John Rakoci North Myrtle Beach Coastal Carolinas

Although far from the numbers found in other areas the Grand Strand has foreclosures in all catagories. Since the demand for them surfaced they have been included in my monthly newsletter. The two catagories most requested are of detached homes and condo/townhomes. Lists of foreclosed raw land and commercial real estate are completed upon request. Searches completed on November 18 found 126 homes in foreclosure priced from $14,900 to $1,499,000. The condos and town homes listed are priced from $34,900 to $649,900. The lists include properties in Horry and Georgetown Counties in SC. Addition lists are availabe for Brunswick County NC also.

Click here or paste the following in your browser for listings of detached homes: http://ccar.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=881add2e-d36e-4d5d-9ad8-7b469b499ca1&Report=Yes

Click here or paste in your browser for listings of condos and townhouses: http://ccar.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=4e3f16ea-832a-42af-ac3a-79e6643bf911&Report=Yes

A great big thank you to all veterans. Your love for this country will never be forgotten for you served us all proudly. All your sacrifice is appreciated, May God continue to keep you well and safe. May God bless every veteran that gave the ultimate sacrifice. A special prayer for my dad a WW II vet and those that served with me in SE Asia. May God watch over all service men and women currently in harms way.

Trudie Martin was born in October of 1901. She is 108 years old! She has always been active in church and has been there to help anyone in need. She is not an invalid although a walker comes in handy at times. When her doctor wanted to schedule her to return for a check up in 3 months she refused telling him she would call him if he was needed. Other than a vitamin she takes no medications either. No special diet for her and still liberally adds salt to her food. She is still active and received her first speeding ticket long ago at age 75! Trudie has one daughter that lives with her - age 66!

Good luck Trudie and I hope to see you at your 110th birthday party.

After procrastinating for a year today was THE day to get it done. This was going to be the third time going through the program so it was not really looked forward to or it would have been done a year ago. After seeing report on CNN (or was it CNBC) it had to be done before the feds stuck their nose it. Long ago I took the course in Pa and just a few years ago an extended course in SC. Today the course lsted a full 8 hours. Mr Wood put on a very good program. He kept it interesting. The class participants were all very nice. NO, it was not a CE class! It was the program required by NC and 13 other states to qualify for a CWP. CWP stands for Concealed Weapons Permit. Everything from basic weapons handling to the laws concerning the use of deadly force was covered. Each participant had to qualify with 30 rounds from their weapon on the range also.

When asked if the recession had impacted class size or number of classes scheduled the instructor said it had not. He said since February of this year he has had more students than in the past 3 years. The policies of the obama administration concerning the Second Amendment has brought more people out to get a CWP than ever.

Did you know there is great difficulty finding some ammunition? Some of the popular handgun and rifle ammo is being hoarded since the obama administration has stated thoughts on the Second Amendment. Most years the manufacturers made about 6 billion rounds. So far this year they have produced 9 billion and I still have trouble finding .357 magnum rounds.

Has Real Estate Finally Hit the Bottom? The REAL question is "Should you really care?".

Sellers - Sellers need to decide if it makes a difference to them, if they have another choice, If it is better to hang on until maybe the 2nd quarter of 20??. Divorce, job transfer, retirement, and a host of other reasons could have sellers deciding it makes no difference as outside circumstances can have sellers feeling they have no choice or it makes no difference. They simply decided to sell. Many believe it will be better to 'hang on' until prices rise. Under some circumstances they could be making the best decision for themselves. IF they have time, probably a lot of time, prices could rise enough to make them happy all the while having a home to live in. This group makes the most sense if they are not going to buy another home or are moving to a location where home prices are lower. Waiting for prices to move up 20% in order to move up to a more expensive home is questionable. Waiting for a $200,000 home to rise 20% would add $40,000 to a sale price. If moving up to a $300,000 home that same 20% adds $60,000 causing a $20,000 loss over selling now.

Buyers - Buyers can gamble renting a while longer will be beneficial. Those only need to be concerned prices or interest rates rise quickly while lease locked. The non-gamblers can only see low prices with the added bonus of low interest rates. If they are looking for a home they are going to stay in for an extended time the main focus is being in the home they want. If during that time prices drop it is of no concern as they will probably rise long before they are ready to move. In the mean time they have a home, are building equity, and are receiving tax benefits. The worst possibility is waiting until both ptices and interest rates rise - a double whammy.

No one knows - No one really knows when prices will rise or if they have bottomed. It sure looks like they are close if not bottomed. Prices could also begin to rise soon but it has been written often the rise will come in time and OVER A LONG Time. Interest rates may easily begin to rise 1st. Housing cycles and only investors should look at real estate as an investment, especially a short term investment. It is being said now is a great time to be a buyer. Does anyone disagree?