3 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers

Are you a newlywed or someone buying your first home? Follow these three tips to make life easier on yourself.

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If you're a first-time homebuyer or a newlywed buying a home, these tips will help you:

1. It's all about the budget: Your house is more than just a mortgage payment. Over time, you'll have to pay for maintenance and insurance. That's why we recommend you pay between 25% and 35% of your household disposable income toward that mortgage payment. 
2. Location, location, location: Think about school districts even if you don't have kids. When the time comes to sell in the future, it'll be easier if you're in a positive school district. 
Think about school districts even if you don't have kids.
3. Communicate about the top features of the home: During our free buyer consultation, we'll get a list of features that you and anyone living in the home would like to have. Then, we compare the lists and merge them into one list of must-haves so we can find your dream home.

If you have any other questions about preparing to buy your first home, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to help!

What I Think We'll See in the 2nd Quarter Market

With the first quarter in the books, I wanted to give you some predictions for the second quarter here in the Charleston market. I think it will be an amazing time to get your house on the market.

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With the second quarter underway, I wanted to give you my predictions for the upcoming months here in the Charleston market. 

The first important thing to note is that there was a lot of pent-up demand last year because of the storms we had and because of the election. The first quarter of 2017 was absolutely amazing though with more people putting their home on the market than normal, more sales, and more people moving to Charleston. This is a testament to the market because the first quarter is typically one of the slowest quarters of the year. 

So what does it all mean for the second quarter?

Everybody wants to move during the summer when the kids are out of school and the days are longer.

Remember that even more people get their homes ready to go on the market at this time of year. They want to move during the summertime when the kids aren’t in school and they have more all-around flexibility, along with longer days. The real estate market typically has the highest turnover rate in the second and third quarters.

However, it’s important to remember that all the people planning to move to Charleston are planning their move during this period. That’s why if you’re considering selling your house, now might be the absolute best time. We can help you figure out exactly what you need to do to get your house ready for sale because now might be a perfect time. 

If you’re thinking about selling your house or you have any other questions we can answer, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you out!

What 5 Statistics Define the Charleston Real Estate Market?

How has the Charleston real estate market improved over the last year? Here’s what the numbers tell us.

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I just got a report with all the latest statistics from the Charleston real estate market and I wanted to share some of the most important numbers with you. These five statistics paint a promising picture of our market and show just how far we’ve come since the recession.

1. New listings. Almost 23,000 new homes have come on the market in the last 12 months.

2. Home sales. How many homes were sold during the same time frame? Some of you may be under the impression that every home that comes on the market is selling. However, that’s not what’s happening in reality. Out of those 23,000 listings, only 17,700 sold. That means there are between 5,000 and 6,000 properties that failed to sell. Regardless of what you think about the market, I encourage you to make sure that your Realtor has a strong marketing plan in place to sell your home. That's really the only way to guarantee a sale in this market.

It is taking an average of 11 showings to sell a home.

3. Median sale price. This is intriguing. During the recession, the median sale price was around $180,000. Today, it’s at $240,000. It’s increased by over $50,000 in the past five years, but there are people who still think their home won’t sell. If that’s the impression you're under, I invite you to give us a call. If you tell us how much you owe and how much you’d like to sell for, we would be happy to give you our honest, professional opinion if that is doable.

4. Market time. How long does it take a home to sell on average? Over the past 12 months, the answer is 58 days.

5. Average showings. Finally, let’s look at the average number of showings it takes for a home to get an offer. Right now, homes are getting offers after an average of 11 showings.

If you’re interested in learning more and taking a better look at these statistics, you can view them in their entirety here.

If you have any other questions about Charleston real estate, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.