Charleston Real Estate Blog

Tenant Nation

There is some talk that many people have given up on the idea of home ownership. Some people don't think that they can ever save enough money for the required downpayment. Others don't think that housing is a good investment and don't want to pay a mortgage. Still others may have been "burned" during the housing bubble and don't want to do it again.

But all of them are missing the key point of home ownership. And that's the concept of "home".

I've owned several homes in my life and I've rented at other times in my life. I rented when I was young, then I owned a home and then I rented again because my job at the time required a lot of relocation and owning a home wouldn't have been practical.

And I can tell you from my experience that while I may have been comfortable when I was renting, I'm much more "at home" today.

As to a mortgage payment, whether you realize it or not, even when you are renting you are making a mortgage payment but it would be your landlord's mortgage payment, not yours. When you are making a mortgage payment, it is a form of enforced savings. That mentality got out of hand during the housing bubble and people lost sight of the real reason to own a home.

Not for the financial windfall but for a place to call home.

Home ownership should and will remain a part of the American dream and for the right reasons. Do you really think we'd be as great a country as we are if we were a nation of tenants.

Cramer calls housing market bottom to be June 30, 2009

I regularly read Jonathan Miller, NY real estate appraiser extraordinaire on his fantastic blog, Matrix. He just guest authored on Huffington Post and talked about CNBC's Jim Cramer call last fall of the housing market bottom on June 30, 2009.

"During the week this magazine article came out, someone told me they had attended an economic conference and there was no shortage of tongue-in-cheek debate on the Cramer's housing market prognostication. Would the housing market "bottom" on the morning of June 30th or the afternoon of June 30th? Inquiring economic minds wanted to know."  "emphasis added)

OK, everyone's piling on Cramer these days starting with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show and frankly, I'm a little tired of his ranting. So I'll join the chorus.

Jonathan goes on to explain what happened last fall, dismisses some of the "green shoots" and talks about the difficulties in the jumbo mortgage market. Great reading.

All I can tell you is that I'll go along with Jonathan on this one, in my opinion, until we see lower inventory levels of homes offered for sale in the Charleston real estate market, housing will not be "back to the races". But on a positive note, the Charleston real estate market has probably been doing better than most.

But June 30th is a special day to me. My parents were married on this date back in 1946 and I wish they were both here to celebrate what would have been their 63rd anniversary.

You really can't take a vacation from Charleston real estate

... because the craziest things might happen and today was no exception. A quick story.

My clients are due to close on a condo for sale in Mount Pleasant next Monday. It was a builders closeout and the unit was used by the builder as an office. Everything was all set.

And I happened to walk in from the beach mid morning and my phone was ringing and I may as well answer. It was the agent for the seller wanting to know if it would be all right with my clients if they sold them another unit, identical in every way and maybe even a little better; same price, same terms, everything would be the same except that it wasn't the unit that they saw.

Apparently, the builder woke up a week before closing and realized that he wouldn't have an office next Monday. So he's buying another available unit for sale in order to sell it to my clients so that he won't have to move.

But it will cost him more than just a few dollars so that he isn't inconvenienced.

And after discussing it with my clients and talking about several major advantages they would get because of the inconvenience, they agreed to accept the other unit. Closing will be delayed by a little bit but everyone seems happy.

So you really can't take a vacation from Charleston real estate because something always happens, today just happened to be a little crazier than most.

Back to the beach.

Rent vs. Buy

At the beach so posting will probably be a little light this week and not my usual detailed analysis of the Charleston real estate market or as some of you may refer to it as rambling prose.

How about some light humor from Dilbert.

Rent vs. Buy.

Selling your home in Charleston today

... is not as much about great marketing as it is about pricing it right.

A lot of sellers are upset with their Charleston real estate agents because their home hasn't sold. While I'm sure that in a few cases, they might be justifiably angry that their agent hasn't done much for them, in many more cases, the home is priced too high and the greatest marketing in the world simply won't overcome an overpriced home.

Here's a perfect example (and I will anonymize it somewhat to protect the seller's identity). A client of mine bought a very nice home several years ago. After a few years, a job relocation caused them to call me to come out and list their home for sale. And after I checked the comps of recently sold homes and looked at other homes for sale in their neighborhood, I prepared a CMA and suggested a price range.

They thought the price was way too low and even after I explained the how and why I came up with the price range, they stubbornly believed their home was worth much more. I suggested that there would be other real estate agents who would probably list their home for sale at their price but that didn't mean that it would sell.

And sure enough, they went with another agent. And six months later, they went with another agent. And six months after that, they went with agent number 3 and during all that time, they only reduced the price of their home by $5000.

Well, another nine months passes and guess what, I just noticed the home finally closed. And you might be thinking, at what price.

OK, after 21 months, the home sold for $10,000 less than the low end of the price range that I originally suggested. And don't forget, they relocated and were paying their mortgage here as well as paying rent in their new city so that would add up to approximately another $21,000 during all the time their home was listed.

I'm not a genius ... but

I am pretty good at figuring out the value of a home.

And had they chosen to go with my original price range suggestion, they more than likely would have sold their home for more than they ultimately did and their net proceeds would have been more because they would have also saved all that money they paid on their mortgage for almost 2 years.

If selling a home in Charleston today was all about marketing, most foreclosures would not sell because the best marketing that a listing agent does for a foreclosure is pricing it right rather than have lots of pretty pictures and a vivid description in the MLS, open houses, marketing to other agents, blog posts, syndication to the many real estate websites where people are searching for homes, etc.

And when you price your home right from the start, you will generally sell for more than when you price it too high.

Mark Sanford, Don't cry for me Argentina

And another politician takes a swan dive into the cesspool of self destruction, this time it's our Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford.

The first thought that I had was the classic song from Evita, Don't cry for me Argentina.

The media and blogosphere is certainly having a lot of fun with this escapade.

Philip Simmons at Heaven's Gate

With Philip Simmons passing on Monday evening, it would be only fitting for God to commission the renowned Charleston artisan to craft a new gate to heaven. His work with iron is nothing short of amazing and of course, examples can be found throughout the Charleston area as well as around the world.

To learn more, visit the Philip Simmons Foundation.

409 Baycreek, Charleston West Ashley home for sale, $249,900

Just listed in West Ashley, a beautiful home with an open floor plan for sale at 409 Baycreek in conveniently located Stone Creek for just $249,900.

Walking distance to the fabulous West Ashley Greenway, minutes to 526 and the Citadel Mall, convenient to the Airport, Beaches and MUSC, College of Charleston, shopping and dining in Downtown Charleston.

The current homeowners added many upgrades and updates since buying this home almost four years ago including stainless steel appliances, Corian solid surface countertops, undermount sink and designer faucet, upgraded fixtures and lighting, crown molding throughout the home and new carpeting in the upstairs bedrooms and hall and ceramic tile in the upstairs bathrooms.

Highlights:

• Built 2001 
• 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths
• 1894 square feet 
• Wrap front porch and rear screened porch
• Hardwood floors throughout first floor
• Eat in kitchen with breakfast bar
• Stainless steel appliances
• Large family room with soaring ceilings and fireplace

The current homeowners fell in love with this home when they found it online when relocating to Charleston four years ago.

Come see why they did and you will too!

Take a VIRTUAL TOUR of 409 Baycreek, Charleston SC.

Contact me for more information.

South Carolina's Lucas Glover wins the US Open

Work or watch golf or both.

A tough decision but after all, it's the US Open and it was exciting as the leaders came back to the field but Lucas Glover from the upstate of South Carolina wins over Ricky Barnes, David Duval (in an amazing career comeback) and of course, my sentimental favorite, Phil Mickelson who has now been the runner up in this tournament a record 5 times. Tiger finished another two strokes back.

And now, back to work.

Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images

[3 for Sunday] Father's Day, First day of summer, US Open golf

It's a busy Sunday.

Most importantly, I want to wish all the Dads a Happy Father's Day.

The first day of summer happens to coincide with the US Open this year and with all the rain and delays in play, that might be a good thing because the first day of summer is the longest day of the year and there's a lot of holes left to play. Here's hoping that Phil can finally win the US Open, especially this year for Amy. 

And summer arrives in style this year in Charleston with temperatures expected to be close to 100 today.

[Charleston real estate] What's your dollar buy today

... in a word, more.

After recently updating the What's Your $ Buy page, I noticed that since Charleston home prices have declined a bit, you are now able to buy quite a bit more home than before. Check out recent sales from around the Charleston area by price point at varying increments from $125,000 to $3 million and search for Charleston homes for sale by price range. 

With more foreclosures for sale in the Charleston area, there are many advantageous buys. Even some short sales are closing which is quite a turnaround from a year or two ago when you couldn't even get a bank to respond to an offer. I guess lenders are starting to think that letting a homeower off the hook for a 20% loss is better than foreclosing and losing 40%. Still, short sales aren't always easy to buy but at least it's more possible than before.

I can't show you that home for sale

[caution] small rant ahead. If this wasn't a true story, I'd laugh at how ridiculous it is.

... just because in the past week ... your Charleston real estate agent ...

 won't return your phone calls (2 buyers called me when their agent wouldn't return their phone calls).

 has a full time job and isn't available to show homes except after work during the evening and on Saturday (one buyer asked me if their agent needed to be there to show them homes).

 told you to search the Charleston MLS on my website (one buyer told me their agent didn't have a website and that they should use mine to select homes that they liked and then they called me for more information).

Folks, buying a home is a major investment and whether you realize it or not, your choice of a real estate agent can be just as important as choosing a home. Choose wisely.

[Price reduced] The new sign in Charleston real estate

Maybe Charleston home sellers are finally getting it. While the Charleston real estate market had steady appreciation during the housing boom, it certainly didn't compare to the frenzy in the most overheated real estate markets around the country. And prices have come down somewhat from the peak and home prices are under pressure every day due to high inventory levels.

Since there is a lot of inventory on the market, any seller who wants to actually sell their home instead of just looking at a for sale sign in their yard not only has to price their home to sell when they list it but if it doesn't sell very quickly or doesn't get very many showings, they will need to reduce their price accordingly.

And a look at a typical day in the Charleston MLS will show you that price reductions are increasingly more common these days in the Charleston area.

• Price reductions - 319
• Price increases - 9
• New listings - 117
• Removed listings - 202

I think 319 to 9 says it all. Price reduced is the new sign in Charleston real estate. 

As to the removed listings, those can be homes that went under contract or listings that either were withdrawn by the seller or the listing expired unsold.

OK, for both buyers and sellers, the next step is to be realistic.

Sellers should know that buyers have a lot of choices and that if they aren't flexible, many buyers will simply move on to the next home that they like. Sure, one or two may be so in love with a home that they have to have it. But, if you're selling, can you afford to take that chance.

Now buyers have to be somewhat realistic as well. If a home is very well priced or if a price reduction was just taken, a buyer may not necessarily want to pay the asking price but the percentage off that price will certainly be less than if a home was seriously overpriced or a very recent price reduction was not taken. Get a sense of what the real value of the home you are interested in and bid accordingly. A one size fits all approach to making an offer doesn't work.

[More] Bad Charleston MLS pictures

Jay Thompson, ThePhoenixRealEstateGuy has been ranting about MLS pictures the past few days and I really ought to write about bad Charleston MLS pictures more often because it's always very popular with readers so here goes.

Let's talk about toilets.

It didn't take too long to go through today's Charleston MLS hotsheet of all new listings, homes under contract, sold, withdrawn or expired to find several great examples of bad MLS photos featuring toilets.

From the number of pictures that agents take of toilets, you might even think that indoor plumbing is some kind of new idea. Most homes today actually have toilets although I've seen several foreclosures where that all important piece of plumbing seems to be missing but considering the low price of a foreclosed home and how inexpensive it is to buy a new "throne" at Lowes, it doesn't seem all that important to feature a picture of the toilet when entering a listing into the MLS.

But please put the seat and lid down.

Now the bathroom on the left could possibly use a more neutral paint and of course, on the right, there isn't much more that can be said other than a picture is worth a thousand words starting with "buy me".

Speaking of "buy me", I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed this picture of the front yard of a home that has been sitting unsold on the market since last fall. The agent suggested in the caption that "a little yard mowing and some weed eater and this yard will come right back".

Sure.

And how does it look now as we approach summer (pic cropped to anonymize to protect the innocent and guilty).

Seth says: you matter

I recently read that Seth Godin is the most widely read single author blog in the world. When you read this pearl, you'll understand why.

Seth says: you matter.