Selling Greenville

In the "good ole days" (pre-COVID), those buying a house in the Upstate of SC with all cash could generally expect a discount - to not have to pay "full price" in contrast to those making offers contingent on financing. But as cash closings have come to dominate a larger percentage of closings than we've ever seen and with inventory at historically low levels, the conventional wisdom of the past i...

The Greater Greenville area was once a thriving mill community, with many water-powered mills throughout the Upstate spurring on a strong, blue-collar economy. But as the economy changed, the mills went into disuse and then disrepair, with the result that many of our vibrant "mill villages" got left behind. In recent years, however, developers have found great opportunity in converting the old Ups...

Pretty much any major crisis impacts real estate, and war is no exception. In March of 2022, we're experiencing some major unrest in Eastern Europe, and it's already starting to impact the housing market. Is the impact exclusively bad? Not necessarily, but there are several potential outcomes that we could see this year in real estate, as a direct result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is li...

We've been talking for multiple years now about low inventory driving the real estate frenzy, and it appears we're going to keep talking about that in 2022! Add to that the fact that prices are still going up and that mortgage rates are hovering around their highest point since 2019, and it's not hard to see that the early indications are that this is going to be another nutty year of real estate....

There is a common saying in real estate that you should "never buy the most expensive house in a neighborhood." Unfortunately, with the market being as feverish as it is, many people have no choice when moving but to buy the most expensive home in a given neighborhood. So what are the considerations for making such a purchase? Is it an automatic death sentence to your home's longterm value if you...

The standard contract used in most residential real estate transactions in the Upstate may be about to see massive changes to the inspection/repairs language. The South Carolina Association of Realtors is discussing removing the "Repair Procedure" section from the contract, meaning that, unless they came up with another solution, contracts would either be very skewed towards a seller or a buyer, s...

We all know that real estate prices in Greenville have skyrocketed in recent years, but how does that compare to other markets in the US? Some people have expressed concerns that Greenville will become so expensive that it will no longer be cheaper than other major markets. But is that what the data says? Or is it possible that Greenville is still remaining more affordable than the competition whe...

Not all real estate stories are success stories. There are times when people leave money on the table - sometimes a lot of money. And one of the wildest examples of that just happened recently in the Upstate, when someone sold a house FSBO (for sale by owner) for $550,000 less than it was worth! All it took was a single phone call that would've made them half-a-million dollars richer, but the phon...

The Greater Greenville area saw the entire real estate market appreciate substantially in 2021, but some specific areas saw the median price point of real estate sales increase by substantially more (or less) than the average. One area even saw the median price point decrease by over 13% in 2021 when compared to 2020! In this episode, Stan looks at these markets and gives his thoughts on why some...

What happens when you combine a late (and low appraisal) that mandates multiple thousands of dollars of cosmetic work needing to be done, with a lender that's about to go out of business and won't be able to close on the house if the closing extends beyond December 30, with a transaction that's somehow got to go through rushed underwriting, multiple days worth of repairs, a reinspection on an appr...

We all know that the costs to buy a home have gone up tremendously the past two years, but what about the costs to rent? It stands to reason that renting has also gotten more expensive in recent years, but not all is as it appears. In this episode, we look at a hot neighborhood in Greer, SC that has had a lot of properties sold and rented the past few years and analyze how the last 6 months of 202...

Sometimes it's not the right time to make a move, but there's no inherent virtue in waiting. Some are asking, "Should I wait until the market slows down?" and while none of us enjoy moving in an intense real estate market, there is also a real cost in waiting. Home prices continue to increase at record levels, which also impact downstream costs like property taxes, PMI, etc., and simultaneously, t...

As we enter the last days of 2021, we see the Greenville real estate market still plunging ahead with low days on market, high percentage of list price received, and record-breaking prices. What does all this mean? Can the market sustain this pace? Is a slowdown coming? Will real estate prices stabilize or potentially even go down in 2022? We dig into some of the data in this week's episode of Sel...

In real estate, sometimes a transaction goes sideways, and the parties (usually the sellers in particular) have to decide whether to simply let the transaction fall apart or whether to fight to keep it together. The best course of action is to get out in front of this before ever going under contract, and when selling a property, there are ways that we can "read the tea leaves" about a buyer to tr...

Sometimes real estate agents speak in code. We all have something in mind when a listing says, "hidden gem" or "handyman special," but what do those phrases really mean when realtors say them? In this episode, we have a little fun and discuss some of the common phrases used in listings and translate them into what they (humorously) actually mean.  As always, if you have any questions or comments (...

In Episode 72 we discussed the process of selling a package of 15 condos in Greenville. Well, a lot has happened since then because that contract fell through! It turns out that a deal like this almost exclusively must be sold to a local buyer using a local lender, but you'd be surprised by how many realtors (and even lenders!) don't realize this. The good news is a creative way to sell these cond...

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us! We'd be remiss not to have a "thankfulness" episode, and what better to be thankful for than Greenville! In this episode, we discuss eight things that set Greenville apart and are worthy of thanks for those of us living here.  As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/tex...

We never know when the next recession or economic depression might be upon us, and as a result, people are constantly fretting that it might happen tomorrow. This has been even more the case the past year as a result of the pandemic, various things happening in (and caused by) the government, and with the way home prices are soaring. So it's worth considering: which properties are the ones that ha...

An antiquated process. A little taste of the "Old South." A list of 1,200 properties to analyze. A packed out room with tons of money flowing through it. A flirty, chatty lady next to me in the auction. A dollar store building that sold for $1.625M. And a $600,000 property that sold for $35,000. The 2021 Greenville County tax sale had a little bit of everything, and this episode gives you a little...

For all the progress we've made as a society, we still have a homelessness problem. There are public and private entities that exist to try to end homelessness, but at the end of the day, even with government assistance and a stable job, it can be close to impossible for someone who is homeless to get into a home, particularly if they have a past record of substance abuse, crime, etc. Is there any...

Most homeowners improve their homes over the years by updating things, changing cosmetic items, removing walls, purchasing new appliances, installing pools, etc. There is a common assumption that when they go to sell their home, they will get back dollar-for-dollar what they put into the home. By and large that assumption is false . There are some improvements that disproportionately add value to...

Home warranties are polarizing - some people won't buy a house without one. Others have terrible opinions of them. Most realtors will recommend them dozens (perhaps hundreds) of times over their careers without ever actually using one themselves. However, I (Stan) decided to put my money where my mouth was and purchased a home warranty last year to see what it would be like. The result? It was a t...

There are lot of people trying to learn how to invest in real estate for the first time, and you can identify the "newbies" immediately by the questions they ask and by how they approach real estate in general. It's not easy to learn to think like an experienced investor when you don't have experience, but there are some general principles that new investors can apply to their mindset to learn how...

Trust me - you don't want to buy a house sight unseen, and most people will never even be put in a situation where they could. But there are some unique situations, particularly for investors, where sight unseen types of purchases present the best opportunities. So what can you do to minimize the risk of buying something as large and expensive as a house without first seeing it? In this week's epi...

With the real estate market being as competitive as it is, many buyers find themselves having to waive contingencies to get an offer accepted. One of the most controversial of these is the inspection contingency. Technically, you always have a right to inspect (at least when using the standard "Form 310" contract that Realtors in Greenville use), but if you check the "as is" box, you are stating t...