When the Prophet Says Buy. BUY!

Rick Turner

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 6:55pm. 291 Views, 0 Comments.

John R. Talbott, previously a Goldman Sachs investment banker, is a bestselling author and economic consultant. When it comes to the housing market he is also a prophet. When housing prices started to skyrocket in 2003, he published The Coming Crash in the Housing Market, correctly warning us that a real estate bubble was forming. Then in January 2006, he called the abolute peak of home prices in the US by releasing a new book, Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble.

Mr. Talbott, the person who accurately predicted the housing bubble and its bust, now has a new prediction - IT IS THE TIME TO BUY A HOME! In a recent article, Homes - Buy Now!, Talbott simply explains:

"I have been waiting for more than five years to offer this advice. It is now time tin most…

HILTON HEAD ISLAND-BLUFFTON REAL ESTATE - #1 IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Rick Turner

Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 3:11pm. 477 Views, 0 Comments.

The latest stats are in. Through November the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton area is again the #1 real estate market in South Carolina. And it has been #1 for 21 straight months.  

According to the South Carolina Association of Realtors, the number of our real estate transactions is up 8.2% over last year, which is twice the increase of the #2 market, Charleston. In fact, sales in the Hilton Head area are at the highest level in five years.

One of the axioms in real estate is, "All real estate is local," which means that each real estate market in America is unique. Some markets are cold. Some cool. Some holding steady. Some warm. Some warmer. [None are hot right now.] The Hilton Head area is the "warmest" market in South Carolina and one of the "warmest"…

BE THE FIRST TO KNOW WHEN FORECLOSURES COME ON THE MARKET

Rick Turner

Saturday, August 20th, 2011 at 1:53pm. 444 Views, 0 Comments.

Starting today home buyers have a new tool in their toolbox as they search for the area’s best buys: www.HiltonHeadBankOwnedHomes.com. This website created by our team here at Rick Turner and Associates provides home buyers with up-to-the-minute listings of all bank-owned, foreclosed homes, villas and lots presently on the market … as well as all short sale listings.

And better yet, you can choose to be immediately notified by email each time a new bank-owned foreclosure or short sale comes on the market!

Because the number of properties sold in the Hilton Head area is at a five year high, there are presently only 193 bank-owned homes, villas and lots left for sale, which is down to only 4.6% of the existing listings. The supply of distressed properties…

MONEY'S NEVER BEEN CHEAPER

Rick Turner

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 8:43pm. 631 Views, 0 Comments.

Amazingly 30-year fixed rate mortgages on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, South Carolina, have been hovering around 4.8%. Our local rates track with the national averages. The chart above displays the historic proportion of today’s rock bottom interest rates with graphic clarity. MIND-BLOWING. The interest rates of the last 16 months are below all previous records tracked by Freddie Mac. Mortgage money has never been “cheaper” at a time when home prices couldn’t be more attractive.

These history-making low rates combined with an almost unprecedented drop in home values have made the monthly cost of owning a home today, according to the National Association of Realtors, the lowest since records began in 1970.

And there is no place for current interest rates…

HILTON HEAD/BLUFFTON REAL ESTATE SALES SOAR 26% TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN 3 YEARS!

Rick Turner

Thursday, November 18th, 2010 at 12:13pm. 561 Views, 0 Comments.

While real estate in much of the country languished, sales in the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton MLS have surged above 2008 and 2009 levels for 10 months straight. Through October 2010 total sales surpassed 2009 by 26%.

Further evidence of this "charged up" market is that Beaufort County, home to Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, was the hottest market in South Carolina for the 10th straight month as well.

Last In, First Out

For decades local Realtors have observed that the Hilton Head area is the "last one to go into a recession and the first one out." The data above certainly supports this observation. A National Association of Realtors truism is "all real estate is local". What's true in Chicago, NYC, Las Vegas or Atlanta is not necessarily true in our…

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SOUTH CAROLINA BESTS FLORIDA AND ARIZONA

Rick Turner

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010 at 7:23pm. 571 Views, 0 Comments.

For the 1st time in the history of tracking Baby Boomer's preferences, the Carolinas have become the #1 retirement destination of Boomers, according to newly released “2010 Baby Boomer Survey” conducted by Del Webb, America’s largest builder of active adult communities.

Though Florida and Arizona remain top contenders, the Carolinas have emerged as the preferred destination for retirement. Both younger and older Baby Boomers ranked either South or North Carolina first as their favored location in retirement – with the other Carolina ranking as their second choice.

There is a huge wave coming. This year in America there are 3300 people per day turning 65. Next year the Boomer Wave triples this number: 10,000 people per day turning 65! If you can beat the…

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU GET A SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE?

Rick Turner

Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 7:41am. 379 Views, 0 Comments.

While you were vacationing in Hilton Head so many of you passed through our Gateway Real Estate offices in recent years disappointed you did not purchase something earlier or discovering you had been priced out of the real estate market because of increasing prices. How many times did you say ... “If I would have known, I could have bought, I should have done it then.”Would-a! Could-a! Should-a!

Now is your chance again!

We are being revisited by so many fortunate people who are discovering that the recession has given them a second chance at buying that dream property at prices not seen since the 1990's. In fact, our real estate is selling here faster than in any other area of South Carolina, up over 40% from last year. Many have realized there has never…

HAS THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND REAL ESTATE MARKET STABLIZED?

Rick Turner

Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 9:39pm. 594 Views, 1 Comments.

The numbers are in. The results in the Hilton Head area MLS show that real estate sales in the first quarter of 2010 have increased 59% over the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2009 there were 366 real estate purchases versus 583 in the first quarter of 2010.

A huge indicator of market stabilization is the chart below, showing that since June 2009 the Hilton Head MLS has averaged over 200 transactions per month. The market bottomed out in November 2008 through March 2009 where the sales pace averaged just over 100 transactions per month.

The Hilton Head area MLS encompasses the following areas in southeastern South Carolina: Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island, Bluffton, Okatie, Hardeeville, Beaufort, Beaufort County and Jasper County.

Median…

HILTON HEAD REAL ESTATE MARKET - #1 HOTTEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Rick Turner

Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 9:06am. 996 Views, 0 Comments.

Wow! For the third month in a row the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton real estate market is the #1 market in South Carolina. MLS sales of homes and villas in the first quarter of 2010 are up 63.8% from the first quarter of 2009. No other market in the state even came close. Transactions increased from 320 in 2009 to 524 in 2010.

The next two best markets in SC are the Coastal Carolina's (Myrtle Beach) which is up 44.4%, and Beaufort and Aiken markets (tied) which are up 36.7%. See the table below from the South Carolina Association of Realtors.

We're feeling it in a big way. Last year we at Rick Turner and Associates sold 5 properties in the first quarter. This year it was 21! People are flying in from all over the country to take advantage of buying a…

THIS AIN'T YOUR MAMA'S REVERSE MORTGAGE

Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 8:05am. 298 Views, 0 Comments.

Let's assume you own your home free and clear or you have a small mortgage. If you are over 62, you can get a new and vastly improved reverse mortgage on your current home and use the proceeds to purchase a Hilton Head Island or Bluffton, South Carolina, home or villa. The best part is that you have no payment EITHER home! 

For example if your existing home is worth $650,000, a local bank here will give you up to $325,000, half the value of your home, as one of these new reverse mortgages. You can then use that $325,000 to purchase a home in the Hilton Head area. Once you move here in two months or two years, you sell your old home and pay off the reverse mortgage. Keep in mind, there is no credit or income verification for a reverse mortgage. 

The huge…