Columbia SC Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Rarely do I have a Columbia SC Real Estate buyer that just looks at one house. I have had this happen ONCE! There is always competition. So how do you pick the best bang for your buck?

The following will focus strictly on the ‘dollar’ value of a home, not its appeal or your emotions about a house.

Everybody knows the saying, “location, location, location", and guess what readers, IT’S TRUE! However, location is not the only factor that goes into the house, though it is the first one.

Everyone knows location matters, therefore I will only speak on this for a couple of sentences. Obviously the neighborhood is the most important thing when it comes to location. Whether it is Lexington, Irmo, Chapin, or Columbia, LOCATION MATTERS! We will take Irmo and Chapin for example, as they lap in school districts.

There are several different parts of what we call ‘Irmo’ here. Heck, Irmo HS is actually in the Columbia SC Real Estate Market (how many times did I hear another school ask “Whats an Irmo” when they announced us as Irmo HS from Columbia, SC?) In Irmo, we have the Columbia part (Harbison, St. Andrews) then we have the part that includes the big neighborhoods (Coldstream, Whitehall, Nursery Road, etc), then we have the Highway 6 area (Waterford, Wexford, etc), the Dutch Fork Part (Ashford etc) then Ballentine, then finally Chapin. Yes, Irmo is a large area.

Why did I list these in their order, because the price per sq foot increases as we go up. Not only is this location, but it is a direct value to the SCHOOLS.

In my opinion, schools are the largest driving force behind home values in a particular location. It is no secret that houses that go to Chapin schools are worth more on average than houses that go to Irmo HS, with Dutch Fork in between. Not that Irmo is not a GREAT SCHOOL (I went there), it is a great school. Statistically and more importantly, according to everyone that lives in this area, Ballentine and Chapin are the best schools.

Besides Location and Schools, we obviously have the construction of a Columbia SC Real Estate home. Brick and Hardi Plank are equal in value and superior to most other forms of conventional home construction. 2nd, in my opinion, is Vinyl, 3rd being wood, 4th being Masonite. The reason is about upkeep and repair. Brick and Hardi Plank need nothing usually, vinyl just needs cleaned, wood needs painted, masonite needs everything.

One might think that lot size affects is the value. In reality, it doesn’t. I have seen 3 acre’s with a nice house in Irmo sell for less than the .25 acre lot in Forty Love.

So, you may ask, how do I pick the best bang for the buck. My answer: HIRE A REALTOR, of course that is not going to be the popular answer.

Take a true inventory of the top 3 homes you like. Ask yourself, “What are they made of", “What schools do they go to", “Where are they?", etc etc.

Columbia SC Real Estate Buyers, it costs you nothing to work with me as your agent, why not have someone on your side?

Also See What to Look for in Columbia SC Real Estate Foreclosures!