Columbia SC Real Estate and Homes for Sale

If you are like me, you may have spent a part of your Labor Day watching Hurricane Gustav tear apart the Gulf of Mexico.  I feel for those people.  Luckily, this time, they were better prepared than they were for Hurricane Katrina. 

Hurricanes are a significant threat to Real Estate.  Columbia SC Real Estate had felt the detriment during Hurricane Hugo back in 1989.   This category storm reaked havoc on SC, making landfall at a Category 4. 

Currently, Columbia SC Real Estate needs to be bracing for Hurricane Hanna.  It is on its way, but what do you need to do? 

Above is the projected path as of September 1st.

At the NOAA, you can find a family preparedness plan.  This is important.  Even though we rarely feel the wrath of a hurricane in the Columbia SC Real Estate market, it is possible. 

Concerning your house, you need to make sure your Homeowners Insurance is paid up.  Also, go over your policy and make sure you are covered for the correct amounts. 

More than likely, you do not have flood insurance.  This is a good coverage to purchase.  You may not be in the 50 or 100 year flood zone, as most of the Columbia SC Real Estate Market is not, however, it is always better safe than sorry.

If need be, board up the windows on your home.  We rarely (not in my lifetime) have had to do this. 

If you have to leave the area, have a plan in place.  Where are you going?  Do you have food and water in case you are stranded. 

Most importantly, have a plan for your pets!  Fido and fluffy need to be taken care of too.  I have 3 dogs and 5 cats.  Have a plan so these animals do not end up hurt, stranded, or worse. 

I hope these tips will definitely help you in securing your home and person in case of a Hurricane in Columbia SC Real Estate.

Alright, you are at the point of executing a Contract of Sale on the Columbia SC Real Estate home you want to purchase.  You know what you want to pay, you are already Pre Approved to purchase this Columbia SC Real Estate home.  You and your agent have done your due diligence, and barring unforeseen circumstances, such as repairs, termites, liens, etc…you want to purchase this home.

You agent then asks you, “How much earnest money do you want to put down?”

Wikipedia defines earnest money as:

An earnest payment (sometimes called earnest money or simply earnest, or alternatively a good-faith deposit) is a deposit towards the purchase of real estate or publicly tendered government contract made by a buyer or registered contractor to demonstrate that he/she is serious (earnest) about wanting to complete the purchase. When a buyer makes an offer to buy residential real estate, he/she generally signs a contract and pays a sum acceptable to the seller by way of earnest money.

Pretty much, you are showing monetarily a good faith promise that you will close on this house, barring any unforseen circumstances as listed above.

Earnest money deposits vary greatly within the Columbia SC Real Estate market, however, there is a trend.  Under about $150,000, a $500 earnest money deposit seems to be acceptable.  Of course, this is always part of the negotiations.

Typically, one of the Columbia SC Real Estate brokerages holds that money in a trust account.  Most will not accept cash, and most require that the check be made out to XYZ Real Estate Company.  These trust accounts are used solely to hold earnest money.  The money can not be accessed unless the house closes, or both parties agree for the earnest money to be dispersed. 

At closing, the purchaser is credited for the earnest money.  You get it back, unless you are found in default of the contract. 

There are several contingencies in the standard Columbia SC Real Estate contract about Earnest money.  If you have any questions about earnest money, or anything else to do with Columbia South Carolina Real Estate, please contact me and I will gladly help you!

Also see Columbia SC Real Estate Closing Costs

What can I say, I love homes. Rarely though do I see a property within the Columbia SC Real Estate market that I think to myself, “I have to have this house!” Well, 208 Upland Trail Road located in the Green Hill Parish Neighborhood just outside of NE Columbia SC Real Estate is the house. It is that house that stands above all others. It is the house that the most discernable buyer can call home. It has everything…and then more.

Located just a few miles from The Village at Sandhills, off of Spears Creek Church Road, Green Hill Parish is a stunning neighborhood of high end Brick and Hardy Plank homes. With luscious green spaces, a community center with large pool, parks and common areas, this neighborhood provides a family atmosphere with all the amenities that high end Columbia SC Real Estate purchasers desire.

208 Upland Trail Road is that house. That house that people desire for!

Sprawling 3350 Square Feet, with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, this house is large enough for entertaining as well as enjoying family time with one another. Solid brick with hardiplank accents, this sturdy piece of Columbia SC Real Estate will last the times.

Beautifully decorated with designer paints and textures, this home truly sings and blows the competition out of the water.

Inside the home you will find Hardwood floors throughout the downstairs. Walk into the living room and you will notice the extremely high cathedral ceilings with plenty of natural light. This large living room is a stunning place to entertain friends and famly.

Walk into the kitchen and you will notice the beautiful Granite counter tops along with the hardwood floors. With that, you have Stainless Steel GE Profile appliances. The amount of cabinet space and counter space is unparrallel to any house I have seen. With a large island in the center, with a solid surface cook top, you can both enjoy cooking while entertaining with this wide open floor plan.

The dining room, located off the kitchen, is stunning. With heavy moldings, this will quickly become where you want to eat each meal each day.

The master bedroom is large…very large. With his and her closets with ample storage place, all your shoes and clothes are at arms reach.

The attached master bath has 2 separate vanities, with water closet, whirlpool tub, and stand up shower. It is truly a retreat that you can enjoy each and every morning.

Upstairs, the first bedroom has it’s own private bathroom as well as walk in closet. All the bedrooms have ample closet space and are larger than most.

As well, you have a fully finished FROG with large closet (could be 5th bedroom). It is truly a great place to entertain, have a fun movie night, or a play room.

In the rear of the house you have a large deck to enjoy the Columbia SC Real Estate Markets sun. In addition, you are fenced in with super high end aluminum fencing.

The front curb appeal is a landscapers dream. With palms, palmettos, great greenery, and not to mention the perfectly maintained grass, you will enjoy this each and every day as you walk past towards the park, or pull in to your spacious 2 car garage.

This home is truly that, a home for the person who has the exquisite taste and can enjoy such a home.

If you have any questions on 208 Upland Trail Road, please do not hesitate to contact your Columbia SC Real Estate Agent.

While I know that you enjoy the articles I write on my Columbia SC Real Estate blog, there is more than likely one primary reason you come to this blog.  That is to conduct an easy, user-friendly Search for Columbia SC Real Estate. 

Whether you are a buyer or seller, you are more interested in either finding a home, or finding out what your Columbia SC Real Estate is worth.  My search tool covers our entire MLS.

On my home search tool, you can search for homes in many different ways.  Whether you want an area map, neighborhood information, or you want to get down into the nitty gritty of beds, baths, price, size, and other ammenities, you can do it all right here!

Once you are ready to Search for Columbia SC Real Estate homes, just click the link.  You will be taken to a map, and be able to choose your area, and draw down to almost any information you could possibly want to choose.  There are some great Columbia SC Real Estate neighborhoods out there, so be sure to search by neighborhood as well!

If there is anything I can do to assist you in finding the perfect Columbia SC Real Estate home, please do let me know and do not hesitate to contact me.

Is it just me, or do Fridays keep coming around faster and faster in the Columbia SC Real Estate Market? Maybe its because Im so young!

Any way, its time for our “Mortgage Market Week in Review.” Were going to focus on a couple of main topics for today which all Impact Columbia SC Real Estate:

Jobs - the ADP report came out on Wednesday and had some relatively positive news. That brought a lot of people in the markets thinking that the jobs report that came out this morning would be a lot more positive than the markets had been expecting. Well, we got to this morning and it came out “moderate.” The market had expected 70,000 losses and we only got 51000 losses. We had expected 5.6% unemployment and we got 5.7%. So, not too bad, but not too good either. However, Ive read some technical analysis that said that due to some accounting regulations (known as the birth death of businesses adjustments) these numbers are probably overstating things to the positive. That means that next month, these numbers will probably get revised downward.  Jobs are strong within the Columbia SC Real Estate market area.  Business may be picking up some.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Losses - talk about missing a target here, wow. General Motors announced that they lost $15 billion this quarter. Think about it, thats a lot of money. Even if you take out the “one time” expenses, that is still a LOT of money (like maybe $6 billion, I think the number was.) I read today that GM has now “eaten up” all of their profits that they have made since 1985. That means that a profit and loss statement for the last 23 years for General Motors would end up with a big fat $0. In addition to them, Deutsche Bank announce a 64% drop in profits and Merrill Lynch announced some staggeringly negative numbers too.

House prices made a lot of news this week. Alan Greenspan was talking about them and several others also made a lot of noise about whats happening with house prices. Check out the chart here to give you a good flavor of the regionality of housing prices and how not all areas are seeing the same numbers.  Pricing your Columbia SC Real Estate Home properly has never been more important.

The Housing Bill - the Congress passed it last weekend and President Bush signed it on Wednesday. Let me give you a couple of bullet points about it:

1. Fannie and Freddie now have the ability to write an unlimited check off the U.S. Treasury in order to keep going.
2. The rules are in place to give FHA the ability to help more troubled borrowers but a lot of people have serious doubts as to how many it will help.
3. The Down payment assistance programs that are bringing astoundingly higher default rates on FHA loans are being eliminated. Click here to read some more of my thoughts on those.
4. The capital gains tax rules have changed based on how long youve owned the house vs. how long its been your primary residence.
So, a mixed bag of results and I think that more and more people are feeling that this housing bill, other than saving Fannie and Freddie might not be all that much to count on.

Along the Fannie and Freddie line, there are more and more people who are starting to talk about the “what happens after this is over” in terms of Fannie and Freddie. What sort of mortgage industry do we want to have and should the government be involved. Going to be an interesting discussion.

Rule Changes - while I cant speak for any other banks, I fully expect that others are doing the same thing. We got the announcement on Wednesday that on 2nd mortgages, the highest well go is an 85% loan to value. That means that the age of an 80/10/10 or an 80/15/5 is gone. Can you still buy a house with less than 15% down? Absolutely, but it has to be with PMI. Why are we doing that? Im merely throwing my own spin on it, but Im guessing that its for 2 reasons: 1) House prices havent bottomed yet and we dont want to be upside down on the second mortgages and/or 2) We want to “share” the risk with the PMI companies rather than take it all ourselves.

A couple of other “reports” came out this week. The GDP reports came in better than last month but weaker than expected. Also, consumer confidence was up. Why was it up? I think theres a very simple reason for it. On your way home after reading this, look at the sign in front of your local gas station. Does the number start with a 3 or a 4? Gas and oil prices are down and that makes everyone feel better.

In all of this turmoil, the mortgage market ended up the week down just a “smidge” (technical term) compared to last week. Ill continue to keep you informed, please call or e-mail any time I can be of help.

Thanks!

Tom Vanderwell