Blog | Myrtle Beach Homes | Carolina Forest Homes

Jun 26 2018

Children’s Haircuts In Myrtle Beach- Pigtails & Crewcuts

I’m going to be upfront with this post and just inform you right now that it has nothing to do with real estate. But it does have to do with things in Myrtle Beach and even more importantly, a new business that recently opened in Myrtle Beach that is an excellent option for those with children. See, I grew up the child of a mother who owned a hair salon in Pennsylvania, and well I hated going to her salon to get my hair cut. The other option was that I could go to the local barber down the street that was run by an elderly gentleman and sit in his weird chair to get a trim. But, neither of those options never really excited me.

Like many children, they do not like going to get a haircut because they fear that it might hurt, or that they have to sit perfectly still for a while to get their hair done. They are boring, places with weird smells from the chemicals used to perm Aunt Gertrude’s hair. There are bunches of women talking about Last weeks political debate, loud noises a blow dryer is running, and bright lights all over the place. Not necessarily the perfect atmosphere for a child to get a haircut in. That’s why when I heard of Pigtails & Crewcuts Opening in Myrtle Beach, I told my wife that we needed to check it out as an option for haircuts for our children.

So, I went online and did a little research to find out that it is Walk-ins only, and that they’re pricing was very affordable. We decided right then and there that we were going to check it out for our daughters to get their next cut. Here’s a quick video highlighting their haircuts:

My oldest daughter who is now 10 years old has had her haircut several times over the years, but never really enjoyed getting it done because it took forever since she has really thick hair. There never was really anything to keep her interest, and well since she can’t read during then, she would usually be very bored. Miriam, my youngest daughter who is now three years old has never experienced a haircut before. Leading up to the day that we were taking them she was excited but unsure of what the experience would be like.

Once we walked in the door of the salon, any uncertainty that was left was quickly removed by the bright colored walls, the multiple TVs, the fun styling chairs, and many other things to distract her. Before they started her cut, they gave her a few moments to play with some of the toys and get acclimated to being inside the salon. When the stylist asked her if she was ready to get her hair washed and cut she was beyond excited then and ready to go. Once she climbed up in the taxi cab chair and was ready for the haircut the stylist asked her if she’d like to watch something on the television, put on her favorite TV show, and she was ready to go. They handed her a lollipop and she was in pure heaven for the entire haircut.

Now my older daughter, who is now 10 years old didn’t quite get the same type of treatment which is understandable. She however did enjoy a nice wash, blow dry, straightening, and cut on her hair. We also had my son along who is 7 years old and they even did an excellent job of entertaining him. He started by playing with some of the toys and then was offered an opportunity to play video games on one of the other televisions which kept him entertained the rest of the time.

The entire bill for both kids was just under $50 with tips. For the type of service they received, I thought it was definitely an excellent value. The staff was very knowledgeable of their different styles of hair as well as what types of non-harmful shampoos & conditioners to use on their hair through the summer. My kids basically live in water then entire summer whether that is at the Beach, the water park, or the community pool. So with all their chemicals in their hair daily, they need specific products to help add nutrients back into their hair. They did an excellent job recommending good products that would work well.

If you have children in Myrtle Beach and need a place to go that is a fun atmosphere with a very friendly staff to get a haircut, I would highly recommend checking out Pigtails & Crewcuts of Myrtle Beach. On their website you can see an entire list of their prices & services they offer also. They are located at 7721 North Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, SC. Go check it out & let them know I sent you!

May 08 2018

Hiring A Pro Photographer When Selling Your Myrtle Beach Home

Alright so in this week’s video we are going to discuss the importance of hiring a professional photographer when you are selling your Myrtle Beach home. Most of the people who are looking to buy a home here in Myrtle Beach are not here locally. What I’ve seen from my 17 years in the business is that our biggest group of people buying a home in Myrtle Beach are from the northeast. That means that most of our buyers are starting the home search from a computer several hundreds of miles away, or they know what they are looking for and are just waiting for that property to come on the market and purchase. But since they are 500 miles away, they are not actively walking through a home here, they have an agent here locally set up a search to notify them when a property comes on the market.

I’ve got several clients that are like this. They might be interested in a gated home in Myrtle Beach, and so they get notified every time a new listing comes on the market. These buyers might receive several email notices a day as there are several communities in the area that are gated, and they cannot jump in the car and come every moment a new listing hits the market. So these types of clients have to rely on the images that the listing agent takes to determine whether they want to make a trip down and view the property.

While more and more agents in the area are starting to use a photographer to get images of their listings, some of the agents here in Myrtle Beach are not going to hire someone. They are either using their own cameras or even worse, maybe a cell phone to take your pictures for your house. When you list your home for sale, if you see the agent pull out their cell phone to take your photos, you need to question them and ask why they are not going to hire someone to give you the best images of your home to attract more potential buyers.

Up until about six or seven months ago I was taking all my photography myself. I have all the professional equipment, I use it to shoot my videos, and so for me it’s not a big deal to go into a listing and take my own images. I’ve spent thousands of dollars over the years on gear and really enjoyed doing the photos. However, I recently had a unit that was a little bit higher end property and so I thought, I should probably hire this out because I don’t have all the exact equipment to get these images the way they need to be. In order to get best photos, you sometimes need better equipment like lighting, wide angle lenses and much more. The better quality gear that you normally need to take this kind of photos can cost you several thousands per piece and well, while I’ve spent a bunch on gear, I also have three kids, so I can’t always purchase the top of the line stuff.

So I decided to reach out to a photographer, hire them, have them take the pictures of my listing. The results that I got were amazing. And it helped to get the property sold within the first week of it being on the market. This listing was in a neighborhood where there were several other homes for sale, and ours was on the higher end of the price scale. The thing that gave our property the competitive advantage over the competition was that we had professional images that the other listings didn’t have. That is why at that point, I decided that I was going to from now on hire a professional photographer for these things. Yes, it’s an expense to me as an agent, but, it allows me to focus on what I like doing most, selling your property.

When I used to take the photos for my listings I was spending anywhere from 4-8 hours taking the photos, editing them and getting everything ready for use. It was a major use of my time and took entirely too much away from other items I could do instead. By hiring the photographer, it freed me up to start other parts of the listing process and now allows me to get the home on the market and get it exposed out to my personal online network of over 40,000 in quicker time, hence getting properties viewed by more people sooner.

I recently had a listing that just went under contract this past week where I hired a professional photographer, to take the photos of this oceanview condo. The unit next door to us had an agent that listed it several months ago, they took the pictures themself, looks like they did it with their cell phone, they are not very good quality. This is a unit that is right by the ocean, so you would think an important to show off would be the ocean views. Well, they took the pictures at night, never went back took pictures to show the view that this unit has. So, instead of showcasing the ocean view, it had a black image on the deck showing a closet.

I listed my unit for sale, instantly had activity on the property. I have a contract on that property right now from a buyer who saw the images online, they’re up in New York, haven’t even been yet to see the unit, but they knew they didn’t want to miss out, so they wrote an offer sight unseen on this property. The agent told me your images were so beautiful, that’s what sold this person on it. Meanwhile, that other unit is still sitting on the market, and it probably will for a little while longer.

So, when you list your Myrtle Beach home for sale, make sure you ask your agent, if they are going to hire a professional photographer to take the pictures of your property. It’s a really important thing to help give you the competitive advantage today over everything else that is on the market. If you have somebody who is not using a professional photographer versus us who are, they are going to lose out on a regular basis. If you would like to get learn more tips on selling your Myrtle Beach home, feel free to call me at 843-222-9402 or simply contact me here.

Apr 24 2018

The Pros & Cons of a Homeowner’s Association

One of the first questions I try to ask when working with someone buying a home in Myrtle Beach is if they want to live in a community with an homeowner’s association (HOA) or not. Why? Because I would imagine more than half of the communities in the Myrtle Beach area now have some sort of association. To some this is a great thing, to others, they hate the idea of having a board tell them what they can and cannot do with their property.

Here are a few advantages and disadvantages to Homeowners Associations or HOA’s. First, lets discuss some advantages:

1. Get better rates on common utilities. Although what is included in your monthly fee greatly varies, if it includes a utility you normally are getting a better deal. For example, one local community called The Farm at Carolina Forest, has a monthly fee of $84.00 per month. For that fee you get basic cable, trash pickup, & amenities. If you went straight to the TV company for the same basic cable, you would spend $45/month for just that. Add in trash pickup and use of great pools, basketball courts, community center, and exercise gym, and your fees could easily be double.

2. Amenities, Amenities, Amenities! In order for a community to have amenities, they have to be managed by someone and be paid for by homeowners. Typical amenities could include pools, baskeball courts, playgrounds, lakes, gated entrances, security, tennis courts, movie theaters, private beach access, and much more.

3. Uniformity to Neighborhood. This is the biggest complaint that people have in regards to a community with an HOA. They do not want to be told what they can and can’t do. A community will have either a master deed, or covenants/restrictions that explain what you can and cannot do in the neighborhood. It does not mean that every single home will be the same, but that their are certain standards that must be followed.

Why is this good? Well the answer is easy…it helps to control your neighbors from doing things that may subtract from your home’s value. Here are a few examples of things that it may govern:

Lawn and landscape-Not everyone is as meticulous as to how their lawn looks. If you don’t keep up your lawn maintenance, you do run a risk of receiving some sort of fine.
What is in your yard- If your neighbor had 2 broke down vehicles in the front yard that had been sitting there for 2 years all rusted, weeds growing up through them, it would not help attract buyers to a home next door. This past weekend I was out showing property to a family that absolutely loved the home we looked at. But when we walked outside and saw the neighbor have 3 work vehicles, tools, ladders, building supplies, and a backhoe in the front yard, my buyers immediately removed the house from their list of a potential purchase.
Businesses/Hobbies- If your neighbor is starting their own rock band, you may be a little bothered by them constantly practicing at all hours of the night. Most associations address this by having noise restrictions/curfews in place to help prevent these things from happening.
Animals- As crazy as this sounds, there have been several cases where people want to have chickens, roosters, goats and other animals in their back yard. Some may enjoy being awakened every morning by a rooster, but others would not. In a neighborhood with an HOA in place, these types of things would be regulated and you wouldn’t have to worry about the goat from next door getting into your back yard and consuming your gardenias.
Appearance– Most HOA’s regulate the exterior appearance of the home. You cannot decide to make your home like a box of crayola crayons by painting half the house blue, half pink, adding yellow and green shutters, and a neon orange door. Usually there is some sort of style your home has to be and any types of changes have to be approved first by an architectural review board. For example in a community in Carolina Forest called Waterbridge, there are specific rules as to what the exterior of your home must look like.

So now that we discussed why HOA’s are good, here are a few drawbacks:

1. Parking your vehicles- If you want to park an RV in your driveway or bring home a work truck with advertisements for your business, a lot of HOA’s will not permit that in the neighborhood. Also, they may not allow a boat to be parked at your home. Some HOA’s are strict to the point of no parking on the street at any time. If you do, you could get some sort of fine. I remember one time when we went on a listing appointment, we were not aware of the no parking rule. We were at the home for less than 10 minutes before security showed up and was writing the homeowner a fine for our vehicles being parked on the street.

2. Restrictions on landscape & fences- Many of the HOA’s restrict what type of fence you are allowed to install and also require approval to make changes to your landscape. (removing a tree, planting new bushes, etc.) Remember, the HOA is trying to keep a certain standard throughout the community, so in order to do that, they must regulate what happens with everything including tree removal.

3. Rules & Regulations. If you are not used to living in an area where there are restrictions to your property use then going to a community with an HOA may not be an option to you. Having to get approval to make changes to your home & land can sometimes be difficult and can cause stress if you are not allowed to do exactly what you want.

So in closing, there is no right or wrong answer as to whether or not HOA are valuable or terrible. It all comes down to each person’s specific needs and desires. Which do you prefer? An HOA with restrictions and rules, or no HOA where anything and everything could happen that may not be always helping the value of your home? Leave a comment below!

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Apr 18 2018

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Market Update April 2018

It’s been a busy winter for real estate here in the Myrtle Beach area! In my 17 years in the real estate business, I’ve only seen things this busy this soon a few times. Listings that are in good shape and priced competitively are going under contract normally within 7 days of being placed on the market. Multiple offer situations is not an uncommon thing to experience when trying to purchase a home.

My personal listing inventory is at the lowest it has been since getting into the business in 2001 with currently only 2 listings. I think the bad weather that the northeast is having is a driving factor to why people are moving south. While on Easter parts of the northeast saw anywhere from 8-16″ of snow, we had temperatures that day in the high 70’s. I told someone the other day that I don’t miss my snow shovel at all!

The bad weather along with the fact that people are tired of paying extremely high property taxes, are the two main reason people are moving to Myrtle Beach. I was talking with a friend who sells homes in New York yesterday that told me that one of the homes her buyers were thinking of purchasing up there had an annual tax of $42,000! When I shared with her that if that home was in Myrtle Beach that the taxes would be under $2,000, she was ready to place her home on the market and move south.

Here’s the market report designed by RE/MAX for the national level, and I have to admit, here in Myrtle Beach is very similar. Take a watch:

If you would like more information on buying or selling a home in the Myrtle Beach area, feel free to contact me here or call me directly at 843-222-9402.

Mar 28 2018

Winning In Multiple Offer Situations

Our spring real estate market in Myrtle Beach is here! That means that more and more buyers are heading to the area to look for a home to purchase. The snow has melted enough up northeast to allow the buyers to escape and head to Myrtle Beach to start the process of finding their new home in the area. With the increase in number of buyers, this also means an increase in number of offers being made on property in Myrtle Beach.

In more and more cases, these means that we are having multiple offer situations for our buyers. When I meet with a buyer for the first time I explain to them how our market is very strong at the moment and that if they see something while here in Myrtle Beach that there is a high possibility for the property they see to be in a multiple offer situation.

Today I am going to share with you some tips on how you can win in a multiple offer situation. As a Myrtle Beach real estate agent now for over 17 years, I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with these situations and have put together 5 tips that I think can help differentiate your offer from the rest when submitting and hopefully help you win in a bidding war.

The Price

Ok, so when it comes to multiple offers, the number one thing that the sellers are going to look at in most situations is the price. They are going to see who is giving the most amount of money for their property so that they can put the most amount of money in their pocket.

It is important that you put your best foot forward when doing this but not overpay for the property, especially if you are looking at doing financing. Many times, the selling agent will notify all parties with an offer on the property that the seller has called for a highest and best offer. When this happens, the seller is giving all potential buyers the ability to make one last change to their offer if they really want to win the residence. When this happens, sometimes a buyer pulls out, sometimes a buyer stays with their original offer, and sometimes a buyer will increase their amount, remove stipulations from their offer, or make other major changes to get their offer selected over the other ones.

The Closing Date

The second thing that you want to pay attention to in a multiple offer situation to give you the best opportunity to win is the date of closing. As I share a few weeks back, the closing date is a major component in an offer to buy and sell real estate.

If the seller of that property needs to move out and find a property to move to, they may want a longer time in order to find the property they need. If they own it and it is vacant and they want to get it sold quickly to reduce their expenses. Sellers who own vacant homes in Myrtle Beach have large expenses going out each month for utilities, taxes, and HOA dues. The quicker they can close and reduce their expenses, is normally better for a seller.

What I like to do from time to time is to find out that information ahead of time from the selling agent so that when I’m putting together my offer and presenting it we are setting a date that’s going to work best for both parties. I’ve even asked the selling agent before to find out from the seller what date would work best for them in situations where my buyer is flexible with closing on any date.

The Contingencies

The third thing that you want to pay attention to in a multiple offer situation is the contingencies that you add to your offer. Are you writing this offer contingent upon selling another home? Is it contingent upon a home inspection? Is it something where you are trying to get the seller to give you closing costs? Or you are trying to have them fix a bunch of things in the house?

If those things are happening, they are all contingencies that make more work for the seller. The less of those you have in your offer, the better likelihood you are to be picked over some of the other offers they receive. If the sellers have three offers on their Myrtle Beach home and two have contingencies for things to be repaired and inspections to be done while the other offer is willing to purchase the property AS IS, the AS IS offer will be much more appealing to the seller since it involves less work on the home, less questions whether the buyers will actually purchase. If all other parts of the contract are similar, 9 out of 10 times the seller will take this offer over the others.

The Qualifications To Buy

The fourth thing that you want to pay attention to is your money side of things. If you are paying cash for this property, get you a proof of funds letter ahead of time from your bank and submit it with your offer. If you are doing financing, you can still buy the property and win it when you are doing financing if you have a pre-approval ahead of time. I’ll share with you guys at the end how I recently won a multiple offer situation where we had financing over a cash offer.

It is extremely important to include this documentation when submitting your offer to the selling agent. This is the proof showing that you are actually qualified to make the purchase and have actually started the process which makes your offer MUCH more appealing over someone else who the seller does not even know if they can get the money to make the purchase.

The Earnest Money

So the fifth tip I want to talk about today is earnest money. Earnest money is the down money you are putting down with your offer to show that you have interest in this property. While someone else might put only $500 or $1,000 down, if you were to put maybe $2,000, $3,000, $5,000 down you are going to make your offer look more appealing over your competition.

Now you do run a risk of losing that money if you were to walk away from the deal, but if everything goes as planned, and you end up closing on the property, it’s going to help set you apart from someone else. The sellers will look at a deal with more money down as a major appeal over one with less. Just know if for some reason the deal goes south, you do run a risk of losing this money.

How I Win Multiple Offers

So I hope you found a lot of value in these five tips today. And as I mentioned a few minutes ago I wanted to share with you a story recently where I had a multiple offer situation and my buyers were able to win. We were in a multiple offer situation, the agent told us there were other offers on the table make sure you bring your highest and best offer in.

So I spoke with my buyers and we did what these 5 tips said. We got a pre-approval ahead of time, we got a strong earnest money that was higher than what normally people would give, we allowed the sellers to pick the date we are going to close, and we wrote it with basically no contingencies in our offer.

Our offer was picked over other ones and the agent shared with me that the items I suggested to my buyers to make as appealing as possible were the reasons we got our offer picked. Were we probably the highest number one? Maybe not. But, having those four other items in place for us was able to help us win over the others. I know for a fact, one of those other offers even was a cash offer. But our financing one was taken over it because these four other factors made is look like a better option to the sellers. We will actually be closing on this property here in the next few weeks.

Take these five tips to heart, put them into practice and you will be able to win in a multiple offer situation. If you are looking to buy a home in Myrtle Beach and want someone to help you to get the home in a bidding war, feel free to contact me here or call me directly at 843-222-9402. I’d love the opportunity to work with you in buying your next home in Myrtle Beach.

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