Keith Strawn

One of the common questions raised by buyer and seller alike in Beaufort is the definition of deep water? With more than 90 inhabited islands, this is a pertinent question. Beaufort County is a waterborne community, with hundreds of waterfront properties.

If you were to call up our friends at Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, the folks who issue permits in South Carolina, they might tell you they have no real working definition of “deep water.” The OCRM evaluates whether there is a suitable tidal creek off the property, worthy of a dock.

The OCRM will determine if the creek qualifies for a floating dock, or just a crabbing dock.

At the Beaufort Board of Realtors, however, we classify anything with at least 3 feet of water at LOW TIDE as deep water.

And there are caveats. Your property may have the requisite 3-foot minimum at low tide, but what about the sandbar which sits up the creek, and makes parts of your creek impassable for an hour or two a day?

The Beaufort Multiple Listing Service calls that Deep Water with "limited access.”

Like a lot of real estate terms, great liberties have been known to be taken with the classification of water-front property. Tidal creek can mean an outstanding water-front property, which might be navigable 24 hours a day, but I've also seen the term tidal creek utilized to describe a tiny rivulet which might occasionally accommodate nothing more than a kayak .

This is one of the myriad reasons you want to consult a Realtor before purchasing or listing any property. Have a great day.

After nine years as a full-time Realtor, suffice it to say I've learned a few hard lessons.

One of the most difficult lessons I've learned is to not take anything for granted. And yet, every once in a while, I still get burned by something which seems like the most obvious thing in the world.

A few weeks ago, I was discussing a closing with a buyer, and he began making references to the closing attorney coming to his (the buyer's) office for the closing. When I began to explain that buyers and sellers go to the attorneys office for closings (hence the purpose of an attorney having an office), the gentleman became a little agitated, and told me that the attorney was the employee in this transaction, and that he (the attorney) needed to be a little more responsive to the needs of the client.

I successfully explained the situation, and we moved on with the closing.

The moral, I suppose, to the story is that we just can't take anything for granted. I don't want Active Rain readers to think I am lampooning this buyer for believing real estate attorneys drive all over town conducting transactions. I understand that what seems like the most obvious thing in the world to me could be Greek for a first-time buyer or seller.

Years ago, an agent friend of mine told me of the time his buyer's were outraged when they discovered their earnest money check was actually deposited into an account. They thought it would be "held" until closing. The check, of course, bounced.

As we all work through this tough real estate market, hopefully this anecdote will give us another opportunity to think of the value we bring to a transaction. We are not just contract writers. We are the experts. We are the ones explaining every aspect of the real estate sales process.

Our clients are dependent on our expertise. That's an awesome responsibility.

Have a great day.

Sometimes, you've got to put up with a little mud and a little rain to find Heaven.
I met with a gentleman Thursday morning, so that I could preview his creek-front property on St. Helena Island. I had never been to this particular locale. The weather was overcast and drizzly. Okay, that's euphemistic. It was just flat-out miserable.
But it was also one of the best moments of a very busy week for me.
If you're familiar with the works of Pat Conroy, you are familiar with the Lowcountry of the Meechams and the Wingos, the fictional characters based on the author's own tormented family. In The Great Santini, Beach Music and The Prince of Tides, Conroy tells us of life in his Beaufort, SC, the Lowcountry of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
On Thursday, as I stood in the rain and the mud and surveyed the property, I felt as if I had been cast back into the boyhood of Pat Conroy. The creek snaked through the marsh, past the property. The gigantic and majestic oaks were festooned with moss. In the distance, and through the morning mist, loomed Parris Island, the iconic Marine Recruiting Depot featured in The Great Santini.
The Lowcountry is a big, beautiful place, and there is always some little hidden gem of a location just waiting to be discovered.
Please click the link to view my video of the property --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM7GWyl-URM&feature=channel_page

While showing property at a local development a few days ago, the Realtor on duty (whom I know fairly well) pulled me aside and asked me to call him later. He had "an opportunity" he wanted to discuss with me. Even though I trend towards skepticism with "opportunities," I'm open-minded enough to listen.

No need to bore you with all the details. He wanted to talk about the product to your left, MonaVie, an energy drink he was pretty excited about. Yes, it involved multi-level marketing. He was very upfront about that.

My friend wanted me to hook me up with a couple of the other local participants in the area who have had some success, and he also wanted me to attend a meeting this week with some of the more successful national figures.

I got off the phone, and I pondered the conversation a few minutes, and......... I just couldn't do it.

Folks, if I have 10 minutes, or 30 minutes, or an hour, or three hours to discuss an energy drink with someone, then I have time to make a few more real estate prospecting calls. I have more time to service my listings. I have time to do a virtual tour. I have more time to preview homes for my buyers.

I am a Realtor!!! Not a juice salesman. Before anyone takes offense, I am not calling into question the merits of this drink, or the potential to make money. With anything, I believe there is a correlation between effort and results.

I am committed to real estate. With the help of my wife, Jennifer, I have been a prospecting machine in the past month. I have re-dedicated myself to making the most of the existing real estate market. And I've seen tangible results.

So, if I am going to spend a few hours a week "prospecting," then....dammit...I am going to be prospecting with real estate buyers and sellers. I am a Realtor!

Trying to conduct a real estate transaction without the services of a full-time Realtor is like sleep deprivation.

Until you get a good night's sleep, you don't know what you're missing.
Likewise, folks trying to buy or sell property without a full-time Realtor have no idea how much unnecessary stress they've been experiencing, and how much time they've been wasting, until they sit down with a qualified agent.

How many folks have you dealt with over the years who "just wanted to deal with the listing agent?" These folks spend countless hours driving themselves around town, looking for signs, calling listing agents, visiting various websites, and calling more agents off these sites.

And the whole time, these buyers think they are being efficient.

I spent a couple of hours with some folks last week who reminded how important our jobs are. I was showing them one of my listings. They began to pick my brain, and I began to pick theirs.

I discovered they were seeking "owner financing," ideally over a period of four to five years. For a variety of reasons, these buyers are just not in a position to take on a conventional bank loan at this moment.

We all know there are some owners who are in a positiion to offer owner financing, but those of us in the business also know many of sellers right now are folks who bought in the peak years of 2004 and 2005, utilizing one of the myriad 100 percent financing programs available at the time, and have seen their properties depreciate over the past few years. These sellers are not strong candidates for owner financing.

Other sellers might be in a position, equity-wise, to offer owner-financing, but they might just not be inclined to do so. After all, most buyers want to get their money and move on. They don't want to wait four or five years to get paid.

Then, these buyers began asking me about foreclosure opportunities. Again, there are foreclosure and short sale opportunities in my town, Beaufort, SC, but this request is at direct odds with the desire for owner financing. Individuals facing foreclosure or a short sale are just not candidates for a four- to five-year financing plan.

It's hard to tell if buyers "got it," but it felt very good to explain to these buyers that they would likely be running around in circles until they enlisted the services of a qualified Realtor.

Realtors bring genuine value to a transaction, through our experience and knowledge.