Goose Creek, SC

Extending the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit will benefit Home Buyers and Home Sellers in Goose Creek and in the Charleston SC Area

The extension of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, will give first time home buyers time to repair credit or the time to purchase a short sale in the Goose Creek and in the Charleston, SC area. The benefit for home sellers, will be the potential draw of home buyers looking to buy a second home or are looking to up size or down size from their current home.

The extension of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit overall, should help reduce the inventory of homes on the market.

Obama To Sign Bill Friday Extending Homebuyers Credit

AP, Thursday, 5 Nov 2009, 3:06 PM ET - The White House says President Barack Obama on Friday morning will sign a bill that expands a popular homebuyers tax credit and extends unemployment benefits.

AP Home sales

Congress on Thursday completed work on the $24 billion economic package that seeks to help out the millions who have lost jobs and have been unable to rejoin the workforce. The White House announced Obama's intention to sign the bill shortly after Congress finished the legislation.

Under the measure, an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers would be extended for seven months and expanded with a $6,500 credit for some prospective homebuyers who already own homes.

The House passed the bill on a 403-12 vote Thursday, a day after the Senate ended a monthlong stalemate with a 98-0 vote. With some 7,000 people exhausting unemployment benefits every day and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers set to expire at the end of November, President Barack Obama is expected to quickly sign it into law.

The $24 billion package also contains tax credits aimed at struggling businesses.

The IRS says some 1.4 million people applied for the homebuyers credit through August, helping enliven the moribund housing market. The legislation would extend the program through June of next year, as long as the buyer signs a contract by the end of April. It also offers a $6,500 tax credit to those who have lived in their current residence at least five years.

The measure doubles the income ceiling for eligible individuals to $125,000. Homes must cost less than $800,000 to qualify.

The nearly 2 million who have exhausted their unemployment benefits or face termination of benefits, usually about $300 a week, before the end of the year would receive 14 weeks of additional benefits under the bill. The unemployed in those states where the jobless rate tops 8.5 percent would get six weeks on top of that.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the bill would also help the economy because the unemployed quickly spend their checks on living necessities. "We help people in very bad straits and we help our economy and help us all."

To read the rest of this article, http://www.cnbc.com/id/33673455/

Charleston, Mount Pleasant, & Hanahan Real Estate For Sale

Matt Naumann - Charleston & Mount Pleasant, SC Real Estate Agent & Entrepreneur
"Taking Real Estate Home Buying, Investing and Selling to the Next Level" is my personal goal. I specialize in using creative strategies to help my clients buy, invest, or sell real estate in the Charleston & Mount Pleasant, SC Real Estate Market. My motto is "There is always a way!" Google or Call me (843) 818-9898 and let's discuss how I can help you in save $1,000s when you buy, invest, or sell real estate.

11/2/09 -

11/2/09 -

10/29/09 -

Summary:

The average sales price in Goose Creek SC is approximately $21,500 less than the average listing price vs $15,000 last month, which has resulted in homes being sold in 65 vs 147 days (i.e. 2 months faster than the average) on the market.

The number of active listings has dropped from 417 to 396, due to listings being withdrawn from the market and not due to increase sales. In reality there were approximately 1.5 new listings per every listing sold.

The market is still definitely a buyer's market. If you are trying to sell, you need to make the decision to short sale your home or not to sell or rent long term (i.e. if you are relocating). The real estate market locally and nationwide is still trying to find bottom. Based on the data, some price ranges and areas have found bottom for home prices and others still need to drop.

TIP: Have a real estate professional, sit down with you and have them show you the data. Numbers do not lie and they can tell you want is selling, for what price, and how long it took to sell. With the correct data. Data that compares your home with other similar homes in your area, will paint a true picture of how much and how long it will take to sell your home.

Charleston, Goose Creek, & Hanahan Real Estate For Sale

Matt Naumann - Charleston & Goose Creek, SC Real Estate Agent & Entrepreneur
"Taking Real Estate Home Buying, Investing and Selling to the Next Level" is my personal goal. I specialize in using creative strategies to help my clients buy, invest, or sell real estate in the Charleston & Goose Creek, SC Real Estate Market. My motto is "There is always a way!" Google or Call me (843) 818-9898 and let's discuss how I can help you in save $1,000s when you buy, invest, or sell real estate.

Most people who are not involved in real estate day in and day out often get confused with the industry terminology that Realtors routinely use. It can be a confusing barrage of lingo that frustrates buyers and sellers. One of these terms is Earnest Money.

What is Earnest Money? - Earnest money in real estate is "good faith money," or as I like to call it serious money. This is the money that a buyer usually puts up to show the seller that he/she is serious about buying a house. This is often necessary in the mind of the seller because buying a house usually takes about 30 days (depending on the situation) from the time the buyer and seller ratify a contract until the time of the closing. The earnest money from the buyer is put is an escrow account and held by one of the involved real estate brokerages until the closing. If all goes according to plan and the buyer buys the house from the seller, then the earnest money is credited to the buyer at closing. But, in the event that the buyer backs out of the contract, without proper cause within the contract, the earnest money goes to the seller and the seller must then put the house/property back on the market in hopes of finding another buyer.

How Much Earnest Money? - It is important to note that in South Carolina there is no law requiring earnest money nor is there a law determining how much money should be put in escrow for any given price range. But, most sellers will not consider an offer without the earnest money being part of the offer. Why? Because the seller is taking a risk. You see once the seller accepts an offer on their home, the home is taken off of the "active" listings on the market. The seller usually secures a new place to live and begins the process of moving his/her household goods into another home or storage. The earnest money ensures that if the buyer backs out (apart from what is allowed in the contract) the seller is compensated for the risk of any potential buyers that were lost as well as their time and trouble involved.

So how much is required? I know many places around the country have an unwritten rule of 3%-5%. The only time you will see that around Charleston is with some new construction builders and with some bank owned properties. In the Charleston SC market, anything under 125K usually calls for an earnest money deposit between $500-$1000 (unless otherwise specified from the seller). Anything from 125K-250K usually calls for an earnest money deposit of $1000-$1500. Anything from 250K-500K usually calls for earnest money between the amounts of $1500 and $2500. Anything above that is usually specified by the seller. Just like anything else in real estate, earnest money is usually negotiable.

The key thing to remember about earnest money is that is should be used to strenghthen the offer of the buyer. A solid offer, a preapproval letter, and a reasonable sum of earnest money can go a long way in convincing the seller to accept the offer of a buyer.

Goose Creek, SC 29445 Real Estate Market Statistics for September 2009

Summary:

The average sales price in Goose Creek SC is approximately $15,000 less than the average listing price, which has resulted in homes being sold in 83 vs 140 days (i.e. 2 months faster than the average) on the market.

If you are selling and a low offer is submitted, I recommend to work with all offers to see if you can make the offer a win - win opportunity for both you and the seller. As a seller you can easily save thousands by working with buyers. Remember the costs of owning a house is more than the cost of a monthly mortgage payment, it includes the monthly expenses (i.e. gas, electric, HOA, phone, and etc.) and maintenance costs to maintain the home.

Tip: Price your home where comparables have sold versus where comparables have been sitting on the market, this will greatly reduce the amount time on the market.

Tip: If you own more than your home is worth and you need to Sell. Short Sale your Home (i.e. Price it to Sell). I recommend working with an agent, who has systems in place to do short sales.

Charleston, Goose Creek, & Hanahan Real Estate For Sale

Matt Naumann - Charleston & Goose Creek, SC Real Estate Agent & Entrepreneur
"Taking Real Estate Home Buying, Investing and Selling to the Next Level" is my personal goal. I specialize in using creative strategies to help my clients buy, invest, or sell real estate in the Charleston & Goose Creek, SC Real Estate Market. My motto is "There is always a way!" Google or Call me (843) 818-9898 and let's discuss how I can help you in save $1,000s when you buy, invest, or sell real estate.

Goose Creek South Carolina, a suburb of Charleston SC, has a real estate market that continues to sell amidst the market decline. The number of homes sold are not what they were a year ago but Goose Creek real estate remains steady nonetheless. In September of 2009 50 homes sold in Goose Creek. There are currently just over 400 homes on the market in Goose Creek.

The following is a graph of the top selling neighborhoods in Goose Creek in September. Note that what is mostly selling in Brickhope Plantation and Brickhope Greens is new construction.

In the overall market of the Charleston SC Metro, Goose Creek ranked number five on the list of cities with the most homes sold in September as demonstrated in the graph below.

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