Myrtle Beach Real Estate

When shopping the real estate market, buyers have several decisions to make when searching for their new home. One of the most common, and first decisions to be made in today’s market is whether to buy a new home or buy an existing home, commonly known as a “resale”. In this blog post I will discuss the pros and cons of buying a new home and a resale as it is related to the Myrtle Beach real estate market in today’s economy.

New Homes in Myrtle Beach:

Pros:

1. Choose Upgrades and Lot Location- One of the biggest advantages of buying a new home is that you get to pick your location within the community. You can choose with ease whether you want to be on a lake, on a corner lot, backing to conservation or backing to another house. Also when building a new home it is easier to pick out what countertops, flooring, structural changes or any other upgrades than it is when purchasing a resale
2. Builder Incentives- Many homebuyers today are going to the neighborhoods where the builders are offering the most incentives. From what I have witnessed the larger more well-known builders like Centex, DR Horton, Beazer and Lennar seem to be offering the most incentives. There are several ways that these builders are enticing buyers to purchase in their neighborhoods and not elsewhere. Some of the most common incentives that I see are large discounts in pricing, zero lot premiums, paid closing costs, rate buy-downs on your mortgage and upgrade packages.
3. Time to Prepare for the
   Move-
   Building a new home often takes between 4-6 months, therefore you have time to prepare yourself for the move. This is a big advantage in the Myrtle Beach Area, as most of our buyers are relocating from other areas. There is also an excitement built up by watching your own home being built.

Cons:

1. Lack of Furnishings: When you purchase a new home, most commonly you can expect to purchase common necessities before the new house feels like a home. Some of the most common purchases of a new home owner are Refrigerator, Washer/Dryer, Window Treatments and usually some outdoor shrubs.
2. New Neighborhood: In the Myrtle Beach area, most of the new neighborhoods are mostly clear cut lots with very few remaining trees if any. Many home owners like the shade, privacy and beauty that trees offer to a more established neighborhood.
3. In a Hurry, to bad: If you are in a rush to move into your home, obviously that can’t happen unless you buy a “spec home” or a standing inventory house. With these purchase though you commonly miss out the ability to pick your upgrades. If you are in a time crunch to move, you most likely will want to go with the resale which has a normal closing date of 30 days after contract.

Resale Homes:

Pros:

1. TLC- That is right; when you purchase a resale, you are not just buying a house, you are purchasing someone’s home. People have taken time and placed their love into caring for the home. With this time, love and care comes plenty of extras that new houses do not offer. Resale homes tend to have more appliances, better paint schemes and blinds and drapes.
2. Established Community- Around a resale home, you will mostly find a more established community. Within this community, residents have found a sense of purpose, and usually the Home Owner’s Association is established. Also, you will find better green spaces and treed areas within the established community.
3. Ready to Move… No Problem – With a resale, it is usually easier to pick up and move rather than waiting several months for your home to be built.

Cons:

1. Condition- When you purchase a resale, obviously all of the appliances, the HVAC unit and the structural components of the home are not going to be as new as the newly constructed house never lived in. To overcome this, most home buyers will have a home inspection completed, and ask for any immediate repairs to be addressed.
2. Finding the Perfect Home: In today’s market there are a lot of homes on the market, and you may have to look at them all to make sure that you are getting a great deal compared to the new home down the street. New home builders have made it very difficult to compete against, but if you look hard enough, you can find great deals with most if not all the bells and whistles that you are looking for.

Whether you are looking for a new home or a resale in the Myrtle Beach Real Estate Market, I feel that there are opportunities out there to get a great home at outstanding prices.

It is almost the end of February, and now is the time of year that I speak with the most people about buying a rental property in the Myrtle Beach Area. It is not just a rental property, but a vacation rental that is most desired. Early spring to me is the best time to purchase a vacation rental property, because in most case there will be an instant gratification from of rentals soon after closing.

The rental rates go up in March, because demands for the rooms go up in Myrtle Beach around this time. It is true that our busiest season is from Memorial Day to Labor Day on the ocean, and the spring season is great for golf course condo rentals. There are several different types of vacation rentals to choose from, and people buy them for different reasons. Most of the time, the purchasers are planning on using the condo, house, or villa for a week or two throughout the year. Some people may buy a vacation rental property in

If you are purchasing a condo that allows vacation rentals in Myrtle Beach, there are a few things that you may want to consider. First of all, the Home Owner’s Association and how it is run is a crucial factor that should guide your decision making process. In

Another real important aspect is the rental split. I am speaking of the charge for securing a guest, making sure the guest is well taken care of, cleaning after the guest and any other items that go along with vacation rental management. Typically the rental split is higher for the onsite rental companies that offer more services to the guest, and less expensive for third party off site rental agency, that typically manages check-in and check-out procedures.

Before ratifying a contract on a rental unit, you should also take a look at the Covenants and Restrictions, “Minutes from the last meeting”, and the budget for the building. Also, ask to see if there are any anticipated special assessments coming up. Knowing about special assessments can be the biggest deal breaker. To me this means that the HOA is not preparing the budget effectively in order to take care of common maintenance. There is a lot involved with Home Owner’s Associations. Just make sure that you do your diligence before purchasing a condo.

Vacation rental homes are quite different that oceanfront condos in Myrtle Beach. There is usually not a Home Owner’s Association involved. Therefore, you have to worry about all of the exterior maintenance, lawn service, pool service, trash pick up, insurance coverage, and all other aspects that may be covered with the typical association coverage. Rental rates are typically higher for a house, and the rentals are usually contracted out to third party rental companies. Rental Houses run pretty ramped in Cherry Grove,

Once of the most commonly asked questions that I receive when representing a buyer is “How much should we offer?”

I understand that many buyers are looking for the best deal out there and there are two factors in today’s market to consider before making an offer on the house that you really like.

1. When did the sellers purchaser purchase the home and at what price did they pay for it?

This question is important, because Myrtle Beach Real Estate prices are currently back to 2004-2005, and they seller might not be able to come off of the price of the home much. If you are a bargain shopper with your Real Estate transaction, you might want to consider something that the seller has owned for at least 5 years. Chances are that you won’t find the bargain that you are looking for in the Carolina Forest Area in less the seller is willing to take a loss or I can find you a foreclosure.

2. How are the other properties in the same neighborhood priced, and/or what did the last one sell for?

This question is really important in today’s market because many seller have already discounted their homes to be the lowest priced in the neighborhood, or better yet, they have discounted the house lower than the last one sold for. In this situation, you want to be very careful not to insult the seller with a ridiculous offer. If the house is already discounted, we probably shouldn’t offer them any less that 90% of the asking price. In this situation, we want to have the seller take some money off the asking price, but we don’t want to insult them to the point that they just reject us.

With these things in mind, I feel that there are great bargains to be had whether you are searching for a primary residence, second home or a rental property. Call me at 843-267-4627 if you have any questions about this matter. I am a certified “Accredited Buyer’s Representative” and would love to help negotiate your next Real Estate Transaction!

When summer ended, several sellers were faced with a dilemma. “Do I keep my property on the market possibly through the winter or do I rent the property out until the market turns around”. My listing inventory dropped nearly 20% in the past several weeks from people making the decision to lease the property until next Spring. Carolina Forest Real Estate is being affected more than several areas around Myrtle Beach, because many investors bought new homes in a flipping frenzy. Add these investors to the investors that bought with an intention of renting and you have a major surplus of inventory to lease. Not only have the values of the homes come down, but now we are seeing the rental incomes come down as well, while these investors lower the prices in order to secure a tenant. Many areas of Myrtle Beach are not suffering as much as Carolina Forest with rentals, because the properties have been around longer and hasn’t had as much of the pre construction investor occur. I personally feel that if the sales market doesn’t turn around soon, we will witness several foreclosures in the Carolina Forest Area. People tend to walk away from their second homes and investment homes before their primary homes. Therefore, we will witness several bank owned properties in the Carolina Forest Area soon. The market most likely will turn around in a few years, but it simply has to correct itself first. I think that we will never again witness the boom of the new home construction that we witnessed over the past 3 years. Several local new home builders are witnessing the same market affects as the national builders. Spec homes have been built at an unprecedented rate and are not selling. Some of these homes are not very easy to rent. Myrtle Beach does not support the need of executive rentals. It will be interesting to see what the Winter of 2007 brings, but let me make one thing clear. Don’t reject any offers on your properties. It may not be what you are looking for, but you can always counter-offer in an attempt to bring the buyer back to reality.

Today I read in “The Sun News” about the auction of nearly 50 properties that took place at the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes. There was not much bidding going on with these properties and very few sold for more than the opening bid price. This auction has been expected for weeks and of course I was hearing information that conflicted with the final results. For weeks the word was that these properties would bring great sales prices compared to market value. I guess the idea was that investors and shoppers would get caught up in the heat of the auction and bump the prices a lot. From what I am reading, none of the properties resulted in price battling. A few hundred attending the auction, but very few bid on properties. The company, “Coastal Auction Company” will hold another auction October 27, 2007, and will concentrate on South End properties from Murrells Inlet to Georgetown. Several properties in the Grande Dunes never receive bids.

I read an article in “The Sun News” this morning that addresses this subject the same way that I feel. I represent a lot of Sellers in this market and one thing is always upsetting for my clients. We reduce the price to Sell Quickly at a good price and then someone decides to submit a ridiculous offer, which ultimately upsets my Seller. After reading the article, and thinking about these offers that I have been seeing, I decided that it was time to share a little wisdom on the subject. When is it a good time to Submit a Low Bid on a property? With all of the information out there and all of the fact finding that is required, it is wise to allow a “Buyer’s Agent” to do your homework. First, you have to know what the Seller’s Motivation is. Is the property vacant and costing the seller holding costs? How long has the Seller owned the property and how much equity is there to leave room for negotiations? Have the Sellers already purchased another home and possibly carrying to mortgages. “This is where I come in”. What have the other properties been selling for in the neighborhood and what are the prices of the other properties out there? Is the property priced to move already based on these comparisons and has the Seller already reduced the price quite a bit? Second, one you get all of your information together, make your case with hard facts. A good “Buyer’s Agent” will come to the negotiation table with an arsenal of information and be able to overcome rejections from the Seller. Buyer’s Agents should write a letter or share market comparison with the Sellers to prove their points. Thirdly, prepare yourself for negotiation or even worse rejection. Depending on your motivation as a buyer, this can hinder your ability to get in the property at a good price. Sometimes if you have time to wait, you may find the Seller may come down on price, or sometimes, you may find that the property has been sold from underneath you. Purchasing property in today’s market is a lot better than a few years ago as far as a Buyer would be concerned. Now let’s go out there and get some deals.

July’s New Home Construction fell to the lowest level in over 10 years. One of the biggest factors to this decline in the rising mortgage defaults, which dumps more inventory out there to an already saturated market. What does this mean in the Myrtle Beach Market? It supports the idea of a Buyer’s Market and with all of the bad publicity that the Real Estate Market is facing; Home Sellers have come to the realization that they need to negotiate to sell their properties. The only properties that I see selling in the Myrtle Beach Area are the lowest price homes for each given neighborhood. In this declining market, a home buyer is cautioning buying a home for more than it may be worth a few months from now. From all of my thoughts and from what I see in the Myrtle Beach Area, the prices have fallen back to the 2005 prices and investors have stepped away from the Real Estate Market all together. It should be a good time to get in. If the interest Rates are to decrease in September, we could see a lot of the inventory for homes in the $200K price range and below sell quicker.