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February 2007 - Posts

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 4:35 PM

As the market turns

As the stock market turns sharply lower today and 10 year Treasury bonds rising strongly which translates into lower interest rates which is good for housing, it should be an interesting spring for all markets. Opinions vary on the reason for today's
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, February 26, 2007 4:22 PM

lock bumping

Lock bumping is all over the news and the internet. This is serious information for all homeowners to protect their property and loved ones. Click on the picture for video from the Fox affiliate in Cincinnati found on You Tube. For additional information,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, February 23, 2007 4:29 PM

Mortgage equity withdrawal

We'll be talking about mortgage equity withdrawal during this post and when to refinance and the good and bad reasons for taking equity out of your house. When I read Noah Rosenblatt's article, I noted one good reason to take equity out of your
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
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Friday, February 23, 2007 2:32 PM

AirTran flying into Charleston

AirTran will begin flying into Charleston in late May and Charleston's business community, the Charleston tourism industry and area residents are excited about the official announcement. Charleston airfares are among the highest in the country and
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, February 23, 2007 7:37 AM

Dreaming of a bed and breakfast

We were featured today on Larry Cragun's Fantasy Friday . Take a look at the magnificent Governor's House Inn, a luxurious bed and breakfast on Broad Street in the Historic District of downtown Charleston. Thanks, Lar. What fun!
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
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Thursday, February 22, 2007 9:19 AM

Buyer representation

I ran across a wonderful post why buyer representation is so important by Doug Quance from Atlanta's Broker's First Realty and a regular contributor to the outstanding Bloodhound Blog . His post had to do with stucco which is a problem Charleston
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 9:46 AM

Mortgage and real estate insanity

Last week I wrote about the potential for the subprime mortgage market meltdown. Let's correlate how the mortgage and real estate insanity over the past few years has impacted today's housing "bubble" (not) or correction (likely). Benjamin
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
Sunday, February 18, 2007 7:45 AM

Homes are still selling

This is my father-in-law's home in Pittsburgh that went on the market right after the first of the year and is already under contract. How did he sell despite the slowing housing market and winter weather? You'll note the snow on the ground ...brrrrr...
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Friday, February 16, 2007 8:54 AM

Subprime mortgage meltdown

The slowdown in real estate is seriously affecting the mortgage market with some suggesting a meltdown in the subprime sector. I've suggested recently that those who have adjustable rate mortgages that will reset resulting in a higher monthly payment
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, February 15, 2007 3:01 PM

Charleston tourism, a busy season ahead

Today kicks off a busy Charleston tourism season with the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition SEWE and I'll highlight some of the key events coming up this spring on the tourism calendar. It's going to be a busy wee in late February through the first
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 3:18 PM

Search for an agent instead of a house

I ended a post the other day about searching for homes with a tidbit of advice "Finally, one more little thought, perhaps the first search one should do before looking for homes is to search for a good real estate agent." and thought it might
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 7 Comments
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:19 PM

RealEstate.com expands

RealEstate.com, owned by Barry Diller's IAC and a division of its financial company, LendingTree.com, has announced expansion plans and the opening of 4 new offices. This company differs significantly from HouseValues discussed yesterday. While they
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 4:22 PM

Understanding the market

In the interest of providing everyone valuable information about the market trends affecting Charleston real estate, I have posted the monthly sales figures with comparisons to previous periods. As anyone who hasn't been sleeping under a rock knows,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, February 12, 2007 11:42 AM

Why do I have to register to search

When buyers use the internet to search for homes, a number of websites require you to register in order to search the MLS. With so many sites available to search for Charleston real estate, many web surfers might just go on to the next site where they
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Sunday, February 11, 2007 10:03 AM

Ashley Bridge District

Just 2 minutes from downtown Charleston across the Ashley River bridge and sitting on the banks of the Ashley River, a new residential neighborhood with a focus on boating is being developed with townhomes, condos and single family homes being built by
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, February 10, 2007 7:00 AM

Flip flop

In November I wrote about a flip listing poised for a flop. See this post . Update, it has been reduced again and is now down to $315,900 and breakeven at best can now be expected. I can think of better things to do with money than break even especially
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:04 AM

Perspectives on housing market

Different perspectives on the state of the housing market, an excellent article by a real estate agent, 3 economists weigh in on when housing will recover and HSBC, a large mortgage lender taking a massive write off to account for bad debts on subprime
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Tuesday, February 06, 2007 2:06 PM

S & P Case-Shiller Index

While these statistics are from November, it illustrates home price declines, albeit small declines in 17 of 20 cities studied for the month. The study also shows a continued erosion of home price gains rising 1.7 percent in November compared to 15.7
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, February 02, 2007 2:27 PM

January sales report

The January sales results are in and as promised, they are broken down by single family homes and condos/town homes because I believe the results will be more meaningful to you. Let's look at the numbers and then analyze. single family Date Sales
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, February 02, 2007 10:30 AM

Do listings expire because of price

While taking a quick look at the month end data and getting ready to reformat the monthly sales reports, I discovered some fascinating trends with expired listings. A quick note, expired listings are homes that were put on the market and did not sell
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:09 PM

Charleston suburbs poised for growth

An area of Berkeley County that sits in the middle of a triangle between Summerville, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner will be developing rapidly in the years to come. 3 major developments have been approved by Berkeley County and a new city of almost 100,000
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments