We’ve recently added more information to our Things to Do page. This page has some of the most popular sites and attractions in the Charleston area – from plantations and museums to sports games and shopping. So, if you’re planning a trip to Charleston to look at homes, be sure to check it out so that you can see everything that Charleston has to offer! Or, if you already live in Charleston, it’s also a great page to simply learn more about the place you already call home!
Prudential is by far the top real estate company in Charleston. A lot of home buyers see our signs and advertising and assume that we’re one of the top companies. But, they don’t have actual information to compare us with the rest. So, we’ve included some statistics below that were taken from the MLS along with other information about our company.
Prudential:
sold 47% of properties on the MLS in 2007 – that’s almost 4 times what our next biggest competitor sold.
participates in 1 out of every 3 home sales in the MLS.
has been the top selling real estate company in Charleston since 1991.
is the largest real estate company in Charleston, with over 900 agents.
It’s a great time to buy real estate in Charleston right now. Four factors benefit home buyers in Charleston’s real estate market:
1) Low interest rates – We’re seeing interest rates in the 6% range. A lot of home owners are refinancing right now. Most of what you hear about refinancing in the news right now is related to adjustable rate mortgages. But, there are also a lot of people refinancing to take advantage of the good rates. So, the rates are good news not just for home buyers, but also for current home owners.
2) Large selection of homes – Right now there are a little over 10,000 active listings on the Charleston MLS. Believe it or not, this number is actually lower than it was a few months ago, when there were almost 12,000. It’s…
You’ll find a large selection of newer homes in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Below you’ll see popular neighborhoods with newer homes. In these communities, the majority of the homes were built after 2000. We’ve ordered them by the most current year built – newest to oldest.
Darrell Creek
We’ve included below some of the most popular Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods with older homes. These neighborhoods will have mostly homes that were built before 2000. Also, you can use the links to search for homes by neighborhood! For each community, you’ll find dates that most of the homes were built along with current home prices.
Ordered by starting price, from lowest to highest:
Longpoint
We’ve included some of the newest condo developments in Mt. Pleasant. You can use the links to search all the condo MLS listings by neighborhood! We’ve listed the condos by starting price – from lowest to highest.
Park West has two popular subsections with new condos. Madison has some of the most affordable condos in Mt. Pleasant, with prices starting around $110K and going up to $160K. The Battery also has relatively affordable condos, ranging from about $160K to $250K.
Southampton Pointe is located close to Towne Center. This new condo community has good landscaping and really nice amenities. Condo prices range from $160K to just over $240K.
Seaside Farms is also a popular newer condo community in Mt. Pleasant. It has several…
The Family Circle Cup is also coming up in the next few weeks. It’s one of the longest running professional tennis events for women, with a 35 year anniversary coming up. The Family Circle Cup attracts even more people than the Bridge Run, with an estimated 90,000 spectators for this year. It will be held April 12-20 at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Daniel Island.
Find more Charleston events!
The 31st annual Cooper River Bridge Run will be next weekend – April 5th. The Bridge Run is one of the biggest annual events in Charleston, and it’s one of the major races in the southeast. Almost 40,000 participants are expected to come out this year for the run. It’s a 10K run/walk starting in Mt. Pleasant and going over the Ravenel Bridge into downtown Charleston. There is also a separate kids’ run that will be held the day before the big race. Distances for kids will range from 25 yards up to a mile, depending on age. Too bad there’s not a kids’ run for the rest of us!
Learn more about things to do in Charleston, SC!
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is an insurance policy the borrower pays for which protects the lender in case of foreclosure. You’ve probably heard about PMI before, since most loans over 80% usually require PMI. It has actually gotten harder to get PMI with recent FICO changes. Many of the insurance companies are not writing policies unless you have a 620 credit score.
So, you want to make sure that if your loan requires PMI, your lender orders the policy upfront and you have no trouble getting it. Most people don’t realize that the money they pay in monthly mortgage payments is collected by the lender and paid to another institution (most people think the lender keeps this money).
There are loans now available called “lender paid MI”…
One of the most important parts of choosing a lender is usually the last thing people think of. Make sure that the lender you choose is actually going to have the money at the closing table. Believe it or not, this has been one of the biggest problems over the past year. Work with a bank that closes on the loans they approve or commit to. When I give approval to my clients, I’m committing with a few conditions (such as satisfactory appraisal). But, outside of these conditions, I’m committing my loan to you.
One way to make sure your loan will close is to make sure you’re working with an in house underwriter. For example, since I’m my own underwriter, when I approve a loan it has already been signed off on and approved. Some home loan officers have…
