Charleston South Carolina Homes - “The Safe Island”

There are a variety of Charleston South Carolina homes to choose from ranging from small condos, perfect for MUSC students to study, to the extravagant high end luxury properties that some of the world’s most affluent buyers consider.

Regardless of the size, price range and type of home, one thing is vitally important for any buyer to obtain. A home inspection.

Many time I am showing Charleston South Carolina homes to investor buyers, they opt to not have one performed. While I certainly do appreciate their desire to save money and while they all say “I know what I am looking at”, I still strongly recommend it for several reasons.

The first and most obvious is the unknowns. Even when contractors are buying a property, they look it over and sometimes opt to pass on an inspection. I have heard stories of them buying and a few weeks after the closing they are hit with an unexpected expense that may have been uncovered (and negotiated) during the closing process.

While the vast majority of buyers do choose a home inspector to find out all that they can about a property, I still make it a topic of discussion prior to even looking at homes. I like to call this pre-looking discussion a “safe island”. This conversation about the home buying process that occurs in advance is set out to prepare for the entire process. To take the fear of the unknown out of the equation.

So if you are considering looking at Charleston South Carolina homes, make sure to tell your agent what is important to you in advance. Don’t be afraid to be overly cautious. Taking it a step further, ask them what is important to consider when looking at Charleston South Carolina homes. Hopefully they will take you on their own “safe island”, and prepare you for the process, just like I do my clients.

Nat Wallen is a Realtor in Charleston SC specializing in residential property sales. He has been licensed since 1995 and is the top listing agent with Carolina One Real Estate. Carolina One Real Estate is the largest company in the Charleston SC area of 700 plus agents. NOTE: Nat Wallen never solicits consumers interacting with his blog unless requested. YOUR comments are encouraged and welcomed.

Charleston SC Real Estate Turns The Corner

The Charleston SC real estate market was once a booming town during the heyday of the great rise of 2000 to 2006. Properties were flying off of the shelves in droves. The intensity of the strong sellers market was a challenge for many people, as first time buyers literally had to drive far from town to find a home affordable enough to even qualify.

Then came to abrupt end to nearly a decade of decadence. The Charleston SCreal estate had reached it’s pinnacle, and was now deflating along with the burst of the bubble that so many other cities were feeling.

2007 seemed like a year where we just were not sure what was happening. The real head scratcher at the time was really centered around showings. Prior to 2007, if a home did not sell in a month or less, something was wrong. Like, the sign may have blown down, or maybe it was put in the wrong yard. Nobody really told us at the time the bubble was bursting. In fact, it was not until the next year when the banks started to go out of business did anyone realize what was happening.

The next few years was a complete relearning of the skills needed to get deals done. Short sales were no longer a home I sold in one day. Short sales were something that would take as long as 7-10 months to just get the bank to respond to, letting us know if they would take less than what was due.

Well, it is now a few years later. Many agents are no longer in business, and the ones that are still helping buyers and sellers are starting to enjoy a major turn around in the Charleston SC real estate market.

This is not a phoenix rising from the ashes, as it was never that bad really. But this is a very nice little rise in activity and an appreciation for things that are starting to improve. Buyers and sellers are coming out fo their shell, and in my now humbled opinion, the Charleston SC real estate market is now on it’s way to a speedy and well deserved recovery.

Nat Wallen is a Realtor in Charleston SC specializing in residential property sales. He has been licensed since 1995 and is the top listing agent with Carolina One Real Estate. Carolina One Real Estate is the largest company in the Charleston SC area of 700 plus agents. NOTE: Nat Wallen never solicits consumers interacting with his blog unless requested. YOUR comments are encouraged and welcomed.