Renters

By WARREN L. WISE - POST & COURIER
[email protected]

23 new apartment projects on the rise in Charleston area
Developers continue to flock to the booming Charleston market to build new rental housing as 23 new communities are under construction, according to a new report.

The number of proposed units increased over the past six months through September to 6,030, with most of them in Mount Pleasant and Charleston's upper peninsula, Charlotte-based apartment service Real Data reported.

Several others are under construction across the region in almost every suburb.

Demand still remains strong as apartment occupancy jumped nearly 2 percent in the region to 91.2 percent over the past ...

There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top benefits is protecting yourself from rising rents, by locking in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage.

Don’t Become Trapped 
A recent article by Apartment List addressed rising rents by stating:

“Rents are up 2.7% year-over-year at the national level. Year-over-year growth continues to fall between the 2.1% rate from this time last year and the 3.4% growth rate from October 2015.”
The article continues explaining that:

“Despite the seasonal slowdown, rents are still up year-over-year in 89 of the 100 Largest cities.
Additionally, the Urban Institute revealed that,

“Over a quarter of renters, or 11.1 million households,...

You are renting. You pay on time. Your landlord loves you! You know it may be a good time to buy...but you have heard all these horror stories about people who bought and got burned... What should you do??

1. Keep renting. Pluses: Flexibility to move - after the lease expires. Minuses: You are paying someone else's mortgage but not building up your net worth. Your rent may go up in a year. You cannot customize the place to your taste. And they give you a hard time if you want pets/visitors, etc. ...

2. Purchase. Market conditions are very favorable, the affordability index is high (super-low interest rates, prices are low and very negotiable), tax benefits of owning a home (lower your t...

I just learned of a new version of a scam targeting prospective tenants and using real listings - here is how it works:

Scene 1: A Realtor lists an REO (lender-owned) vacant home for sale online (MLS, REALTOR.com, etc.)

Scene 2: The scammer picks up the pictures and address of the property, and uses them to place a "For Rent" ad on Craigslist or another online marketplace, at a below-market rental, saying they are the owners, that they were transferred out of town for work, that they tried selling, but since the economy is so bad, they are just going to rent it out.

They even send full applications and real contracts by email, ask the prospective tenants to email the application, act ...