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

Rick Turner

Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 7:41am. 13 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. 201 Views, 0 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. 190 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. 60 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…

DOLPHINS “CINCH” REAL ESTATE DEAL!

Linda Rudd

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 3:19pm. 121 Views, 0 Comments.

Dolphins in real estate? Well, not exactly! Clients joined me early one crisp morning with the anticipation of capturing a mesmerizing high tide on the marshes of the Colleton River. They were pondering the purchase of this particular waterfront home, having viewed it the previous day at low tide.

I had regaled them with stories of frequent Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin sightings close to shore, and I sensed they were secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of one of these graceful creatures. A hush had fallen upon us as we gazed across the peaceful expansive water vistas. Then, as if on cue, we spied first one fin, and then another arching slowly above the water’s surface – just 20 feet from shore. We watched in awe as the friendly pair of dolphins flipped,…

CAROLINA ISLES: HILTON HEAD ISLAND'S MOST SUCCESSFUL NEW HOME COMMUNITY

Marcia Hunter

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 1:55pm. 250 Views, 1 Comments.

H2 Builders, Hilton Head's most awarded home builder, has enjoyed amazing success in its new community, Carolina Isles, with nine sales since June 2009. When I asked Todd Hawk, President of H2 Builders, why he thought it had sold so fast in such a down economy. His answer was insightful, "We dropped the price by about 25% and kept the same high quality we've been most noted for."

Now Carolina Isles is launching a new alternative to second home villa/condo living: single family homes on our new courtyard lots starting @ $289,900.

Carolina Isles is a gated new home community of 80 single family homesites and a choice of 10 award winning floor plans ranging in size from 1200-2800 sq ft.  It is located on the north end of Hilton Head Island and is convenient to…

CASH IN ON THE INTEREST RATE WINDFALL

Rick Turner

Saturday, March 27th, 2010 at 1:12pm. 75 Views, 0 Comments.

I was reading the Wall Street Journal the other day and saw an article that lit my fuse ... and made we want to plead with every real estate buyer, "BUY TODAY, BEFORE RATES JUMP." Here's a link to the article Nabbing a bargain-Basement Mortgage Before Rates Rise.

After I read that I was talking to one of our potential home buyers who was looking all along the South Carolina Coast. I urged him to find that area on the SC Coast that most fit his needs and buy today. "It may be the Hilton Head area or it may not," I told him, "but find something soon and take advantage of this interest rate windfall." 

Rule of Thumb: a 1% rise in rates equals a 10% rise in monthly P & I payments

I went on to share with him the general rule of thumb that a 1% rise in mortgage…

BOTTOMS UP ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC

Rick Turner

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 7:05am. 141 Views, 0 Comments.

     It’s what we have all been waiting for, significant change in the real estate market on Hilton Head Island, SC. Total closed real estate sales through March 15, 2010 were $285 million compared to the same period in 2009 that totaled $156 million. That is a tremendous increase of 83%. The average sale price has showed a small decline of 6% down from $360,000 in 2009 to $340,000 in 2010.

     It all adds up to sales being up and prices stabilizing. Conservative buyers are entering the market place at record numbers as mortgage money has become available at historic lows. Positive change continues in the Hilton Head area real estate market ... so bottoms up!

by Marcia Hunter, Rick Turner and Associates, 843-816-0422.

Hilton Head Island Real Estate Market Up 31%

Rick Turner

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 8:23am. 492 Views, 0 Comments.

The real estate market in the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, SC, area has definitely turned around. Homes closed totaled 212 in the last sixty days (2/23 - 4/23), a 31% increase over the previous 60 day period (12/23 - 2/22) where 161 homes closed.

Buy Somewhere!

Rick Turner

Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at 12:08pm. 407 Views, 0 Comments.

Interest rates have hit new lows. We're now back to mid-1950's mortgage rates! As a Realtor now for 35 years, I've never seen anything like this. You can now borrow up to $417K at 4.375%!! And you can borrow up to about $1.0M at 5.625% ... and these are 30 year fixed rate mortgages!!! We sold three homes two weekends ago, partly because buyers are taking advantage of these historic rates. Their other motivation is an approximate 40% drop in real estate prices. 

If you don't buy real estate in the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, SC, area ... buy somewhere. You're getting discount upon discount. It may never get better than this!