Pla d'Adet, The Cliffs at Mt. Park, the new Walmart on the Eastside, Heritage Park in Simpsonville, St. Francis, GHS, the International Center for Automotive Research, DOM, Current Inventory....well, you get the picture. The matrix of variables involved in making an intelligent home buying decision is complicated and can be risky. Leveraging market conditions into real dollars and savings requires superior knowledge, successful experience, and a failsafe system designed to protect your best interest! Do your research, find a professional committed to you, and attack the market with passion! 

Favorable market conditions can make provide a great opportunity to generate instant equity in your new home, but knowing how to take advantage of favorable market conditions requires expert knowledge of the market, superb negotiating skills, and the ability to walk away from the deal if the seller is not motivated. Everything I say and do is designed to position you, the client  to purchase the right home, at the right price, on the right terms. Leveraging favorable market conditions requires a strategic methodology designed to compel the seller, and/or their agent to compete for your business. Never forget, the buyer pays everybody. It's your money that's distributed to all parties at closing and you deserve the same advocacy as the seller.

My objective is always the same. Purchase the property for the least amount the seller will accept. But there is a bigger question than what will the seller accept? The question is, what is the fair market value of the property. Don't rely on the listing agent to value the property. They probably didn't even measure it. Perform your own Right Price Analysis before you make an offer, not after you sign a contract. Call me on the cell phone for more information about how to perform a right price analysis before you make an offer. Best regards, Keith Clark, The Buyer's Broker of Greenville 

I hope everyone is off to a great start in the New Year! The market shifted significantly to the buy side of the transaction during 2007 for the first time in a number of years. The number of active listings was at historic highs during much of the year, hovering around 6600 listings. My predictions for 2007 were very close to the actual numbers. The total number of transactions was down 3.3% to 10,058. The average price  of a home in 2007 was up 4 per cent to $186,164, and the median price was up 1.7% to $151,500.
Now my predictions for 2008. The overall theme will be more of the same, with increased inventory and motivated sellers.  Don’t get me wrong, the market is active, and if you are selling at the median price, and your home is priced aggressively, and in good condition, you can still expect to sell below the average number of days on the market.  But in general, be prepared for a second year of slower than normal activity and appreciation. I’m predicting the number of transactions will be down again in 2008 by 1-3% and the median and average prices will remain about the same as 2007. The Upstate economy continues to show strength in the face of a national slow- down, and the big boys (you know who you are) are poised for another very good year. But, as our real estate  market expands demographically and  geographically, the purchaser has more options and more choices. More options and more choices keeps pricing pressure on existing homes.
The upper end of the market did extremely well during the real estate run-up from 2000 to 2005, but there is a large amount of inventory at the top end of the market right now. In addition to increased inventory, there are a number of high end  subdivisions coming on line this year that were in the early stages of development last year. This new high end inventory will be more difficult to sell and the custom builders should be willing to negotiate more than is typical for our market. The inventory at the median price was managed well by the production builders during 2007, so I don’t expect the incentives at the median price to be quite as attractive as they were last year.
Consistent increases in the median price and number of transactions have been characteristic of our market for more than 16 years. Corporate expansion and the associated hiring and relocation of employees have been the most important factors in that pattern. The recent  demographic phenomenon of new residents relocating to our market for a “new lifestyle “ slowed some from 2006 but this is only a temporary reprieve. They will be back, and I think they will be coming to our market in large numbers from all over the country. It will not be your Mom’s Greenville in the future.
The Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown has changed the landscape for obtaining a home mortgage. Rates continue to be at historic lows for A borrowers, but 100% financing with an average credit score is no longer available. I think Chris Roberts at First Palmetto Mortgage describes it best when he says, “The new stated program is called full documentation”. The mortgage market continues to change daily so there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the future. Greenville has the lowest rate of foreclosure among the top 100 markets in the nation so we don’t expect foreclosure inventory to have a significant impact on our local market.
As always, I thank you for the confidence you place in me each time you refer a colleague, friend, or family member to me. Our family wishes your family a wonderful 2008. Mary, Bennett, and Keith

The number of transactions (homes sold) held steady all year until September when we saw a significant drop compared to September 2006. October numbers came in at a 16.8% decrease from October 2006, but that number may shrink a little when the final numbers are calculated. It’s too early to tell if this trend will continue, but I would not be surprised if we see the reduced activity continue at current levels until March of 2008. Current inventory is at 6600+ homes which is up approximately 20% from the same time last year. Some of the increase in inventory is a result of our expanding market, as the Jonesville Road corridor and Woodruff Road corridor continue to expand. Production Builders and Custom Builders both have worked hard to reduced their inventory levels to match the current demand and at the same time retain enough inventory to have a selection for the home buyer that wants to close in 30 to 60 days. Existing home inventory is above normal and it continues to be a strong buyer’s market. If you manage your transaction properly you can make a good buy on both existing homes and local builder speculative homes. Incentives have been good through most of the year and will probably remain good through the winter months as builders try to motivate buyers that are sitting on the fence. We (my client & I) received our largest incentives of the year from a regional production builder during an October contract and closing. We also made a very good buy on a high end speculative home by a local builder that was 95% complete. The incentives combined with our savvy negotiating made both transactions excellent buys. It may be the best time in a number of years to build a custom home, if there is such a thing as a good time to build a custom home. Several of our high end custom builders are watching their inventory closely and quoting their projects aggressively. Building a custom home is a complex project and doing it successfully requires careful planning and well defined goals and objectives. I may write an article on this subject and publish it on the web site or blog over the winter months, so stay tuned.  The key to making a high quality purchase is having well defined goals and objectives, obtaining all the information necessary to develop a powerful negotiating strategy, and being able to walk away from the deal if the numbers aren’t attractive. Happy Thanksgiving, Keith

Chris came into my office yesterday and asked me if I wanted to talk about AdvancedHomeBuying.com on the radio show Saturday and I said "that would be great",.... well what that means is this site is offically launched effective 09/29/07. I will try to post a short meaningful entry to this blog every few days as a market update or home buying tip related to a current scenario with a client. As always, have a great day and don't leave any money on the table. Keith