May 2007

Found 16 blog entries for May 2007.

People moving to Charleston, SC often have questions about where to live (or where to invest). As a real estate agent, I always ask them, "What are you looking for?" In order to help people who are relocating to the Charleston area, I have organized my suggestions into 7 answers.

 

1) Folly Beach is a great investment because there will pretty much always be a great demand of people who want to live at the beach.  Folly Beach is the most popular beach in the Charleston area, especially for college students and young professionals.  Add this popularity with its proximity to downtown Charleston, and you will find that Folly Beach is a great rental area.  

 

2) James Island is a little more affordable than Folly Beach, and it is even closer to

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When it comes to financing a home, buyers have plenty of choices.  Having lots of options means that buyers can find a mortgage that suits their needs.  However, these options can also make financing a home overwhelming.  So, we are going to explain the four most popular types of home mortgages, tell about the benefits and disadvantages of each, and explain when it is a good idea to use each type.

 

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMS) have been in the news for months.  We have heard reports about how home owners bought these mortgages originally with low interest rates, but now the payments have skyrocketed due to the rise of interest rates.  The unpredictable nature of ARMS makes them a high risk mortgage.  The benefits are that interest rates can be

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The first step in figuring out which home you can afford is to talk with a home loan officer so that you can get pre-qualified for a loan.  There is no reason to make plans for a house that you love but cannot afford.  Getting pre-qualified allows you to know how much a lender is willing to offer you.  The pre-qualification is not a guarantee that you will get that amount, but it will give you the best estimate of what you can afford.  When it gets closer to the time you need to buy, you will get pre-approved for a loan.  The pre-approval process is much more involved than the pre-qualification process because your lender will need pay stubs, tax forms, credit history, bank statements, and other financial documents.

When putting in an offer to buy a…
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For most people, buying a home is the single largest investment they will ever make.  Because buying a home is such a big event, many people avoid the opportunity altogether and choose to rent instead.  When considering renting, just remember that owning a home has many financial benefits - especially in Charleston's real estate market.

 

One of the biggest financial benefits is income tax deductions.  You can reduce your taxable income by deducting the property taxes and the interest of your home mortgage from your gross income.  So, if you pay $6,000 a year in interest and $1000 a year in property taxes, you can subtract $7,000 from your taxable income.

 

Another benefit of owning a home is that you control how much you pay for housing every

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If you are looking to buy a new home, try to find a home that will have a good resale value down the road.  This concept applies to first time home buyers who are just looking for a “first home” as well as home buyers who plan on living in the home for the rest of their lives.  It is important for both types of home buyers to have an exit strategy so that if you for some reason needed to sell your home in the future, you would be able to.  This exit strategy is even more relevant with the cooling housing market we are experiencing.  There are seven basic areas to consider for resale.

 

1) Bedrooms and Baths: Most people who are looking for homes want at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  If you find a 3 bedroom and 1 bath house that you love, do not

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When looking for a home, you will generally find three home types – single family house, townhouse, and condominium.  Everyone knows what a house is, but many buyers (and many real estate agents) use the terms townhouse and condominium interchangeably.  It is important to know the difference so that you can understand which type of home suits your needs.

 

What most people call a “house” is a stand alone home.  These are detached structures, so you own all of the walls that make up your home.  In MLS listings, these types of homes are usually called “single family homes” because they are designed for one typical family to live in.  Owners possess both the house and the land that the house sits on (called the lot).  Since there are no common walls that

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