Myrtle Beach Condos

I guess you can call this a shameless promotion.  We have recently finished a video of the Prince Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC - one of the many Myrtle Beach vacation rentals CondoLux has to offer.  The Prince is also an excellent investment opportunity as well and is one of the most popular condos in North Myrtle Beach.



You can learn more about the Prince Resort Condos and other Myrtle Beach real estate investments at MyrtleBeachRealEstate.com.

Is now the time to buy in Myrtle Beach? What about two weeks ago? What about next month? When IS the right time to buy? When are we going to stop saying the "F-word"?

It depends.

There has been a sales burst recently in Myrtle Beach. Will it continue? Who knows. But there are some excellent deals being made right now in the Myrtle Beach real estate market. Deals that probably won't come around again for quite some time. (Talking decades here.) Think about it. The sellers really want OUT. They keep lowering their prices and taking less and less for their condo or home. Of course, this isn't always the case, but keep in mind, desperate times call for desperate measures. And Myrtle Beach has some motivated sellers, especially when we are talking about oceanfront condo short sales or foreclosures.

Oh, no, I said the "f-word". FORECLOSURES. As common as they are, there is still a piece inside of me that cringes when I hear that word (or short sales) for that matter. The downturn in the economy has seen plenty of foreclosures at Myrtle Beach real estate economy. Many of the owners of properties are unable to keep with their mortgage payments. Some timeshares have also collapsed due to a paucity of occupiers even in the prime vacation rental time. However this is also the best time to beat the prevalent price hike and own a piece of paradise with the real estate commonly known as the Grand Stand. And maybe Myrtle Beach foreclosures are just the way to do it.

Many planned their finances based on the continuing economic growth, little realizing that their financial commitments and planning may be skewered by events beyond their control. (Ehrm, we're talking the economy here.) Then they had little option but to think about reducing their burden and cutting their losses. This has put a large number of properties on the block in Myrtle Beach. Well, actually, anywhere for that matter.

With the seller being squeezed for time, and the buyer aware of this disparity on the part of the seller, this is one of the rare transactions, which aims to go on smoothly in all cases.

Even with Myrtle Beach real estate, such form of buying and selling as foreclosure are common. As a new buyer or the new incumbent, that you can generally get whatever sort of requirement you might have, be it a house, condo or whatever!

The simple bottom line is that we do NOT know what the economy will bring. We can see where it might be headed in the near future, but we just need to be sure we are ready for anything. Foreclosure or no foreclosure, it's time

Blame it on lack of computer knowledge. Blame it on laziness. Blame it on a bad system. But either way you shake it, if you do not enter your property correctly into the CCAR MLS system, then you may be missing out on LOTS of leads! And that is never a good thing in the Myrtle Beach real estate market. And here's why....

User input is put into the hands of the realtor/administrative assistant. What does that mean? Basically, it means users of Paragon are allowed to TYPE in the name for some pretty important fields into the MLS system. Such as City and Building Name. And because there are so many different "versions" of that city or building name being typed it, it is hard for programmers of a website's MLS search to keep track of them and display search results accordingly.

For example, here is a list (not guaranteeing accuracy here) of most of the different variations of the city of Myrtle Beach, as stored (or stored at one time)in the CCAR MLS System:

Myrlte Beach
Myrltle Beach
Myrt
Myrte Beach
Myrtel Beach
Myrtke Beach
Myrtl E Beach
Myrtle
Myrtle Beach
Myrtle .beach
Myrtle Bch
Myrtle Bch.
Myrtle Beac
Myrtle Beacg
Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach Briarcliff
Myrtle Beach,
Myrtle Beach/ Socastee
Myrtle Beah
Myrtle Bearch
Myrtle Bech
Myrtle Drive
Myrtlebeach
Mytle Beach
Mytrle Beach
Mytrtle Beach
Myttle Beach
Myyrtle Beach
Mrtyle Beach
Mrytle Beach
Nyrtle Beach
Myrle Beach
Mb
Mnyrtle Beach
Mrtle Beach
Myrtl;e Beach
Myrtle Bach
Myrtle Baech
Myrtle Beach Resort
Myrtle Beach,sc 29577
Myrtle Beacj
Myrtle Beacxh
Myrtle Brach
M.b.
Myrtle Beach,sc 29577
Myrtle Beach Golf & Yacht Club
Myrtle Beach,s. C. 29588
Myrtle Beachl
Myrttle Beach
Murtle Beach
Meytle Beach

Notice all of the misspellings or even some confusion when entering in a city?

So what does this mean to me? Lets say a user on some MLS search on some random website searches for Myrtle Beach real estate. More specifically, let's say they search for 2 bedroom condos in Myrtle Beach.

When the MLS system does the query, it searchs against records matching the city of "Myrtle Beach". And ONLY Myrtle Beach. It doesn't search for "M.b". It doesn't search for "Myrtle Bach". It searches ONLY for "Myrtle Beach". (Note: There are good IDX systems out there that DO this a type of data filtering to eliminate this. Ask your IDX provider if they do this.)

So, logically concluding, if your city is called "Myrt" in the MLS system, your property will NOT be returned to the user as a result.

The same goes for a building name or anything else you manually have to type in.

So, just keep this in mind, when you are dealing with Myrtle Beach real estate, or well, any other MLS system that accepts manual entry, you want to do 2 things.

1) DO NOT ABBREVIATE. 2) ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SPELLING.

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More tips and tricks to come. Also, check out my how to take proper real estate photos blog entry.

I've seen it a hundred times. It's not just a Myrtle Beach real estate thing. It's a national real estate agent epidemic that only a few have the vaccine for. Most of the pictures uploaded to their MLS system to show home and condo shoppers are absolute rubbish! Either the picture is taken of a blank wall, or whoever formatted the thing compressed it until it looks like lego blocks took over the picture. Well, no more.

They say you only have one chance to make a first impression (and that holds true with Myrtle Beach condo and house listings as well). And with web surfers checking out the MLS system, you better believe that if you don't have good photos of your product, they will surf on quickly to check out the next one. The pictures are the first thing they see!

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Lets break this lesson down into three sections. 1) The equipment itself. 2) How to take the picture. 3) How to resize them and compress them properly for the web.

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Camera Equipment Makes the Difference with Tight House and Condo Photos

Notice the differnce in a 35mm zoom lense and a 28mm zoom lense? You can see alot more of the house with a wider angled lense and will definately help showcase the property better.

I'm not saying go out and buy a new camera (or maybe I am). And I am not saying you have to purchase a top-of-the-line Digital SLR. A point and shoot camera works just fine. HOWEVER, think about this. You are taking pictures of rooms, NOT landscapes. Maybe the room is empty. Maybe not. But you better believe that you are not taking pictures of mansions every day with large rooms.

Mainly, the one thing you want to take from this is to buy a camera with a WIDE ANGLE lens for real estate photos. Not all wide angle cameras are expensive. You can pic one up for $150 to $350. You will want to look at the mm. Most cameras have a 35mm to xx zoom range. 35mm is not wide enough for most real estate shots. You will want to shoot for one that has about a 28 mm. Just go to your local Best Buy, Circuit City, or any other camera shop to take a look.

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How to take Real Estate Picture

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We could spend at least a few pages talking about how to adjust your camera to take photos, but since I know you don't have the time, I just want to point out a few major concepts you should take away from this. 1) LIGHTING IS EVERYTHING WITH THESE POINT AND SHOOT CAMERAS. 2) YOUR FLASH IS ONLY GOOD FOR TIGHT PLACES.

Basically, open all the windows and take the pictures on a sunny day. Then try to turn your flash off and take the picture. Does it turn out? If you are more advanced, you can try and adjust your camera settings (some cameras even have settings JUST for indoor shots). And remember, hold your camera as still as possible. In low-light situations, the camera's shutter speed is slower, so if you wiggle your camera, you might wind up with a blurry shot. This is especially true for condos in Myrtle Beach, when many times, the only outside light source is a balcony.

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How to Resize Your Shots Properly For the Web

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When you get the pictures from your camara, most likely they are large photos and need to be resized. What you need to keep in mind image size, and resolution, two very different concepts. The MLS for the Myrtle Beach area does not accept photos that are larger than 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels. Is that resolution or is that image size? That be image size my friends. Resolution deals with how many pixels per inch there are. When you pull them off your camera, the are usually either 200 pixels per inch or 300 pixels per inch. You want to change the resolution of your photos to either 72 or 96 instead of 200 or 300. (FYI, this is also known as DPI.)

Also, you want to make sure you do not "compress" the images too much. That compression leads to that blocky effect you see here:

Notice the difference?

Now, the entire reason you are formatting these photos is for one thing. SMALL FILE SIZE. The smaller the file, the easier it is to upload and to view on the web. But you shouldn't go overboard. Compression too much will lead to the "Bad Compression" example above. If your file is under 100kb, then you are good. (Most should be about 40kb optimal.)

SO, I recommend getting Google Picasa. It's a free program that automatically organizes all your real estate photos in a very convenient way. You then select the pictures you want and go to "EXPORT". Then select RESIZE TO: 640. Then set your compression to about 60. (60-70 is a good number since it does not hinder much of the photo quality.)

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AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! In a nutshell, all the information you need to make your Myrtle Beach real estate photos shine. Of course, I am open to any comments, questions and suggestions!

There have been investors who chucked their money with the wind bought into Myrtle Beach, and then there are those who waited. The patient waiters have been duly rewarded. This is slated to be the best time for buying a property at Myrtle Beach. The Board of realtors has argued how condominium sales have come down by a neat 41 percent in the first financial quarter of 2007.

This may be lower than what we saw for the last three years but is certainly better than the grey times before the condo rate hike of 2005. Condo sales had actually gathered quite a pace then, nearly selling for twice the rate. Times were such that preconstruction condo projects were jumped at, just when they were publicly declared.

That then was the time to rake in moolah. Some of you must have known how it was, sky-high prices of few of the first constructed condos; all around the Myrtle Beach, an atmosphere of total euphoria built-up. People preferred breaking bonds and investing in Myrtle Beach condos and villas. Mortgage rates were good and interest was very buyer-friendly.

Soon though the dice changed sides; business developers could not find way with the latest assault of buyers; a case of demand outdoing supply. They had no choice but to increase the costs of constructions. This resulted in unclaimed properties as buyers could only fish at a certain level. That leads to Myrtle Beach condo foreclosures.

The pessimistic pundits kept raving how the bubble would burst with time. This led to deceleration of sales. Investors were stung by panic waves and Myrtle Beach plot became less needed, less pampered; all this despite the beach being a top tourist attraction. Though statistically, recession never hit North and South Carolina, it was quite evident how sale figures really dropped sending constructors for cover.

Prices have seen a drastic downturn around the picturesque expanse of Myrtle Beach. The place has seen moderation, then euphoria and finally recession. This then is the best time to invest in the market. A great vacation home or a plot for resale, a buy to let mortgage or a villa to tidy up life's savings; for all your aims, Myrtle Beach has something to offer. Myrtle Beach real estate prices are now expected to move up. This is the best time to gather pieces, beautiful patterns of concrete, and move up the ladder. If you have the resources to make investment and keep it floating for two years, resale figures will possibly give a 200 percent premium.

Most of you might think of the best possible means to pay the mortgages. Vacation homes have a unique timesharing concept. For all around the year, you can just align your condo property to a hospitality group. They would rent it out as hotel spaces. This will lead to a lot of revenue which can help with paying EMI's, tracking maintenance and even enjoying the pleasures when it is time for you to have fun at the vacation houses or condo. Myrtle Beach Paradise Resort is an excellent example of homeowners who take advantage of rental management opportunities for their condo mortgages, having a rental management company rent out their condo for profits ABOVE their monthly mortgage rates.

Myrtle Beach Real Estate is perhaps just standing at the crossroads of history.