Greenville, SC Real Estate Podcast with Dan Hamilton Dan Hamilton

We’re only a short way into the new year, but I hope you’re having a great year so far! Today’s message is to inform you that you’re invited to join Hamilton & Co.’s VIP group on Facebook. Mind you, this isn’t our public Facebook Page—this is just for Hamilton & Co. insiders. So if you’d like to be included in our monthly giveaways and get insider information about what’s happening in the local real estate market, join our VIP page! In the meantime, if you have any questions about your real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to help.

As we move into the second quarter of 2019, our Greenville market is looking stable, and now is a great time to sell. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS. Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Now that we’re into the second quarter of 2019, it’s a great time to look back at the first quarter of our market to see where things stand between buyers and sellers as we move through spring. To really gauge our market, there are four numbers I like to track: inventory, home sales, the average sale price, and the average days on market. Here’s how each of these numbers stack up compared to the first quarter of last year: Inventory rose 6.8% to 4,271 active homes on the market The number of sales dropped 1.7% to 2,768 homes The average sale price rose 0.9% to $240,398 The average days on market rose 4.9% to 64 days “ Just a few months ago, the U.S. News & World Report said that 2019 was going to be the best year for home sellers in recent memory. ” What these numbers mean is our market is very stable, and stability is good. Just a few months ago, the U.S. News & World Report said that 2019 was going to be the best year for home sellers in recent memory. Interest rates are still very low, and 20% of all millennials say they plan on buying a home within the year.  If you want to sell your current home and buy another home, I recommend putting your home on the market first and getting it under contract before looking for your next home. Otherwise, you run the risk of owning (and paying for) two homes at the same time. If you have any more questions about our Greenville market or you need help buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

The winter might be a better time to sell your home than you think. Here are a few reasons why. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS. Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Winter may be the best time to put your home on the market. If you were waiting until spring, you may not have to. On my recent appearance on “Your Carolina with Jack & Megan,” I discussed why the winter is a fantastic opportunity for homeowners to get their properties on the market. One of the biggest misconceptions in real estate is that the winter is a bad time to sell. However, lower inventory means less competition. If you wait until June or July, you’ll be competing against many other homebuyers. The more supply that’s out there, the more home prices get compressed. “ If you wait until June or July to list, your competition will increase exponentially. ” Secondly, this is the time of year where many companies are helping their employees out by giving them bonuses and year-end payouts. They are starting to collect those right now and will have a little bit of extra money in their pocket. Finally, did you know that January is the No. 1 month for corporate relocations? With that being so, there will be a lot of people coming into the area, looking to pick a house quickly by January. You'll want to be on the market now to take advantage of those buyers. Thanks again to Jack and Megan for having me. If you have any questions about why winter is a great time to sell or about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pest and termite control is certainly an important thing for homeowners to pay attention to. However, did you know that moisture and mold control can be just as devastating and worrisome? Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS. Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Whether you’re thinking about buying, selling, or wanting to preserve the investment you’ve already made in your home, we’re here to give you smart advice to be able to do that. I was recently joined by Tyler Rehn from Pest Guard Solutions to talk about what his company does and how they can help you. He runs a termite, pest control, and moisture control company. He married into a family who had this type of business and recently went on his own in the last year. The No. 1 question people have for Tyler is whether or not they have termites in their home. His team’s experience makes it easy to find an answer. Another common question Tyler hears is about mold and moisture control. Everyone thinks about termite control when it comes to getting rid of pests, but when Tyler and his team start to look at homes, the moisture and mold side is something that’s often forgotten about. “ Moisture and mold problems can be just as devastating as pest and termite problems. ” A lot of times, when you’re putting your home on the market, wood destroying mold can be just as big of an issue as termites. It could be mold, fungus, or termites that could rot wood away and even lead to health issues. If you want to know more about what Tyler and his team do, you can visit them here or give him a call at (864) 616-6308. They’d be happy to answer any questions you have. They even have a special offer for those of are subscribers of ours. If you have any other real estate-related questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today I want to share our latest market numbers and help you decide if it is a great time to buy or sell. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS. Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. I was recently on “Your Carolina with Jack & Megan” to talk about the market, and if you're thinking about buying or selling, you won't want to miss this episode—which you can follow along with above as we discuss the latest developments in our market. The first statistic we should consider is inventory, also known as the supply. When the market slows down, supply typically rises. Currently, we're still seeing supply decrease with a 2.7% decrease compared to this time last year. This indicates that it is still a strong market. The average days on market (the amount of time it takes a home to sell) is another key indicator of overall market conditions. Currently, the average number of days on market is down about 3%, which means that we are still seeing a strong market, even though some people are saying it is slowing. The numbers don't indicate a slowing. In fact, the average price of a home is still going up. We are up 8.4% from this time last year with a price of $245,000. It is still a seller's market below $250,000. If you put a home on the market that is $175,000 to $225,000, it sells very quickly. “ The great thing about selling now is that there's actually less competition because there are fewer homes on the market. ” Since it is fall, many people think that now isn't the time to sell because homes don't sell. However, this is a misconception. It is actually a very robust market here and we see a lot of homes sold. The great thing about selling now is that there's actually less competition because there are fewer homes on the market as you go into the winter months. The buyers that are out there are also more serious about finding a home and want to buy. The entire Greenville area is still very popular. Specifically the Five Forks area as well as inside the city is becoming increasingly popular. In fact, we put a home on the market a few weeks ago in West Greenville that received 15 offers. People want to go into the village and fix homes up and make a nice community. Days on market still does matter greatly. We try to price a home so that it sells in 30 to 45 days. If it does stay on the market longer than this, we don't want it to reach 60 days because then when buyers look at it they make lowball offers. You want to come onto the market and price to sell it quickly, or people may think that there is something wrong with the property. If you have any questions about our current market, or if you're interested in talking about buying and selling, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Today I want to talk about what you need to consider when buying a new construction home. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS. Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. What steps should you take and what factors do you need to consider when buying new construction? To help you, I will go over some of these points today. Of course, you can also speak with one of our buyer's agents who can go further in-depth with all of these areas. You can start by looking at the pros and cons of buying new construction. You may want to consider that new homes are typically built farther from the city center, so you may have a longer commute depending on where you work. You may also have to coax a new lot into existence because it may not have a lawn or trees. Subdivisions can also be very cookie-cutter since they go up quickly. You'll have to decide if you're okay with your home looking similar to your neighbor's as well as if it is okay that you could be in close proximity to your neighbor. The next thing you need to do is research the neighborhoods and builders. Our buyer's agents know a lot about the neighborhoods and builders because they have worked with them before. They’ve even been invited to get behind-the-scenes looks at what some of the builders can do for our clients. Although they come fully prepared, it doesn't hurt for you to do some research yourself so you know what you're getting into. “ Builder's have a standard floor plan and many times the one you see marketed isn't the standard floor plan with the standard options. ” It also is of great benefit to you to find out what comes standard from the builder and what costs extra. Builders have a standard floor plan and many times the one you see in marketing materials isn't the standard floor plan with the standard options. There could be many extra options that could end up costing a lot of extra money. Our buyer agents always advise getting an inspection and home warranty. Most builders actually come with some sort of home warranty on them, so you want to know what that is and what it covers. This way you will know if you need an extra warranty on top of that. This can be negotiated with the builder as well. In fact, we negotiate this for our clients because we want them to be protected when they purchase a new construction home. The final thing to consider is how to close the deal. This is actually what we specialize in; we write the contracts and negotiate price points and add-ins for you. We are here to help you every step of the way through your home buying process. If you have any additional questions about new construction or buying or selling in general, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to speaking with you soon.