Sandy Keller - Myrtle Beach Real Estate

Many Myrtle Beach real estate buyers must have seen the articles in The Wall Street Journal or Forbes because on a daily basis those who had been on the fence are coming over to the buying side.

Retirees, young families with children, and those wanting a vacation home have been able to find a fantastic deal and if they wanted a mortgage a fantastic interest rate. Homes for sale in Seasons At Prince Creek West were perfect for those wanting an active 55+ community and for a large young family a great home that was a Short Sale will now be theirs. Even the condos for sale have seen an increase in buyers since some mortgage companies are willing to lend for a second home.

In regard to the Short Sale I mentioned above it took many months before the seller's lender took any action and the buyers ended up having to pay a little more than the Asking Price on the listing but since only 15% of Short Sale purchases ever make it to closing they are still very happy about their new home.

Sometimes you find a community or neighborhood that may offer everything on your wish list and Prince Creek seems to be one of those places. The 2700 acre master-planned community has natural lakes, cypress trees, large park areas, and walking / bike trails but there is more within the various distinct neighborhoods.

Seasons at Prince Creek West is a gated active 55+ neighborhood that has an indoor and outdoor pool, clubhouse, exercise facility, and lawn care is provided for homeowners.

Stone Gate has European country-style ranch villas that are set up in a building of four units but each looks like a single family home. This neighborhood has a clubhouse, pool and lawn care is provided to homeowners. Palm Bay, Creekhaven, and the gated Collins Creek Landing are also neighborhoods within the Prince Creek community located in Murrells Inet, South Carolina.

Prices for Myrtle Beach real estate have dropped over 34 percent since the peak of the boom in 2006. However, prices have only dropped 1 percent since 2009 which mean things are turning.

Here is another example of why waiting to purchase Myrtle Beach real estate may not be to your advantage:

If you have 20 percent to put down on a house that is selling for $300,000 and you get a mortgage at 4.5 percent, the monthly payment would be $1,216. If you wait until the seller drops the price to $285,000 but the mortgage interest rate has gone up to 5.5 percent the monthly payment would be $1,295. That is $79 more per month and $28,440 additional over the life of the loan.

Recently I helped my clients find a home that would be perfect for them but it just happened to be a foreclosure. That would not have been a problem but the fact that the fireplace footer had caused the entire brick fireplace to pull away from the house was a problem. We thought the Bank would have the structural damage repaired. The lender my clients were using for a mortgage said they would not lend for a house that had structural damage so my clients were waiting to make an offer after the repairs. After several weeks I phoned the listing agent to see how the repairs were going and was told that the Bank had decided not to make the repairs, wanted to lower the asking price, and were looking for cash offers.

Myrtle Beach real estate market news for homes, condos, and land that has sold within the past thirty (30) days.

Only 57 of the 382 Myrtle Beach Homes that closed (sold) in the past 30 days were Foreclosures.

Only 43 of the 345 Myrtle Beach Condos that closed (sold) in the past 30 days were Foreclosures. April 25, 2011 - May 23, 2011 data from the CCAR MLS system shows that Foreclosures do not dominate the real estate market in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina or the surrounding areas.

For more information on the number of short sales and auctioned real estate see my Myrtle Beach Real Estate and More Blog.