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August 2010 - Posts

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 6:45 AM

The home buyer tax credit, once again?

It's been said that housing leads the economy out of a recession but I disagree, it's jobs and job security that gives people the confidence to buy a home which in turn helps the housing market and the economy. But after all, people do respond
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Monday, August 30, 2010 9:41 AM

Charleston real estate market report, sales, inventory and home prices, August 30, 2010

The reasons for the sharp decline in home sales in this month's Charleston real estate market report has already been well covered in my posts analyzing the national existing home sales report and housing is not really dead, yet . And the short reason
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, August 28, 2010 6:52 AM

An uncomplicated Charleston real estate transaction

I've noticed that I tend to write about difficult Charleston real estate transactions because they are probably more interesting but there are certainly lots of uncomplicated transactions with happy sellers and happy buyers agreeing and buying and
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, August 27, 2010 8:21 AM

Is now a good time to get a real estate license

Well, that depends. There are always people entering and leaving the real estate industry no matter whether times are good or bad. And of course, now would not exactly be considered a good time in the housing industry. But I'm asked that question
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, August 26, 2010 7:00 AM

Housing is not really dead, yet

But you might have thought so based on the media reports of the sharp decline in July existing home sales which I characterized as dismal but expected . Brian Williams at NBC News. "Housing, the real estate market, it's a disaster, in plain English.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 5 Comments
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 9:34 AM

Existing home sales fall 27% nationally in July 2010, dismal but expected

The National Association of Realtors ® released the existing home sales report for July 2010 and to the surprise of nobody, sales declined sharply by 27 percent. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a soft sales pace likely will continue for a
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 3 Comments
Monday, August 23, 2010 6:44 AM

The home is already under contract, you can't buy it

Warning, sarcasm ahead. Mr. BigShot called me yesterday afternoon about a listing. He is a real estate agent from another state and was angry that a home he was inquiring about was already under contract. The first problem of course was trying to explain
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Sunday, August 22, 2010 1:40 PM

[Cartoon fun] Double dip recession

Great cartoon fun no matter what your politics are, a double dip recession and dips from both parties, h/t Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture . Barry is both smart and funny.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, August 21, 2010 7:14 AM

Government loan modification programs failing miserably

... and it really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone. The NY Times is reporting that the Making Home Affordable Program, another of the government efforts to stem foreclosures and stabilize the housing market is failing miserably. Read
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, August 20, 2010 7:10 AM

Hope and prayer will not sell your Charleston home

My buyer wrote a very fair offer based on comparable sales of homes that have sold recently but it was substantially below the listing price but not what I would consider a lowball offer because the listing price was basically unrealistic. The offer was
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 8:38 AM

Mount Pleasant waterfront, new proposal for Patriots Point

The Town of Mount Pleasant doesn't really have a downtown unless you consider Pitt Street in the Old Village to be downtown. At one time there was talk of building a new downtown near the Mount Pleasant Towne Centre. And Mount Pleasant, even though
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:24 AM

[Repeat after me] Charleston real estate is local

With all the dire forecasts for the economy and housing specifically, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that real estate is local and even within the Charleston real estate market, real estate is local. Some forecasts for housing from CoreLogic
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Monday, August 16, 2010 6:45 AM

What the average price should tell you when selling your home in Charleston

Some homes sell. Others don't. And if you are listing your home for sale in Charleston, of course, you want to be one of the people who sells their home and moves on instead of having the listing expire or withdrawing it and re listing it again with
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, August 14, 2010 8:47 AM

Great photo of lighting strike at Boeing plant in Charleston

A great picture of a lighting strike at the Boeing assembly plant under construction in Charleston on July 26, 2010. The left lightning bolt is actually curling around through the crane and the right one went down an elevator shaft. Awesome! I wish I
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
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Friday, August 13, 2010 4:57 AM

In Charleston real estate, cash is king but

... it doesn't mean that you can expect to steal a home. While many traditional home sellers may be motivated to sell and there are a nice selection of foreclosures and short sales to choose from, everyone involved professionally in the Charleston
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, August 12, 2010 6:38 AM

More government bailouts for distressed home owners

... and some distressed home owners are refusing to pay billions in home equity loans. Two interesting stories from the NY Times caught my attention. I don't personally know what I would do if I was living in Florida or Arizona or other places where
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 6:22 AM

The seller says the price is firm at

X ... Except, this home for sale in Charleston has just been reduced again and the Charleston MLS listing still indicates the price is firm at X but with the price reduction, it is now listed at Y (lower) and you might want to offer Z except that it says
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 7:31 AM

[Sometimes amusing] Charleston home prices

It's sometimes amusing to look at Charleston home prices and see whether there is any basis in reality. And it doesn't seem to matter whether the home for sale is a lender owned property, a possible short sale, a pseudo FSBO (for sale by owner
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, August 09, 2010 7:25 AM

Are you sometimes frustrated by online search

Since almost everyone uses the Internet to search for almost everything these days, it seems frustrating sometimes when you either can't get accurate information or the search portal you're using isn't easy to navigate. My wife might buy a
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Saturday, August 07, 2010 6:44 AM

IDX feeds and searching the Charleston MLS

It should be common sense that every listing that you find on the IDX feeds on this website could not be my personal listing, heck, there are over 10,000 active listings of homes for sale in Charleston and if they were all mine, what do you think the
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, August 06, 2010 6:18 AM

[Shop til you drop] SC tax free weekend

The annual SC tax free weekend coinciding with back to school shopping runs from today through Sunday. But you might be surprised by some of the items on the list that are exempt from sales tax as I was a few years ago when I found I could get a tuxedo
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Thursday, August 05, 2010 8:00 AM

Plan ahead [to see Charleston homes for sale]

About a week ago, Teresa Boardman wrote about an out of town buyer who called and wanted to see homes that day. She couldn't because she was busy and went on to explain why it is important to plan ahead . And it doesn't matter if you are from
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, August 03, 2010 6:39 AM

Charleston real estate market report, sales, inventory and home prices, August 3, 2010

Charleston home sales topped 1000 in June for the first time since the summer of 2007 and certainly, the home buyer tax credit was an important factor. But equally important is the improvement in sales in both mid priced and luxury Charleston real estate
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, August 02, 2010 7:40 AM

[Charleston home prices] The median is not the message

A bit of a play on Marshall McLuhan's, The medium is the message for the title of this post but as I was gathering market statistics for the Charleston real estate market report that will be posted either later today or tomorrow, I noticed that the
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Sunday, August 01, 2010 7:16 AM

Celebrating a big birthday week [Leo the lion roars]

Like many Leos, I tend to celebrate my birthday for more than just a day and so on the first of August, it's time to start celebrating. And this year, it's a big one, the big six 0 this Thursday, August 5. I know a lot of Leos, my dad and grandma
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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