Blog | Myrtle Beach Homes | Carolina Forest Homes

Jul 28 2014

Preparing To Move Into Your Myrtle Beach Home One Month In Advance

A lot of people stress when it comes time to move into your new Myrtle Beach Home. Most people only move a few times during a lifetime, so they are not always aware of all the things they need to do when moving.

To help lower the amount of stress, here is a brief checklist of items to do one month before closing on your new Myrtle Beach property. In the next few weeks there will be follow up articles with checklists of items to do at 2 weeks before moving, day before the move, day of move-out, day of move-in, & after you are settled.

Clean out closets, attic, basement, etc… Take this time to start going through things and discarding things you don’t want anymore or have no need for. For example, if you currently live in a cold weather climate, you can take that snow blower and place it for sale on Craigslist. Our warmer temperatures in Myrtle Beach leave zero need for it. Also, you can reduce down your winter clothing collection greatly. Sell those items off and start your new boat fund.
Consider having a garage sale. What to do with all that unwanted stuff? Have a garage sale and sell the things you dont need anymore. Maybe you are downsizing when you move and will not have the need for the extra furniture. Host a garage sale or two and put some extra money in your pocket.
Donate unwanted items. Some things may not sell at a yard sale. Those items that are of any worth you can donate to the local goodwill, library, or thrift shops. You can get a receipt for tax purposes.
Register children for school. If you are moving to another school district, take this time to get children registered for their new school. As moving day approaches, you won’t have time available and may forget this.Many of the Horry County Schools have information on their website.
Start opening new bank accounts. If you are moving to an area where your bank does not service, you will need to find a new bank. Most banks now have the option to apply online and can be done from your current residence. Not having a local bank can cause issues with extra fees to try and do basic banking functions.
Contact your veterinarian. Check with your vet for travel preparation for your pets. Also, see if they have a recommendation for you to transfer to here in Myrtle Beach.
Notify post office. Contact the post office along with any other publications of your change of address and the date it will become effective. This can now be done online by clicking here.
Contact lawn service, security company, & other regular services. Let these services know in advance of your vacating date so that they can discontinue service at that time and not charge you extra. Nobody likes to waste money. If you are just moving across town in Myrtle Beach, some of these services will just need to be transferred.
Use your frozen foods. It is very difficult to travel with frozen foods. They can be very heavy and there is not really any safe way of traveling with them. Also, once you arrive at your new home, if you are bringing the refrigerator with, it could take up to 24 hours until it is cold enough to freeze items again which will result in major spoilage of foods.

So these are just a few great tips to help you prepare for the big day of moving into your new Myrtle Beach home. Are there any other tips you can think of? Share in the comments below.

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Jul 03 2014

About Magnolia Place

Magnolia Place is conveniently located close to Carolina Bays Parkway (Hwy 31), Coastal Grand Mall, Broadway at The Beach, Myrtle Beach International Airport, Golf Courses, and is only 5 minutes to the Beach.

Magnolia Place Condos features Efficiency, 1BR, & 2BR condominium units. Some of the great amenities of Magnolia Place are the numerous outdoor pools and BBQ areas.

These spacious units have some great interior features including crown molding, chair rail, ceramic tile and large rear balconies and more. Many of these condo buildings overlook the Myrtlewood Golf Course. If you are not a fan of stairs, some buildings even include an elevator.

Other than fantastic location, I believe another thing that makes Magnolia Place Condos so popular is the flexibility in usage. Some of these buildings can be used for short term rentals, long term rentals, second homes, or even as primary residences. There is a good mixture through the community.

The schools are:
Elementary School: Myrtle Beach Elementary School
Middle School: Myrtle Beach Middle School
High School: Myrtle Beach High School

Below is a sampling of some of the current Condos for Sale In Magnolia Place:

Or, use one of the custom searches below to search Magnolia Place Condos for sale:

If you would like to learn more about Magnolia Place or other Golf Course Condos in Myrtle Beach, feel free to contact me.

Jun 30 2014

The Importance Of Buyer Representation With New Homes

About a year ago I had a really nice couple that was visiting from New York looking to purchase a second home in Myrtle Beach. We looked at several properties and finally chose a new construction property that had an on-site agent representing the builder.

This deal was moving along very smoothly. We had the mortgage taken care of, had all the inspections done and all the necessary repairs completed. It was day of closing. The buyers had come in town from New York, wired the money to the attorney, did our final walkthrough and punch list and we were now ready to close.

However when we arrived at the closing table with the attorney, the amount of the loan was incorrect. The buyers had made a visit to Myrtle Beach without my knowledge and had gone down to this builders design center and made several upgrades to the property they were buying that totaled over $7,000 in additional costs. So therefore the purchase price had gone up. But, somehow these additional expenses were never updated on the paperwork that was sent to me, the closing attorney, or the bank.

The attorney called the lender and they said they were going to send back out the appraiser to re-appraise the property and would be back shortly. So, we sat calmly at the attorney’s office waiting for the updated information. Here is where the big problem came in. The seller had sold several other units with many upgrades in all at a flat rate price. It didn’t matter if there was $2,000 or $20,000 in upgrades, the prices were exactly the same. So, when an appraiser tried to find a higher price since my buyer went and added more upgrades which were not available in the flat rate price, they could not appraise the property high enough.

So, the seller stated that the buyer needed an additional few thousand dollars because the property was not appraising for the loan amount. My buyers immediately panicked and were ready to walk away from the deal. I assured them not to panic just yet. I shared with the attorney that the upgrades were added to the property and that there were two options left for the sellers to do. Either remove the upgrades (which would have included removing ceramic tile flooring, all the berber carpet in the home and more) or sell the unit for the amount it appraised for because my buyers were not going to pay more for upgrades than they were actually worth.

The attorney called the builder and they agreed to leave the upgrades in the property and sell for the lower price to the buyers. My buyers thanked me over and over and were so glad to have me as their buyer’s representative. Without my assistance, they would have either lost a wonderful property, or paid several more thousands of dollars out of their pocket to purchase. This is just another example of why it’s important to have a REALTOR® represent you when buying a home in Myrtle Beach. Even if it is a new construction home from a national builder.

The moral of this story is that sometimes the upgrades you add to a property cost more than they bring value to a home. As a rule of thumb, you do not want to be the “King of The Hill” in a neighborhood. It can cost you greatly when you go to sell.

Jun 24 2014

The Importance Of Online Marketing To Selling a Myrtle Beach Home

It’s no secret that selling your Myrtle Beach home can be a difficult task to do on your own. With all the new regulations on financing, and laws in place. With that being said, selecting the right real estate agent to sell your home is imperative. One of the most effective parts of selling a home is how the property is being marketed on the internet. Below is a list of items that are helping to sell homes. If you are thinking of selling your home, you may want to print this out to ask the real estate agent if your home will be marketed in these places.

Real Estate Website– Does the agent have an effective website that is drawing in buyers? Recent statistics show over 85% of all buyers begin their real estate search on the internet before even contacting an agent. Also ask the agent if they have their own domain name website instead of just the website provided by the company. For my team we have MyrtleBeachHomesBlog.com plus our local company, RE/MAX Southern Shores website. In addition, we have exposure the RE/MAX national site.
Real Estate 2.0- Social Networks & other websites are rapidly gaining in popularity. Buyers are using sites like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn & Twitter to find out the information about a community, the agent, and the surrounding areas before making contact with a real estate agent. Our use of social media helps expose our listings to our connections on Social Media which is now over 37,000!
Real Estate Blog– Buyers who begin their online searches are finding blogs each and every day with the information they are interested in. On average, consumers read over 27 blog posts every week. They are going to major search engines entering the keywords for information they want. If you have shared content related to the terms the consumer is searching, you have the potential to be found and gain their business.

Remember these three areas of effective marketing in the current real estate market. Unfortunately, just like many things in life, what is effective at one time may not work anymore now. You need an agent that stays on top of the market and keeps track of what is and is not working in selling homes.

An article I read in our local paper a while back confirmed that our marketing efforts are targeted in the right direction. The article shared about how the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce is focusing over 60% of their advertising towards internet marketing. 23.2% towards tv, 7% for newspapers, 5% on magazines 3% on radio & 1.8% on billboards. Just as the chamber has come to realize, in order to be effective with marketing the focus needs to be on internet advertising!

So in closing, when you are deciding on an agent to sell your Myrtle Beach Home, make sure that they have a strong online presence to help take your Myrtle Beach Home from listed to sold by giving your home it’s greatest exposure online.

photo by: bsabarnowl

Jun 24 2014

Plantation Lakes Home Market Report June 2014

Plantation Lakes is one of the more popular home communities in the Carolina Forest area of Myrtle Beach. Currently, Plantation Lakes has over 40 homes for sale ranging in price from a low of $329,500 up to $1,150,000. The current average listing price is $512,016 and median listing price in Plantation Lakes is currently $459,000.

Of the current 40+ homes for sale in Plantation Lakes, surprisingly only four of the listings are 3 bedroom homes. In contrast, there are currently twenty-five listings in Plantation Lakes that are 4 bedroom homes. In addition, there are ten 5 bedroom and two 6 bedrooms currently for sale.

Here are the 6 most expensive homes currently for sale in Plantation Lakes:

Plantation Lakes Homes That Have Sold

While it’s great to see so many Plantation Lakes homes for sale, the question sellers want answered is: What Plantations Lakes Homes Are Selling & For Home Much? According to the MLS, in the past two months, eleven homes have sold in Plantation Lakes ranging in price from a low price of $285,000 to a high sold price of $600,000. The average price for homes sold in Plantation Lakes is $404,008 and the median price is $395,900.

One thing I found interesting about the data I reviewed on homes in this community was the Days on Market (DOM). There was a huge range in days DOM that went from a low of 30 days to a high of 877 days! The median DOM however was still rather high at 230 days.

If you would like more information on homes for sale in Plantation Lakes, I’ve already done some custom searches to help make your job easier on finding the perfect home or lot for sale in Plantation Lakes below:

If you are thinking of selling your Plantation Lakes home and would like more information on the current value of your home, fill out this form to find out what your home is worth and receive a free market analysis for your home in Plantation Lakes.