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September is going to be an eventful month! There is certainly something to entertain everyone. Not only do Charleston Restaurant Week and Charleston Beer Week overlap but top performers will be in town as part of festivals, such as the Lowcountry Jazz Festival this Labor Day weekend, and in solo acts, such as comedian Aziz Ansari, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah McLachlan and Jay Leno, to name a few.

Take a look at our September Calendar of Events - please feel free to forward to your friends, family and colleagues!

1-2: The Lowcountry Jazz Festival, Gaillard Center

1: CRAZY about Patsy Cline, Johns Island Regional Library

1-23: “Mamma Mia!”, Dock Street Theatre

4-5: Aziz Ansari W...

Mount Pleasant Real Estate Market Update

As part of our job as Realtors, we regularly review the "state of the market" for Mount Pleasant real estate to be able to provide sound advice to our clients.

This chart shows the percent of sold/original price that homes are selling for in Mount Pleasant. It is interesting to observe that in the last three years, this percentage has flattened at around 97%, and it never reached the heights achieved back in 2006.

Mount Pleasant acts as the "weathervane" for the rest of the Charleston, SC metro area. All the trends seem to start here and they "filter down" to the rest of the areas, usually with a lag of 1-2 years. 

Most major metro markets in ...

When people are considering a move from another state or country to South Carolina, one of the questions they ask is what the tax rates are in the state.

Sales tax (called VAT or value-added tax in some places) is charged on consumption of goods (and only SOME services). 

In South Carolina, the basic sales tax rate is 6%. In addition municipalities have the right to add local municipal taxes, so the total sales tax varies by city, and will range from 6% to 9%.

Here are the total sales tax for the main cities in SC (source: https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/state-rates/south-carolina.html)

What is Taxable?

Services in South Carolina are gene...

7 Water-Saving Tips for Your Yard

Looking for a lush, gorgeous yard, but not happy about guzzling tons of water? The following tips can help you keep your yard stunning and your water consumption low.

Don't drown. The greatest waste of water comes from applying too much, too often; much of the water is never absorbed. Instead of watering for one long session, water a few times for shorter periods and take 15-minute breaks in between each session. This will allow water to soak in while minimizing run-off.

Watch the clock. Water between 5 and 10 a.m., when the sun is low, winds are calm and temperatures are low. Midday watering tends to be less efficient because of evaporation and windy ...

Market Update

Real estate here in Charleston is doing quite well. The number of year-to-date sales in 2018 is nearly identical to the same period in 2017, which was a record year. We will likely sell  about 18,000 residential units this year.

The median price is up 6.7% to a record of $270,000 and many areas are above that figure. It is practically impossible to get a single family, detached home under $300,000 in Mt Pleasant or James Island. Average prices in both of those areas are over $200 per square foot. The median price per square foot in Summerville, Goose Creek, and North Charleston is usually above $115.

Infill developments and new homes are using vacant land at a high pace. ...

CHARLESTON RANKED NO. 1 CITY IN THE U.S. BY TRAVEL & LEISURE FOR 6TH YEAR IN A ROW

The Post & Courier - Dave Munday

Jul 10, 2018

Charleston is the No. 1 U.S. city for the sixth year in a row, as judged by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.

Charleston also made the publication’s list of the World’s Top 15 Cities. At No. 10, it’s the only U.S. city to make the cut this year. In 2016, Charleston was voted the world’s top city in that category.

The results of the annual World’s Best Awards survey were announced Tuesday morning on “The Today Show.”

Read more at The Post & Courier

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FASTEST GROWING MID-SIZED METRO ECONOMIES OF 2017
Headlight Data
July 19, 2018

Recently released data...

Events & Activities in Charleston for August

Charleston area public schools start back on August 20th. August will also see the Ball Park Festival of Beers and several other festivals and events. Get in some beach runs and enjoy the hot days on your boat, or at the pool.

Here is your August Calendar of Events: 

1 & 8: Brooklyn Brewery and Bar Mash Brews & Bags Corn Hole Tournament
2: Todd Snider & Josh Morningstar, Charleston Music Hall
3: Reggae Nights, James Island County Park
3: Carolina Surf Film Festival, Charleston Music Hall
3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28: Grits Milling Demonstration, Millers All Day
3-5: 13th Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement FestivalTM, Charle...

Come join us!

Tomorrow Saturday 7/28/18 from 12-3 pm.

Joint Open House in Dunes West (Mount Pleasant)

4 fantastic homes for sale by Keller Williams Realty. From $400K to $800K. 

More information on 843-900-0155.

REAL ESTATE MADE EASY

Where would you position your home vis-a-vis the competition in the eyes of potential buyers?

The APC Market Positioning Chart shows VISUALLY what home buyers know INTUITIVELY...

Get a FREE, APC Market Positioning Chart for Your Home by clicking this link: http://vid.us/76p7nc

The Alan Donald Team at Keller Williams Realty
Professional Service - Local Expertise - Advanced Technology

#homevalues #realestate #CharlestonSC #howmuchismyhomeworth #homesellertips #hitechRealtor

Did you ever wonder why some homes stay on the market unsold for a long time?

Did you know that homes that sell quickly almost always sell for more money than homes that remain on the market for several months?
The most important factors determining whether a home will sell quickly are set before the house ever goes on the market.

The most important factor for selling quickly and for top dollar is pricing your home at the optimal price.
One of the free services we offer is a "Pin-Point-Price" Analysis, using our APC Chart, which gives you a precise range of pricing for your home - based on the particulars of your home and today's market conditions.

Other important factors are:

• Conditi...

What's Happening in Charleston? July 2018 Edition

July is here and that means it's time to celebrate! Bring out the grill and get ready for a cookout with your friends and family! Did you know that an estimated 150 million hot dogs will be consumed on July 4th? We hope you continue to enjoy your summer and stay cool during this hot month!

Here is your July Calendar of Events:

1: Tedeschi Trucks Band with Drive By Truckers, Volvo Car Stadium (image by: http://tedeschitrucksband.com/photos/)
1: Mosquito Beach Folly Bus to Freedom Fish Fry, Island Breeze
1: 103.5 WEZL’s Stars and Guitars, Boone Hall
2: Edwin McCain, Windjammer
3: Free Tango Lesson, MUSC Wellness Center
4: Fourth of July Fire...

Luxury homes above $3M are continuing to sell briskly in the Charleston Area. The following table shows the activity for homes sold above $3M through the Charleston MLS.

Twenty eight such luxury homes changed hands in the first two quarters of 2017, compared with thirty during the same period this year. The median price and size remained similar. The activity shows steady strength for this luxury market. Although these expensive homes take a few months to sell, inventory is pretty low (see Sales & Inventory table below). 

The top price for this first half of the year almost doubled. A Kiawah Island home at 109 Flyway Drive just closed for $11.1M. This 7,482-square-foot beachfront ma...

Charleston SC In The News

How Fast is Charleston's population Growing?

The Charleston Regional Development Alliance updated their population growth analysis blog to include the latest Census Data. As of 2017, the Charleston SC Metro Area population is 775,831, growing at 3X the U.S. population average. 

The official number of new people moving (net new arrivals) into the Charleston metro is: 28 people a day.  These numbers reflect the in-migration into the three-county region: Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties.

You might have heard 38, based on the population change between 2016-2017, however; this statistic includes the number of ‘net’ new births of 10 each day. So if you...

Get your sunscreen out. June is here, school is out, and summer is officially upon us...well almost! Summer officially starts on June 21st, but we'll still be enjoying those fun summer activities like beach days, cultural festivals, boating, and rooftop movie nights. Here is your June calendar of events:

1: Spoleto Festival Continued

2: 13th Annual Sweetgrass Cultural Festival, Mt P Waterfront Park

2,3: Wahini Surf Contest, Folly Beach Washout

4: Negroni Week

7: Grass in the Hall, Chas Music Hall

8: 12th Annual Charleston Duck Race

8: Friday Night Boogie Series

9: Guided Paddle Trip- Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail

10: Second Sunday, King Street

13: The Illusionists, N Chas PAC...

This article by David Slade from The Post and Courier was very interesting. 

"Seattle, the rainy Pacific Northwest city that's the other home of Boeing, has seen the most rapid population growth among America’s largest cities since 2010. 

( Photo By Andrew Whitaker [email protected])

"Add up all the population gains since 2010 and Seattle has grown by a staggering 18.7 percent," Gene Balk of the Seattle Times said in a May 24 column, when new census estimates were made public.

It's easy to imagine Mount Pleasant saying, "Hah, hold my beer."

 Mount Pleasant is nowhere near the size of Seattle, but the Census Bureau also counts it as a large city, and Mount Pleasant has ...

In the video below Alan discusses the hyperlocal nature of Charleston's real estate market and the impact that the rise in prices and mortgage interest rates may have on affordability.

One of the most common questions we as realtors receive is 'How is the real estate market?'. That question has many different ways of answering it. 

In the U.S., the market is healthy and overall, the local Charleston market is pretty hot. However, once delving deeper into the market and examining at a "hyperlocal" level, we see that there are some pockets within the Charleston market that are behaving differently.

While Zillow® may not be a fully trustworthy tool for pricing individual homes, we bel...

Interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage have climbed from 3.95% in the first week of January up to 4.61% last week, which marks a 7-year high according to Freddie Mac. The current pace of acceleration has been fueled by many factors.

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, had this to say:

“Healthy consumer spending and higher commodity prices spooked bond markets and led to higher mortgage rates over the past week.

Not only are buyers facing higher borrowing costs, gas prices are currently at four-year highs just as we enter the important peak home sales season.”
But what do gas prices have to do with interest rates?
Investopedia explains the relationship like this:

“The p...

Home Inspections: What to Expect

So you made an offer, it was accepted, and now your next task is to have the home inspected prior to closing. Most times your offer will be contingent on a clean home inspection.

This contingency allows you to renegotiate the price you paid for the home, ask the sellers to cover repairs, or even, in some cases, walk away. Your agent can advise you on the best course of action once the report is filed.

How to Choose an Inspector
Your agent will most likely have a short list of inspectors that they have worked with in the past that they can recommend to you. HGTV recommends that you consider the following 5 areas when choosing the right home inspector for y...

Not all Realtors are the same. In fact, neither are all doctors, lawyers or accountants. In every instance, there are professionals who do a better job, take better care of their clients and provide better value for their services...

This holds especially true when selling your home. You may not have known it, but hiring the wrong Realtor could cost you as much as 5% to 7% of the value of your home. That's at least $5,000 for every $100,000 of value!

What's worse, is that if you try to sell your home yourself, national statistics say that you may give away as much as 18% of your equity. But you don't have to give up a dime of value in their home if you simply hire the right Realtor for th...

Recently, Freddie Mac published an Insight Report titled Nowhere to go but up? How increasing mortgage rates could affect housing. The report focused on the impact the projected rise in mortgage rates might have on the housing market this year.

Many believe that an increase in mortgage rates will cause a slowdown in purchases which would, in turn, lead to a fall in house values. Ultimately, however, prices are determined by supply and demand and while rising mortgage rates may slow demand, they also affect supply. From the report:

 “For current homeowners, the decision to buy a new home is typically linked to their decision to sell their current home… Because of this link, the financing...