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The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors (CTAR) put together this market update (click to view presentation):

The USDA Rural Mortgage Loan was one of the only remaining 100% loan-to-value opportunities for lower income buyers who do not have a lot of savings for downpayment. Bobby Wallace from Anchor Mortgage sent me a very timely reminder email that I thought would be good to share with the followers of this blog:

The changes being implemented as of October 1st are:

1. "USDA will now start requiring a Mortgage Insurance Premium on these loans.
2. USDA will now require a 0.3% annual mortgage insurance fee. While this fee is an annual fee, it is collected monthly in escrow like most Mortgage insurance payments. Another major difference between USDA’s annual MI premium and most other premiums. USDA’...

Robert Weaver from Ikon Mortgage put together this information - which I found really informative - about the maximum allowed contribution from Seller to Buyer depending on the LTV (loan-to-value ratio) and the use of the home:

For more information contact Robert Weaver.

TWO TYPES OF BUYERS

In residential real estate we are currently experiencing two types of buyers:

• Those fishing for "a deal"; and 
• Those who are actually "looking for a home" to live in

Both types of buyer will start negotiations with a lowball offer, but their response to the Seller's first counteroffer determines their type:

• If they increase their initial offer substantially, they are actually looking for a home, they need a place to live (but of course they are shopping the market);

• Those looking for a deal will increase their offer just marginally or walk away if their initial lowball offer is not accepted... they are in no rush, have no specific time frame in mind, an...

CHARLESTON, SC NAMED SECOND BEST CITY IN AMERICA – ACHIEVING ITS HIGHEST RANKING IN 16 YEARS OF TRAVEL + LEISURE WORLD’S BEST AWARDS READERS’ POLL

Copied from the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau

"Charleston rises to No. 2 on the Travel + Leisure 2011 World’s Best Awards list of Top Cities in the United States and Canada, based on the 16th annual readers’ survey, from its third place ranking last year. Displacing last year’s No. 2-ranked city, San Francisco, Charleston achieves its highest ranking ever in this survey. The top-ranked city in the U.S. and Canada is New York City for the eleventh consecutive year. Four South Carolina hotels and resorts are recognized among the top...

Using Renovation Loans

USING RENOVATION LOANS

Given the proliferation of short sales, foreclosures and lender-owned properties (REOs), it is not uncommon for buyers to come across homes that may be very well price (a "steal") but need substantial renovation work to bring them up to the desired quality and functionality level. 

Many of these homes have been neglected for a long time: Initially their owners (who experienced a financial hardship of some nature) did not have the money or the inclination to do normal maintenance and upkeep. Then the home is normally vacant for a period of time, while the lender takes it to foreclosure and resolves all the legal title issues to be abl...

Mount Pleasant, SC – A Thriving Community!

The Town of Mount Pleasant, SC recently published their “2011 Demographic Report” which has some interesting facts which make this town:

Growing and aging: Population has increased from 47,000 to 67,000 (42%) in the last 10 years! Population over 25 years of age has increased to 47,000 from 32,000 (46.8%)
Smaller households: # of Households has increased from 20,000 to 30,000 (50%)
Shifting Racial Diversity:

• White 91.3% (up from 90.2% in 2000)
• African American 5.1% (down from 7.3% in 2000)
• Asian 1.6% (up from 1.2% in 2000)
• Other 0.8%

More Educated: 61.8% of the population 25 and over has a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 5...

Mount Pleasant Real Estate: Doing Better Than We Think!

We keep hearing about how terrible our market is, how prices have tumbled, etc. The graph of Median Home Price for Mount Pleasant on Trulia.com since the year 2000 (see below) tells another story: According to this graph, the picture is not so bleak: We are back to 2004-2005 price levels! Which brings us to the point of this article: Real estate should NOT be considered a liquid asset, bricks and mortar should be considered a LONG-TERM investment. One big difference between real estate and stocks: Real estate has an intrinsic utilitarian benefit that stock lack - you can live in it or rent it out (it also has some "carrying costs":...