Jeremy Blanton ActiveRain Corp.

That's right! This Tuesday the newest attraction in Myrtle Beach will be opening. They will be having a soft opening or what they are calling "soundcheck."

The park will be open daily as they prepare for their grand opening that will take place in just a few weeks. This is an exciting time in Myrtle Beach as this amusement park prepares to take off and "Rock Our Socks Off"

For more information visit their site at http://www.hardrockpark.com/. Also, you can view behind the scenes views from their live webcams that are contiuously broadcasting.

If you would like to purchase property near or around this area, contact me today!

When selling a property it is imperative that your your home is as safe as possible. There are professional theives that contact agents to view homes. They obviously are not wanting to see these homes to purchase, but to see what type of items they can pick up.

They may have visited during an open house, or seen a picture online of the home and think this home may be a good target. As an agent, it is our duty to try and keep everyone together when showing a home, but if there is an entire family along, it is impossible to keep an eye on everyone. The really good pros have partners that visit with, or even bring along children.

So, below are a few tips to help keep your house safe.

1. Put away all jewelry. If there is jewely laying around on a dresser or nightstand, it is a very big & easy target for someone to pick up. Either put the precious gems in a locked safe, or if you do not have one, place the gems in either a drawer or in a box. A safe place to place them is in a shoe box in the closet. Or, put in a flat envelope that you can hide in between stacked sweaters on a shelf. There are plenty of ways to hide them. The key is to make sure they are out of site.

2. Hide the credit cards & bills. With the identity theft on the constant rise, it is crucial that any type of credit cards or mail that you have is secured. Place any mail or cards in either a filing cabinet that can be locked, or in a desk that can be locked. Crooks can be sneaky and will try and find a way to get alone in a house.

3. Remove the Personal Pictures. It is a good idea to put away any personal pictures. One of our clients that is a single woman was very uncomfortable having her house listed for sale because of safety. One of our suggestions to her was to put away all the pictures that were just of her and only leave out the ones of her with her one cousin. Nobody knew if it was a husband, or relative. This gave her peace of mind.

4. Put away your money! You would think this one would be a no brainer, but I cant even begin to count the number of times I have gone to show homes that have had money sitting around on the kitchen table, or on a dresser, or nightstand. Sometimes there have been rather large amounts of money there too! Like your jewelry, put this in a locked safe, or safeplace.

5. Hide anything with your name, address, phone number, social security number, etc... Just the other day I walked through a home that had prescription bags on the refrigerator with the persons name, telephone number, social security, and address. Some that you may not think of would be the kids softball schedule, or your nursery schedule for church. These all have information that someone could use to steal from you.

Here is a funny video, but I think gets the point across as to what could happen!

These are just 5 simple ways to protect yourself when selling your home. If you are currently thinking of selling your home, do not hesitate to contact me!

P.S. Thanks Active Bob for the call today to help with my pictures!

On April 3, 2008 The Market Common of Myrtle Beach will have its Grand Opening. The idea behind The Market Common was to create a unique lifestyle place for urban living. When you are at the Market Common, you can live, work, play all in the same area.

The Market Common is being built on the retired Myrtle Beach Air Force Base that was an active base until the early 1990's. This property now will feature some of the areas finest homes, restaurants, shops, and entertainment places. Some of the wonderful businesses that are coming to The Market Common include:

The weekend of the Grand Opening are filled with many special activities. Here is a schedule for the upcoming activites this weekend:

This is a major event that should change the overall landscame of Myrtle Beach for years to come. So, next time you are visiting Myrtle Beach, make sure to stop by the Market Common and see all of the newest attractions in Myrtle Beach.

If you know someone who is looking to either buy or sell in The Myrtle Beach Area do not hesitate to contact me.

Ok, so I am definitely one for contests.  Melissa Grant announced a new contest for people to write about a historic thing in their area.  So, I decided I would pick the Ocean Forest Hotel.  It was the first major hotel in Myrtle Beach.  At the time it was built, Myrtle Beach had no type of hotel in the area.  The landscape of our area was mainly small beachfront houses.  Then came along this grand hotel 10 stories high, crystal chandeliers and more.  This hotel was the beginning of current day Myrtle Beach.  It turned us into a tourism destination and people started to come from all over to enjoy the warmth, and beach.

 However, as time went on, and the hotel became older and older it was demolished. After being demolished, the land was replaced with Ocean Forest Villas, and also, Ocean Forest Plaza. 

Below, see a few pictures from the demolition of the Ocean Forest Hotel. 

 Here is a video that shows pictures of the Ocean Forest Hotel throughout the Years.

This was a major landmark to the history of Myrtle Beach and what it is today.  Now in Myrtle Beach, you can find several hotels that mimick Ocean Forest Hotel, but none will ever be the same.  This property paved the way for Myrtle Beach which is now one of the top tourist destinations for golf, beach, and other area attractions.

If You have never visited Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I would highly recommend it to anyone.  There is fun for the whole family!

I just finished reading an article that I thought I would share some of the points from. To view the entire article, visit The Sun News. In the article, it stated that while single average prices for single family homes fell around $5,000, the number of sales increased. This is what is needed to get our market going. I think sellers are finally becoming more realistic in their pricing of homes. That with the fact that some people are becoming desperate to sell, has helped to stimulate things. No matter how bad or good the market is, there are always 4 types of sellers:

• I have to sell- I have no control over the decision to sell (ie. job transfer, family growing, etc...)
• I must sell- There is an urgency for me to sell my house, but there is still a slim hope of a big payday.
• I need to sell- It is important to sell my house, but if I don't sell, its not catastrophic to me.
• I'd like to sell- I will sell my house, but only for the right price.

As long as there are people falling into the Have to sell category, there will always be buyers looking to buy, and sellers looking to sell. I believe our market is starting to see more people falling into the "Have To Sell" category daily. As that continues to grow, prices will get more in alignment with the market, and sales will continue to grow.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that as the spring market comes, and the flowers begin sprouting, that buyers will sprout up as well and sales will begin to be in full bloom.

If you know of anyone looking to either buy or sell in the Myrtle Beach & Surrounding Areas, Contact Jeremy Blanton at 843-449-4404 or on the web at www.dennisgblanton.com. Your Myrtle Beach Connection