Selling Greenville

Every real estate transaction requires a team, which can include lenders, inspectors, contractors, appraisers, attorneys, etc. You might have a lender that offers a competitive rate, but what if other aspects about that lender cause concern for the seller, resulting in them accepting another offer instead of yours? A competitive rate or special lender incentives are worthless if you don't get the...

The US Treasury recently made an amendment that now dramatically restricts how much lending Fannie Mae can do on second homes and investment/rental properties. Does the Treasury see something bad coming down the road? And what does this mean for us now in 2021? We are left with more questions than answers, but there is much to consider with this new development, and anyone interested in real estat...

Three organizations (including the SC Association of Realtors) put their heads together to look at the property tax situation in SC. The long story short is that the property tax structure down here is both convoluted and unfair to renters, landlords, and manufacturing businesses. Unfortunately, fixing the property tax issues would require a complete overhaul of the state tax code. That's the bad...

We know what happens when you overprice your home (which Stan discussed in Episode 40), but what happens when you underprice it? In this short episode, Stan looks at the data from the past 6 months to get a sense for what the market does when a home is underpriced. 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 ph...

When most people think of "Poe Mill," they think of an area just north of downtown Greenville where a '90s-style skate park is surrounded by a decrepit mill and many old mill houses. However, that's all about to change, as a developer is poised to renovate the mill, and as several other spaces in the Poe Mill area are prepared for renovation. Is Poe Mill the next "big thing" in Greenville? And wha...

We have a housing affordability problem in the Upstate of SC, and it's not going away any time soon. But the depth of the problem goes far beyond the simple "supply and demand" issues that we are all aware of when it comes to housing. Even developers and builders that want to help in the area of affordable housing run into issues of red tape, etc. when it comes to providing inexpensive homes for t...

I frequently hear people say they are trying to time the market, usually saying they intend to wait to make a purchase - whether for an investment property or a house to move into - until the market "dies down" or flips to a buyer's market. We all want to "buy low and sell high," but that's easier said than done. Most of the time, utilizing a strategy of waiting for the market to flip backfires, b...

Episode 50, my 35th birthday, and my 5th anniversary as a Realtor all converge this week, making for a very special time of reflection as I consider five of the most important lessons I've learned over my life, particularly when it comes to real estate. These are "big picture" lessons that have broad application, but they have revolutionized my thinking, both in terms of how I approach buying and...

One of the trickiest questions for me to answer is, "What should I offer on this property?" At the end of the day, determining the value of a home is just as much of an art as it is a science, but there are some methods, both objective and subjective, that can help determine a property's value to a buyer. In this episode, I discuss the three most common and basic ways that I think about property v...

When people think of what makes a good realtor, they often think about about how personable the realtor is, how available s/he is, how good at negotiation they are, etc. But some of the most crucial criteria for determining a good realtor are common overlooked, such as their organizational system or ability to project the potential of a property. In this episode, I discuss six of these often overl...

One of the biggest mistakes people make when assessing real estate is to rule out a property because of its perceived weaknesses. Why is that such a big mistake? Because oftentimes the greatest opportunities to add value to a property actually lie in that property's greatest weaknesses! Converting those weaknesses into strength disproportionately add value to the property while simultaneously avai...

Whether you're a renter, homeowner, or real estate investor, we all need tools to help us in everyday life. Over the years, I've learned that there are some tools that you simply shouldn't skimp on, and you'd be AMAZED the difference it makes to go into a job, home rehab, etc. with a slightly better toolkit than without. In this episode I discuss six tools that I've learned are not the ones to att...

"This doesn't feel right" is probably something that you've told yourself before. That's a feeling we all get from time-to-time. It's our gut - the instinct we develop that is informed by our past experiences - talking to us subconsciously! But our gut can be wrong, or at least misinformed, and when it comes to real estate, we have to teach ourselves where it is wrong and help to educate it. Makin...

This past year was easily the most challenging of my real estate career. It seems like every transaction had some little twist or turn that made it more difficult than expected. But in the end, it was a good year, and in this episode, I give you a behind-the-scenes glance at what my life as a realtor was like the past year. Tune in to this final episode of 2020 for five stories from deals that hap...

As we approach the end of the year, it's easy to think about how trying 2020 was, but I'd rather focus on the positive. There is a lot that I'm grateful for from the past year, and in this episode, I discuss five things that come to mind when I think about 2020, particularly from a real estate standpoint. This is a bit of a more personal episode than some of my past recordings, but I hope it gives...

This past week, I was a part of a live zoom meeting that allowed me to correspond with Dr. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. He gave some incredible insight into what he expects to happen in the real estate market (both nationally and locally) in the upcoming year and how that compares to what happened this past year (and in previous years). In this episod...

Did you know that most appraisers in Greenville give basement homes a fraction of the value of what they deserve? It's true, and it causes issues for sellers trying to sell basement homes, while potentially delivering great value to buyers trying to buy them. However, the increasingly prevalent low appraisals that come in for homes with finished basements are frustrating to those of us operating w...

There is a science behind determining the value of a home, but not everyone agrees, once the home value has been determined, how high or low the list price should be set at. Any good realtor will tell you that it's a terrible strategy to overprice a listing, but sometimes a realtor's gut can be misleading. Today we crunch numbers from the past three months of real estate closings to determine what...

I've negotiated hundreds of real estate deals over the years, and I've learned that although each one is different, there are some tactics that generally work and others that usually don't when it comes to negotiating a deal. Additionally, each transaction has multiple times when you have to negotiate, and any one of these negotiation points can derail a transaction. In this episode, I discuss the...

In just two years (Nov 2018-Nov 2020), average mortgage interest rates have gone down by around 40%! We are seeing rates that are lower than we ever have seen and likely ever will see again. What does that mean practically? For starters, you can buy a lot more house now than just 2 years ago without seeing your mortgage payment go up. How much more house can you buy? Tune into this episode to find...

Greenville has developed a reputation for a lot of things - a beautiful downtown area, talented local artists, delicious dining scene, great annual festivals/activities, etc. - but there are a lot of unique traits to the Upstate that fly under the radar while having a massive impact on one's daily life. We explore six of Greenville's (and the Upstate's) most underrated traits in this (short) episo...

I am fairly involved and knowledgeable about local politics, and so I get asked with some regularity what my opinions are about different candidates. Rather than typing it out in a massive post, I decided to record a podcast about it, with a special focus on which politicians (particularly among the local ones) will be good for local real estate. I cover county/local, state, and federal elections...

With there being so few homes on the market, it's important that I keep my eyes open for any opportunities that might arise for my clients. One potential avenue for finding houses (particularly investment properties) is to purchase them through wholesalers. What is a wholesaler, and what is the process like buying a house from them? If you're wondering, you're in luck with this episode, because I'...

I get calls all the time from people who want to get into flipping houses, and for those that do, arguably the most important skill to develop is the ability to quickly assess a property. You need to assess the type of flip, the potential risk/reward, how much of an opportunity it is, and how much competition you are likely to have. In this episode, I discuss some basic criteria to give you an ide...

Both the state of SC and the federal government (via the CDC) have issued orders/guidelines addressing a landlord's ability to evict a tenant who has been financially impacted by COVID. This is having a ripple effect on real estate, causing some investors to freak out and sell off their rentals, while others are opting to avoid purchasing future rentals until at least after the elections are over...