Selling a home in today's market can be tough and that is an understatement for homeowners who bought in 2005-2007 in the Charleston SC real estate market. I had to have a heart to hear with myself and take my own advice I would give to any other seller. The 2 biggest hurdles that I have to help sellers jump is price and condition.
Appraised value and market value are 2 very different things. In buyer's markets, value and price do not always meet in middle. What you paid for a property or what you need to get out of it does not determine price either. I admit I had this discussion with myself as I argued about what price to list my home. After all, we had put over $25,000 in upgrades in this home and we should get our money back out, right? ...hardwood floors, ceramic tile, granite countertops, flagstone patio, landscaping, blinds, etc. I'd love to just break even at least but the reality of the situation is that the builder had dropped prices, offering the same upgrades; there was a foreclosure listed at a significant discount around the corner AND there had not been a successful re-sale in my subsection in over 1.5 years. In today's market based on what has sold and what is on the market, I struggled on the price because what kind of realtor would I be if I put the sign in the yard and it stays up for months and months on my own house?! Well, we bit the bullet and decided on a painful price slightly less than what we paid for the home and much less than the $25,000 we dumped into it.
Now the next hurdle, addressing the condition. I like to think we had a nice home, very trendy with lots of upgrades. Who wouldn't want to buy it?! I had my stager, Melissa Marro come in from the First Impression team for a staging consultation. Per her recommendations, we did a lot of painting and packing to get ready. Then the showcasing began with the finishing touches by the stager to make sure furniture placement was right and add artwork and some missing pieces like a bed in the 3rd bedroom and patio furniture outside.
Then comes the marketing. I took photos of every room including the exterior, yard, and screen porch and patio, making sure to find the best lighting and taking photos from different angles. We even light a fire in the fire pit on the patio for photos so buyers could visualize using this additional space. I also took photos of the neighborhood amenities and streetscape. I made sure to upload the survey of the property, the Covenants and Restrictions, a copy of the floorplan, and created a flattering virtual tour to include photos of the house, yard, streetscape and amenities. The home book had the Seller's Disclosure, along with the survey, Covenants and Restrictions, floorplan, name of utility companies and average bill, and HOA mgmt information. Any buyer considering this home had just about any piece of information they could possibly want.
Within the 1st week, an agent that had not shown the home called me to say he was pretty sure he was going to be bringing me an offer but he just wanted to stop by to look at the house for himself. Turns out the buyers weren't coming to town for 2 weeks and they hadn't seen any other houses they liked. They didn't want to lose this house. They wanted their agent to look at the house to make sure it looked as good in person as it did in photos. On day 7 of listing the home, we had a contract from a buyer that had never stepped foot into the house. We ratified the contract 3 days later at 99.5% of list price and we closed 3 weeks later.
All that to say, buyers are out there looking for their perfect house. What are you doing to make your listing their dream home? I won't tell a seller to do anything I wouldn't do. That means, I'll give honest info about pricing your home even if it hurts. I'll make staging recommendations that are necessary so that we can have photos that show off your home in the best light. We'll do everything possible to market your home but that means we'll need your help in following through with recommendations and obtaining property info like survey, Covenants & Restrictions, etc. There is an equation to get a property sold but it can require some elbow grease and work to get the property ready as well as making a tough decision on pricing. But in the end in my case, based on past sales, I saved over $25,000 in carrying costs (mortgage, utilities, landscaping, etc) by pricing it right and getting the house in showcase condition and selling it in 10 days versus 18 months.
(Right PRICE + Best CONDITION including STAGING + cutting edge MARKETING exposure = SOLD!)
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Contact Michele Reneau, Top Real Estate Agent, North Charleston, SC Relocation Expert, CRS, GRI, ABR. 843-814-6680. Michele Reneau is a Certified Staging Professional Elite Instructor and teaches agents how to use staging to maximize their real estate business and Help Sellers Protect their Equity using Home Staging while earning the CSP Elite designation. She is also available for speaking engagements in on: How to use social networking to improve your real estate business, Why Home Staging is a Must in Today's Market, How to calculate market statistics and use them to understand and explain to sellers where the market is going using data, and discussing statistics with sellers to help them price their property to sell. Michele is a Certified Residential Specialist with a top real estate team in Charleston, SC. Featured on HGTV's House Hunters and Real Estate Executive Magazine. RESA 2009 Staging Realtor of the Year Nominee. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in military relocation, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. Michele can also be contacted by email at michele@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com.
It is often that I'm asking for a landscaper recommendation or that I recommend one to clients. Clients
with vacant homes need regular maintenance and sometimes curb appeal assistance--the most common being de-weeding, pinestraw addition and a good edging. The landscaper I'm going to recommend is someone that I utilize on my personal rental properties. Within 2 months of the new maintenance service, one of my tenants emailed me to let me know the lawn had never looked so good. Chris Straney of Good Earth Landscaping became my go-to guy for landscaping services. Chris makes my job easier. I always handle getting estimates for out of town clients and Chris is very accessible. I can just send him a text or email of the address with a short description of what is needed. And I get an email estimate within 24-48 hours. Not only is he accessible, he is reliable. I had previous service on my rental property and my tenants would call me to ask me when the lawn was going to be cut. Chris is at my property every 2 weeks and I don't worry about getting overlooked. And even better is that he takes before and after photos (one such example of before and after is pictured here). Since many of my clients are out of state, this is such a wonderful service that both my client and I appreciate. If you are in need of landscaping service, consider Good Earth Landscaping. Chris can be reached at goodearth@comcast.net or 843-810-7441. 
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We are approved by Boeing 3rd party relocation company as Charleston Boeing Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Visit us at www.CharlestonBoeingRealtors.com. Contact Top Real Estate Agents, North Charleston, SC Relocation Experts, Licensed Realtors® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 or info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com to list your home for sale or to purchase a home in Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, Mount Pleasant and the surrounding areas in Charleston County, Berkeley County or Dorchester County. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in relocations, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. View all homes for sale at www.myCharlestonMLS.com
We recently took a listing in Goose Creek, SC in Berkeley County that had been on the market for over 10 months with another company. The
first listing was occupied by the homeowners and the 2nd listing was vacant after they relocated out of the area. I previously blogged about this listing showing vacant, occupied and staged photos-Take a look at the difference here. I've posted photos of the most dramatic room transformation here-the dining room.
During the previous 10 months, they had approximately 25-30 showings with not even one offer. In just 10 DAYS, we had our 1st showing and an offer in hand. I do not believe this is luck of the draw. The property shows amazingly different and looks like a model after the fantastic staging job by First Impressions staging company and it cost the owner less than 1% of the sales price to have the whole house staged and repaint this room. Because of the new look, we even raised the price slightly to offset the staging costs. While the offer is still in its infancy and I'm not sure we will come to terms, the fact of the matter is that this home has now generated an offer. Staging works! This home proved it in just 10 days to elicit an offer. Even if this one doesn't work out, I'm confident, we'll get another bite. 
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We are approved by Boeing 3rd party relocation company as Charleston Boeing Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Visit us at www.CharlestonBoeingRealtors.com. Contact Top Real Estate Agents, North Charleston, SC Relocation Experts, CRS, GRI, ABR. Licensed Realtors® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 to list your home for sale or to purchase a home in Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, Mount Pleasant and the surrounding areas in Charleston County, Berkeley County or Dorchester County, South Carolina. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in relocations, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. We can also be contacted at info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com. To view all North Charleston SC and surrounding homes for sale at www.myCharlestonMLS.com
Each Veterans Day, it's a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to our past and present Armed Forces
service men and women. I'm thankful for my father (22 years), husband (11 years), countless friends and clients who have served, as well as the 24+million veterans who have served in the past. I'd like to challenge you to consider looking for ways to show your gratitude by looking for ways to support active duty families each and every day--the mom or dad and children left behind or the soldiers in faraway places away from their families. You could take dinner to the family missing their wife or dad or provide a few hours of babysitting. There are many opportunities and programs to support our troops a far. Here are a few:
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
Please encourage your family or business to unite to show thanks and support to the 1.4+ million who are currently serving in uniform today as your way of showing gratitude for their service. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team invites our clients, friends and family to assist us in the Red Cross Holiday Mail project. We will be collecting holiday cards to send to troops. Please visit the website http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail for dos and don'ts. You can drop your card off at our office before Dec 4th at 628 Long Point Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464 and we'll send them in one big package so they arrive by the deadline. Thanks for joining us in this effort!
We are Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Contact Top Real Estate Agents, North Charleston, SC Relocation Experts, CRS, GRI, ABR. Licensed Realtors® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 to list your home for sale or to purchase a home in Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, Mount Pleasant and the surrounding areas in Charleston County, Berkeley County or Dorchester County, South Carolina. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in relocations, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. We can also be contacted at info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com. To view all North Charleston SC and surrounding homes, visit www.CharlestonBoeingRealtors.com and then click on Search for Homes. Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CRETeam
The $8,000 tax break for first-time buyers, which was set to expire at the end of this month, will continue until April 30. Buyers would have to have signed a contractual purchase agreement, but not necessarily close on the sale. Another 60-day cushion beyond the end of April would be provide to complete the closing to June 30, 2010.
The measure removes the first-time-only stipulation opening the tax benefit up to existing homeowners who've lived in their current residence for at least five years but want to relocate to a new primary residence. The incentive amount for those buyers is $6,500.
The income limits for both first-time buyers and existing homeowners would be $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for couples - up significantly from the current first-time buyer thresholds of $75,000 per individual and $150,000 per couple.
The tax break would only be offered on homes priced at $800,000 or less, and beneficiaries who sell the home or stop using it as their primary residence within three years would be required to repay the credit.
The tax credit is also set to be extended for another year for military personnel serving outside of the
United States until June 30, 2011. What a great way to honor our military heros with Veteran's Day approaching this week.
Please join me on November 10, 2009, in wishing the United States Marine Corps a Happy 234th Birthday.
I'd also like to extend this tribute to all of the men and women serving in all branches of the U.S. Military - Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard. Thank you all for your tireless dedication to keeping our country safe. Veteran's Day is November 11th. Please remember to thank a veteran this week.
We are Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Contact Top Real Estate Agents, North Charleston, SC Relocation Experts, CRS, GRI, ABR. Licensed Realtors® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 to list your home for sale or to purchase a home in Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, Mount Pleasant and the surrounding areas in Charleston County, Berkeley County or Dorchester County, South Carolina. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in relocations, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. We can also be contacted at info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com. To view all North Charleston SC and surrounding homes for Sale Click Here and then click on Search for Homes.
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Charleston SC Top Relocation Team of Realtors serving military familes at Charleston AFB, Naval Weapons Station (NNPTC) & Coast Guard. Call or email to get started on your American Dream!
Michele is a CSP Elite instructor who focuses on helping sellers and realtors understand the importance of home staging in today's market. Michele teaches "Protecting Your Clients Equity through Home Staging." Realtors can earn their CSP Elite designation and learn how to sell listings faster and for more money through the use of this marketing tool. Call or email to schedule your office's class to increase the bottom line for both you and the seller.
Experience counts! In this tough market, you'll want to work with an agent that has experience. In the last 4 years, Michele Reneau and the CRE Team has helped over over 190 families achieve their American Dream. You want this kind of experience working for YOU!!! The CRE team does not view themselves as a salespersons, but as Real Estate Advisors. "Our job as a seller's agent is to help find a marketing solution to get your home sold by bringing you the most buyers. As a buyer's agent, our job is find a home that suit your needs." Even though it is a buyer's market, this may not always be easy to do. Michele Reneau is a Certified Residential Specialist. She ranks in the TOP 4% of the nation's top real estate agents and in the top 1% of her local market based on her experience. Her extensive knowledge of the field is your advantage. All CRE team members are Accredited Buyer's Representatives. We work with buyers to identify needs and can help you avoid the pitfalls of buying and even with new construction. Our knowledge and experience is coupled with a savvy investor's nose. Michele and Laura are have been part of military families and proudly supports the local service men and women and their families. Visit www.CharlestonRelocationExperts.com to start searching for your home.
The CRE team specialize in residential real estate in the Greater Charleston area, military relocations, and corporate relocations. This includes Charleston County, Dorchester County, and Berkeley County. We work with buyers and sellers to help them achieve their homeownership goals. The CRE Team specializes in working with military buyers and sellers transferring in and out of the Charleston Air Force Base, Charleston Naval Weapons Station and Coast Guard base.
"We love to work with first time home buyers, move up buyers, retirement homes and investors." Michele Reneau bought her first home at the age of 24. She remembers the highs and lows of being a first time homebuyer and loves making this dream come true for others. In less than 10 years, since her first home, Michele now owns 5 investment properties including single family homes and a multi family dwelling. She has a knack for seeing value in older homes or homes that need a little TLC. Since Michele has lived in the area for over 25 years, she knows the area very well. Buyers unfamiliar with the area simply share what is most imporant (interstate access, shopping, things to do) and she can put you in the right direction.
The Charleston Relocation Experts TEAM not only specializes in helping buyers, but Michele also has a unique marketing plan that helps sellers. Michele's average list to sale ratio is 98.7% with an average days on market of 70 days. Sellers that take the CRE Team's suggestions to prepare their property and price it right have enormous success even in the changing market. Call Michele to get started on your real estate dream.
CRE Team's Accomplishments
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Michele,
I want to personally thank you for your stellar professionalism and never ending work ethic. From the first moment that we sat down at our dining room table to discuss the sale of our home, Bill and I knew that we were in the BEST hands with you. If our home was to sell in this tough market, we were confident that you would be the one that could make that happen. We were very eager to get the house sold and move on to our next chapter. We had an agent prior to hiring you and the differences are astounding to say the least. Unlike our first agent, you did everything imaginable to prepare for our meeting and the sale, you were armed with amazing facts, figures and statistics. We had everything possible that we would need to make educated decisions and come up with strategic plans that would make our home stand out to all the potential buyers and realtors. You were always there with updates, advice, feedback, ideas and the list could go on and on. We slept very well at night knowing that everything that could be done was being done. We truly think of you as a "God-send". We will be forever grateful. Our future is so BRIGHT and you have played a HUGE role in that. I wished everyone would be as blessed as us in finding you.
Best to you always,
Shara and Bill Pisowicz
Indigo on the Ashley
July 2008
Michele was the best real estate agent ever! I would recommend her to anyone I know. Thank you Michele for all of your hard work and dedication. It's very obvious that you love your work!!
Laura, US Coast Guard, Goose Creek, SC
Michele did a terrific job! She sold our property in what I'm sure is record time for that rural area and she did it all via phone/fax. I will strongly recommend her to any of my friends and family in the Charleston area.
Art, Ohio
Thank you Michelle for the work you did so very well to sell my parent's home in Summerville, SC. We couldn't have found anyone better for this job!!
You handled everything so excellently and did such a great job taking care of things locally with my parents while working with me out of state.
We are so happy that the home was sold in such a relatively short time for this market and at a price and terms that was a win-win for everyone.
You stayed on top of everything for us and gave THE BEST customer service. Your knowledge, experience, organization and flare for getting everything
to come together made this effortless and painless for us....just what we needed!! Thanks!
Ellen T
Apex, NC
June 2008
Michele was God sent. We had been looking for a house for so long and had dealth with so many agencies and no one would help us and within a month's time, Michele had found my family a home and we love it!
Chris & Monica, Hanahan, SC
We would like to say Thank You for all of your help with our homebuying process. You made things simple and not as stressful as we believe it could have been. You were a great help! Once again, Thank you very much.
Kim and Richard, Ladson, SC
"Michele Reneau made my first home buying experience much smoother than I expected. I couldn't believe how helpful she was."
Jimmy, US Navy, Charleston
Michele Reneau was outstanding! When I came to Charleston, I interviewed several agents and I instantly knew that Michele was knowledgeable, professional, and detailed. This was important because I knew I was going to be out of state in military training for 8 weeks. From the time we found the perfect house, Michele took care of all the issues that came up while I was out of the state in training, including handling the home inspection and repairs that were necessary. She made it easy and stress free. She really works for you and I will definitely use her again.
Justin, US Coast Guard, Goose Creek
"Michele Reneau is excellent! She did a great job of keeping us informed, and providing leads for additional properties. She's top-notch and I'll continue to seek her advice and representation on real estate transactions."
Charles, Real Estate Investor, Charlotte, NC
"We couldn't have asked for a better agent than Michele Reneau. She was great! She kept us updated with email messages and phone calls and was patient in helping us find the perfect home. Closing was a breeze!"
Nancy and Tom, Goose Creek
We have to admit that we didn't have a great experience with our first real estate agent. This was going to be our first home and we really needed someone to be patient with us and explain all the details. Michele Reneau was wonderful. From the beginning, she explained everything in detail and we always knew what to expect. She really cared about what we wanted and needed and gave great, trustworthy service. We couldn't have done it without her and are so grateful to have met her.
Nathan & Liz , North Charleston, SC
We were given Michele Reneau's name by a friend that raved about her. We knew we were interested in buying a new construction home. We thought, what's the big deal and why do we need an agent to buy a brand new home. Well, this was out first home purchase and our friend recommended we have a buyer's agent. We visited several new home neighborhoods and when we finally settled on one, we had no idea what we were in for. We had decided on buying new construction not knowing all of the unnecessary hassles that can come with it. Michele informed us every step on the way on what to expect. She explained the importance of an inspection even on new homes. She was right! While the builder corrected the items, we might now have found out about them until it was too late. We are so thankful we had her on OUR team!
Kevin and Grace, Summerville, SC
When my wife and I put our house up for sale, never would we have imagined it to be stress free. Michele Reneau and her staff were the best we ever dealt with (this being our 3rd move.) She was more professional and personable than any other realtor we ever met. Anything we needed she provided. Moving can be a lot of stress, and in our case, two children under the age of 3 and a puppy isn't expected to be the pleasant experience that it was. When you can rely on a person as much as we relied on her it makes selling (and I assume buying) a pleasure. My wife and I moved to Charlotte and if we could have used her to purchase our home there we would have. If you need a realtor, and you want the best, someone you don't have to second guess, call Michele Reneau.
Barry & Clarisse, Goose Creek, SC
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