Plantation Lakes Blog!

Suppose you finally came to an important decision—that this fall is going to be the right time for selling your Myrtle Beach house. If you had been biding your time, watching other Myrtle Beach houses being listed and closed throughout the summer, you may also have been getting a head start on some major maintenance or remodeling projects that you knew would be needed once you put your own place up for sale.

You may even have cleared away some extraneous furniture or décor items that had accumulated through the years, and made sure the landscaping was in good trim. If you had done those things—de-cluttered, spruced up, cleared the decks, etc.—you would have been just about ready to contact an agent to get the show on the road…

But what if even all the prep work nonetheless left you with the feeling that the old place still wasn’t quite ready. What if something still seemed to be missing: something you couldn’t quite put your finger on, but something that you just knew was needed to pep up the showings that would soon be taking place.

Selling a house to yield its maximum value can be more art than science. One of the skills that’s quite important is being able to envision what prospective buyers see. Especially with older properties, selling a house that to you seems filled with comforting familiarity might seem worn out (or just plain used) to others. Although many prospects do prefer older neighborhoods over newer ones, most folks also have a contradictory impulse: they appreciate the allure of the new. They may hanker for the mature landscaping and established community structures of older neighborhoods, yet simultaneously would prefer a place that seems freshly renewed.

Fortunately, taking a few steps to make an older property ‘new again’ needn’t be hugely expensive:

• Cabinets – It’s relatively easy to put a fresh face on worn cabinet doors and drawers to rejuvenate a tired-looking kitchen. You can find a wide range of reasonably priced panels that fit many cabinets. Sometimes the same effect can be achieved by re-staining—or simply changing the cabinetry hardware (go for stainless or brushed nickel to achieve the look the majority of today’s Myrtle Beach buyers prefer).
• Appliances – Full kitchen remodels can be more expensive than is really practical, but sometimes much of the same effect can be achieved by simply replacing an old range, oven, dishwasher or refrigerator. Re-facing appliances that are perfectly serviceable (especially stainless surfaces that can’t be rescued) is another budget-wise option.
• Tired-looking sinks and fixtures can all but ‘sink’ the prospects of selling your Myrtle Beach house. Sometimes the addition of stylish faucets and some fresh caulking can transform a kitchen or laundry room.

As you close in on the time for selling your Myrtle Beach house, sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help you see what still needs to be done—or, importantly, what doesn’t! It’s a very good reason to give me a call!

If you are a Myrtle Beach real estate observer, last week was the time of month when you typically look for the major data releases which detail how residential sales and prices performed in the previous month. Myrtle Beach observers weren’t disappointed: last Tuesday, the key National Association of Realtors® report came in right on schedule, with national media interpretations appearing close on its heels.

The NAR decreed that September’s existing-home sales numbers, which showed a 4.7% increase from the month before, indicated a resumption of the momentum that had momentarily faltered. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5,550,000 completed transactions was hailed as a strong rebound, marking the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

Realty Today agreed that the “more than expected” sales pace “suggests that the housing market continues to show strength compared to the rest of the economy.” In fact, the increase did contradict expectations from some observers. Their school of thought had been based on the common sense conclusion that if residential real estate price rises continue to outpace wage growth—as it has—the pace of sales would certainly slow. That prediction ran head-on into these latest figures. So much for common sense.

The financial press, which views real estate news from their own perspective, had a slightly different take—one that was equally positive. “Good news abounds,” wrote CNN Money. “After years of flunking, the American housing market finally merits a B+ grade.” The financial publication’s ebullience was based on data which indicated that building activity was picking up “at the fastest pace since the recession.” That meant that the real estate sector had turned an important corner, with “the housing market…finally starting to be a real boost to the U.S. economy—and stock market—instead of a drag.”

The Wall Street Journal gave Myrtle Beach real estate watchers an even more upbeat takeaway—going so far as to apply the rarely-invoked ‘surge’ word…twice! “U.S. Existing Home Sales Surge in September,” greeted WSJ readers on Wednesday. It was “a big increase” that put the real estate “market back on track for its strongest year since 2007.” Elsewhere, over the picture of a North Dakota roofer hard at work, another headline blared, “Home Construction Rebounds Amid Surge in Multifamily Units.” With all that ‘surging’ going on everywhere, Myrtle Beach readers might have begun to worry about keeping their balance…

But they needn’t have worried—economic writers wouldn’t be performing as expected if they didn’t include at least some hand-wringing. The Journal didn’t disappoint on that score, either. They found one economist, Richard Moody, who complied. “I have this list of things that worry me about how we can sustain this,” he fretted.

If you are a current or prospective Myrtle Beach homeowner, national real estate performance is of more than passing interest. I’m here to help you transform your own personal Myrtle Beach real estate projections into real performance!

When it comes to understanding the factors that come into play when buying or selling a home—or any practical real estate information at all—Myrtle Beach high school (or even college) graduates are on their own. If any real estate information has even been touched upon, it will have been in the most cursory manner: at best, one line item in a Home Economics budgeting discussion.

That’s one reason why everyone from first time Myrtle Beach homebuyers to itinerant real estate investors can benefit from the best of today’s how-to real estate books. Here are some of the popular oldies—as well as some valuable newcomers:

100 Questions Every First Time Home Buyer Should Ask is Ilyce Glink’s compilation of insights from top brokers across the country. Town first time buyers aren’t the only readers who will find this general reference valuable—Myrtle Beach home sellers who want insight into the concerns of potential buyers will find it a useful resource. The “100 Questions” don’t address every Myrtle Beach real estate information topic; but on the whole, this book is concise and informative.

Solid, practical information for homeowners readying their property for the Myrtle Beach market can be found in Rhoney and Richard’s Smart Essentials for Selling Your Home. In the same way that 100 Questions book is also useful to sellers, this one would make excellent reading for prospective home buyers who recognize the importance of understanding sellers’ priorities. Smart Essentials is mercifully short: just 92 pages!

For more seasoned readers who might be considering a Myrtle Beach residential investment, the bookshelves have plenty to offer:

The second edition of Gallinelli’s What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cashflow has been around for a while, but comes highly recommended for its textbook-level explanation of how economists digest real estate information for investment purposes. The formulas are all there, as well as examples that demonstrate how to apply them. Reading it won’t encourage prudent Myrtle Beach non-CPAs to do their own business tax returns—but will acquaint them with valuable foreknowledge on how their tax advisor approaches maximizing their refund. Its description of four different ways to make money from real estate can be eye-opening.

J. Scotts’ The Book on Flipping Houses (how to buy, rehab, and resell residential properties) is a roadmap from start to finish on how to go about a lucrative house flip. There are many books on the subject, but this one is the leader of the pack. First published in paperback in 2013, it’s been a real estate information best seller ever since. Part of its wide appeal is the author’s (he’s a veteran flipper) candid step-by-step descriptions of how he executes his own projects. The author’s other book (with co-author Brandon Turner) is:

The Book on Estimating Rehabs. This is a book Myrtle Beach real estate information-seekers should find well worth its hefty paperback price tag ($22.49 on Amazon). It details a variety of different approaches to projecting a rehab budget, including a breakdown of the 25 components that need evaluating.

Books can provide invaluable background information for real estate newcomers and veterans alike. Another essential is the assistance of a knowledgeable agent: good reason to give me a call!

When you read up on the dos and don’ts for selling your home, there is one piece of advice that’s universal when it comes to negotiating a successful deal: don’t let emotions get in the way. It does seem peculiar that something that is so obvious about any negotiation would have to be stated at all—much less repeated so often. You have to conclude that it happens a lot.

It does, and there are deep-seated reasons. Although selling your Myrtle Beach home is primarily a business venture, it’s one with some of the emotional overtones usually associated with creative endeavors. When an artist or sculptor, jewelry designer or photographer—any creative professional—decides to offer works for sale to the public, it’s nearly impossible for him or her to remain completely objective about how it is received. Or to avoid forming feelings about those who accept or reject the creation.

Selling your Myrtle Beach home only seems to be all business. True, it’s a single-transaction enterprise. It begins with preparing the property, and concludes with negotiating to close the deal. Every step of the process may seem to be all business. But in reality, it’s almost unavoidable for emotional cross currents to seep in from the very first step.

Consider preparing the property. If there were such a thing as a perfect home, this would be a cut-and-dried affair: all it would involve would be to eliminate every flaw. But since perfection exists only in some alternate universe, deciding which of a home’s features need to be enhanced, replaced, or done away with altogether involves making subjective judgments. Some of these can require paying significant amounts of money; others, significant amounts of elbow grease.

When the work is done and the results are first put on display, it’s like Opening Night. It is only human to feel personally connected with how prospective buyers react. Not only is the ‘product’ that’s being evaluated one that reflects your tastes and efforts—it’s also where you live! Your home, for goodness’ sake! It deserves to be appreciated at the very least…

Especially when it comes to the negotiations phase of selling your Myrtle Beach home, this is one business venture wherein it’s nearly impossible to avoid the personal element. Acknowledging it is simple. And knowledge is power—if you expect that you might experience an emotional reaction at some point, you’ll recognize it for what it is. If it’s an overreaction, you will be much more likely to be able to simply take a deep breath, put it into perspective—and come up with an appropriate response.

“A lot of times buyers and sellers will argue tooth and nail over things that aren’t really that important,” New York City closing attorney Sandor Krauss blogged recently; “and sometimes it blows deals.”

One of the great advantages to having a Myrtle Beach agent by your side when selling your Myrtle Beach home is to have an experienced intermediary working on your behalf. It can put you at a professional remove from the direct negotiations with buyers—and their emotions! If you will be selling your home in Myrtle Beach this winter or fall, I hope you’ll give me a call!

Whenever the words “reverse mortgage” are uttered, any Myrtle Beach TV viewer immediately makes the connection with one of several celebrity spokesmen who blanket the airwaves with commercials touting the concept. If you listen carefully, those reverse mortgage ads do actually describe the product with legal accuracy. If you have the standard degree of sales resistence most of us have developed after years of exposure to Madison Avenue pitches, you probably guess that instead of relying solely upon the celebrity spokesman’s trustworthiness, you’d better investigate further before running out and applying. Most people do.

So it was surprising when the government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found it necessary to issue a special advisory on the subject. Potential Myrtle Beach reverse mortgage applicants—that is, Myrtle Beach homeowners who meet the minimum age requirement of 62 ½—were warned “not to be deceived” by the “late night TV ads that seem too good to be true.” Without quibbling with the CFPB about when those commercials appear (you can see them almost any time after about 3 p.m.), it is easy to see how they might create broadly mistaken impressions on at least two counts. And it’s too bad, because although a reverse mortgage can be a useful instrument, it really can have nightmarish consequences for someone who doesn’t fully understand the concept and its ramifications.

The warnings were the result of the consumer watchdog organization’s focus group study that showed many viewers coming away with misimpressions following screenings of the ads. Many did not understand that a reverse mortgage is a loan. Others got the impression that a reverse mortgage is a government benefit—and worse, some thought it guaranteed that consumers could stay in their homes for the rest of their lives.

The fact is, these loans are simply a specialized way seniors can tap into their home’s equity: the value that has built up over the years. It’s true that they are designed so that the homeowners do not have to repay the loan until he or she passes away, sells or moves out—but it’s no guarantee that other factors (like taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and maintenance expenses) might not still cause a default should the borrower run out of money.

There are other fine print details that are not mentioned in most of the ads…and they’re every bit as important as the terms of any loan. Among those that are barely touched upon are the fact that there are costs and interest provisions attached to reverse mortgages—and the CFPB finds them to be relatively expensive.

Most Myrtle Beach homeowners are probably skeptical enough of any “too good to be true” pitch to automatically take a harder look—especially when it involves their Myrtle Beach home’s equity. If you have questions about financial matters having to do with that equity, your best bet is to discuss the details with a trusted financial advisor or a federally-approved housing counselor. And for any other questions about Myrtle Beach real estate, you needn’t hesitate to give me a call!

More than one Myrtle Beach home sale has resulted from a couple’s chance encounter with a Myrtle Beach open house. It still happens that they just drop in on the spur of the moment.

“Oh look! They’re having an open house down the street!” turns into curiosity, then interest, excitement—and ultimately, a life-altering change in where they call home.

Today that still happens, but a good deal less frequently than in the past. Part of the reason is the demotion of the open house in the pecking order of Myrtle Beach real estate strategies. At this point, a Myrtle Beach open house is simply never the central element in a home’s marketing blitz. The web has seen to that.

Let’s face it: if you can visit any listed home via its online virtual tour, the whole idea is that it requires a fraction of the time and effort an in-person visit takes. A home’s virtual tour is where you’ll head first. If you are aware of a Myrtle Beach open house scheduled for the weekend, chances are you may also check it out online first. If you like what you see there, you might even be tempted to call your agent or email the selling agent to schedule a private showing. Getting there ahead of the masses can give you an edge if the property draws a crowd.

If the online media (including the rapidly-expanding mobile universe) weren’t so ubiquitous, it’s a cinch we’d be seeing a whole lot more ‘Open House’ signs just driving around Myrtle Beach. But it’s not a completely extinct phenomenon.

For the house hunter who is just initiating the effort—anyone who suspects that a less virtual, more three-dimensional excursion is the best way to get a feel for what’s out there—look for notices in the newspaper classifieds, and even check the old-fashioned places—like grocery store bulletin boards. And Sunday is still the day you’ll find the most “Open House” signs in Myrtle Beach front yards—as well as their cooperative neighbors’ corner lot lawns.

Open houses can offer a leisurely weekend way to wade into this fall’s residential offerings, but for those who have advanced to a stage where a more concentrated and efficient effort is called for, there’s no substitute for the assistance of an experienced town real estate agent. And there is also no need for such a substitute—I’m right here, ready for your call!

“Myrtle Beach home loan game theory” sounded like an intriguing topic when the phrase first occurred to me. I thought it would mean figuring out whether a mortgage would constitute a financial move that made sense. But the more I studied “game theory,” the more complicated it got. And maybe not as theoretical as I’d thought...

As far as the terms themselves are concerned, a Myrtle Beach “Home Loan” is exactly what it says it is: a mortgage on your Myrtle Beach home. “Game theory” is more obscure. For openers, “game theory” sounds like a lot more fun that it really is. It’s like the bore who wants to tell you exactly why some joke is funny—the explanation isn’t at all humorous. ‘Game theory’ isn’t about playing anything. It’s about mathematics.

Professor R.B. Myerson is the authority who tells us that game theory is the study of decision-making. It’s a dissection of “mathematical models of conflict and cooperation.” That’s a pretty good thumbnail description of the board games kids play. If you remember playing Monopoly as a child, you may also remember how mad you’d get if the other players cooperated too much. Sometimes they’d trade properties with each other so that one was able to build hotels on the dark blue properties. That meant that when you landed on Boardwalk, you went broke. Professor Myerson was right: that was a study in cooperation that would make anyone feel conflict.

But the Professor’s definition also says that game theory deals with the actions of “intelligent rational decision-makers.” In home loan game theory, when the process of filling out forms and gathering backup materials goes on and on, it can seem to stretch beyond anything that’s rational. But once you do get a Myrtle Beach home loan, the decision-making does seem both intelligent and rational.

“Myrtle Beach home loan game theory,” then, would be the study of strategic decision-making by the person who wants to obtain a home loan and the bank personnel who give the okay. Originally, game theory only dealt with zero-sum games—the ones where if someone gains something, the other one loses. It has since expanded to include all sorts of “win-win” scenarios, but at least one world-renowned investor has a different game theory about home loans. Warren Buffett is quoted as saying:

“You can take a 30-year mortgage and if it turns out your interest rate’s too high, next week you refinance lower. And if it turns out it’s too low, the other guy’s stuck with it for 30 years.”

Come to think of it, that’s exactly what has been happening ever since mortgage rates started coming down! Which is why I’m pretty sure that particular home loan game theory isn’t so theoretical at all.

Also not theoretical: given today’s mortgage interest rates, if you are thinking about looking into Myrtle Beach real estate possibilities, giving me a call is a good next move!

It’s October­­­; a time of year that has a lot to recommend it. In many parts of the country, it’s the season when Mother Nature goes full throttle with the Technicolor. Sunsets can be outrageous. In some parts of the country, leaves can bid adieu with displays that put rainbows to shame. Fall weather turns the air a bit crisper. All in all, to a lot of folks, fall is the favorite time of the year.

Selling your Myrtle Beach house in the autumn, on the other hand, can present some special challenges. Selling your house in the springtime, for instance, doesn’t include clearing the garden of the remnants of summer growth (that is, unless you let it go the previous year!). The plusses and minuses of selling your house after the peak spring-summer real estate rush is over can be debated at length. What isn’t debatable is that to take full advantage of selling your house this time of year, you should be aware of a few specifics:

• Keep up with the season
  … leaf fall for yards with deciduous plants can require almost daily attention during some periods. You’re the best judge of when the debris crosses the line from pleasantly natural into downright unsightly­­—but in any case, it’s a good idea to make a quick inspection part of your daily routine.
• Keep up with the weather
  … leaf fall is one thing, but windy fall storms can turn a well-kept garden inside-out in a few hours. After a storm passes, be prepared to hose off the traces of muddy puddles and do some organized sweeping. It can make a big difference when you approach a house with a clear walkway (vs. one that looks like a typhoon just passed!).
• Pet areas
  …they can be more difficult to manage in autumn and winter when Mother Nature can keep them indoors for longer periods or make their favorite hangouts less accessible. Being more flexible and attentive to their needs than in summertime is often necessary.
• Prepare the mechanicals
  …if sudden chills descend, knowing that your heating setup is ready to go into action assures a welcoming environment for prospective buyers. If it hasn’t been in use since last spring, a system may produce some unpleasant side effects the first time it’s fired up. If yours one that needs a yearly checkup by the utility company, better not wait!
• Anticipate success!
  Selling your Myrtle Beach home in fal­l­ and winter may take a little extra vigilance when the weather acts up, but buyers at this time of year can be more eager to close on their new home. Be organized for success, which can mean everything from having a year’s worth of utility bills ready to show­, to scoping out where you’re headed next.

Selling your Myrtle Beach home efficiently takes some organization and planning. A good first step is to get in touch with a Myrtle Beach real estate professional who will pitch in and help every step of the way. In other words—call me!

If 90% of home buyers use the internet at some point in their search, the percentage who go to the Myrtle Beach listings has to be close to the same ballpark. It’s hard to imagine anyone NOT wanting to take at least a peek at the current listings. Even if they have already settled on a target property, curiosity would send most of us to check out the way it’s described in its Myrtle Beach listing.

When you begin your house-hunting project online, the chances are you just scan the listings’ major features to narrow down the candidates, leaving out the majority of the finer details until later. Some of that information might turn out to be decisive—but most likely not until you’ve settled on the major contenders, and possible already toured them in person.

What can be more important than you’d think might be the descriptive language that describes the overall property: the ‘blurb’ that’s up there at the top of Myrtle Beach listings. Just as a good salesman in any field strives to present the most attractive facets of their product, a Myrtle Beach listing’s descriptive paragraph can be as important as the glamour photo that accompanies it.

In pursuit of facts that might support that idea, Zillow’s writer Catherine Sherman took a look at some research that dissected the language used in some 24,000 listings. They all resulted in sales—but some brought higher sale prices than did others. Her summary of the findings is pretty interesting:

Luxurious, Captivating, Impeccable (and Spotless) were among the adjectives that appeared most often in listings that resulted in above-average sale prices. That stands to reason: adjectives pointing to higher-end features would be apt to set a superior tone.

Less obviously, some of the nouns that accompanied larger price tags were Basketball, Pergola, and Granite. “Granite” will surprise no one who has been exposed to home design over the past 20 or 20 years—granite counters are the default go-to material that’s come to symbolize quality in kitchen décor. And pergolas are landscaping plusses…

But…“Basketball”?

Apparently for lower-priced homes with listings that mention ‘basketball,’ selling prices are 4.5% more than expected. You have to suspect that the word gives some color to a run-of-the mill listing—yet I’d be surprised if just setting up a hoop over the garage door made much of an impact. When Author Sherman writes “Among lower-priced homes…an indoor basketball court is a huge selling point,” I have to think, “DUH!” How many Myrtle Beach listings for lower-priced homes have indoor basketball courts (or bowling alleys or soccer stadiums, either)?

More practically, Upgraded and Updated were listing words that coincided with slightly higher sale numbers—at least in mid-priced homes. And Gentle was a surprising winner, too, as in “gentle rolling hills.”

I think ‘gentle’ highlights the most important take-away that I believe is relevant and true. Thoughtfully composed, accurate descriptions are what give Myrtle Beach listings a working advantage over cookie-cutter summaries—especially those weighed down by cliché-studded vocabularies. I work hard to insure that my clients’ online presence stands out from the crowd. If you plan to be listing a Myrtle Beach property soon, I hope you will give me a call to demonstrate what I mean!

You know what the “wow factor” is for any Myrtle Beach home that’s for sale—it’s the extra something that’s highly desirable and unique to the property. It could be a three-story entry hall, or a game room that’s large enough for a pool table and a conversation pit. It might be a home theater with four stepped rows of velvet-upholstered movie house seats. It might be a bricked backyard barbecue arena, with a step-down standing pit which puts the Chef of the day at eye level with the seated guests.

And you also know what a Myrtle Beach fixer-upper is. It’s any Myrtle Beach property that is up for sale at a bargain price due to maintenance that is left for the new owner to worry about. A Myrtle Beach fixer-upper is an opportunity for prospective buyers to become owners of homes that would otherwise be out of their price range. Fixer-uppers attract prospects who are ready to dig into projects that take varying degrees of elbow grease, imagination—and also some extra cash.

There’s an element of risk that’s usually attached to a fixer-upper, because any major maintenance or remodeling project can run into unknown snags. So fixer-upper buyers should also possess some degree of courage!

Sooooo, what in the world could the “fixer-upper wow factor” mean?

For one thing, any Myrtle Beach home that’s listed for sale that has the ‘fixer-upper wow factor’ is a rare bird indeed. It is, as the title conveys, a residence in need of restoration—but which also has a design element (or elements) which are uniquely captivating. For prospective buyers who find those features intriguing, such a property can prove pretty irresistible. The price puts it within reach—and the design is better than anything they had been hoping to find!

In other words, a home that has the ‘fixer-upper wow factor’ is, potentially, a trap.

This is not to say that such a property cannot be a true bargain; lucky find; etc. Indeed, for the right buyer, it certainly can be. The caveat is that a fixer-upper with wow factor features can lure in prospects who aren’t really prepared for the ‘fixing up’ part. If they lack the extra funds it may take to bring the property back up to snuff—or lack the know-how, patience, or time such a project requires—they might be charmed into biting off more than they can chew. With indigestible results: a perpetually-unfinished property characterized more ‘yccch’ than ‘wow.’

Luckily, most prospective buyers who fall into this category get over the wow factor after a second or third visit—or after a discussion with their Realtor®—or after taking a look at the home inspector’s report. For those who are ready to dig into the fixer-upperness, they can end up with a wow of a home…at a wow of a price!

There aren’t a surplus of Myrtle Beach fixer-uppers with wow on the market right now—but when you take today’s mortgage interest rates into account, there are plenty of wow-producing good bargains: call me!