Myrtle Beach Condos

Do you believe it? Is it the end as we know it for Myrtle Beach real estate? What does that mean to us? Are we in bad shape in this area compared to the rest of the country? Maybe our building spurts 5-8 years ago taught us a lesson? Too many properties to go around? Am I being too dramatic?

Maybe.

The CNN article on Myrtle Beach says we had a 44% increase in foreclosures in 2010. (After a 446% increase in 2009.) I'm no math wiz, but that is a fairly large number. It attributes the increase to the recession. Makes sense. Recession = people spending money = people go on vacation less = less money coming into myrtle beach = businesses losing money = businesses laying off employees = unemployed cannot find work = unemployed behind on mortgate payments = house or condo foreclosed on.

Factor in that a fairly good percentage of Myrtle Beach real estate here are "second homes" either to rent or live in on occasion and that is a recipe for disaster. The investment properties are the ones that are hit hard, according to the Chamber of Commerce president.

Being in the real estate business, we see all ends of the spectrum. Those who honestly tried to keep their homes and those who are sucked into a short sale. We try to help as much as we can with the sellers, while there are buyers out there are trying to scoop up these foreclosure properties.

JUST IN CASE anyone is looking for a list of foreclosures, CondoLux has a list of short sales and foreclosures (condos and residential) that are updated every couple weeks. Pulled straight from the local MLS system in an easy to read PDF format.

In today’s social media focused world, everyone is trying to find their niche and advantage to using Facebook and Twitter. The real estate market is no exception. More and more agencies are developing strategic marketing plans to expand their reach to social media. Gone are the days of newspaper ads and simple MLS listings. Social media allows agents to take their listings to the next level.

In the Myrtle Beach real estate market, brokers and agents are using social media to promote properties, entice buyers and even gain referrals. These outlets help the agents build a personality and showcase their level of knowledge even before the first meeting with a client. By creating a network of local businesses and residents, an agent is more likely to reach a potential homebuyer through their postings. Social media allows not only for agents to make a connection but to provide valuable information relevant to the home-buying process. While most buyers in Myrtle Beach are not first-time home buyers, many current house-hunters still have questions. These outlets can serve and an information portal, educating homebuyers on everything from mortgage information, titles, taxes and insurance. Linking to articles as well as location information can be extremely helpful for potential buyers. Twitter pages can help broadcast new homes and condos for sale as soon as the listing is received. Those looking to buy can immediately get in touch with the agent and set appointments. This can allow for quicker and more frequent home and condo sales.

The resort destination of Myrtle Beach is a prime location for social media. Buyers looking for vacation condos for sale may not be local and can follow their agent’s listings and open houses through Facebook. In the competitive Myrtle Beach real estate market, it is key for buyers and sellers to be aware of the comparables. Social media is an ideal outlet for such information. YouTube can allow for buyers to take video tours of the property from anywhere in the world. Imagine watching the waves crash against the sand on Myrtle Beach as you stare out the master suite. While MLS listings can showcase the home, YouTube can allow for the buyer to actually experience the sights and the sounds without even touring the home. Who could resist a gorgeous sunset off the back patio? That’s enough to make anyone schedule a viewing.

As social media has taken over the way most companies market themselves, the real estate industry need to keep up with the ever evolving platform. From YouTube channels to iPhone apps, Twitter feeds and Facebook Marketplace, there are more and more outlets to market to both buyers and sellers.

FYI, we have a new website with a good Myrtle Beach MLS search that should be easy for everybody.

We've all seen the mistake. There we are, casually browsing some real estate site and there it is: CLICK HERE FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR.

Only it isn't a virtual tour at all.... but merely a slideshow, sometimes music sometimes silent but still nonetheless a slideshow. What irks so many in the Internet community is how many times they witness such a blunder. In summation, the following are a few distinctions between a virtual tour and a slideshow. As one pundit put it so aptly, "Every agent in the world now thinks a ‘virtual tour' is a picture slideshow with pans in and out. It annoys the hell out of me." Real estate agents all over the world, not just in the Myrtle Beach real estate are, often advertise their slideshows as virtual tours.

The following list isn't going to be arduous and pithy but rather concise, forthright and correct.

Slideshows: A slideshow is merely an arrangement of pictures presented in a variety of ways. The presentation aspect can vary using in and out pans, fades to black or dissolves. No matter how you dice it, a slideshow will always be a slideshow, no interaction between user and slideshow, only slideshow. The following example is an excellent form of a slideshow complete with music and a navigation tool for fast forwarding. Note however that even though you can click on each picture, there is no way of looking at different angles of that same area.
http://www.virtualsarasota.com/
(Just a little tip, a free program called Picasa makes quick and easy slideshows you upload STRAIGHT to YouTube.)

Virtual Tours: A virtual tour is a user guided tour featuring a web cam with an interactive feature allowing users to do a 360° view of all rooms shown. Utilizing virtual tours is a great way for online visitors to thoroughly scan each individual room and virtually ‘walk' wherever they want in the home/condo/apartment. Below is a link for a virtual tour. Notice how everywhere you click and drag, you are able to pan around and even ‘walk' down corridors and hallways.
Example: http://www.kennedy-center.org/about/virtual_tour/foyer_north.html

Granted, slideshows are cheaper and faster to create. Usually only the high dollar homes get the virtual tour treatment. Even so, the labeling is still a miss. It doesn't matter if it is a home for sale, or condo for sale, or even Myrtle Beach rentals, slideshows... aka, *cough* virtual tours, do add that that extra slice of fun for the user. However, do you think they are effective?

So what do we think about virtual tours? Do they make a difference? Feel free to leave your comments weighing in on this discussion. Does a virtual tour add to your overall viewing and ultimately impact your decision? Or is a slideshow sufficient enough? Let the great debate begin!

For first time homebuyers, today’s climate seems to have buyers proceed with more hesitancy than before. While many of the housing markets throughout the country are still facing decreases, the south managed an increase, if only slightly, but and increase nonetheless in sales. This even holds true for Myrtle Beach real estate.

For homebuyers this year, now may be one of the best times in the last 30 years to purchase. With more homes on the Myrtle Beach market than ever, buyers have the luxury of shopping the millions of listings without having to feel the pressure of having to buy immediately or face an all-out bidding war.

Thanks to the recent extension $8000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, 2010 is looking quite strong within the housing market. Keeping foreclosures to a minimum is a trickle effect seen from such stimulus incentives. The National Association of Realtors, for example, estimates 350,000 homes nationwide were sold to first-time buyers who probably wouldn't have bought a home if not for the credit. The group also reports that about 47 percent of all home sales in 2009 will be to first-time homebuyers, up from 41 percent in 2008.

The credit encouraged thousands of on-the-fence buyers to finally purchase their first homes. The combination of relatively low mortgage rates and the incoming homes not yet listed have the potential for making 2010 the most opportunistic time to purchase a home. The Commerce Department had reported that new home sales, had surged 27% from February to March, and are up 23% from the year previous. Home sales in March alone rose 5.3 percent, beating expectations from analysts. Lawerence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, projects home sales to be up 4.3 percent in 2010 and a whopping 5.1 percent in 2011.

This year alone, with early signs of recovery expected, more homes are on the market. With the existing economy being what it is, mortgage interest rates continue to be near all-time low, allowing buyers to capitalize on these factors.

According to an article in the Sun News today, (Myrtle Beach's leading newspaper) Myrtle Beach home sales increased 25 percent in May compared to the same month last year, plus condo sales rose 11 percent in May as well. Also according to the article, sources said about 45 percent of buyers paid cash, the other 46 percent used conventional financing methods. The rest got loans though Federal Housing Administration or Veterans Affairs.

When To Buy Real Estate

Real estate—March through August are very active months for buying and selling, so a buyer looking for a deal will have better luck negotiating on an offer in autumn and winter.

Due to the Myrtle Beach climate as well, summer lends itself to more vacationers that are "on the fence" type of buyers. They visit with their family, like the area, pick up one of the hundreds of Myrtle Beach real estate books laying around at gas stations and whatnot and contact an agent.

(And plus, properties show better in the summer. Especially when there is air conditioning, and the grass is green.)

The learn more about Myrtle Beach Real Estate, visit myrtlebeachrealestate.com.

Also. check out our new Condo Rentals Blog for Myrtle Beach, SC.

Like much of the country, Myrtle Beach, SC has had an unpredictable housing market over the past few years. Prices in that city swelled to all-time highs in 2005 and 2006, but eventually fell off considerably in 2008 and 2009. Due to the many luxury beachside residences in Myrtle Beach, the housing prices were even more affected. While the median housing price in Myrtle Beach in 2004 was just about $150,000, the price swelled to nearly $250,000 by the end of 2006. Since then, the median housing price in Myrtle Beach has fallen back to around $150,000. While housing prices across the country have fallen, Myrtle Beach foreclosures have hurt the housing market in this South Carolina city.

While Myrtle Beach foreclosures are above the national average, they are not nearly as rampant as other areas in the country, such as southern Florida, southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. Overall in Myrtle Beach, one in about 700 household received a foreclosure notice in February 2010. The foreclosure rate in Myrtle Beach seems to vary significantly by the area of the city. The foreclosure rate is the worst in the zip code of 29579. In zip code 29579, the foreclosure rate is around one in every 342 properties.

Overall, Myrtle Beach foreclosures account for about 980 homes on the market. As mentioned earlier, the foreclosures in Myrtle Beach have been driving down the median sales price in the city. Of the 980 homes going through the foreclosure process in the city, the median asking price is around $102,000. This is significantly lower than the median price overall in the city.

While the foreclosure rate in Myrtle Beach has been higher than the national average, it appears that the rate of foreclosure and the median sales price in the state are beginning to level out. The median sales price in Myrtle Beach has remained relatively consistent for the past few quarters. As the economy continues to improve and banks loosen their underwriting standards, it is conceivable that the median sales price in the city will actually improve and the rate of foreclosure will begin to decrease.