Foreclosures Resume Slide from Record Levels

When the number of foreclosures decreases, it’s not without impact for Charleston homeowners and investors. In any given month, Charleston area foreclosures may not always mimic the national averages, but over the long run, they do tend to be pretty close. And the national trend is clear: first quarter foreclosure activity decreased to the lowest level since the second quarter of 2007 (‘activity’ includes default notices, scheduled auctions and outright bank repossessions).

Short & Sweet—Charleston, SC Open House Checklist

Estimates so far indicate that summer 2014 is likely to be a better than usual season for area home sales. The past winter threw a wet blanket over all kinds of business activity, creating a perfect scenario for a sales bounce back—and that’s exactly what is beginning to show up in the stats. As Bloomberg News reported last week, sales of homes “climbed in April for the first time in three months…the biggest in six months…”

Experience Teaches Real Estate Agents Some Truisms

 Because real estate agents in Charleston, SC see everything in the market, we have a pretty good idea about why some houses sell (and why others sit on the market for years). Whether as buyer or seller, anyone planning to enter Charleston area’s real estate market this summer can benefit from some of the tactics and factors that Charleston real estate agents keep in mind when as they go about the business of making home sales happen:

Selling Your Charleston Property…for Bitcoins!

Would you be willing to sell your Charleston property to a buyer who is offering virtual currency?

In recent news, there has been an influx of people who are putting their homes up for sale in Bitcoins. It may be actually worthwhile to consider the upsides, because doing so opens up your Charleston area property to a vast new market (not to mention potentially garnering the attention of your local media and scads more traditional buyers who are in their audience).

When the Market Won’t Meet Your Price…Make Lemonade!

The sunny attitude that encourages entrepreneurs to look at a box of lemons and think ‘lemonade!’ is widely admired, and it does seem to be a viewpoint that successful people cultivate. For anyone who is determined to sell their Charleston property—but only at a price the market is not yet willing to pay—well, the turn-lemons-into-lemonade situation is entirely apt. After all, smart investors are buying up and renting properties like yours quite deliberately because they realize that a Charleston, SC rental home is not just an asset that can appreciate over time, but one that can also produce income at the same time.