The new construction at the intersection of Forest and Trenholm finally has a sign... it's a new Circle K. I know some residents of Lake Katherine, Forest Acres, Forest Lake, or Jackson Heights might be rolling their eyes at the thought of another gas station in such a close proximity to their homes. But as a home owner in Forest Lake, I welcome the new addition. Ofcourse it will add some more congestion to an already busy intersection. To me it shows progress. Gone are the old outdated buildings of a past generation and coming are the new efficient ones of today. Plus, it shows the economy turning around by businesses willing to invest in our small microcosm of Columbia SC. So to that we say welcome to the neighborhood.

Lawn Care

            Spring is in the air and that means that homebuyers are going to be paying just as much attention to the exterior of a home than the interior. Those shopping for a home want to envision their kids playing in the yard, their friends coming over for barbeques and the lazy Sunday afternoon laying on the lawn.

            While people are inclined to bring in flowers, paint the deck and work on the curb appeal, often the lawn itself is neglected. The positives of a well-maintained grass yard are many and it’s important to get your grass in tip-top shape before showing your home.

            When it comes to growing grass, consistent care is key and failure to invest in long-term turf care can open the window to any number of problems in your lawn.

            It’s also important to give your grass the fertilizing lawn care and control treatments it needs based on the season. Lawn care for growing grass as we enter May has different needs than what is expected in late summer and fall.

            The way you mow your lawn can either make growing grass easier or harder. In the spring, you need to keep the grass high. You never want to remove more than one third of the total blade height when mowing, or you could chop off the food-producing parts of the grass blade and end up with a brown lawn instead of a green one.

            You should also leave grass clippings on the lawn to help recycle important lawn fertilizing nutrients.

            Lawn care experts share that growing green plants is the best thing you can do to clean the air and grass is considered to be better than most other plants or trees at removing carbon and other impurities from the atmosphere. Through the process of photosynthesis, grass takes carbon from the air and stores it in the ground.

            “A grass lawn enriches the soil by providing a home for beneficial micro-organisms and insects that eat nature’s leftovers—decomposing grass clippings, plant leaves and other vegetation—and recycle nutrients back into the soil,” said Michael McDermott, a lawn care expert in Larchmont, N.Y. “It also pollinates plants and serves as food for other animals, making grass an important part of nature’s cycle.”

            An important component of growing grass is to properly water it, and it is better to water deeply (down to a depth of 6 inches) and less frequently, than lightly and more often. If your lawn dulls in color or begins to wilt, then your lawn needs water. Make sure to sweep any fertilizer that lands on driveways and sidewalks back on to the lawn.

            Grass also acts like a natural air conditioner that cools the air as it releases water vapor through its blades. The water evaporates and draws heat, cooling the air in the process. As a result, lawns are a safer surface for children to play on and provide the cool comfort we desire on hot days. Those are selling points that can help any home sale.

Home Selling Safety

Be Mindful of your Safety and Property During your Homeselling Process

            If you’re selling your home, you have enough to think about without worrying that your home isn’t safe, or that your things may be stolen.

            Yet, whether from open houses or scheduled showings, strangers are coming and going in your house all the time. By taking a few safeguards, you can ensure that you don’t need to worry about such things and better protect your belongings in the long run.

            Of course, the easiest solution is to remove valuable jewelry, fine art or collectables beforehand, storing them with a friend or family member. If that’s not an option, then find a place to hide valuables in the home or keep them with you in a suitcase and take the suitcase with you in the car every time you leave yourself. 

            This should also be done for personal information and file cabinets that may contain papers with your account numbers and/or social security information. And don’t forget the medicine cabinets, as this is often an area that people steal from.

            You should always keep your doors and windows locked and when returning to the home following a showing, double-check that they remain secure. Often, prospective buyers will open windows or doors to make sure they work or to see another part of the home. Although it may seem far-fetched, there have been incidents where people unlock doors when looking at a home and go back later to steal things.

            One tactic involves people coming to the house multiple times and bringing a new person with them, who explores rooms when the agent is being distracted.

            “While one person has your attention, the other raids jewelry boxes and medicine cabinets for narcotics,” said Robert Siciliano, an ADT.com security consultant who offers real estate advice on his blog. “In high crime areas, consider hiring an off-duty police officer to watch the property during a showing. You can’t possibly watch everyone during an open house.”

            It may seem like a silly time to install an alarm system since you will be moving soon, but adding a security system will not only deter burglars but can also be a strong selling point of the house. People like safety features in the home.       

            If you are selling a home in which you’re not currently living, consider installing motion sensors that will automatically turn on lights when it’s dark. You can also put a few lamps on a timer so it appears someone is home when you’re out.

            Reach out to your neighbors as well and ask them to keep an eye on your place. It’s always a good idea to introduce neighbors to your REALTOR^® so they know things are OK when the agent is on the premises.

            By taking a few extra precautions, you can feel safe and secure during a home sale.

Last Friday, our Movie Night at the Park lasted only about 20 minutes before a thunderstorm sent everyone sprinting for their cars. However, we will be having our second Movie Night of the summer tomorrow night, and the weather looks like it will be on our side this time!

Tomorrow's Movie Night will be at the new park in Irmo. We will be showing The Incredibles again, and will have plenty of popcorn to go around. The park opens at 7:30 PM, and we will start the movie at 8 PM.

 If you can't make it tomorrow, then mark your calendars for the rest of the summer. The first friday if every month through October, we will be showing a family friendly movie at Emily Douglas Park in Shandon. On the second friday of each month through October, we will show the same movie at the new park in Irmo.

Don't forget to bring a canned good to donate to Harvest Hope. We can't wait to see you and your family there tomorrow night in Irmo!

Forget "Location, Location, Location!" Now it's Pictures!

Like the title says, forget "location, location, location". That is the way people found homes before the Internet. You had to "be" where other people "wanted to be" or they would never find your home. Think about it, if you want to be in a urban area, you wouldn't drive around farms. But possibly if the farm looked good enough you would live there? That's what the internet brings, it can take people 30 miles in any direction with a click of thier mouse.

So if your selling you home on the internet, it's about pictures. If the pictures of your home look horrible, people automatically think your home is horrible. In reality it's your agent or rather agent's camera that is. We learned this lesson very early in our career. Pictures are what sell homes. If your pictures look good, people will come see it. If not they will skip over it.

The pictures below were taken today and have not been altered in an "photo shop" type program. Each picture is a blend of three pictures, taken at the same time, in the same location. But by using this technique, you get muted highlights, brightened low lights, and more vibrant colors. This type of photography isn't quick, easy or fun, but it pays off, it sells homes!



 632 Saddlebrook in Hunting Creek.

U.S. Housing Market Finally Reaches a Turning Point

RISMEDIA, Saturday, June 02, 2012— Home valuations will start to climb again while adjacent consumer industries will capture significant new growth opportunities in 2012 and beyond as the U.S. housing market finally turns the corner, concludes a major new study released today by The Demand Institute. The recovery of the housing market will have far-reaching impacts in the coming years across the United States and international markets as U.S. consumers increase their spending on buying, renovating, furnishing and maintaining their homes.

Launched in February 2012 and jointly operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen, The Demand Institute is a non-profit, non-advocacy organization with a mission to illuminate where consumer demand is headed around the world.

The new report, The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand, predicts that average home prices will increase by up to 1 percent in the second half of 2012. By 2014, home prices will increase by as much as 2.5 percent. From 2015 to 2017, the study projects annual increases between 3 and 4 percent. This recovery will not be uniform across the country, and the strongest markets could capture average gains of 5 percent or more in the coming years.

"In these initial years, the prime driver of recovery won't be new home construction, but rather demand for rental properties," said Louise Keely, Chief Research Officer at The Demand Institute and a co-author of the report. "This is a remarkable change from previous recoveries. It is a measure of just how severe the Great Recession has been that such a wide swath of Americans had to delay, scale back, or put off entirely their dreams of home ownership."

"In the long-term, we don't expect home ownership rates to change," said Bart van Ark, Chief Economist at The Conference Board and co-author of the report. "Over 80 percent of Americans in recent surveys still agree that buying a home is the best long-term investment they can make. What will be intriguing to watch is how their aspirations around home ownership are affected by this period of extended austerity."

Between 2006 and 2011, some $7 trillion in American wealth was wiped out when home prices dropped 30 percent after dramatic climb in valuations during the housing bubble. Looking forward, the moderate growth expectations for coming years suggest a return to normalcy. As home prices continue to drop and interest rates fall further, first-time buyers and others who remained relatively cautious will be drawn back into the housing market. And, as the market recovers, so too will consumer spending.

"As the U.S. housing market strengthens, almost every consumer-facing industry will be impacted in the coming years," said Mark Leiter, Chairman of The Demand Institute. "Business and government leaders will benefit by fully understanding the nature of this recovery. In doing so they will be better able to anticipate how consumer demand will evolve, and to formulate critical business and policy decisions to lead their organizations."

Key Findings in the Report
In addition to the projected gains in home prices, the report discusses in detail the dynamics at work in the U.S. Housing market and the impacts across industries. What follows are highlights from the report:

• The recovery will be led by demand from buyers for rental properties, rather than, as in previous cycles, demand from buyers acquiring new or existing properties for themselves. More than 50 percent of those planning to move in the next two years say they intend to rent.
• Young people—who were particularly hard hit by the recession—and immigrants will lead the demand for rental properties. Developers and investors will fulfill it, developers by building multifamily homes for rent (that is, buildings containing two or more units, such as apartment blocks or townhouses), and investors by buying foreclosed single-family properties for the same purpose.
• Rental demand will help to clear the huge oversupply of existing homes for sale. In 2011, some 14 percent of all housing units were vacant, while almost 13 percent of mortgages were in foreclosure or delinquent—increases of 12 and 129 percent respectively over 2005 levels. It will take two to three years for this oversupply to be cleared, and at that point home ownership rates will rise and return to historical levels.
• The housing market recovery will not be uniform across the country. Some states will see annual price gains of 5 percent or more. Others will not recover for many years. The deciding factors will include the level of foreclosed inventory and rates of unemployment.
• There will also be vast differences within states. Here, additional factors count, such as whether local amenities, including access to public transport, are within walking distance of homes. By examining seven factors that influence house prices at a local level, the report identifies four categories of cities and towns in which prices will behave differently.
• The average size of the American home will shrink. Many baby boomers who delayed retirement for financial reasons during the recession will downsize. They will not be alone. The majority of Americans have seen little or no wage increase for several years, and many will scale back their housing aspirations. The size of an average new home is expected to continue to fall, reaching mid-1990s levels by 2015.
• Consumer industries including financial services, home furnishings, home remodeling will all experience shifts in demand and new growth opportunities. Part of this spending is linked to increases in wealth from improving home valuations, while an even bigger part is tied to the "transaction" of buying or selling the home which sets in motion increased demand for a wide range of products and services.
• Despite the number of Americans who have been hurt financially by the housing crash, the desire to own a home remains strong. We do not expect to see a long-term drop in ownership rates. Indeed, one survey has revealed that more than 80 percent of Americans recently thought buying a home remained the best long-term investment they could make.

The new report, The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand, can be downloaded at The Demand Institute's website: www.demandinstitute.org.                                                             

Understanding Home Inspections

            There’s no denying that purchasing a home is one of the biggest thrills of your life, but it can also quickly become overwhelming. While the home you choose may appear to be the perfect house, hiding underneath the dream could be serious unknown defects that can make your investment a costly one.

            Enter the home inspector. A home inspector performs a physical inspection of the structure and systems of your prospective home. This means that while you may love the beauty of the living room’s wood floors, your inspector can tell if the floor will truly last. 

            The home inspection is an objective visual examination of the physical structure and systems of a home, from roof to foundation. The inspection will determine not only the condition of the home, but also help foresee any immediate unnecessary additional cost that may go unnoticed by the untrained eye.

            Home inspections start at around $200 depending on the size of the home, its age and overall condition. It’s money well spent if you’re serious about that particular property.

            According to the American Society of Home Inspectors, the standard home inspector’s report will cover the condition of the home’s heating system; central air conditioning system (temperature permitting); interior plumbing and electrical systems; the roof, attic and visible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors; the foundation, basement and structural components.

            John Prohaska, owner of J&P Inspections in Des Moines, Iowa, compares a home inspection to getting a physical from your doctor.

            “When problems or symptoms of problems are found, the inspector may recommend further evaluation or remedies,” he said. “A home inspection summarizes the condition of a property, points out the need for major repairs and identifies areas that may need attention in the near future.”

            The inspection will show the positive and negative aspects of a home, as well as the maintenance that will be necessary to keep it in good shape. After an inspection, both parties have a much clearer understanding of the value and needs of the property.

            Knowing about an issue before closing gives you the upper-hand at the negotiating table. A home in good working order may have been worth $350,000, but if $20,000 of work needs to be done to replace rotted wood or bad plumbing, the price should drop.

            Before any sale is complete, you will need an inspection to look over the good, the bad and the ugly of what your new home really offers.

            Remember, even if a house needs repairs or has hidden problems, it shouldn’t always be the catalyst for getting out of a sale. No house is perfect and as long as you know ahead of time what needs to be done and can possibly change the purchase price based on the information, the home inspection will give you a great starter list of what needs to be done to really make moving in that much easier.