Home sales have risen for three consecutive years in the tri-county region. Prices increased over 2011, and the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors hopes the price stabilization will continue.
Read the full article in the Charleston Business Journal HERE.
2013 Taste of Folly Festival – January 19, 2013 – 11-5 PM
Come down to Folly Beach and enjoy food, drinks, and other offerings of local Folly Beach restaurants and clubs. Center Street will be closed off for the festivities which will include tents for each establishment for tastings, live music, and kids activities. There will also be a chili cook-off, a hot dog eating contest, a silent auction, a date auction, and the server olympics. Eric Penrod & Tim Davis Duo & Folly Beach Reggae All-Stars will be performing on the Center Street stage. Guaranteed to be a fun time for all. New this year will be the Battle of the Bartenders, sponsored by Virgil Kane, held at the Blu, where each bartender will make their own take on a cocktail with Virgil Kane, and the crowd will be the judges.
Some schedule notes:
Main Stage:
Hot Dog Eating Contest 12-1, Date Auction 2-3, Awards Ceremony 4:30-5. Live music in between. Click below for a map, schedule, and chili cook-off rules.
Originally posted on CharlestonCoast.com
While the terms short sale and foreclosure have been used frequently in the real estate world over the last few years, the general perception from most is that they both affect your credit equally. So when push comes to shove, some people elect to wait the inevitable foreclosure process out rather than seek the help of a qualified real estate agent and legal council.
I recently read an article written by Steve Wilde with Wilde Law Firm, an attorney expert on short-sales debunking this myth. What I found in the article was interesting and I wanted to share of few of the points he made.
1) When you successfully close on a short sale, your credit report for that sale shows “loan paid in full”, with a note stating the borrower took less on the sale than what was owed to the bank. Simply meaning, the bank ate up a portion of what was owed due to proof the owner had some type of hardship making it difficult to make the mortgage payments.
Will this hurt your credit? Sure, but with the right help, you can get this cleaned up and likely only be looking at 2 to 3 years before being able to get a Fannie Mae backed loan. Otherwise, it will remain on your credit report for 7 years. With a foreclosure, the word “foreclosure” will be used on your credit report”, remaining for a guaranteed 7 years. During this time you will not be able to get a Fannie Mae backed loan. Mr. Wilde states that he has talked with experts who have seen those who have gone through the short sale process keep credit scores in the 700’s.
2) Tax and deficiency issues are present with every short sale and foreclosure. When a short sale is performed, these issues go away. With a foreclosure, you are not protected from these issues unless you fall in one of the three states who do protect. This means in the end you could still have issues to be dealt with.
While neither is the most ideal for any seller, his points show that the time and effort, and sometimes lots of it, make the short sale ideal if possible. Because in the end, with the right step, your credit will be less affected and you will not have to deal with the long term financial mess created from a foreclosure.
*I am not an attorney so therefore the information above should not be taken as legal advice. Contact an attorney for legal advice.
At the beginning of each year I look forward to going back and comparing statistics of the previous two years. I find it interesting to see in which year more homes sold, the average price per sale, and what people actually got for their home, in comparison to what they were asking.
In doing my research this year, I decided to stick with single-family homes and leave out condominiums. My two areas of statistics include the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island.
Isle of Palms
Looking back, in 2011 the total volume of sales was $74,541,000. This included a total of 86 sold homes. This number was slightly higher than that in 2012 where the total volume with all sells combined was $64,488,460 as well as the number of sold homes at 67. In contrast, the average price per sale in 2012 was higher at $962,514 compared to 2011 at $866,765.
Looking at 2012……..
Statistics show that home sellers got on average 93.02% (2011 = 87.91%) of what they were asking for their home. However, this number is always somewhat skewed because it only reflects the final asking price and not price reductions from the original listing date. Other findings show the average home to take a total of 273 (2011=349) days to sell from listing date to the closing date and 15.76 (2011=17.58) months of inventory available.
Sullivan’s Island
Looking back, in 2011 the total volume of sales on Sullivan’s Island was $52,082,650. This included a total of 37 closed broker sold homes. This number was slightly lower than that in 2012 where the total volume of sale was $61,796,416 and the number of sold homes was 42. Not only was there an increase in volume and sold homes in 2012, but I also found the average price per sale to be up (2012 = $1,471,343 > 2011 = $1,407,639).
Looking at 2012……..
Statistics show that home sellers got on average 89.96% (2011 = 88.36%) of what they were asking for their home. Other findings show the average home to take a total of 195 (2011 = 261) days to sell from the listing date to the closing date and 14 months of inventory available.
In conclusion, it appears that the market has begun to swing upward. Yes, there were fewer homes sold on the Isle of Palms in 2012 than 2011, but much of this can be contributed to a decrease in inventory levels due to many of the short-sale/foreclosure being eaten up by real estate investors looking for the deals.
In comparison, you can look at Sullivan’s Island, where the numbers in 2012 were up across the board, and can speculate the difference compared to that of the Isle of Palms, due to fewer hardship sales.
Hopefully a year from now I will be able to report yet another improvement of the market in 2013.
Best wishes in 2013!
Statistics from Charleston Trident ML
After years of serving the Isle of Palms, the Red & White has closed and in it’s place comes Newton Farms. Newton Farms will revitalize in a much needed way part of the shopping district on the island that in my opinion has needed a face lift for some time.
Newton Farms will give the Isle of Palms a boost by providing a Whole Foods, Earth Fare, type atmosphere. Inside you will find specialty foods, health items, quality meats, and a great craft beer and wine selection.
Newton Farms is sure to fit in perfect on the Isle of Palms and will be welcomed soon by it’s residents.
Donnie Whitaker Real Estate 