Michele Reneau, Realtor, CRS, ABR, GRI ~ Charleston, SC Relocation Experts Team

I can't even begin to express the excitement in the air as the announcement of Boeing has settled over the Holy City. Boeing has been part of the Charleston family for a while, but last week, Boeing announced that it will make Charleston home to its second final assembly line for the 787 Dreamliners growing their existing facilities. This addition is estimated to create at least 3,800 jobs and invest more than $750 million within seven years to take advantage of the various inducements. This announcement is HUGE for Charleston as we anticipate the creation of new jobs as being a boost to our local economy as well as the real estate market as new families relocate to the area. Additionally, Trident Technical College will be ramping up to host employee training for jobs at Boeing.

The Charleston Relocation Experts Team is excited to welcome Boeing and its employees to Charleston, SC. You are going to love this place and we can't wait to show you why. When your relocation plans come through, so will we! Call us and allow us to introduce you to the Lowcountry and help you with your real estate needs. We are already approved real estate agents with your 3^rd party relocation company to assist you in your relocation. So get a jump start and contact us now to get started.

Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Contact Top Real Estate Agent, North Charleston, SC Relocation Expert, CRS, GRI, ABR. Licensed Realtor® 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 Charleston Metro area homes for Sale Click Here and then click on Search for Homes.

We certainly understand that is a tough time to sell a house as a seller, particularly for those who purchased after 2004 competing with falling prices, new construction, foreclosures and short sales. Sellers and agents should be reminded of the following when determining price or making counteroffers.

The market value of a home is not...

• What you have in it--While we realize this is an important consideration for the seller, it is not for the buyer or appraiser. Market value does not account for all that you have put into your home. Trust me, I put $25K into my house over the last 4 years. We sold it for less than we paid for it. I feel your pain.
  
• What you need out of it--Wouldn't it be nice if we could name our price? Those days are long gone. Fact is for many sellers that need a certain amount to purchase the next house, however, that number doesn't change what a buyer is willing to pay for your house.
  
• What it is appraised for--Appraisel is different from fair market value. Value is determined by the price a buyer and seller agree upon. If you consistently get offers on the same price that you are declining, it's more than likely reflects fair market value.
  
• What you heard your neighbor’s house sold for--Your neighbors probably lied. I hate to say it but I can't tell you how many times, I've research properties that sellers said their neighbor sold their house for X price. Well, X price was usually the listing price, but seller actually got Y. Not to mention, the neighbor's house had a private backyard, hardwood floors, granite countertops and 300 extra square feet.
  
• What the tax office says it is worth--Is the tax assessor's office accurate about anything?
  
• What it is insured for--Insurance value is determined in many ways. One if based on replacement cost and with inflation over the last few years, it can often cost more to rebuild your home that it would be to buy an existing home.
  
• Based on memories and treasures--While you love your home, the future buyer wants to make their own memories. Your memories do not have value to the future buyer.
  
• Based on prices of home where you are moving--Do you want buyers making their offers based on where they came from? Probably not so you can see how this argument will not work for you.

Market value is calculated much differently today than 5 years ago. When we consider comparables for a listing, we do look at sold comps, but its important to consider active listings as they are the real competition. Contingent and pending listings show where buyers are biting. It's also important to consider competiting neighborhoods within the immediate area to make sure you are priced in the top 3 to avoid chasing the market on price.

Michele Reneau - Military Relocation Specialist with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Contact Top Real Estate Agent, North Charleston, SC Relocation Expert, CRS, GRI, ABR. Licensed Realtor® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 to list your home for sale or to purchase real estate 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 specialize in military relocation, 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 Charleston Metro area houses for Sale Click Here and then click on Search for Homes.

I use to tell sellers you should move out of your house before we put it on the market. Well, not really but it seemed like I was telling them to with removing all the stuff out of the house. Sometimes when sellers have so much stuff, it's hard for the agent and any buyers to look beyond the "stuff." And that even includes me! This home in Goose Creek, SC wasn't so bad, but it doesn't bring me to a point about what is better, a room without a defined function or a vacant one?

When it comes to preparing a home to go on the market, it's important to explain to sellers that there is a Good, Better and Best approach. Often the sellers decision will depend on motivation, time, ability and money on which approach they choose.

This bedroom was used as a catch all room and 2nd office in this 3 bedroom house that already has an office downstairs.

What a buyer needs to SEE in this home is a 3rd bedroom. The house must allow a buyer to envision him/herself and their family in the space. Most people are visual learners which means they are also mostly visual buyers. The house must look and feel a certain way-so that they can see themselves in it.

My first thought was, make it empty! The seller was not going to keep the office furniture anyway so it was a good idea to go ahead and sell it or give it away. So away goes the furniture, but then this room was pretty blah. This blah picture is not exactly going to attract the internet buyer. I wouldn't really call this "Good" but probably "Okay."

My stager, Melissa Marro, brought in some furniture and Viola! This photo makes this room shine, defines the room, and shows off its size and scale. As a empty room, its hard for buyer to know what function this room would serve but this photo really showcases this room. Effective staging can turn Good into Best. Knowing this seller wanted top dollar for their home, we went over the top in each room so that the photos would sell the house. More to come on other rooms in this house. This house sold to an internet buyer that wrote a contract without stepping into this home for 99.5% of list price at 10 days on the market!

REGISTER for the next CSP Elite class, "How to Protect Your Client's Equity through Home Staging" on July 22, 2009 in Mt Pleasant, SC to learn how you can use home staging to list more, sell more and earn more. To register, visit http://cspelite.com/elite_register.php

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 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 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, 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. Since 2004, Michele Reneau has personally sold 174 homes while the average agent in the market sells 6 homes a year. 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.

Mr. Seller called me and needs to tell his house in Dorchester County, SC ASAP because he really can't afford a mortgage payment and rent payment. Besides who wants to throw money down the drain? He relocated his family out of state 2 years ago and rented the property out when it didn't sell. I spoke to the tenants who were more than happy to help the seller sell the home by making the property available for showing because they had been in those shoes before. I previewed the property and stopped in my tracks. I'll just say...clutter, clutter and way too much furniture.

I advised the seller that while this was going to seem painful for him, it would be more painful to start the marketing process before his home was in showing condition. Why? Because, buyers would walk into the home and say it's nice, but found something else that suited our needs better.

Many agents might have opted to list this property once it became vacant because it looks better empty that it did cluttered. What you can't see if that this home had been gently used and without furniture and dressings, a buyer wouldn't be able to get over all those gently used things (i.e. walls and carpet). Don't get me wrong, they will notice it, but staging a property propertly helps to control where the buyer looks. When done by a professional, it helps create an atmosphere so that the buyers can feel themselves living in a home and they can be more objective to look at the space. After some convincing, the seller agreed on my marketing plan to include the staging. It was painful again b/c of the cost upfront, but it has been my experience that proper staging and pricing equals SOLD! With the staging package, I recommend a price of $200,000. If he chose the option not to stage, I recommended the price of $189,000 because the average sold per sqft in the neighborhood is $86/sqft. Also, the average days on market for this neighborhood was 130 days.

I had First Impressions, my staging partner, do quote to have this vacant property staged. Upon staging this 2200 sqft, 5 BR 3 BA home, we listed it for $200,000 because this home now looked like a model. Here are some before and afters. The pictures convey a completely different house!

Due to the seller's situation, we agreed that if we didn't get 7-10 showing within the first 45 days or an offer, we would reduce the price to $195,000. The cost of a 3 month contract to stage the living, dining, breakfast room, 2 bathrooms and the master bedroom was $1600. The GREAT NEWS is that we didn't have to reduce the price because we got a contract for $196,000 on Day 42!! We closed on this property last week!

So this seller could have opted not to do the staging and would have most like received an offer close to $189,000 but it might have taken 94 days which would have meant he had 94 days of carrying costs to pay the mortgage, electric and water bill and lawn service but instead, he netted $8000 more for an investment of $1600!

$189,000

-$4800 mortgage for 3 mo

-800 utilities

$184,300 NET withOUT staging

$196,000

-$1600 cost of staging

-$1800 mortage for 45 days

-$300 cost of utilities

$192,300 NET with staging

$1600 is significantly less than what would have been our 1^st price reduction and it netted the seller over $8000 more. It is our fiduciary duty to help sellers get the most for their money. Would you spend $1600 to get back $8000?

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 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 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, 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. Since 2004, Michele Reneau has personally sold 174 homes while the average agent in the market sells 6 homes a year. 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.

On Saturday mornings, make sure to stop by the Summerville Farmer's Market on W. Doty Ave off Main St in Summerville. Pick up farm fresh fruits and vegetables, and other neat crafts. But hang around until 11am and wait in line at Perfectly Franks to get your gourmet hot dog, taco or burger. I must admit I can't remember the last time I ate a hot dog. I've always enjoyed mine with sauerkraut, mustard and mozzarella cheese. It's something from my childhood that Dad got us hooked on after he returned from Germany.

You'll be impressed by Perfectly Franks's assortment of dog arrangements including toppings such as pimento cheese, pineapple, cream cheese, blue cheese coleslaw, Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce and fried onions. I recommend the "Franky Luv"-coleslaw, Dr. P BBQ sauce, and fried onions, the "Aretha Franklin"-pulled pork, BBQ sauce,slaw and fried onions or the Frank Cuda (aka Bama)-chili, cheese, blue cheese coleslaw, bacon and fried onions. I can't speak for the burgers but I heard more than once that the "Big Squeeze" is pretty tasty. Don't forget to get a side of sweet potato fries (enough for 2 to share) or home made fries with sea salt and vinegar or chili or cheese. There are 2 small tables inside and a few outside patio tables so plan to have a seat on the curb if the tables are taken. It's worth it!

Perfectly Franks is a family tradition since 1895. They even deliver with a minimum $15/order.

Open from 11am-7pm Monday through Saturday ~ 119 West Doty Ave, Summerville, SC ~ 843-871-9730