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…

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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…

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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,…

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