans to choose from, and offer a hand full of different finish options. Such as: 3 types of prefinished hardwood flooring, 4 types of ceramic tile or vinyl, 3 styles of carpet, 3 different exterior wall coverings, etc. This is the most standard commonly known options for buying new homes in Charleston, SC or wherever.
If you have any concerns about selling your home in Charleston you better start to sell it sooner than later, because as the banks begin to trickle out their foreclosed homes, this will keep the market soft. Furthermore, rates are likely to increase in the next few years which will also deter those considering buying homes to get cold feet or be able to afford less.(Below Written 05/2010)It’s been a while since I have posted an opinionated piece because most of my posts are more geared toward news and information for the public and how it pertains to the industry of real estate. However in this case, I couldn’t shake this ludicrous idea by a writer at the Wall St. Journal. I have always respected the Wall St. Journal, but this one has me baffled.
I have been in the real estate industry for going on 14 years now- (12 years in mortgage financing), and 5 years as a real estate agent Considering most of my experience has been financially related I tend to follow those trends the most seeing as there wouldn’t be sales of real estate without money to finance them. Let’s face it, there aren’t that many people liquid enough to pay cash so truthfully it all revolves around money. Even insurance revolves around money and is a great indicator of overall economic health. Each property has to be insured, each business, each profession has to have insurance, and yes mortgages have insurance.With that said, the piece from the Wall St. Journal by James Hagerty goes like this: “U.S. home prices will begin a gradual recovery by next year, according to a survey of 92 economists and other housing analysts by MacroMarkets LLC.” They then go onto write; “The analysts surveyed by MacroMarkets on average expect home prices, as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller national index, to rise about 12% in the five years ending Dec. 31, 2014. As of Dec. 31, that index was down about 28% from its peak level in mid-2006”. Obviously I am assuming that Mr. Hagerty is just going off research and information given to him by MacroMarkets and these 92 economists, but I can’t believe the editors of the Wall St. Journal let this go to print. I can’t lay all the blame on the Wall St. Journal because they are apparently getting their info from these economists. 
I am sure out of 92 economists they most likely have many more years then I analyzing data, but let’s look at the facts and you decide for yourself.National Mortgage News (an industry news subscription service) sends me monthly emails about the latest data coming from multiple outlets such as: National Association of Mortgage Bankers, national appraisal companies, commercial finance institutions, etc. Remember financing/economics tell the facts about what’s really happening. Of 11 articles 7 of them were negative, but a few are really telling.I am just going to give you the blurb “gist” of the piece.1.) Residential delinquencies climbed to yet another new high at March 31 with 10.06% of all mortgagors behind on their payments, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Think about it… If delinquencies are on the rise, as they have been continuously for almost 3 years how are home prices going to go up? When people are having to short sale their homes, get foreclosed on or bank sales increase, then home prices will inevitably continue to fall.2.) Loan applications to buy new or existing homes plummeted 27% last week, reaching a 13-year low, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. If loan applications plummeted on purchases by 27%… Well you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that home prices aren’t going to go up if there aren’t any sales.3.) The loan buyback plague continued on unabated in the first quarter with three seller/servicers, accounting for about three-fourths of the industry’s repurchases, according to an analysis done by National Mortgage News. Here is how this works. When I loan is originated by a company, they then sell that loan to a larger institution (usually Bank of America, US Bank, Wells Fargo, just to name a few). If those loans under perform and have too many delinquencies within the first year then the originating company has to buy that loan(s) back. Another scenario is; if the purchaser audits the file after purchasing it and doesn’t like something in the file they can also force the seller to buy it back. Why is this bad? If the buy backs are due to delinquencies then that means those home owners can’t afford their payments, or lost their job, etc. Therefore, eventually their home will have to be sold and most likely for less than they paid for it. Subsequently sending home prices down. My last bit to this post has nothing to do with the news articles written by the National Mortgage News, but about financing, FHA, VA, and FNMA. Our government is currently at a 94% debt to income ratio and can barely pay it’s bills. Meaning the U.S. really doesn’t have money to be buying mortgages from banks, and to decrease their risk of having delinquent loans they will have to increase the amount of money buyers will be required to put down, resulting in less people that qualify to buy. Secondly, the U.S. Fed recently quit buying treasury bonds (security instruments backed by mortgages), and If little to no one is buying mortgage backed securities in large quantities then eventually mortgage rates will increase, subsequently, making it harder for people to qualify for home purchases. The less people qualify the less sales will happen therefore sending home prices down. Simple supply and demand.Yes; there may be some tiny bits of data compared to the rock bottom days of a year or two ago that might lead economists to believe the trend is for prices to go higher, and yes home sales might have been increasing over the last couple months. However, the increase in home sales is due to one reason and one alone. The home buyer tax credit was about to expire so those people that were otherwise too afraid to purchase finally had reason to. Now that the credit is gone, so goes the buyers.The overall picture in my opinion is not good, not good at all. As a whole the real estate market is posed to continue to slide, and as the U.S. economy continues to flounder the housing outlook is sure to follow. I am not a pessimist by nature so don’t get me wrong. Yes, everyone should stay positive and believe we can make a change for the better. Believe me I want nothing more than to be wrong, but being realistic is something I am, and the facts point me in that direction.Follow up: Again I am not sure where the 92 economists where getting their info from..Latest from the Case-Shiller index on 05/25/2010“The housing market may be in better shape than this time last year, but, when you look at recent trends there are signs of some renewed weakening in home prices,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “In the past several months we have seen some relatively weak reports across many of the markets we cover.”A separate Case-Shiller index that is released quarterly and covers the U.S. showed home prices fell a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in the first quarter of the year compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.If you are thinking about selling your home in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, Daniel Island, Folly Beach or the surrounding areas please contact me and I will gladly meet with you to discuss your options.
Those of us in the industry as licensed real estate professionals know the difference between the two, but does the public 
know? That is the question. And, do they really care? Studies show the answer is no. Let me start by saying I am a member of the NAR and it is a good organization that does a great service to their members and the public.
So; what is a REALTOR®? A licensed real estate agent that is a member of a national association that pays yearly dues to say they are a realtor, have legal representation, get education and association power. So in short, it is just a made up word for an organization. Period. There are benefits as a real estate agent sometimes to be a member of the NAR (National Association of Realtors), and little for the public. They would like you to believe there are by trying to convince the public it’s better practice to do business with an agent who is a member, but it’s my opinion it makes no difference. Keep in mind most of the benefits apply to the licensed agent who is a member of NAR. From the public’s standpoint it’s NAR’s stance that an agent who is a member is set to a higher standard than those agents who aren’t a member. You can be the judge of that.
What is a real estate agent? (as defined by wikipedia) a person or organization whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients, and one who acts as a buyer’s rep in a transaction.
A licensed real estate agent who has gone through the schooling and training necessary required by that state to sell real property as defined by the governing body with which gave them their license. In the state of South Carolina, the LLR or labor licensing board is the governing body that handles the issue of real estate for SC, and the laws pertaining to it.
Does it matter if someone is a REALTOR®? NO, not really. A real estate agent non-member is just as qualified to sell as a “realtor”.
So; next question? What makes a good real estate professional? I guess that depends on the client’s idea of what they feel is acceptable to them.
We must first go through the qualities that best describe the duties necessary to be a great real estate agent. Since, being a real estate agent is more or less just being your own business on behalf of your client, we need to lay out the qualities of a great business or business person. Right?
1.) Marketing knowledge/experience
2.) Negotiation / Sales acumen
3.) Organization
4.) Hard work ethic
5.) People/personality management
6.) Technology knowledge
7.) Business management experience
Granted, these are a bit generic, but they are the fundamentals nonetheless.
So I ask again, does being accredited by a made up organization created for profit really make you more qualified to sell real estate? Not in my opinion. In my opinion having business and professional marketing experience is much more important to me. You can go to real estate school, and take a one day class put on by the NAR and can be 18 years old with no professional or business experience whatsoever to be a member. Do you think that person is going to be better qualified then someone who has run their own company, worked in some sort of professional environment for years? Most likely; not.
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