1106317 Class: Residential Status: Active 
This is the time of the year when most employed people file their taxes and may receive a refund from Uncle Sam. For many people, this refund just goes into their general bank account, and before they know, it's gone (again!).
IF YOU ARE RENTING: A wiser investment would be to look at purchasing a home using your refund as downpayment. Consider the current situation:
1106237 Class: Residential Status: Active
1106016 Class: Residential Status: Active 1106031 Class: Residential Status: Active 1106018 Class: Residential Status: Active TIPS FOR SAVING MONEY AT THE PUMP
Faye Dubois of Carolina First Bank sent me this interesting article she received from someone in CA, on how to save some money at the pump:
"I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are paying up to $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. My line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon:
Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a ...
1100231 Class: Residential Status: Active 1030554 Class: Residential Status: Active 1105881 Class: Residential Status: Active 1105167 Class: Residential Status: Active 1105859 Class: Residential Status: Active 1105837 Class: Residential Status: Active Why Pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)?
Reese Ward from Benchmark Home Loans, one of the mortgage providers we work with sent me this article which I thought was interesting to share:
"Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is required by most lenders when a borrower puts less than 20% down on a purchase loan. Paid for by the borrower, PMI not only protects the lender from foreclosure, it also enables many buyers to qualify for loans and purchase real estate when they couldn't have otherwise. On January 1st, 2007, legislation went into effect making PMI tax deductible for new borrowers whose personal adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less. This has created additional opportunities for ma...
At our Keller Williams annual convention I had the pleasure of attending a panel on Short Sales that included Edward Goldfarb, a KW colleague in Florida who is a short sale expert. He shared with us a white paper on the absurd current situation regarding short sales, including these 13 absurdities:
JoAnn Terrell from Bank of America sent us this information today, which we thought was interesting to share with everyone, especially with our friends the appraisers:
New Subject Property Photo Requirements - On the all interior inspection assignments, including FHA and Conventional, the appraiser must include, at a minimum, the following photographs:
Belle Hall Plantation, is one of the most popular and sought after planned subdivisions in Mount Pleasant, SC. The combination of a wide range of price points (from entry-level housing in the mid $200Ks to multimillion dollar custom homes), great community amenities, convenient location close to shopping and I-526 and great schools make Belle Hall a very desirable location.
Home sales in 2010 were strong, with 54 properties exchanging hands (same number as in 2009!).
The lowest price was $226,000 and the highest price was $765,000. Average price per square foot was $164, down from $174 in 2009.
For more information about Belle Hall Plantation go to...
If you have the cash and plan to buy a home, there are different issues to consider to determine your best strategy.
First, you may consider peace of mind. Does having no debt make you sleep like a baby?
Next, consider financial effectiveness, tax and retirement planning. If you pay cash for a home and in the future need to refinance with cash out to use some of the equity, the interest you pay on the mortgage will NOT be tax deductible.
The tax code says that deductible mortgage interest must be from either:
RealtyTrack, a service that tracks foreclosures in the U.S. reported that lenders foreclosed on 1 million properties in 2010, a record number since it started tracking foreclosure activity in 2005.
That's a huge number! It means that banks are now proud owners of 1 million homes which will come back on the market this year. In Charleston and Mt Pleasant, we are already experiencing an increase in the number of lender-owned (REOs) that are being listed. There are currently more than 400 homes listed as REOs, and this number is probably much higher, as some REO agents do not label their listings correctly.
These properties will be aggressively priced, since banks will want to offload the...
Our market was generally healthier in 2010 than in 2009. Here are some facts for the Charleston MLS area that were recently published by the Charleston-Trident Association of Realtors:
No. of Closed Transactions: 8,649 (Up 5.2% from 2009)
Median Sales Price: $188,979 (Up 3.0% from 2009)
Average Sales Price: $266,106 (Up 4.7% from 2009)
Days On Market Until Sale: 107 (Down 4.8% from 2009)
Percent Achieved (Sales Price/Original List Price): 90.6% (Up 1/9% from 2009)
Months of Supply at Year-End: 10.9 (Down 18....
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The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Broker ReciprocitySM Program of the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other tha...
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