Big news, I’ve left Carolina One and moved to a boutique agency downtown. I’m excited, it reminds me of starting in the business so long ago.

Here’s a sneak peak at my new signs.

Let me know what you think!!!

Today, I resign from Carolina One. It has been my real estate home for the past thirteen years in all its incarnations: Coldwell Banker O’Shaughnessy, Prudential Carolina and recently Carolina One. I am going to a boutique agency downtown where I can take everything I’ve learned and practice real estate the way I would like. It’s an exciting prospect, I hope you’ll all join me.

• Ø A first time home buyer- Anyone who hasn’t owned a home for 3 years prior to the day of closing.
• Ø You must complete the purchase this year (2009) before November 30
• Ø Income limits? You bettcha… If you file a 1040 as single or head of household, your adjusted gross income can’t be more than $75,000 to qualify for the full amount. There’s a sliding scale above that and it pretty much peters out at $95,000. If you file as married, your adjusted gross cap is $150,000.
• Ø How much is it and how do I get it? The tax credit last year was $7500 and had to be paid back over time. This year it’s a straight tax credit with no payback. So let’s say you qualify for the full $8000 credit: If you owe $10,000 in taxes, you’d only pay $2000. If you owed $2,000 in taxes, you wouldn’t pay, but you’d get a check for $6,000. If you got a $3000 refund it would be $11,000. It’s not that difficult.
• Ø What do I mean if you qualify for the entire $8000? The credit is $8000 or 10% of the house you bought whichever is less. If the house is $80,000 or more it’s the full $8000. If the house was $70,000, let’s say, your credit would be $7,000.
• Ø What type of home qualifies? A single family detached, condo, townhouse, just about any new or existing dwelling as long as it’s a principle residence (one where you spend over 50% of your time) and is in the United States.
• Ø How do I claim the credit? There’s a new form from the IRS #5405 that attaches to the tax forms.
• Ø You must live in the home for 3 years or you’ll have to pay the credit back. This is to discourage flips.
• Ø Just about any financing will work with this credit, even state housing.

That’s it in a nutshell. I am not a lawyer or accountant so make sure you run your particular situation by them before you send in your taxes

     Mixon, the sustainable neighborhood in the Park Circle area has garnered another honor. The American Institute of Architects Charleston Award for Service to the Community and Design Profession is given each year to a builder or developer who betters the community at large through excellence in their work.

     Design is the Problem and the Solution: The future of design must be sustainable is the subject of a presentation on the 18th by Nathan Shedroff, chair of the MBA in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.  He will speak at the Visitor’s Center Theater at 6:00 pm.

I’d like to share some numbers with you that surprised me. I compared single family homes, since the first of this year, on James Island and the entire Multiple Listing Service area.

                                        James Island             Status                  MLS

 Under $200,000                       29                   Active                      2218

                                                         12                   Contracted               344

                                                           0                   Pending                     266

                                                         39                   Sold                            2382

200,000-300,000                     121                  Active                         1476

                                                        16                   Contracted                   176

                                                          1                    Pending                       162

                                                      133                    Sold                            1495

300,000-400,000                      77                   Active                            788

                                                        10                   Contracted                     68

                                                          4                   Pending                           43

                                                         59                   Sold                            565                                

$400,000-500,000                    48                   Active                            520

                                                           5                   Contracted                      43

                                                           0                   Pending                           14

                                                          19                  Sold                                286

$500,000-1 Million                   69                  Active                          1407

                                                            4                  Contracted                      48

                                                            0                  Pending                           23

                                                          22                  Sold                                443

$1 Million +                                 20                   Active                          1034

                                                            1                   Contracted                       26

                                                            0                   Pending                              7

                                                            3                   Sold                                 176    

Homes are selling. They need to look their absolute best and be priced to sell. Yes, loans are harder to get and investment loans are asking 20% down, but people are selling and people are buying, especially in a destination market like Charleston.

If you’re ready or know someone who may be interested, call me. Buying or selling in the Lowcountry or across the globe, I’m ready to go to work.

Talk to you soon, I hope.

“…The numbers I have on Charleston-Charleston is doing pretty well.  The real estate market ’s not anywhere near the gloom and doom stuff. It’s not as good as it was two years ago. It’s certainly slowed down. And it’s harder to sell a house than it was and they aren’t bringing as much as they used to bring. But it sure hasn’t crashed versus Florida or Michigan. I mean thank God you aren’t in that mess.”

We are correcting. People were saying that the prices were going up too fast, and guess what? they were right. No area of the country could sustain that fast a price rise for very long. It had to slow down and allow some time to correct.  The market will turn around. You can already see it starting here in Charleston. Showings are increasing, there are buyers here shopping for homes. And they are buying.

No the prices aren’t going to double in a year, but we will have growth. People are buying here, including second or retirement homes. The market is great for investment, I don’t see real estate in Charleston ever being a bad investment.  But the days of a quick flip for a fat check are gone. And that’s just as well. Steady growth is so much better for the area, less volatile too.

It is a tax credit. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount of taxes that you owe. It can result in a tax refund. It is calculated as 10% of a purchase price up to $75,000. That’s a maximum of $7500 off your taxes.

It must be repaid.  Beginning in the second year of ownership, you will add $500 to your tax payment each year.  If you sell your home for a profit, you must repay the balance of your credit in full.  If you sell your home at a loss, your balance is forgiven.

WHO IS ELLIGIBLE?

If you have not owned a primary residence in the previous 3 years, you qualify as a first time home buyer in this program. If you are married, both of you must meet this qualification.

The income qualififiers are:     Single - makes under $75,000 (Modified Adjusted Gross Income)                         Married- combined income of less that $150,000(MAGI)

What Kind of Home Qualifies?

Any kind of home (single family, condo or townhouse) new or resale.  It must be used as a primary residence. It must close between 4/9/08 and 7/1/09. 

Please keep in mind that there are bad apples in every profession. Always deal with professionals working with  recognized companies within any industry. I’ll be happy to recommend professionals that I personally know and trust in each phase of buying or selling a home. 

     Travel + Leisure’s readers have bumped Charleston up two spots from last year’s World Best Awards. Rated 4th in the Top 10 Cities, Charleston trailed only New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Charleston Place (#31), the Planters Inn (#57) and the Sanctuary At Kiawah (#76) ranked among the Top 100 Hotels in the continental US and Canada.

     If you’ve been to St Andrews Shopping Center recently the demolition of 70,000 square feet of existing stores has begun. Harris Teeter will build a 52,000 square foot store in the 50 year old shopping center. Home Depot has announced a new southeastern supply center will be built near Dixiana, mid state.

       Revitalization experts from Main Street South Carolina and the National Trust Main Street Center will be assessing the downtown Summerville area at the beginning of the month. They will present a plan to enhance the historic downtown area with the accent on historic.

     Speaking of revitalizing an area, Jafza International’s plans for a logistics, distribution and manufacturing center east of I 95 near 301 will be bringing about 10,000 jobs to the area. Already the area is beginning to see a construction boom. A gated community on the shores of Lake Marion in Clarendon county has begun selling homesites in anticipation. Across the lake, Orangeburg county is bracing for an explosion of construction with land acquisition already underway.   

     With new development comes the need for roads. Charleston County’s Roadwise Program has hired seven interns to work with engineering companies that have county road projects. It’s your half cent sales tax at work.

     Clemson has been recognized as a Center for Excellence for Watershed Management by the EPA. It’s the third center to be designated in the southeast.

     The Medical University has been named by the US News and World Report as one of the country’s best hospitals in the treatment of digestive and respiratory disorders. MUSC has also announced it will be the site of a new center for stem cell research. This could position our state as a bioengineering and biomedical leader.

Some of the best news around, besides the new Carolina One Real Estate, is a recent opinion column in the Wall Street Journal. It stated that we’ll probably look back to April 2008 as the month that the housing market hit bottom. They aren’t saying that the prices will rebound to the heights that they were, but simply that prices will begin to stabilize. There’s more good news That’s just some of the best news in the media lately.

     We also learned that tourists to our area helped to pump $3.09 billion into our local economy which means that the local impact increased by about 1% from ‘06.

     We’re always hearing bad news from the schools from fighting on the school boards to the fighting in the hallways, so good news is refreshing. Newsweek has ranked Academic magnet the seventh best in the country. The North Charleston school improved its rank on the magazine’s list from the past two years when it ranked as the nation’s 11th and 10th best public high school. The school was also ranked 27th in the US News and World Reports first list of America’s Best High Schools.

     Revolutions Medical Corp., a Mt P-based medical equipment developer, has received regulatory approval to start trading its stock on the over-the-counter bulletin board where midcap stocks are traded. And Myconostica, a British medical diagnostic company which develops specialized, fast testing for life threatening fungal infections is busy readying a new facility in Charleston.

    The port is moving. Expectations are up with a boost in business coming from the new or returning port calls from an upgraded South American service and a newly relaunched Asian service which is a joint operation of the CKYH alliance. And not only are the BMWs lining up at the port for shipment, we’re seeing a lot of American cars from classics to current models being shipped  out of the country due to the shift in the dollar’s value against the Euro, etc. 

As of 5/1, we are no longer Prudential but will be reborn as Carolina One Real Estate, an independent company with more flexibility to change with the market. Our local franchise is one of the top 50 real estate companies in the country.

Carolina One will be working hand in hand with 700 major companies located in 38 different countries, forming the #1 real estate network worldwide.

But, as always what’s really important is my relationship with you.

I can’t imagine finding any other company that has the services in place to help me help you. Whether it’s the backing from our in house Marketing or IT departments, relocation services or our new homes division, having a full service company behind me allows me to do more for you.

Join me in welcoming our new brand. It’s an exciting time for us and it sure is nice to generate some positive real estate news in the media!