On January 1, 2009 Opinion Research Corporation issued a press release titled “Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe that the U.S. media is making the economic situation worse by projecting fear into people’s minds.”
The majority of those surveyed feel that the financial press, by focusing on and embellishing negative news, is damaging consumer confidence and damping investment, making a difficult situation much worse. The poll was conducted via telephone, December 4 - 7.
The US survey of 1000 adults was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation and is statistically representative of the total U.S. population. The survey question: “Do you think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people’s minds?” While the overall response indicated that 77% of Americans answered YES, here are highlights of note:
Household Incomes:
$25k - $35k — 79% answered YES
$35k - $50k — 88% answered YES
$50k - $75k — 76% answered YES
$75k - more — 78% answered YES
This is not surprising news. Read the newspaper, turn on the TV, or listen to the radio and it does not take long to read or hear about bad news about the economy. Even commercials promote the bad news. Advertisers state how bad the economy is and because of the slow sales you won’t find a better time or deal then now for their product or services.
So if 7.7 out of 10 Americans believe the media has made the economic crisis worse what percent of the crisis is real? Local home sales transaction in Fort Mill and Tega Cay are down approx 40%. The big three car makers reported Dec sales off 31 to 52% compared to last year. What percent of the sales loss is real because consumers can’t afford to buy? What percent can afford to buy but are just holding off because they are scared to buy?
When will things get better? I did some blog surfing on this topic. A common point of view predicts the bad news via the media will begin to soften once the new President is sworn into office this month. I hope this predication comes true because we all need a break from hearing the bad economic news daily.
How does this news relate to local Fort Mill SC home sales? If you are thinking about buying a home but are sitting on the fence because of the bad economic news consider the following: Read the rest at Homesfortmill.com
If you want information on the current market conditions, home for sale inventories, and prices in the Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, Rock Hill area please contact:
Carmen S Miller
Century 21® First Choice206 Rockmont Dr | Fort Mill, SC 29708C: 803-322-3479carmen.miller@century21.comwww.carmensmiller.com
Is there good news with an existing home sales report headline like this?
“Home Price Declines Worsen As We Enter the Fourth Quarter of 2008 According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices”
Standard & Poor’s published a press release today called the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for homes sales data through October 2008. The report shows continued declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States. 14 of the 20 metro areas showed record rates of annual decline and 14 metro areas are reporting declines in excess of 10% versus October 2007.
The press release states…
“Three of the metro areas have given back, on average, more than 30% of the value of homes since October of last year. Phoenix remains the weakest market, reporting an annual decline of 32.7%, followed by Las Vegas, down 31.7%, and San Francisco down 31.0%. Miami, Los Angeles, and San Diego were close behind with annual declines of 29.0%, 27.9% and 26.7%, respectively.
Monthly data also do not show much improvement in the national housing market. All 20 metro areas, and the two composites, posted their second consecutive monthly decline. In addition, six of the MSAs had their largest monthly decline on record - Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Minneapolis, Tampa and Washington. Most of the positive monthly data recorded in the spring and summer months, merely reflects seasonal patterns in home prices, as opposed to a turnaround in the downward spiral in national home prices.”
But here might be some good news for our local housing market in the Charlotte MSA.
“Dallas and Charlotte faired the best in October in terms of relative year-over-year returns. Still in negative territory, their declines remained in low single digits of -3.0% and -4.4%, respectively. It should be noted, however, that both of these values are worse than those reported in the September data. In addition, Charlotte also reported its second consecutive largest monthly decline on record, down 1.8%. Cleveland and Denver were the only markets that showed any improvement in its year-over-year returns compared to last month’s report.”
Ok so the last part of the message about Charlotte is negative but the good news is our area which includes Fort Mill, Tega Cay, and the Lake Wyllie area, is still better than the top 18 metro areas.
Here is the table from Standard and Poor’s Dec 30th 2008 press release: Click to go to post at Homesfortmill.com
I bet you most articles written about the Standard and Poor’s press release will highlight the negative message. Is your glass half full or half empty?
Let me know what you see and read.
Carmen S Miller
Century 21® First Choice206 Rockmont Dr | Fort Mill, SC 29708C: 803-322-3479carmen.miller@century21.comwww.carmensmiller.com
Looking for forecloses? Many investors and individual home buyers are taking advantage of the increasing number of foreclosures hitting the market. And there are other advantages to finding and buying a foreclosed home. Homebuyers and investors can now take advantage of a $7,500 one-year tax credit with the purchase of foreclosure properties from April 9, 2008, to July 1, 2009.
The York County SC area including Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, Rock Hill has not had many foreclosures in the past but that trend looks like it might be changing. Now might be the best time to look for and buy a foreclosed home.
How do you find foreclosed homes? TO READ MORE GO TO HOMESFORTMILL.COM
Click here to search foreclosure listings.
Click here to contact Carmen Miller for a custom search
Carmen S Miller
Century 21® First Choice206 Rockmont Dr | Fort Mill, SC 29708C: 803-322-3479carmen@carmensmiller.comwww.carmensmiller.com
City Entrance Sign
October seemed to be a month full of bad economic news. So how did Tega Cay SC home sales fair with bad news hitting daily? October 2008 home sales in Tega Cay SC were not too far off of September's. Homes sold were down one transaction or 8 percent. Incidentally October 2008 Tega Cay home sales were down 21% compared to October 2006. And the sold price to listing price ratio is holding strong at 98 percent of list price. There are a total of 111 active single family homes for sale in Tega Cay SC listed in the Charlotte MLS system.
Here is the spreadsheet comparing the October year to year comparisons in Tega Cay SC.
Picture version
Text version- Read the rest of the article at HOMESFORTMILL.COM
To discuss or for more information please contact me.
Carmen S Miller
Century 21® First Choice206 Rockmont Dr | Fort Mill, SC 29708C: 803-322-3479carmen.miller@century21.comwww.carmensmiller.com
October 2008 home sales in Fort Mill SC were about the same as September even in the light of more economic bad news. Homes sold were down 44% two points better than September. The sold price to listing price ratio was consistent to last year. Days on the market bettered by 3%. Fort Mill homes sold did include Tega Cay, Baxter village, Springfield, and other communities around Fort Mill.
There are currently 592 homes listed for sale in the Fort Mill SC Township, York County on the Charlotte MLS system.
Here is the spreadsheet comparing the October year to year comparisons in Fort Mill SC.
Picture version
Text Version - To read the rest of the article please go to HOMESFORTMILL.COM
To discuss or for more information please contact me.
Carmen S Miller
Century 21® First Choice206 Rockmont Dr | Fort Mill, SC 29708C: 803-322-3479carmen.miller@century21.comwww.carmensmiller.com
Century 21®First Choice Realtor® in Tega Cay SC, Fort Mill SC, Lake Wylie SC, Rock Hill SC, South Charlotte NC. Awarded Top 100 Producing Century 21® Realtors in South Carolina and North Georgia.
I am a licensed Realtor® ABR in North and South Carolina. I am proud to be a Realtor® with Century 21 First Choice. I am also a professional decorator. I live in beautiful Tega Cay, SC. I work in the following areas but not limited to : Tega Cay, SC. - Fort Mill, SC. - Lake Wylie, SC. - Rock Hill, SC. - Charlotte, NC.
I am married and have three wonderful children. We moved to South Carolina from Katy, Texas when my husband changed jobs. I was born in South America and my family moved to the United States when I was ten. While we miss our families in Texas (and we miss the great Mexican food!), we are truly at home in South Carolina. We cherish its beauty, the charm and graciousness of the people, and we respect its wholesome environment to raise our children.
We love living here so much that helping a family find their perfect home in our area is not a job, it's an absolute pleasure!
Our family enjoys the boating on the lake. If I was to say I have a hobby it would be entertaining. I thoroughly enjoy entertaining friends and host as many "events" as we can throughout the year. Not having family close by has taught us to treasure our friendships and we are very fortunate to live in an area with so many great people.
HOW MY EXPERIECE CAN HELP ME SELL YOUR HOME
- Interior Designer- I have over six years of business ownership and hands on experience as an Interior Designer. I will personally, and at no additional cost to you, showcase your home and its special features to potential buyers. Not only will I give you general suggestions on how to get your home ready to sell, I know what it takes to give your house that "model home" feel and I can get it done!
- Human Resources- Before staying home to raise my children I worked as a Human Resource Specialist. Dealing with multiple personalities, managing training goals, and providing the "people" resources for different companies developed my listening and follow through skills that will now apply to working with my real estate clients.
- Volunteer Experience- During the last twelve years I have been involved in my children's schools and PTA Organizations. I have held Executive Board positions ranging from Fund Raising to Volunteer Management. My children have always been my number one priority and I am a firm believer in our parental involvement being a key factor of our children's success.
To me being a volunteer means devoting precious hours towards the greater good without expectation of financial return. I have always devoted my time to the things that I am passionate about, and the programs and opportunities that I love. I am passionate about real estate, and I love doing my job. My passion translates to the hours and effort I will give to marketing and selling your home.
- Home Buyer/Home Seller- Over the last ten years my family has moved four times. I am personally familiar with the worries and stress of selling a home. I understand the concerns of pricing, the worries of market issues, and the stress of showing a home. While every market is different every home will sale! My homes all sold within a few weeks of listing. I can use that experience to showcase your home to all its advantages.
Having been a home seller those many times also makes me an experienced home buyer. Not only can I offer you a comprehensive market analysis, provide you with a detailed marketing plan, and the support, experience and services of Century 21 First Choice, I can also give you an unbiased, professional opinion of what a buyer sees and thinks when they walk into your house. I can guarantee that when a buyer walks into a house I've listed and staged, they WILL BE IMPRESSED!
OTHER EXCELLENT QUALITIES
- Client Driven
- Quality Service
- Budget Minded
- Detail Oriented
- Versatile
- Enthusiastic
- ABR certified
- A Proven Track Record of Selling Homes!
Over the years I have bought and sold many properties and had the occasion to work with many different Realtors. Of all those real estate experiences, your service, dedication and professionalism have been exemplary. You are, by far, the best realty professional I have ever had the pleasure to work with. ... You have gone above and beyond and done everything possible to market our home in the best possible light. ... I would be happy to recommend you to anyone we know who would be seeking a Realtor in this area and will be more than happy to serve as a reference and recommendation for you in the future.
Sincerely,
Jill & Richard BossiTega Cay, SC.≈ ≈ ≈
To Whom it may concern,
I would state the experience I have had working with Carmen Miller from Century 21 Real Estate. Carmen listed my home in Tega Cay, SC in the Fall of 2007. First I would like to state that I interviewed several realtors to list my home. I was very impressed with Carmen's professional presentation of herself and the company she represented. She was very thorough on what she represented and what she would do to sell my home. She illustrated how current technology would assist in the sale of the home. I was updated frequently on showings of my house. After signing the listing contract, my home was staged, a virtual tour was developed and published on the internet immediately. Carmen's persistence, hard work, and professional advice helped me understand the steps we would take in the sale of the home. I would highly recommend Carmen Miller as a listing or buying agent. I also hired her as my buying agent which resulted in an immediate home purchase for myself.
Sincerely,
Steve KingTega Cay, SC.≈ ≈ ≈
After selling our home in less than six weeks when neighbors' homes sat for over a year, we were extremely pleased with our decision to use Carmen Miller of Century 21 as our Realtor. There are several reasons we selected Carmen over other agents in the area and would continue to use her in the future:
· To showcase our home, unlike any other agents, Carmen utilized her several years of interior design experience. Carmen was able to emphasize our homes' selling assets and identify areas in need of improvement in a courteous and professional manner. For example, she helped us reposition furniture and remove clutter to make certain rooms appear larger and more functional. Additionally, she made suggestions to enhance our landscaping during the drought to make first impressions lasting impressions.
· To target the more sophisticated, high priced buyers from out-of-state or country under time-constraints, Carmen insisted on hiring a professional to create a virtual tour for Internet marketing.
· To help identify a competitive price point for listing our home, Carmen prepared a comprehensive feature sheet highlighting the upgrades in our home. Then she even took the time to walk the competition and extensively researched the previously sold comparable homes in the area to create a market analysis. With a little short of a full price offer, she knew exactly how to price our home to sell it in a timely manner.
· To bring in buyers, Carmen along with Century 21s experience helped attract qualified buyers through local and national advertising plans in home publications, newspapers and Internet websites.
· To insure proper traffic for our open house, Carmen notified her extensive list of neighborhood contacts utilizing her friends-refer-friends approach to marketing along with her local advertising. Additionally, she provided proper signage making the home easy to find; she supplied snacks and drinks to make buyers feel welcome; and provided buyers with a plethora of information on the home, neighborhood and surrounding areas selling features.
· To make the showing process more comfortable for us, she used Centralized Showing. This company called us ahead of time to let us know when our home was being shown.
· To prepare for any offers, Carmen once again thought ahead with a specification book including frequently asked questions, home warranty information, annual utility budget sheet and more.
· To ensure an efficient closing, she was organized and able to identify what she needed from us and kept in close contact with the buyer's agent and closing agency.
• Most importantly to create a lifetime client, she sold our home for the right price in the right time.
We appreciated Carmen's Internet savvy and fresh approach to selling our home. She was always professional, organized and enthusiastic as I'm sure she'll be with the sale of your home or property. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either one of us.
Best wishes,
Eve and Dennis McCaffreyTega Cay, SC.
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