Donnie Whitaker Real Estate

The choice is in. Conde Nast Magazine picked Charleston as NUMBER TWO on the list of “Best Cities to Visit” – behind San Francisco, the winner for the last 17 years in a row.

To find out the rest of the top choices click here.

Today most home buyers are looking for the deals. That goes without question. These potential buyers are especially interested in short sale and foreclosure properties. However, a short sale may not always be the best deal. Here are a couple things to think about:

1) Some agents are accidentally setting the asking price of a home below what a bank would actually accept. This means your offer unless above asking price (not in this market) will already be rejected.

2) Don’t be in a hurry to move in. Why? It may take months to hear back from the bank. And when you finally do, you may not like the answer. You might not even recieve a counter offer.

3) Banks will take multiple bids and not let you know what the other bids are for. This creates that holding period.

4) If you deal land the deal, don’t expect home repairs. You can still do a home inspecton (highly recommended), just know the bank will not be responsible for any repairs.

Now, I am not saying to completely shy away from all short sales, I am just saying these are not always the best deals. Finding a home listed for sale, not facing a short sale, will most likely allow for more room to negotiate, offer a faster closing time, and assure you necessary repairs will be made.

Explore all your options.

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Just some interesting facts on rentals vs non-rentals:

1) The average home on the Isle of Palms is 3,800 to 4,031 square feet.
2) There were 17 new homes built last year
3) There are 1,787 rentals on the IOP including Wild Dunes.
4) 275 are long-term, 1,512 are short term.
5) 816 or them are located in Wild Dunes
6) Almost 40% are rentals
7) There are 4,600 homes total on the Isle of Palms.

Here is a recent article from the Island Eye News that discusses the next generaton of rentals on the IOP…link.

The Isle of Palms had 3 single family detached homes sell during September. The average sale price was $593,000 and the median price was $520,000. There were 4 sales in September 2008 with an average price of $688,750 and a median price of $655,000.

Wild Dunes had 5 single family detached homes sell during September. The average sale price was $710,650 and the median price was $630,000. One home sold in September 2008 for $925,00

Three condos/villas sold in Wild Dunes in September with the average sell price of $450,000 and a median price of $462,500. One condo/villa sold in September 2008 for $809,900.