Melissa Breeland

Reason number 5,972 to move to South Carolina - Palmetto Trees!

Palm Trees and Garden Center

SC State Seal

USC Upstate ~ "Palmetto Tree
The state tree of South Carolina. The palmetto tree is found on the state flag and all official state seals and insignia and reflects the palmetto logs that protected Fort Moultrie. These logs rendered useless the powerful British guns during their first attempt at taking Charleston during the American Revolution. It was also found on the unit flag of the Morgan Rifles, a local nineteenth-century militia unit honoring Daniel Morgan, hero of the pivotal Revolutionary War battle at the Cowpens which occurred on 17 January 1781. The battlefield is located 30 miles from our campus."

"Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776." ~ http://www.50states.com/flag/scflag.htm

Copyright 2009 Melissa Breeland. You may reproduce this photo for personal, educational, non-commercial and non-Internet use. No Internet publishing is permitted. All rights reserved.

Dear Charleston, SC Realtors,

If your client wants to purchase a condo you need to first find out what type of financing they have an approval for. If they are not yet approved encourage them to get approved quickly.

If they are approved for FHA, VA or FHA/SC State Housing then there are only 18 FHA approved condos in Charleston (you can check other Cities by searching here https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm )

If they are approved for a Conventional Loan then they may be required to put down 10% depending on their credit scores and debt-to-income ratios. 99% of MI companies are no longer insuring condos for more that 90% LTV (which means 10% down is required).

AND the condominium complex/project must have 75% owner occupancy. The home owners association might have this information readily available... most likely they do not. Occupancy changes on a regular basis so the lender will send them a Form 25 which the HOA will complete. If owner occupancy is at 75% or higher you should be OK. The Form 25 also asks about pending litigation...if there is any pending litigation...then the project will not be approved with traditional Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae financing.

Under some circumstances the owner occupancy rate can be lower depending on credit scores of the buyer and the amount of down payment. Each situation is different based on characteristics of the buyer, the project and the investor.

At Your Service,

Melissa "The Mortgage Maven" Breeland

Residential Mortgage of SC

902 Savannah Hwy

Charleston, SC 29407

Best Phone: (843) 991-6532

Fax: (843) 725-2363

I love sushi! Occasionaly I am able to talk my husband into going for a nice sushi lunch. We like Bambu and Sushi Haru (1035 Johnnie Dodds Blvd Mount Pleasant, SC 29466 (843) 849-6743) in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

So, last week I finagled a sushi lunch date by offering to pay. Hey, what ever works! We had a lovely lunch and when it came time for us to go I asked for the bill. The waitress came back a few minutes later and promptly handed the bill to my husband. Interesting.

By her assuming that my husband would pay the bill... I got to thinking about the Power of the Silent Partner. I'm quite assertive and a tad on the bitchy side sometimes, but you would have been proud of me...I said nothing and quietly paid the bill. Did I let her presumption influence the amount of the tip? No, I did not...I was a server for many years and it's a grueling thankless job. The server's assumption that my husband would pay the bill did not decrease her tip.

BUT...what a great opportunity for us in the Real Estate Industry to remember to think about the wife or husband or father or partner or cousin at home who might be the real decision maker for the purchase of that home or the selection of that loan program.

Quite often in the mortgage process I will have just one person (out of a marriage or partnership) on the loan for any number of different reasons. I have made the mistake of leaving messages only for "Mr. Smith" instead of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Or worse...sending a thank you card to their home addresses to only Mr. Smith or vice-versa.

So, I would like to thank the waitress at that fabulous sushi restaurant for reminding me to include all the possible decision makers in my follow-up endeavors and marketing campaigns....at least until one of them says...so-n-so will be handling this loan or financial questions.

I think the relationship building works better when I let them decide, instead of me assuming, who the decision maker is.

What do you think?

I am a Loan Officer who has become enamored with social media and it's boundless opportunities...it's phenomenal potential to reach a targeted audience, connect with experts in my field, and to exercise my creative talents .

My original interest in social media (Twitter, FaceBook, ActiveRain, LinkedIn, Blip.FM, Picnik, YouTube) was born out of frustration and desperation when the mortgage market crashed in late 2007. It was a way to express myself, meet new people and learn new marketing tools. I quickly learned how to find those with similar interests, connect with those who had answerers and those who posed new questions I had never even thought of. Talk about exploring a new frontier! Recently I have begun to focus more and more and now I specialize in an area (Charleston, South Carolina) and an audience (1st Time Home Buyers).

I have noticed that my interest and passion is beginng to wain as my time spent and talent for social media networking grows. Now why on earth would that happen?????

I just figured it out.

I'm not giving back ...enough. It has become a huge self-centered virtual stage for me to tout me. Eww!

Well, I'm no dummy. Even I know that when one is given a gift, of any sort, one must share it to help others...right? A gift not shared is wasted and soon deteriortaes and vanishes.

Sorry it took so long ... I'M ABOUT TO GET TO THE POINT. Here goes.

There are a few non-profit organizations in my community that benefit women and children. This is my thing - my cause, if you will. We all have one..deep down inside. I will tell you about them in a later blog.

I realized that the three local agencies in my area that I would like to give back to the most have very little internet presence. Who needs to find these folks the most? People in need or those looking for ways to give back. Maybe I could help. Maybe I could use my new found poweres for good and not evil. OK, that's an exaggeration. I don't use my powers for evil but they are a little self serving...ok, ALLOT self serving.

I feel, as a Loan Officer, I have the potential to earn a very good living and most of the time I do. The Real Estate industry has been very very good to me and to my family. It has given me freedoms and blessings beyond my wildest dreams.

So, I have a lunch appointment to meet with the Executive Director of one of these worthy non-profit organizations to see how my social media talents may be useful to them. We are going to put our heads together to see how I might be able to spread the word, drum up donors, create more visibility and shed more light on a dark topic for those in need.
How are you using Social Media philanthropically?

Believe me..there are a few follow-up blogs coming soon.

“The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

EVENT

Manny's Give Back Sundays!!!!
07/19/2009 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Where: Manny's Neighborhood Grille, 1680 Old Towne Road, Charleston
Cost: Menu
Contact: Elmire Raven eraven@mysistershouse.com

Support a great cause simply by enjoying brunch at Manny's Neighborhood Grille. At their "Give Back Sunday" brunch between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, Manny's will donate 10% of their proceeds to My Sister's House.

It doesn't get any easier than this!

Manny's Neighborhood Grille
763-3908

Visit My Sister's House Thrift Store at 1703 Savannah Highway! Donate or shop for adult and teen clothing and household items. Call 573-1100 or visit our website for more information: www.mysistershouse.org/ways_to_give/drop_off.html

I WILL BE THERE..WILL YOU?

MELISSA BREELAND