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November 2010 - Posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 8:49 AM

Charleston home sales by price range, Nov 30, 2010

Charleston home sales under $300k have stabilized nicely following the end of the home buyer tax credit but even more important is the nice improvement in the last 12 months of mid priced (move up) and Charleston luxury homes which demonstrates the strength
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, November 29, 2010 9:03 AM

[a] Home for the holidays

I can't quite put my finger on it but it just seems like it's a little more active in the Charleston real estate market this holiday season. Traditionally, Charleston home sellers tend to pull their homes off the market during the holiday season
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, November 27, 2010 8:08 AM

I'd like more photos of that home [please]

... is probably the most frustrating thing that Charleston real estate home buyers have to deal with when searching for homes for sale. Some listing agents do a very good job of providing lots of pictures (and virtual tours) so that anyone searching for
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 3 Comments
Friday, November 26, 2010 7:28 AM

[glamour shots] Real estate agent photographs

One of the things I enjoy about spending time at the beach is looking through the real estate magazines and since we've been coming to Hilton Head Island for about ten years, I've noticed that some of the real estate agents have not updated their
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 25, 2010 7:31 AM

[giving thanks] Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. This year I'm especially thankful that Polly's doctor finally figured out that her gall bladder was the cause of her digestive problems and removed it and she's now feeling great. And while
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8:04 AM

[The next big thing in Charleston real estate] cleaning up the mess of online listings

Brian Boero at 1000Watt Consulting writes about Online real estate listings: It's time to clean up our act . Today's real estate buyer really wouldn't say this, would they. “Look, let’s just go online right now and look at homes
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Monday, November 22, 2010 1:47 PM

[Offer and counter offer] negotiation, haggling or nit picking

When you make a written offer on a Charleston home for sale, the seller can either accept, reject or counter offer. While you might like the seller to simply accept as written, more often than not they will counter offer because quite frankly, rejection
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Sunday, November 21, 2010 8:52 AM

Thanksgiving week in the South

... starts early this year and a look at the weather forecast to the left tells you why. My wife Polly's father and aunt will be arriving in Charleston this afternoon to spend a couple of days here before we all head to the beach to join other family
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, November 20, 2010 9:04 AM

Is square footage accurate and does it really matter

It may or may not surprise you that the square footage of a home that you may be considering might not be accurate in a Charleston MLS listing. Actually, it's much better than several years ago because the MLS now requires the listing agent to indicate
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 18, 2010 2:14 PM

QR code for mobile Charleston real estate search

You're probably seeing QR codes more and more and now you can search Charleston real estate on your iPhone (and I've been assured that mobile app's for both Droids and Blackberrys are coming soon which is a good thing because I have a Droid
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 1:59 PM

CoreLogic says national home prices declined by 2.79 percent in last year

How are home prices doing right now? According to CoreLogic, national home prices are down slightly over the past year. A look a the chart below shows stability in home prices after the large decline that began sometime in either 2007 or 2008 depending
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 5:12 AM

Voice mail follies

... from the you can't be serious file. It's hard to believe that I heard these three voice mail messages yesterday when calling people in the Charleston real estate field. "Please leave a message and I'll get back to you by the end of
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
Monday, November 15, 2010 7:44 AM

[Uh OH] Charleston mortgage rates on the rise

... and they may be headed even higher. According to Dan Green , mortgage rates went up last week by a half point in Cincinnati (but only a quarter point in Charleston according to rate sheets provided by my preferred Charleston lenders) and could quickly
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, November 13, 2010 7:27 AM

All Charleston short sales are not created equal

... because some short sales are more likely than others to close. So how do you know whether you will have to wait months only to find out that the lender or lenders have not approved the short sale you want to buy or whether you have a better than likely
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Friday, November 12, 2010 7:35 AM

[Family approval] The happy side of Charleston home buying

My clients had a home inspection yesterday and it almost seemed like a small party. Sometimes the buyers aren't able to attend so I just go over to open up the home and then lock it back up when the inspection is finished and the buyers receive a
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, November 11, 2010 6:42 AM

Veteran's Day 2010

If you enjoy living in a free country, today is just one day to give thanks to the men and women who have fought to preserve our freedom. Happy Veteran's Day 2010. Thank you!
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010 6:08 AM

[Fast] Buying a foreclosure in Charleston

The other day I wrote about the lengthy process associated with short sales but if you want a speedy transaction on a bargain priced property in Charleston, look no further than buying a foreclosure. My clients saw a home over the weekend and wrote an
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 09, 2010 10:08 AM

Travel + Leisure ranks Charleston at the top of America's favorite cities

... for attractive and friendly people, bed and breakfasts and inns, antique shops and noteworthy neighborhoods. According to readers of Travel + Leisure , Charleston got lots of high marks in many categories and of course, it is a great place to visit.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
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Monday, November 08, 2010 8:29 AM

Buying or selling a short sale in Charleston

I can't think of a better subject to kick off the fifth year of the Charleston real estate blog than how to buy or sell a short sale in Charleston; after all, the past few years have been all about distressed property sales and the coming year will
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Sunday, November 07, 2010 8:01 AM

It's my 4 year blogiversary even while some say the RE Blog is dead

Four years ago today, I hit the publish key for the first time and started writing the Charleston real estate blog and approximately 1300 posts later, while some of the so called gurus and experts say that the RE blog is dead, I'm still posting. Back
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, November 05, 2010 9:42 AM

SC property tax ratios, the big difference between 4 and 6 percent

Property taxes in South Carolina are reasonably low. My bill came in my mailbox the other day and it was very affordable compared to what I hear clients who live in other states have told me they paid. Since I get a lot of inquiries from people who are
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, November 04, 2010 9:20 AM

Droid app for real estate search now available on Realtor.com

Everyone is totally mobile now and Realtor.com has added a real estate search app for Android to go along with the previously available app for iPhone. That's great news for those of you interested in finding homes for sale in Charleston who don't
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 04, 2010 8:23 AM

Charleston real estate market snapshot October 2010

I've talked extensively about the persistently high inventory of homes available for sale in Charleston and if you pay particular attention to the number of new listings that came on the market last month in the chart below, you'll see that there
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Wednesday, November 03, 2010 8:36 AM

How might the 2010 election influence the real estate recovery

In a word, JOBS. It's no secret or surprise that people vote with their wallets. Just take a look at the Industrial Midwest where massive job losses most likely caused voters to toss out the old and bring in the new. Now to be fair, the economy hasn't
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Tuesday, November 02, 2010 6:59 AM

Why hasn't that home sold yet

One of my clients likes and is interested in a specific home but hasn't written a contract to buy it. There's nothing wrong with that, buyers today are taking their time and want to be absolutely certain that it's the right home for them.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, November 01, 2010 6:43 AM

Charleston real estate market report, sales, inventory and home prices, November 1, 2010

There was continued steadiness in the Charleston housing market once again in September and a quick early look at October (542 sales recorded as of October 31 with the usual late data entry expected to add another 10 percent more sales) shows a decent
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments