February 2017

You’ve worked with your Realtor to get your home ready to sell. Your home has been professionally photographed, and you’ve priced it competitively. Your Realtor’s marketing plan is working because you’re getting showings daily. You receive multiple offers from buyers wanting to purchase your home. Isn’t it great to be a seller in such a strong sellers’ market?

Getting multiple offers can be an ideal situation. However, both the seller and his Realtor feel pressure to choose the right contract. Otherwise, a buyer could leave them high and dry, putting them back at square one. Falling out of contract is tough because it’s easier to sell a brand new listing with no back story than one that has been off the market for weeks and has become stigmatized.

Although there are numerous financial and personal benefits of buying a home, ownership is not for everyone. And it’s better to have this realization before you make an offer on a home than after. There are steep penalties for biting off more than you can chew such as losing your earnest money and even defaulting on your mortgage (and damaging your credit for many years to come). If you’re wavering on whether or not to buy, pay attention to these signs below that indicate you should hold off on a home purchase.

Your Monthly Income is Unpredictable

For salaried workers who can rely on steady paychecks each month, financing a home is pretty straightforward. Whether you’re budgeting monthly expenses or getting approved through a lender, the numbers

In many cities around the country right now, it’s actually more expensive to rent than it is to own a home. For example, Charleston recently had one of the biggest quarter over quarter rent increases in the country. Because rental listings are in such high demand, landlords are able to up the rent price by several hundred dollars when it’s time to renew the lease. We’re seeing required lease periods of two or more years, and still these homes are getting rented out within days of being listed.

According to the Charleston MLS (Multiple Listing Service), the median rent price is $1,795 per month. Compare this to the median sales price of $240,000. Using a mortgage calculator, you’ll see that even with a low 3.5% down payment, the monthly mortgage

We’ve seen a surge in demand from home buyers who want to live within walking distance of shopping, restaurants, movies, and other entertainment. Walkability can be a tough feature to find in Charleston outside of Downtown, but Mt. Pleasant is perhaps the most walkable of Charleston’s suburbs.

Mount Pleasant Towne Centre is the biggest hub for entertainment, plus its central location makes it the target area for home buyers.

We’ve included below the best neighborhoods for living within walking/biking distance of Towne Centre:

Seaside Farms: Walking Score of 5/5

Seaside Farms is usually buyers’ top pick among communities near Towne Centre. You’ll find a large selection of single family houses in addition to luxury townhomes in the Marais

Some of our recent blogs have discussed Charleston’s awards and rankings from sources such as Forbes and Condé Nast Traveler. We’ve also tried to explain (from a Realtor’s perspective) why so many people want to live in our historic port city. At The Keadle Group, we thought this might be a great opportunity to hear firsthand from residents, visitors, past clients, colleagues, and friends about their favorite places and traditions in Charleston.

We’ve come up with a list of what we think are the best local restaurants. You’ll find the full list below, and we’d love your input! We’d also love to hear if there are any great places we haven’t listed. By all means, this is a list that should continue to grow with suggestions from readers. We’ll also be

As Realtors who have represented hundreds of home buyers, we can testify that appraisals bring about lots of questions. Our clients generally view the appraisal and the home inspection as the biggest hurdles of the purchasing process once we’re under contract. We’ve included below the most commonly asked questions along with our answers!

Do I have to get an appraisal?
If you’re taking out a mortgage to pay for your home, your lender will require an appraisal prior to closing. The reason is that the bank wants to make sure should you default on your loan, they’ll be able to sell the home for approximately the loan value. However, if you’re paying in cash, it’s completely up to you as to whether you get an appraisal. In some cases, it can be a good

When a homeowner starts considering selling her property, she often visits one of the top national real estate websites like Zillow or Trulia in order to find her home’s value. When she finds that her Zestimate (or Zillow estimate) is $480,000, she’s thrilled! And she’s determined to get that exact price when she sells her home.

As we’ve written about before, online estimates such as the Zestimate have a 7.4% median error in our Charleston SC real estate market. This error in the algorithm can go above or below the actual value, meaning that the $480,000 could be off by $71,040! Online home value estimators are helpful for using as a starting point, but their algorithms don’t take into account factors such as:

• Upgrades (the $30,000 kitchen

You might have heard that Charleston was recently ranked #1 by Travel + Leisure in their World’s Best Cities list. Last year it was ranked #2 in this list (and was also their #1 Best City in North America). Factors in their most recent list included: history, culture, cuisine, and a unique blend of antiquity and modernity.

Every year, Charleston seems to be added to yet another ranking as one of the top places to visit and to live in the country. Here's a sample showing some of the most recent:

• For 3 years in a row Condé Nast Traveler voted Charleston, SC the #1 city in the United States.
• Charleston always bodes well with Southern Living, which has named it Best Southern City and Most Mannerly City, among others.
• AARP has rated our city

Charleston, SC is a large enough city to support a varied job market, numerous parks and recreation complexes, a great health care system, and some of the best public and private schools in South Carolina. You'll find lots of festivals and annual events every month such as the Cooper River Bridge Run, Family Circle Cup tennis tournament, Spoleto arts festival, the Southeastern Wildlife Expo, and the Charleston Food + Wine Festival.

For sports fans, Charleston has a minor league baseball team (the Riverdogs), a professional soccer team (the Battery), and a professional hockey team (the Stingrays) - not to mention the college sports teams at College of Charleston, the Citadel, and Charleston Southern. You’ll also find great rec leagues where amateur