Myrtle Beach Homes | Carolina Forest Homes
Information on homes for sale in Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest Properties, Myrtle Beach Condos and Golf Properties.
I’m proud to announce that I just SOLD an oceanfront condo in North Myrtle Beach. This was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, bank owned property in which I helped the bank sell their property in Sea Winds. We had the property on the market for less than 24 hours before we received a cash offer.
If you would like help buying or selling an oceanfront property in Myrtle Beach, please feel free to reach out to me & call me at 843-222-9402. Or, you can search all Myrtle Beach Properties on my site.
The spring real estate market in Myrtle Beach is here! We are gearing up for an all out crazy spring housing market based on the amount of business we have already experienced this year during the first three months of the year. As someone who has been a Myrtle Beach real estate agent since 2001, I have to say that this has been one of the busiest beginnings to the year that I can remember in a long time. The last time I remember working with this many buyers & sellers in the first three months of the year was probably back in 2006.
Below I’ve attached a video from our local real estate association that highlights some of the key elements in our market for the month of March 2017. Take a look at it:
What this graphic is trying to say is that in the first three months of the year, we have seen a 6.2% price increase on single family residential sales to a median price of $215,000. Homes that last year sold in December for around $202,000 are now up to $215,000 in just a three month period of time.
The other alarming graphic that I found in this report was that the housing inventory has gone down 8.7% from February 2016. What this means is that while sellers are getting more for their homes they sell, there is less options out there at this time for buyers to pick from. This also equates to sellers having even more leverage during the transaction due to less demand.
What all this means is simply this. If you have been thinking about selling your for the past few months to either buy something larger, smaller, or a different section of Myrtle Beach, there is no time better to do it than now. Contact me today to learn what I can do to help sell a Myrtle Beach Home and get it sold for you for top dollar.
As a REALTOR® many think that my only job is to help someone buy or sell a house, but we do much more. As I began my crazy day today, I thought I would give everyone a quick glimpse into what all a REALTOR® does which is beyond just helping someone buy or sell a home. This is all what happened this morning by 9:30 AM.
I started my morning today by discussing with someone how we are active in our community helping preserve the right to home ownership with both local and state governments to make sure your rights to own a home stays affordable and safe. For example, over the past few months we have lobbied with local government in Horry County to not pass any sort of impact fees on property.
The government thought that by adding some sort of impact fee onto the purchase or sale of property it would help to stimulate economy and increase revenues to fund other items in the county. While yes, it would increase the amount of money the county has, the fees that it would impose would make it virtually impossible for many consumers to purchase or sell their homes as the fees could be several thousands of dollars. I shared this on my first call of the morning while speaking with a buyer client.
As I hung up my phone, I was greeted by an email from our state director on government affairs, Lindsay Jackson on another issue we are currently battling here in South Carolina. This issue is SC Bill 3886 which is a bill regarding Homeowners Association Legislation. Here are the main points of the bill.
If you would like to read the entire bill in detail, I’ve uploaded a copy SC Bill 3886 here. Also, I’ve attached a screenshot of my letter to my local state representative that was submitted digitally to her this morning below.
The original laws were put into place back in 1976 and have many amendments over the years. The one area though that has not had a lot of changes over the years is the governing of Homeowners Associations. They have been able to raise fees as they wish, make changes, and do as they wish without really any type of regulation. This new law would help to change that and add a very much needed level of governance to help protect homeowner rights. You can send a letter to SC representatives here.
As you can see, the job of a REALTOR® is more than just selling a home I also like making sure the rights of homeownership are protected and safe for generations to come. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to learn more about homeownership in Myrtle Beach or more about this upcoming bill.
The year 2016 has flown by and we are once again at the annual Most Expensive Homes Sold along The Grand Strand. This is my third installment of the most expensive homes sold in Myrtle Beach. If you want, you can check out 2014 here and 2015 here. Below you will find listed the 10 most expensive homes to sell during 2016 along The Grand Strand from least expensive to most expensive.
10. 110 Parker Drive Pawleys Island, SC 29585- $1,825,000 This 5BR/4BA oceanfront beauty in the southern end of the beach was said to be on one of the largest lots in North Litchfield Beach measuring 85′ x 397′. It also featured a Viking stainless steel appliances and has potential for over $120,000 in gross rental income per year. This home sold for list price in only 64 days.
9. 1210 Parker Drive Pawleys Island, SC 29585- $1,875,000 Staying on the same street, this 5BR/5BA home sold for the same price. This oceanfront home was built in 1998 and had over 8,500 square feet under roof with all of the porches & decks it possessed.
8. 95 Inlet Creek Ln Georgetown, SC 29440- $2,000,000 This 4 BR/4.5 BA home was located in DeBordieu Colony featured 270 degrees of marsh views from this almost 7,000 square foot home with copper roof, and garage for your golf cart as well.
7. 4803 S. Ocean Blvd Myrtle Beach, SC 29575- $2,000,000 Located in Myrtle Beach was this 8 BR/ 8.5 BA oceanfront home that was built in 2013. Some of the highlights of this home include three oceanfront master suites and a private heated pool.
6. 5003 S. Ocean Blvd Myrtle Beach, SC 29575- $2,000,000 Staying oceanfront in Myrtle Beach is our next home, a 7 BR/ 7.5 BA home with close to 6,000 heat square feet. This home was a rental machine bringing in excess of $225,000 annually.
5. 178 Sea Oats Circle Pawleys Island, SC 29585- $2,010,000 This 4BR/ 4.5 BA home located in Litchfield By The Sea’s Charlestowne Grant offered large living rooms, and an oceanfront master suite. This home also features a spiral staircase leading to a rooftop deck overlooking the ocean.
4. 2602 N Ocean Blvd North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582- $2,140,000 Our only home making the list this year from the northern end of the beach is this oceanfront 8 BR/ 8.5 BA property. This home built in 2012 features three living levels and can sleep 26.
3. 1701 S. Waccamaw Drive Garden City Beach, SC 29576 $2,195,000 An oceanfront entertainers delight is probably the best way to describe this home wth it’s over 5,000 square feet of entertainment area inside. Features outdoor pool & hot tub.
2. 1065 Norris Drive Pawleys Island, SC 29585 $3,000,000 Get the best of Both worlds at this 6 bedroom home in The Penninsula at Inlet Point featuring creek and marsh views on one side of the house while the other side features phenomenal oceanfront views.
1. 500 Myrtle Avenue Pawleys Island, SC 29585 $3,000,000 There were two homes this year that tied for the most expensive properties sold in Myrtle Beach at 3 million. This beauty has over 145 feet of Atlantic Ocean frontage and 50 feet of wraparound covered porches. There’s no wonder this home was one of the most expensive homes sold in Myrtle Beach during 2016.
So now that I’ve share the most expensive homes sold, what does this mean for the Myrtle Beach Luxury Homes market in 2017?
In 2016, more homes over one million dollars have sold in Myrtle Beach than in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, there were 49 Million dollar homes that sold for a total of $77 million in inventory. In 2015, there were 64 million dollar properties that sold for a total inventory of over 95 million. While these numbers are impressive, 2016 was even more. 2016 saw 72 luxury homes in Myrtle Beach sell, setting the highest number sold at 72 homes. This equated to over 101 million dollars in inventory sold, marking the highest amount in the past several years.
While the number of Myrtle Beach Luxury homes being sold is trending up, the property prices seem to be trending down. Both of the highest priced homes sold in 2014 & 2015 had a 4 million+ price whereas the highest price home in 2016 was much less money at an even 3 million. The most expensive home sold in 2016 was over 25% less money that the two previous years. While price is less, the size and quality of home remained the same. What this means to me is that the luxury market here in Myrtle Beach is becoming even more affordable than in previous years. What my research also showed me is that more and and more people are realizing just how affordable real estate is in Myrtle Beach compared to other parts of the country.
When you break down the 72 sales of homes over 1 million dollars in Myrtle Beach, you can do it in several ways. The first way I like to look at these is how these properties were sold. Thirty-Four of the sales were made by cash while thirty-six were financed. It’s interesting to see that almost half of this big purchases were made by cash.
When you break down the sections of the beach, more luxury homes were sold in Pawleys Island than any other section of the beach with 29 homes. Myrtle Beach zip codes came in second with 21 properties sold, Garden City with 12, North Myrtle Beach with 7, and Little River had one home sell for over a million dollars. So, if you are looking for a luxury property, your best bet is to look either in Pawleys Island or Myrtle Beach it would seem.
Below you will find all current luxury homes for sale in Myrtle Beach that are over one million.
Here are the Million dollar properties in Pawleys Island.
If you are interested in learning more about our luxury home market on The Grand Strand, give me a call at 843-222-9402 or contact me today.
I just finished reading thought provoking article on CNBC where they did an interview of self made millionaire David Bach on how to build wealth. In this article, he states that for a millennial to start building wealth for their future, they need to invest in real estate.
Watch the video below of an interview with millionaire David Bach where he discusses the best way to generate wealth.
He states that the average homeowner is 38 times wealthier than a renter which makes complete sense to me. Just think, if you rent a home in Myrtle Beach for the next 30 years at simply a rental rate of $1,300, and the market does not increase during that time, you will have thrown away $468,000 on rent in which you have not accumulated a penny of equity. On the other hand if you were to purchase a home and take the next 30 years to pay off the mortgage, you would have own your home free and clear and have all that equity wealth.
Take a look at the mortgage calculations below:
While yes, you are paying a bunch of interest over the life of your loan, you are still going to save an additional $42,467 in what you would pay in rent. Meanwhile, during the 30 years that you are paying off the loan, your home should continue to increase in price. Historically, home values had seen a steady incline (other than the bursted bubble of 2006-2012) in prices. At the end of the same time period you will have $250,000+ in equity save into your portfolio as well as saving the difference between renting vs owning.
Unless you plan on living the rest of your life in your vehicle, you have to live somewhere. The question is, are you planning on spending those years paying rent and throwing away money, or are you planning on spending that time investing into your future by paying on a mortgage and increasing your wealth by owning the property. At the end of the day, you still gotta live somewhere, you should at least try to have something of value at the end of the time.
What I would suggest doing is talking with a real estate professional to at least find out some details on what type of costs you can incur by owning a home. Learn about what types of closing costs you can expect and start to save up ahead of time for them. Ask the lender what you can expect your monthly payments will be and that will give you a good idea of what you can afford. Try to keep your mortgage payment within 30% of your take-home pay.
Just because a lender says you can afford the home doesn’t always mean you really can. The lender doesn’t always know how you like to live life. They don’t know that you like to take the family every year on a week long vacation to Disneyworld and that it normally costs you around $4,500 to do so. The lender also doesn’t know that you like to go out to eat once a week and take your spouse out on a date once a week for another $500. They only look at an equation to see if you can fit in, but doesn’t take any variables in like this. In short, you might need to sacrifice.
For a while you might need to do dates in, and family movie nights with a Redbox instead of trips to the movie theater to save up money. You might need to skip this year’s family vacation to Disney and instead do a staycation to allow you to save up enough money for a down payment. Bach suggests and I agree to at least try and save up 10% for a down payment. This way you own your home with a little equity to start and do not have to fret if the market slows down, or dips downward for a year or two. Also, if you can swing 20% down, you can then save of primary mortgage insurance which can be a hefty expense each month.
At the end of the day, while buying a home can be a major expense, it can also be a major reward. Just like Bach stated, “The fact is, you aren’t really in the game of building wealth until you own some real estate.” If you are like my brother-in-law who recently bought a home in Portland Oregon and didn’t do it to make money, or you are making improvements not because you want to increase the value of your home, you are ultimately making a wise investment into your overall wealth by owning your home.
Contact me to learn more on the benefits of owning a home.
