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April 2009 - Posts

Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:53 AM

The problem with do it yourself real estate

... is that some people don't know what they're doing. Take this scenario. A website contact wants to see a house. If it isn't my personal listing, my standard reply is that I'd be happy to show it to you, two quick questions, are you
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:45 PM

Foreclosure in the Sand [States]

I've written previously about how the high rate of foreclosures in California, Florida, Arizona (Phoenix) and Nevada (Las Vegas). The FDIC has issued a new report, The 2009 Economic Landscape: How the Recession is Unfolding across Four U.S. Regions
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:20 AM

College of Charleston Home Value Index

UPDATE: Dr. Allen was kind enough to stop by and provide the raw data for the home value index. See the comments below. Thanks so much! In yesterday's post regarding short sale hardship letters , comments got a little off topic but for the better.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 5 Comments
Monday, April 27, 2009 7:51 AM

The hardship letter is the key to a successful short sale

All Charleston real estate agents are required to take continuing education classes every two years as part of their license renewal. This year, the number of hours required was increased from 8 to 14 (and that's actually a good thing because believe
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 9 Comments
Friday, April 24, 2009 6:39 AM

Homes in Charleston ARE selling

... and sometimes very quickly. There are some who say that homes in Charleston aren't selling. And some aren't but not all. There has been increasing activity in the Charleston real estate market since the beginning of the year and it's picking
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 5 Comments
Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:14 AM

Moving, mobility and migration

The US Census Bureau announced that the national mover rate declined from 13.2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent in 2008 - the lowest rate since the bureau began tracking this data in 1948. Only 35.2 million people one year and older changed residences
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 7:09 AM

A housing trend you can count on [Green]

No, I'm not talking about home price declines and losing green [cash] if you buy a home. Building green with a focus on energy efficiency has been gaining traction and now, green mortgages are available locally in Charleston. I just received an email
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 6:51 AM

Would you buy this listing

... with absolutely no information provided by the listing agent in the Charleston MLS. With the lack of information provided, it's no wonder it languished unsold on the market from August 2007 until March of this year. There was no description and
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Monday, April 20, 2009 6:20 AM

A Charleston gardens blog?

Who is reading the Charleston real estate blog. To my surprise, my wife mentioned she read the post last Monday featuring our bridal veil in full bloom and our knock out roses just starting to bloom. What a difference a week makes and Polly wanted me
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, April 18, 2009 7:22 AM

When will the economy recover

Let's start with an economist joke and wrap it up with a terrific editorial cartoon by Tom Toles at the Washington Post (hat tip, Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture ). What do you call an economist with an opinion? WRONG Applause, please. More seriously,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Friday, April 17, 2009 6:10 AM

Charleston median home prices by neighborhood

The median price of homes that have sold in the Charleston area has shown a year over year decline for the past 6 months corresponding with the sharp decline in the stock market and fears of an economic meltdown. Based on some of the media coverage on
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 6 Comments
Thursday, April 16, 2009 9:06 AM

March 2009 Charleston housing report

Last month, I tucked the mid month Charleston housing report inside of another post. Now it's back in it's regular spot even if the middle of the month sometimes varies. While sales activity improved in March from previous months, part of that
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 7:39 AM

Spam, lame comments and advertising

... are all annoying. Every day I find myself deleting just about all of the above that are still able to get through despite spam filters and the "captcha" verification to prove that a commenter is human. I personally don't understand why
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:46 AM

High tech, low service

If you are searching for homes online today, my best guess is that you want to be able to find all the available listings and might be especially interested in the newest listings that come on the market. Now, unless you are a licensed Charleston real
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Monday, April 13, 2009 7:41 AM

Springtime in the South

Growing up in the Midwest, scenes of the magnificent foliage from The Masters in Augusta always signaled that spring would be coming soon to the North. But having lived in the Carolinas for most of the past 20 years affords us the opportunity to enjoy
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, April 11, 2009 7:19 AM

Surprise, this home sold for full price

Almost everyone I talk to these days about buying a home in Charleston wants a deal and why not. I pay special attention to certain neighborhoods and so I was surprised as I glanced through the "hot sheet" of all activity in the Charleston MLS
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, April 10, 2009 5:46 AM

Good [news] Friday, Charleston real estate outlook

As I wrote yesterday in Back to the Future [Charleston home prices] , my instincts (and market knowledge) suggested that prices of Charleston real estate had declined to 2005 prices. An article in CNN Money not only came to the same conclusion but was
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, April 09, 2009 7:16 AM

Back to the future [Charleston home prices]

A client mentioned to me the other day that he thought Charleston home prices have now reverted to 2004 prices. While I can understand where that opinion might come from, I think it paints a little sharper price decline than the real market conditions
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Wednesday, April 08, 2009 7:37 AM

Big homebuilder merger, Pulte Homes buys Centex Corp.

Pulte Homes, the nation's 4th largest homebuilder and best known in the Charleston area for it's Del Webb 55 plus active adult retirement community in Cane Bay Plantation announced that it was buying Centex Corp, the nation's 3rd largest builder
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 5:34 AM

The rich are different

... and writing in the WSJ , Robert Frank says that according to an article in The Economist , the world's rich lost over $10 Trillion (that's Trillion with a capital T) or over one quarter of their wealth in the global financial crisis. That's
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Monday, April 06, 2009 8:44 AM

On the fence

I'm sure many Charleston home buyers are sitting "on the fence" waiting to buy until the signs are clear that prices will not decline. It's perfectly understandable. There is only one problem. How do you know when to "pull the trigger".
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, April 04, 2009 6:21 AM

O Charleston house hunter, Where Art Thou [now]

Sometimes you just have to wonder what might have happened to some house hunters who seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth (or just the Charleston MLS search on my website). While no registration is required to search all Charleston homes for
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, April 03, 2009 7:19 AM

This weekend in Charleston, it's flowers and bridges

The first weekend in April is always a special weekend in Charleston with the Summerville YMCA Flowertown Festival in Summerville today through Sunday and the Cooper River Bridge Run from Mount Pleasant to Charleston on Saturday. And after a rainy Thursday,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, April 02, 2009 7:30 AM

[Ask the agent] What does as-is, where-is mean

I've received several calls from buyers who wanted to know what as-is, where-is means. Basically, it's fairly common language for lender owned property listings in the Charleston MLS meaning that the owner (the bank) will not do any repairs in
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 7:49 AM

It's April Fools Day but [Don't be a fool]

Scamsters have been known to prey on those who can least afford to lose money. With many homeowners needing a loan modification, it shouldn't be surprising that seminars offering to teach people (for a cost) how to make money on loan modifications
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments