Blog Author's Note: This article does not necessarily reflect Keller Williams' or my own point of view. But Mel brings up some key points on earthquake insurance that I thought would benefit most homeowners.

EARTHQUAKE INSURANCE
By Mel Rodriguez, CT Lowndes & Co.

The first 2 months of 2010 have featured two major earthquakes, in Haiti and in Chile, that have caused much damage and many deaths. If the Charleston area were to experience a catastrophic earthquake, would your insurance policies provide the protection you need? Here are some answers to questions you may have. But be sure to understand that all insurance policies are not alike and you must read your policy and/or speak to your...

Blog Author's Note: This article does not necessarily reflect Keller Williams' or my own point of view. But Robert brings up some key points that I thought would be interesting for would-be buyers and homeowners looking to re-finance their mortgages.

How We See It

By Robert Weaver 

Interest rates provide the key ingredient to the mortgage recipe. They determine the cost of your borrowing, how much you can borrow, and how much of your time will be consumed repaying what you borrow.  Their importance cannot be overestimated and an explanation of such would fill volumes. The vital nature of interest rates in our economy begs the question: where are they heading? 

We believe that interest...

Trade mag: Charleston housing market on the mend

Reported by the Charleston Regional Business Journal's Daily Journal

Mount Pleasant Home Value Decline Slows Down

Feb 26, 2010 - Zillow.com reported today that home values for Mount Pleasant, SC, declined 0.3% compared to last month (see graph) for a total decline of 5.5% year-over-year. Although prices are still declining, this is a positive trend, since the pace of decline has slowed down considerably from about 1% per month last year.

HOME AUCTIONS Gaining Popularity!

In this "whacky" market that distressed sales are creating, it is sometimes very challenging to sell a home in a timely fashion. Short sales, REOs, foreclosures and "normal" listings are all competing for a share of the shrinking "buyer pie".

If a homeowner has a substantial amount of equity and wants to sell a home quickly, a PUBLIC AUCTION is a viable way of marketing a property, create URGENCY and obtain the MAXIMUM price that the market will bear. Auctioned properties are normally sold "no-contingency, as-is, where-is", which means that sellers don't need to deal with contracts that fall through over and over because of buyer financing, nor they hav...

SC Legislature Considering Tax Break for Second Home Owners

The South Carolina state legislature is considering new legislation to allow second home owners who cannot sell one or have to move for a new job to pay a lower property tax rate. Currently, these owners pay a higher property tax rate for properties they own but don't live in full-time.

The proposed legislation is still at the committee level, but one provision would make taxes on second homes the same as for the primary residence. Another proposal suggest a five-year tax break if someone buys a home to pursue a new job at least 150 miles away from his/her primary residence.

It may take some time for any of these proposals to ...

GOOD NEWS FOR THE POCKET...

South Carolina residents will be able to apply to State rebates if they purchase ENERGY STAR appliances in the state beginning March 31, 2010 and continuing until all the $3.9 million fund allocated to the program is exhausted.

This program is funded by South Carolina’s share of federal stimulus funds being distributed to each state for appliance rebates.

Rebates will not apply to online purchases or purchases made prior to March 31, 2010. Read more...

Yes, I know that for some people getting a snowfall is not news. But for Charleston, it is a once-in-a-decade event! And we did get 2-3 inches this weekend!

Needless to say, parents, children, friends and dogs frolicked in the snow and got their creative and playful juices going. I went around taking pictures of some of the snowmen in Mt Pleasant. 

And then I decided to upload them and make a POPULARITY CONTEST...

If you wish to see about 100 snowmen and cast your vote CLICK HERE.

Buy Fast! FHA is Changing Its Guidelines!!

Starting this summer, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is tightening its lending guidelines as a way to shore up its finances. FHA loans are currently the most popular mortgage loans, because they provide up to 97.5% loan-to-value (LTV). Most "conventional" loans (i.e. non-FHA) can only go to 80% or 90% LTV, making it difficult to borrow for people with good earnings and credit scores, but no savings.

What Will the New Guidelines Be?

FHA is following suit with other lenders in tightening their standards. The announced changes will be:

1. Increased Minimum Credit Score - borrowers will now have to have a minimum of 580 credit score to ...

Roper St. Francis Hospital and East Cooper Hospital Expansion Nearing Completion in Mt. Pleasant

Work on the new Roper St. Francis Hospital being built on Highway 17 North in Carolina Park across from Charleston National is advancing fast. Completion is expected for later this year. This 200,000 sq. ft. facility built on 78 acres of land will have 85 inpatient beds, 24-hour emergency, inpatient and outpatient surgery, womens' clinic, imaging, laboratory and pharmacy.

Also, the new wing for East Cooper Hospital is being finished on Mathis Ferry and Von Kolnitz. This wing will more than double the size of their current facility and includes 130 private patient rooms, 10 neonatal nursery b...

Station 22, 2205 Middle St., Sullivan's Island

(843) 883-3355

February Special

--Appetizer--Entrée--Wine--Dessert-

CHOOSE THREE for $25.00

1-Appetizer 

station 22’s she crab soup  served with a dash of sherry

quickly fried calamari   with a tangy, ginger citrus sauce

fried green tomatoes

layered with pimento cheese, sweet corn relish, and fire roasted pepper coulis

warm spinach salad with herb fried goat cheese

tossed in hot bacon dressing with toasted walnuts, wild mushrooms

carrots, and grape tomatoes

2-Entrée

vidalia encrusted salmon filet

pan seared atlantic salmon with a sweet vidalia crust whipped idaho potatoes

 baby green beans and red pepp...

The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors put together this video that describes the state of our metro residential real estate market:

Culinary Art

Local students play with food for a cool art project benefitting Louie’s Kids and Slow Food Charleston

WRITTEN BY EVANS CRADDOCK
Photographs by Kelly Bozard

Grab a few eager high school art students; then mix them with a local shrimper, a talented chef, a Wadmalaw egg farmer, a determined elementary student, and a renowned muralist. Sprinkle in some teamwork, and garnish with a dash of fun. The result? Four creative (and almost edible) mosaics that reflect the importance of local culinary traditions.

Read full article at Charleston Magazine Online...

Mt. Pleasant, SC Market Update – Jan. 2010

Summary

There is light at the end of the tunnel! Inventory in Mt Pleasant continues a downward trend (albeit a slow reduction) and monthly sales are back above 100 a month. Distressed homes (short sales and lender-owned) homes are still appearing in most neighborhoods and have placed additional stress on appraisers.

Inventory and Absorption                       

We can still observe traditional seasonality in our home inventory in Mt. Pleasant. Comparing 2009 with the two previous years, we can definitely see a trend toward inventory reduction: Each peak has been lower than the previous one, and each low has also been lower. From January un...

The Federal Government has changed the forms used for lenders' Good Faith Estimates (GFE's) and closing statements (HUD-1) to improve the level of disclosure and make it easier to compare between different lender quotes.

Although their intention is good, these changes may cause some chaos until they sort out the problems they may bring to lenders, real estate agents and attorneys.

The New Good Faith Estimate (GFE) Form

 The new GFE form is three pages long and is mandatory for all lenders, the intention being to allow consumers to be able to compare one lender's proposal  to another. There are some costs that need to be pre-determined by the lender carefully, because those cannot chang...

Inventory Decreases in Belle Hall Plantation

Good news for Belle Hall homeowners: Inventory of single family, detached homes (SFD) has been steadily decreasing since reaching 69 active listings on the market in July 0f 2007 (and again in April of 2008).

As of January 30, 2010, we have 38 homes in "Active" status on the MLS, and 5 more appear under contract. Sales have been averaging between 4 and 5 a month in the last 12 months.

Although we are still in a "buyers' market" and sales and inventory are seasonal (lower sales AND inventory levels during the Winter months are the "norm"), the trend is favorable to returning to a "balanced" real estate market (defined as a market with 6 ...

Tips for Buying Foreclosures

These days it seems that most buyers want to:

a) Buy FORECLOSURES (it may be more accurate to say "DISTRESSED" rather than "FORECLOSED" properties); and

b) Make sure they take advantage of the extended TAX CREDIT for first-time and existing homebuyers which expires April 30th.

Invariably, every time I talk to a potential buyer, these two topics come out. And why not? Everyone is out there looking for "the best deal" - a home with no problems for a bargain basement price (buyers may be able to pick up a home for a fraction of its price from three years ago). And it seems that maybe 1 out of 4 new listings coming on to our MLS is either a "Possible Short Sal...

30-year Fixed Mortgage Rates Fall Below 5%

Two major economic stories this past week influenced mortgage rates favorably:

First, the news that China intends to slow down its economic growth to try and prevent inflation from getting out of control. In addition, the news of President Obama's proposed new restrictions on financial institutions and banks, which may impact their growth negatively. 

Both of these measures are expected to lead to a slower economic growth in the US economy, which hurt the stock market but helped the fixed income (i.e. bonds) markets, which had a positive income on mortgage rates.

FHA Toughens Down Payment Rules, Raises Mortgage Insurance Premiums

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that will raise the minimum down payment required for its higher risk borrowers, limit the allowable seller's contributions and increase their mortgage insurance premiums.

To build capital and reduce risk, the FHA said that it will raise mortgage insurance rates and tighten credit score requirements. The major changes include:

• increasing upfront mortgage insurance premiums from 1.75% to 2.25%;
• reducing the maximum seller contribution to buyer's closing costs from 6% to 3% of purchase price; and
• increasing the level of FICO scores from 500 to 580, below which a down...

White Lies Sellers Should Avoid Telling

Many states have mandatory "disclosure" laws for sellers. Some sellers may be tempted to tell a few "white lies" when they want to sell their home - after all - how will the buyers find out? Sellers may think no harm is done by omitting facts or "bending the truth". The fact is there are some issues that call for brutal honesty or they may come back to bite them later! As your real estate advisor, I always recommend my seller clients to tell nothing but the truth - it's their safest course of action! 

However, very few people will tolerate being lied to. Litigation often follows a failure to disclose a known fact about the house...

Here are a few...