Why do I see the Myrtle Beach market picking up?

For the ones of you who can remember the old days when life was good, economy flourishing let me say this. Some of the wealthiest men on earth built their fortunes on “Gut Feelings”. Don’t get me wrong, these people had Smarts as well, they just happened to have intuition to round out the whole package.

 Today’s real estate market has been bad, no one will deny it, still not as bad as the mid 80’s. Hell, interest rates in the high teens and low 20’s, not that will take the wind out of anyone’s sail. Gut feelings make a lot more of life’s decision than people like to think. For instance, look at poker players, stock investors, professional golfers, athletics of all kinds, Trump Enterprises for a few.

Alright, enough of my rattling on, jabbering away and so-on.

Three Points to Ponder:

1. We have had increased units sold now for more than 6 months. Why you might ask? It’s not because we have more realtors hauling people around, in fact we’re losing them like rats on a sinking ship.

2. Obviously homes are beginning to move in the Northeast by the tremendous increase in traffic from them there folks lately. What’s really amazing is the number of folks who ain’t never even been to South Carolina little on the Myrtle Beach area.

3. Activity has jumped through the sky on websites recently, so that’s somewhat of an indicator. Yea, I hear you, some people are “Internet Junkies” and have to search every free minute they have. I’ve got a couple like that myself, shucks, this one client is already on their third trip thru the complete MLS property inventory and ain’t never answered an email yet. God Bless Um, they don’t know it yet but I’m a very patient realtor and we’ll be sittin across the table when they least expect it.

4. Last but not least, Don’t forget, the American Dream will always prevail as it has through all the bad times before. You see, there will always be folks looking to buy that very first home, upgrade from their present home or just get a yearning to have a nicer place. Some are even looking for a GET-A-WAY from their hectic lifestyles somewhere else for a couple times a year. To make it even better, we’ll never run out of folks who want or need to sell their homes.

Let me end by saying this, it may not be today, next month or even next year but when you do get that hankering to check out our Beautiful Lifestyle, don’t forget this “Old Redneck Retired Navy “Seabee” at RE/MAX Southern Lifestyles cause I’ll be here to help your Dreams Come True.

Ya’ll come see me, ya hear,

Doug

www.FindYourMyrtleBeachHome.com

The New and Improved Home Buyer Tax Credit

The much-anticipated extension to the home buyer tax credit has finally been approved.  The Senate’s vote yesterday resulted in a 98-0 win and today it was passed in the house.  The bill now moves to the President’s desk for a final signature. 

First-time home buyers have been eligible for tax credits of up to $8,000 since last January as part of this year’s economic stimulus package.  The newly backed program will expand the credit to include existing home owners.  

Under the revised program, those who have owned a home for at least five years will be able to apply for tax credits of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home.  To qualify, buyers will have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30. 

The maximum purchase price on a home will be $800,000 with vacation homes not eligible. Income limitations are $125,000 for single tax payers and $225,000 for joint filers. 

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have been lobbying hard for the extension and expansion of the tax credit.  NAR claims that so far, about 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the program and they estimated that 350,000 of these buyers would not have otherwise purchased. 

The tax credit is also set to be extended for another year for military personnel serving outside of the United States until June 30, 2011. 

Myrtle Beach Foreclosures

Are you an Open House junkie? If you are, don’t feel bad, I guarantee you, there are thousands more that suffer from the same thing. In fact, many years ago my wife and I were addicted to going to open houses. Every Sunday, we could hardly wait for 1:00 to arrive. I really think that we both thought spending time researching the market would absolutely be wasting our time. You have to understand that in those days, the days without computers, there were pretty much open houses on every street. Realtors in those days did not have the luxury of tapping into literally hundreds of buyer prospects with the click of a button.

In today’s real estate market the open houses represent such a very small percentage of the available homes available that finding that perfect home is virtually impossible. You can today, with some neighborhoods not allowing yard signs you could be within 20 feet of that one home that would fit your family’s need perfectly and never realize it. Realtors, the savvy ones, realize that when preparing an open house one of the most valuable assets they have is the ability to mass email literally thousands of prospective clients. Not only this, but with the click of a button I can touch over 2000 realtors who have buyers throughout their buyer databases that may be looking for that one particular home.

The one thing that I have discovered in my many years experience in this business is that if my clients are willing to spend just 30 minutes to an hour in my office gathering information and establishing a good well thought out buying plan we can accomplish great things. We can find that one home that fits their needs and find it in a much shorter time, saving them literally days of wasted time. We are also able to get their home at a fair market value and in many cases even below fair market value’

You see, when I go that extra mile really caring about their wants and needs, together we accomplish their dreams and goals. In return they help me accomplish my goals, that being, building my business entirely based on referrals. That’s right, my clients are a very high priority with me, not only during the search process and the escrow period but for years afterwards. This business is about lasting friendships so let’s get started.

Doug