Real Estate In Myrtle Beach

Government Announces Short Sales Guidelines

The U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly.

To qualify under these new guidelines:

• The property must be the home owner’s principal residence.
• The home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting.
• The loan must have been made before Jan. 1, 2009, and be for less than $729,750.
• The borrowers’ total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31 percent of their before-tax income.

Under the plan, borrowers will receive $1,500 from the government for selling homes for less than the amount of their mortgages. Mortgage-servicing companies will get $1,000 for each completed short sale. Second-mortgage holders can receive up to $3,000 of the sales proceeds in exchange for releasing their liens. Investors who hold the first mortgage can collect up to $1,000 from the government for allowing the payments.

Borrowers who complete a short sale under the program must be "fully released" from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines.

Three men are sharing a sauna together.  All of a sudden, they hear a beep.  One of the men gets up and summarily leaves the sauna.  When he returns he explains:

"Sorry, it was my beeper.  I had it implanted in my arm."

Soon thereafter, they hear a phone ring.  The second man excuses himself and walks out.  When he returns he explains:

"Sorry about that!  It was my cell phone.  I had it implanted in my palm."

All of a sudden, the third man gets up and leaves.  He returns shortly thereafter.  As he makes his way back on to the sauna bench, the other two men notice a long piece of toilet paper hanging from his behind.  Observing the glares he explains:  "Sorry guys; I just had a fax come in!"

Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Slaughter Fest:

Single Family Homes

                                   2007                               2009

Available for sale:                   6,360                                       6,227

Sold during October:              287                                          312

2007:  4.51% of the home inventory was sold during October.  At this rate, we'll need over 22 months to sell out of our current inventory of listings.    

2009:  5.01% of the home inventory was sold during October.  At this rate, we’ll need almost 20 months to sell out of current inventory.  

Conclusion:  A home now sells two months faster than it did in 2007.   The time it stays on the market is over a year and a half.     We have a similar home inventory as we did in 2007 (available homes for sale).

Condos

Available for sale:                   8,840                                       6,182

Sold during October:              362                                          288

2007:  4.10% of the condos were sold during October.  At this rate, we'll need over 2 years to exhaust our condo inventory.

2009:  4.66% of the condos were sold during October.  At this rate, we’ll need about 21.5 months to exhaust our condo inventory.

Conclusion:  We now have over 30% less condo inventory available for sale than we did in 2007.  Condos now sell about 3 months faster than they did in 2007.

Land

Available for sale:                   5,670                                       5,216

Sold during October:              72                                            53

2007:  1.27% of our land inventory was sold during the month of October.  At this rate, we'll need over 6.5 years to exhaust the existing inventory.

2009:  1.02% of our land inventory was sold during October.  At this rate, we’ll need over 8 years to exhaust the exiting inventory.

Conclusion:  Although we have 8% less inventory, it now takes 1.5 years longer to sell out of the land inventory than it did in 2007.

Multi-Family

Available for sale:                   147                                          162

Sold during October:              4                                              2

2007:  2.72% of our multi family inventory was sold during October.  At this rate, we'll need over 3 years to sell out of the existing inventory.

2009:   1.23% of the inventory has been sold in October.  At this rate, we’ll need 6 years and 9 months to exhaust the current inventory.

Conclusion:  Although we now have over 10% more inventory than we did in 2007, sales have been halved.   It now takes 3 years and 9 months longer to sell out of the inventory than it did in 2007.

Grand Conclusion:  Land is the most depressed Real Estate product in the Myrtle Beach Market, with a supply of over 8 years.  Multi family is the next most depressed product with an almost 7 year supply (6yrs. 9mos).  The condo market has 30% less inventory than it did two years ago and it’s selling 3 months sooner.  The single home inventory remains virtually unchanged, yet selling 2 months earlier. 

Mirela Monte, Your Myrtle Beach Real Estate Connection                      Proud Optimist!

We had a Birthday yesterday. Our own, Darlene Olivo, turned 29 yet again. We were so busy yesterday and got the dates mixed up; we almost missed celebrating her birthday. We had a quick, impromptu get together at the end of the day with cake and good wishes, and Dar, as we lovingly call her, was gracious enough to come back into the office and leave her pork roast cooking in the oven, just because we asked her to "pretty please come back in for a few minutes."

Darlene has been with Buyers’ Choice Realty for about three years. She is a great team player, always pitching in and helping her fellow agents. Darlene started out as a client (she bought her Myrtle Beach home from us) and we talked her into getting licensed and joining the firm.

Darlene is a valuable member of our company. She is from New Jersey and she’ll tell it to you like it is. She is direct, candid and honest. She is beautiful and kind. She is an amazing agent. She works incredibly hard for her clients and they all love her.

Darlene is involved in local politics. She is a great mom to her pets, who are as adorable as they come (we have a pet friendly office). She has been married to Anthony, her high school sweetheart for many, many years (I don’t want to reveal her age by disclosing the number).

Happy Birthday Darlene! We love you!

Mirela Monte, Your Myrtle Beach Real Estate Connection

I started the Optimist Group because I did not like all the gloom and doom that is constantly and consistently deluging our World. Enough lamenting, please!!!

Show me the Hope! Show me the Gratitude! Show me the Optimism! Merely being alive is a minor miracle. Virtually millions of systems have to work in unison in order for each one of us to wake up in the morning. Our days are numbered. Why not make the best of them?

If you are going to compare your life to the perceived existence of the superstars, your days will not be too sunny. Instead, just look around you and notice the many that are so much less fortunate than yourself. When you feel depressed, just spend an hour in a nursing home or a hospital; I assure you, you’ll come out of there skipping and counting your blessings!

…Which brings me full circle to today’s topic: Keeping a Gratitude Journal. Write down five things you are grateful for right now. Yes, right now! Just do it, and then come back and finish reading the blog. Trust me on this one!

Thank you for complying with my request! Don’t you feel better now? All the silly little things like bills and deadlines sure don’t seem as important anymore, when you consider the BIG things that you have been blessed with.

For those of you fortunate enough for have an I-Phone (yet another thing to be grateful for), you can download the Gratitude Application for a mere dollar. I have it. I use it. I love it! The journal is visually pleasing and cute. You can attach a picture to your entry, enjoy inspirational quotes after you post and have it all neatly organized by the date. You can even rate your day from one to five stars.

Start today: write down five things you are grateful for on a daily basis for the next two months and you’ll see how much your life will change!

Life is Short. Live it Well! Gratitude is the seed of happiness...

Mirela Monte, Your Myrtle Beach Connection Join The Optimist Group!