Greenville SC Real Estate - Upstate South Carolina Homes

This article will cover four ways you as a buyer can save money. Read on!

1. Know your credit history and score. The higher your credit score the better your loan will be. You want to take care of any negative items on your credit report a few months prior to purchasing so those items will be cleared by the time you purchase. On a 30 year fixed mortgage the difference between a 6% and 6.5% on a $300,000 dollar loan is almost 100 dollars per month. This means you could be paying almost 36,000 dollars more interest over the life of your loan. Simple steps like not doing minor credit repairs can and will cost you big over the life of your loan.
2. You need to calculate in what your taxes and insurance will cost as well as your mortgage payment. Many people hear a number from there mortgage broker and are caught off guard when they find out their monthly payment is actually $100 dollars or more higher then quoted. This is because mortgage brokers typically quote you a principal and interest payment. Make sure you ask your lender to include taxes and insurance in all quotes, even if they have to estimate. This will get you a better estimate on your true monthly payments.
3. You can negotiate a better interest rate. You need to shop around with multiple lenders in your area. You should treat finding a lender like you do finding a car. While many of the dealerships have similar cars for similar prices you want to find the best car for the best price. Lenders have similar loans for similar prices and you want to find the best loan for the best price. Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower interest rate.
4. Have your lender prepare a good faith estimate for you. You should look over that form for hidden fees. Mortgage brokers are required to disclose every fee they charge you and it is illegal for them to add fees at or just before closing. You should go over your good faith estimate with a fine tooth combo looking for junk fees. Every fee on that form is negotiable!

This article was contributed by Southern Utah Real Estate and Cedar City Real Estate Agent.

Real estate values are influenced by market cycles. The four main factors that influence value are the physical properties of an area, the economic outlook of an area, and the political and social atmosphere of the area.

The physical properties of the Greenville area including its location, climate, and topography, are very attractive to people who are looking to move to our area from out of town. For example, we have mountains and beautiful lakes within an hour’s drive, yet we’re not totally secluded and have good infrastructure. My prediction is that our resort style attraction will increase throughout the year.

The Greenville area economy is extremely robust at the moment, and growth prospects look pretty good. We are quickly establishing ourselves as an outpost for the automotive industry, and Greenville has long been famous for having a high ratio of engineers per capita. I’ll talk more about that in a future post.

From a political standpoint, the upstate is very attractive to businesses looking to migrate to this area. Our governments are quiet business friendly and there are many tax incentives to those businesses that can qualify. With all of the new businesses coming into the area, the economy is being influence in a positive way with high job growth and low unemployment.

Finally, on the social standpoint, Greenville is doing a good job of attracting all different types of demographics, including a young pen, highly educated workforce.

I will elaborate more throughout the year on all of these aspects, but wanted to go ahead and build a base and general reference guide to the four main components of what drive market cycles in the real estate industry.

By Nu Home Source Realty - Fort Worth Tx Real Estate

If you are searching for a home there are many ways that you can get started. The more that you know about this process the better off you will actually be when it comes to finding your dream home. This is not to say that you are guaranteed of anything, but at the very least you should be able to get some ideas as to what is available. When searching for a home you will most definitely want to use the internet to your advantage. Many years ago this may not have been possible, but in today’s day and age the internet has a lot to offer.

The best thing about searching for a home online is that you never have to leave your home. Why would you want to drive around searching for a home that you do not even know exists? Instead, you could be searching for a home online and finding property after property. Sure, you will still have to go out and see a home in person once you find one that you like, but by starting your search online you will be able to cut out a lot of stress and wasted time.

Another reason for searching for a home online is that you will lower your chances of missing out on something that really suits your needs. So many people make the mistake of searching for a home by driving around, and in turn they miss out on properties that they would really like. This is not to say that your only option is the internet, but you should at least use it to supplement your other methods. The fact of the matter is that by searching for a home online you will lower your chances of making a mistake. And when buying a home this is something that you will most definitely want to do.

Overall, using the internet to find a home is a great idea. This will give you the ability to find several properties that suit your needs without having to leave your computer. Searching for a home has never been easier. Why not use the internet to your advantage? The bottom line is that this method cannot hurt you, it can only help!

Thanks for the article, Mike!

Do you wish you were born in a different state (or maybe country)? Maybe you live in Washington and dream of a sunny, warmer state like Arizona or Florida.

California seems to be a state that people either love or hate. Seems like there’s very little “in-between” with it. People flock to it and some residents can’t wait to leave.

Many people don’t realize that as real estate agents we have an almost worldwide ability to make connections for you if you’re planning to relocate. Your move might be to a popular retirement state or for those lucky enough to be able to afford it, a second home in a desired state to visit during fair weather.

Whatever your plans are to move out of South Carolina (even if you’re staying in the state and moving hours away), call me first so I can find a great agent to refer you to. Agents take referral business seriously.

So spring has finally set in - at least for a while. It’s nice showing houses in shorts! For those of you reading from out of town, Greenville has been in the 80s this week. It should dip back to more seasonable 50s-60s this weekend in Greenville but we’ve had a banner week so far. I’ve used the warm weather to my advantage - trying to spend more time outdoors.If anyone needs to schedule showings, please let me know ASAP as things are quickly getting booked up with spring in full force.

I’m a numbers guy, so I found these interesting.  These are national numbers - Greenville would be less expensive for most of the options listed.  Note NONE of these upgrades, on average, will net you a positive return on investment!
Here are some upgrades you can do and the return you get when you go to sell your home:

• New Roof: $11k / 85% Return on Investment.
• Pool: $40k / 0%
• May be negative value due to insurance and hassle.
• Home Office: $13k / 73%
• Sunroom: $31k/ 75%
• Extra Bed/Bath: $73k / 82%
• New Siding: $7k / 95%
• Windows: $10k / 90%
• Bathroom: $23k / 86%
• Finished Basement: $51k / 91%
• Attic Bedroom: $40k / 94%
• New Deck: $11k / 90%

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