Posts

Robert Whitney, Attorney

Every state has different rules about real estate and how the transfer of property takes place. Robert has over 35 years of experience and is my personal attorney on real estate, wills, and some estate planning. I sat down with Robert Whitney, one of the attorneys who close property in Oconee County, to ask him the questions I am asked during each transaction.

1) Why do real estate closings in South Carolina take place at an Attorney's office?  The closings don't have to take place at my office but it is less expensive--the buyer and seller are not paying me to travel to closing.  The convenience of doing it in my office is less expensive, more secure and privat...

Terry Howe

Auctioneer 101

Last Friday, I sat down with Terry Howe, an auctioneer that I have used in the past.  I wanted to ask Terry a few questions that I had been asked over the years and put this together in an article that my customers could read and understand why sometimes an auction is better than listing with a real estate agent.

Gwen:  What does an auctioneer do?

Terry:  I have been in the auction business for over 30 years.  The definition of what I do has changed over time. 

1. I act as an intermediary between family members, attorneys, banks and judges.
2. I inventory and appraise personal property and real estate. I develop evidence to make equitable divisions of assets.
...

By MySmartBlog

When a buyer starts to look for a house, they start on the internet, news paper and in the real estate magazines. This is just the beginning of the job of buying a home...the most expensive purchase of your life.

The buying process is very long and complicated...things have to be done in a certain order, some things take longer to get done and have to be ordered before others.  You have to be familiar with the process and the requirements of the mortgage company, county/city requirements for you to occupy a home and just general things that have to be done before the house will be yours. Working without an agent to represent your interest as a buyer is foolish and can be quiet expensive...

A couple of things to consider when talking to an agent who will represent you.  

1. Buying a house takes time, from start to finish the average buyer spends a year looking and buying a house.
2. You must be honest with them, hidden things always come out before closing.  Everyone is better off knowing the secrets and handling them as they need to be handled.  
3. The commission is what makes the agent work for you, there are no free rides.  In most cases, there will be a commission offered to the buyer's agent from the seller and seller's agent.  It may be a token amount or it may be an acceptable amount for the work the buyer's agent will be doing...either way, the commission is something t...

I have 7 squash plants that bloom every day.  Do I have any squash to cook?  Anything to show for all these blooms?  Nope, nothing, no fruit just blooms. I have decided that I need bees.  We have flowers but no bees.  I do not mow until the dandelions make seed(...more for us to mow but more flowers to bring bees to us.) We do not use pesticides. Still, we have no bees.

I started my research this weekend.  I need to plant lavender, catmint, sage, cilantro, thyme, fennel and borage...all herbs that Henry will use to make his mealtime dishes taste better.  I also need crocus to get them coming early in the spring, buttercup, asters, hollyhocks (does anyone plant hollyhocks anymore?) anemon...

Each year I introduce buyers to the idea that you do not have to buy a house, you can buy a lot and build a house.  Everyone hears the horrors of building, but it does not have to go down that path.  You can build a house without having problems if you plan and prepare before you start the building process.

...............................................................................................................

I am not talking about picking out the cabinets, I am talking about getting a septic tank installed, a well put in place or getting a water tap in place.  Most builders will do this for you but if you want to increase the value of your property while y...

I made a u-turn to take this picture.  This is the biggest oak tree I have ever seen in the upstate area. I know there are bigger ones in the low country, but this one took my breath away.

Can you imagine what this tree has seen?

Have you been dreaming of a home on the lake?  Mountain getaway? but you did not want to get into a 30-50% down payment and 6% interest?  

Good rates and down payments are back.  If you have a credit score of at least 640 and a 10% down payment I have a lender who will do less than 4% on 2nd homes, 50 miles or more from your primary residence.  So all you buyers from Greenville to Charleston...I have lake houses and mountain cottages priced good...no great.  Now is the time to buy. Don't wait as the inventory is shrinking as everyone finds out about our good deals!!

Simple Check List for Land Purchase

1. Will your house site perk for a septic system?  Get a permit from SCDHEC before you close.
   
   
2. Have a survey done.  Property lines do not move; the seller’s memory is not always correct.  A new survey will mark the lines; a plat will be a drawing showing landlines as well as improvements. All the corners will be marked.  After closing remark the lines with white oil-based paint.  It will stay on the trees for years and you will know where the property boundaries are.  White PVC pipe over the pins is a good idea too.
   
   
3. Title Search is also a must.  Checking the title back 60 years ensures that the party selling the property has the right to sell as we...

The Importance of a Buyer’s Agent

In South Carolina we are required to follow assigned “Rules of Agency” and when an agent “lists” a property the seller becomes that agent’s (and the company’s) “client”. By signing the listing contract they have made a commitment to each other. By definition, an agent (and their company) must give their client the following:

1. Obedience
2. Loyalty
3. Disclosure
4. Confidentiality
5. Accountability
6. Reasonable care & skill

If a buyer comes along and asks that agent to show them a property “listed” by that agent or with that company, they are a customer.  That agent must give customer care:

1. Present all offers in a timely manner
2. Account for money or other p...

I love watching YOUTUBE videos of homes in the area, especially the ones I have shown or previewed.  I was watching one this morning about a house on a lake.  Great video, but the one thing that was missing was the smell.  When I was there, the house reeked of plug ins and when I reached the basement you could smell the musty shut up smell a 2nd home gets when it is not being used.

So to prevent the odors of a real showing from keeping your house from selling, do the following:

1) Charcoal in open bins under the beds, in the closets...out of sight will absorbe the moisture that collects in an unoccupied house. There are also commercial damp traps and if you have a dehumidifier, use it. ...

You must create a plan, if you want to have an easy home purchase.  Just looking at houses will not get you a home.  You need to know where you are going and how to get there.

You first must decide when you want to purchase. You can look at homes, go to open houses, look at the websites, and look and look.  Once you make a decision to buy you must decide what your time frame will be. Do you want to buy it before school starts? Before Memorial Day so you can use the lake all summer? Before the 4th of July, so you can use the lake and get a good deal? 

Then you must talk with a loan officer, you do not want to look at homes you cannot afford.  You also do not want to have to move again in...

 Fiddler's Cove Fisherman, Bill Warther, Guest Poster.

As you can see the fish are biting at Fiddler’s Cove Lake.  Kraig (my son) and I drug a few out of this hole last August. We caught & released.  You can tell it pays to release because this one was 19". A buck without eggs but I returned him. He happens to be #13 for the year for black bass. I caught three fish on the first 3 casts of the year:  2 small bass and a blue gill that was 11.25' long 9.5" wide and 1.25 thick. She was full of eggs and as bright orange as I have ever seen bluegill. I checked her nose and tongue and she was a true blue gill. Not a shell cracker. What a brood fish !!!! The other 12 bass I caught were 16” or un...

I had a closing on Thursday that should have been sweet and easy insead  I had to fight over every detail of the closing.

We wrote the first offer for the house on December 22nd.  Our offer was based on a drive by appraisal by a local appraiser.  They countered full price with no concessions.  We decided to let them cool off a bit and wrote our next offer on the 22nd of January.  They did not have any showings or offers during this time.

We offered full asking price asking for closing costs.  Typical on this price house in this area...did we get it?? NO!! their agent came back with 3 options.  All much lower than the asking price, she did not think it would appraise (?) ! Are you kiddin...

Just got back from the Live South Show in Falls Church VA.  This was a great show of gated communities in the South.  The exhibitors showed how different the tax base is and how the cost of living in the South is much less than having the same size home & property in the North.

There was one community in Florida just outside Orlando that was all solar.  I was amazed to think no more power bills, lower taxes & insurance and a cheaper heating bill.

I visited booths from Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, the Beach area of South Carolina, Montana, West Virginia and Delaware.  I know I missed a couple of them, but really enjoyed meeting reps from other areas and seeing what they had to of...

Winter is a great time to look at lake property. Lake houses in the winter are cold and view is not so good or is it?  In the winter when the lakes are drawn down so that you can build a sea wall, dock or do your general lake access clean up.   You can see how deep the water is and whether you are on a channel or a cove.  You can fix up your fish bed, clean up and spread out some sand along the shore and you can build the dock you have always wanted.  Winter allows you to see what you are getting without having to imagine what you are seeing through the water.

There are 3 things you need to do every time the water is drawn down at the lake:

1) check the supports of your dock, make sure ...

When you are selling you need to remove the Tchotchke (CHOCH-kee) before the buyers arrive. Did you miss that word in English 101, ok the trinkets, baubles, do dads and distractions.  Buyers need to be able to focus on your house, not your stuff.  

1. Remove anything you will not use in the next month.  Less is more.  Do you really need 30 pairs of shoes and winter sweaters when the outside temps are in the 90’s?  Remove the Tchotchke.
2. Baby and kids pictures, put them away too.  You want the buyers to focus on the house not you    and your awards or kids.  They may know you or not.  No pictures no distractions. Remove the Tchotchke.
3. Make the yard and front door appealing.  You want them...