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January 2008 - Posts

Thursday, January 31, 2008 3:08 PM

Charleston real estate year end report, 2007

After updating the last Charleston South Carolina real estate market report yesterday, I adjusted my excel spreadsheets to reflect the new classifications I'll be tracking for you this year. In 2007, single family homes and condos/townhomes were tracked,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:17 AM

Fed cuts rates but mortgage rates are higher

Most people think that when the Fed cuts interest rates, mortgage rates will go down as well but as we've pointed out before, the Fed funds rate are short term interest rates while mortgage rates are based on long term interest rates. Thus, since
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 3:32 PM

Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, December 2007, update

As suggested, late reporting sales for December increased the totals for both single family homes and condos/townhomes for December. What was unexpected was late reported sales for 2006 adding 5 sales of single family homes and 2 sales of condos/townhomes.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:55 PM

From the "had to happen" file

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture said "I couldn't make this up if I tried" and "that's just wrong on so many levels". Jim Duncan at RealCentralVA matched my thoughts saying "as we knew it would". Like I say, you
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:18 AM

South Carolina ranks 39th in foreclosures

... and that's good. According to the largest publisher of foreclosure data, RealtyTrac , click to see all the foreclosure statistics, South Carolina ranks 39th among all the states in foreclosure activity. South Carolina Total foreclosure filings
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 9:17 AM

Sometimes a good buy can be a difficult sell

Many buyers assume (there's that word again) that being able to buy the least expensive home in a neighborhood is always advantageous but sometimes a good buy can be a difficult sell. While pricing a home is important, there are other reasons than
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, January 28, 2008 5:52 PM

The all-Ummel Odysseus Medals, January 28

The All – Ummel Odysseus Medals are now at the Bloodhound Blog . Top honors this week goes to Glenn Kelman at the Redfin Corporate Blog for his outstanding take on the story, “ 114 Pounds of Absolute Perserverance”. Jay Thompson, The
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 5 Comments
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Monday, January 28, 2008 8:46 AM

If one agent is good, wouldn't three be better

Very few potential Charleston real estate buyers spend the time to interview a number of agents before selecting one to work with. Some think all agents are pretty much the same and choose to work with the first real estate agent they find while others
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
Saturday, January 26, 2008 11:06 AM

Charleston tourism spring preview

The Charleston tourism season always kicks off around Valentine's Day with the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) and this year, the 26th annual event will be held in Charleston February 15 -17. SEWE is the largest wildlife art and nature event
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Friday, January 25, 2008 10:44 AM

Mortgage trends, Jan 25

The window of opportunity for unbelievably low mortgage rates turned out to be 3 days. Mortgage rates are still very attractive but not the almost unbelievable 5.125% that was quoted as recently as Tuesday. Here's the story. When the global markets
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Friday, January 25, 2008 9:01 AM

If buyers want new construction ...

how do you sell your "used" home. With unit sales slowing and new construction still plentiful in the Charleston real estate market, it seems that lots of buyers want new construction. I've had a lot of inquiries from potential buyers since
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, January 24, 2008 7:47 AM

How the Charleston MLS really works

Another ask the agent question: I’d like to see this home, can you show it to me. Many potential Charleston real estate buyers search the Charleston MLS on my website. A few real estate consumers don’t realize that every listing that they
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 7:34 AM

Sellers, check your listing

With a hat tip to Benn at Agent Genius , this house was incorrectly priced at $1,490,000,000 (that's almost $1.5 Billion) when the listing agent accidentally added a couple of zeros and the house sat unsold for 107 days since it likely didn't
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 6:10 AM

Global stocks drop sharply

Global stocks dropped sharply overseas and the Dow is poised to drop over 500 points at the open today. It's been said that when the United States sneezes, the world catches pneumonia. Asian stocks led by developing countries like China and India
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Monday, January 21, 2008 4:18 PM

Charleston golf

Think of Charleston and you think of great golf with Kiawah Island's Ocean Course leading the list of many beautiful and challenging golf courses in the Lowcountry. But you don't often think of professional golfers who live in the Charleston area,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Monday, January 21, 2008 8:40 AM

Pictures sell homes

A real estate agent has to do more than put a for sale sign in the yard and enter the listing in the MLS to successfully sell your home in today's market. I receive inquiries from potential buyers asking for additional information about listings and
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
Saturday, January 19, 2008 8:29 AM

Do you want a buyers agent

... or do you just want to do it yourself. Do you want to just "use" an agent for information ... but not use a buyers agent to help you with the purchase I get a lot of requests for information and actually, I'm glad to provide whatever
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, January 17, 2008 10:55 AM

Is that house vacant

One of the more interesting questions I get from website visitors requesting additional information on Charleston homes for sale is whether the house is vacant. I think the reason for this question is they may think, can I steal this house for well below
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, January 17, 2008 10:28 AM

Good news, mortgage rates down, housing starts down

Good news for borrowers as mortgage rates continue down, I noticed the 30 year fixed quoted last week at 5.5% down to 5.375% this week. Courtesy of MarketWatch, here is what Freddie Mac said about rates . On the housing front, bad news is good news. MarketWatch
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 7:57 AM

Charleston houses, Charleston homes

There is a difference between Charleston houses and Charleston homes. I had an interesting conversation with one of my sellers the other day about the sale of his house. They have lived there a while and like most homeowners, are very proud of their home,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, January 14, 2008 3:08 PM

The Odysseus Medals for Jan 14 have now been posted

at the BloodhoundBlog for the best writing in the real estate blogosphere. Zillow made a lot of news this past week and many in the blogosphere had comments but not many real estate bloggers can write like Kris Berg who wins the Odysseus Medal this week
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Monday, January 14, 2008 2:03 PM

Housing forecast by Mortgage Bankers Assoc Chief Economist

Courtesy of MarketWatch, the housing forecast for 2008-2009 by Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is not pie in the sky like the typical prognostications of Larry Yun, the yuckster who is the chief economist for the
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, January 14, 2008 10:00 AM

Is good value or a big discount more important

Back from house hunting and a thought came to mind regarding today's Charleston South Carolina real estate buyer's market. The answer seems pretty evident to me but here goes, would you rather buy a home in the Charleston area that is a good value
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Saturday, January 12, 2008 7:29 AM

Home renovation, return on investment

I have met a lot of people when they are preparing to sell their home in Charleston and quite a few want to replace carpet, put in hardwood floors, replace vinyl flooring with tile, upgrade their counter tops or undertake a variety of other improvements
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:14 PM

If you sugar coat the truth, it won't be as gloomy

I got an email today regarding my Charleston South Carolina real estate market report saying, "Well, I must say this is one of your gloomier forecasts". I responded personally but I thought I would anonymize my reply and post it here. By the
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, January 10, 2008 3:41 PM

Mortgage rumor: Bank America to buy Countrywide

From the "you know this had to happen file", Bank America is rumored to be close to buying troubled mortgage giant Countrywide. BofA loaned Countrywide $2B last summer and retained a right to buy the company. With Countrywide's stock down
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:27 AM

Sandlapper Track and Field Classic March 1

The Sandlapper Real Estate Group is proud to present the second annual Sandlapper Track and Field Classic set to once again kick off the 2008 Track and Field season on Saturday March 1 at West Ashley High School in Charleston. Based on the success of
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 09, 2008 6:47 AM

Real estate agent pictures

A lot of real estate agents have their pictures on their business cards and splashed on the home page of their websites. I used to but I don't any longer. I think there has been a paradigm shift in real estate from the old days of "it's all
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, January 08, 2008 12:06 PM

Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, December 2007

I've always published the Charleston South Carolina real estate market report 7 to 10 days after the end of the month thinking that late month sales would all be entered by the real estate agents by then. Wow was I wrong. Because this is the year
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 3 Comments
Monday, January 07, 2008 8:46 AM

A post about nothing to write about

Can you write a post about nothing? Jerry Seinfeld had one of the most successful shows in the history of television apparently about nothing at all and actually about everything. This morning as I am gathering all the statistics about the Charleston
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:02 AM

Charleston real estate prices

What a difference a couple of years can make when analyzing Charleston real estate prices. I got a call from a client the other day inquiring about a home for sale in Mount Pleasant so I pulled it up on my computer as I was talking and immediately remembered
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, January 04, 2008 9:55 AM

Mortgage rates are trending downward

Mortgage rates are trending downward lately and should even be lower in the days ahead due to the monthly jobs report released this morning as payroll growth was slowing and unemployment hit 5%. Read the full story at MarketWatch . Lower mortgage rates
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, January 03, 2008 9:17 AM

Charleston home buyers are busy, are the sellers ready

As the calendar rolls into the New Year, I'm noticing a dramatic increase in buyer activity on my website. The Charleston home buyers are busy with home searches once again now that Xmas searches for Nintendo Wii are over. Are the sellers ready? There
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, January 02, 2008 8:37 AM

Contingent offers, are you the buyer or the seller

Are you wanting to buy but have to sell your current home? Should you make an offer contingent on the sale of your home? Will the seller accept your contingent offer and should they? With a lot of inventory available for sale in the Charleston South Carolina
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments