Posts About Real Estate

Renovating a home to sell for profit relies on making profitable decisions. While most resident-inspired home renovations only recoup a percentage of the project investment, pre-sale renovations focus on turning a modest renovation budget into a net profit. This often involves resurfacing, rebuilding, and in some cases redesigning old homes that have fallen out of desirability over the years. Your role involves updating your home and deciding on those finishing touches that will bring in eager and high-bidding buyers. Part of this process is knowing which projects are not profitable. Today, we're here to helpfully spotlight the top eight home renovations that have proven themselves to be poor investments for improving home sales. We'll …

8 Home Renovation Projects that Aren’t Worth the InvestmentRead More

Having a Buyer's Agent or Visit Opens Houses Alone? There is something magical about stepping through an open house and imagining your future life in a new-home candidate. Smelling the freshly polished floor and freshly painted walls brings a feeling of 'newness' that is hard to rival. It's a romantic part of house-hunting for a new home that many buyers look forward to and enjoy immensely.  However, the question many home buyers find themselves asking is whether open-houses are sufficient or if the help of a buyer's agent is worth the partnership. What is the difference between touring open houses and working with a hand-picked home inventory from your buyer's agent? The fact is that a buyer's real estate agent does a lot more than …

Having a Buyer’s Agent vs. Visiting Open Houses: What’s the Difference?Read More

Do You Need a Buyer's Agent In the days of the internet, the value of real estate agents is often questioned. Many people don't get an agent if they are buying; this is particularly an issue for first time home buyers. However, the vast majority of people should get a buyer's agent. An agent cannot ethically represent both the buyer and the seller in a transaction (although it's legal in some states and many do), and there are many ways in which a buyer's agent can help you. There are also some things they can't do. Here's a quick guide to what agents can do for you. Help You Find the Right Property With the internet, it's theoretically possible to find your ideal home on your own, spending hours poring over real estate listings and …

What a Buyer’s Agent Can and Can’t Do During NegotiationsRead More

A home purchase is a big investment. In fact, it's one of the largest investments you'll ever make. If you are looking to buy a home, the first item on your agenda is to find the right agent to help you. You don't want to work with just any agent. You want to hire an agent that has excellent knowledge of the area in which you are looking to buy a home. You don't want to use a Greenville real estate agent if you're shopping in Anderson. Your agent should know the different styles of homes in the area, and which ones will best serve your needs and affordability. Your agent should also know the market and prices in the area. Finally, it's in your best interest to hire an exclusive buyer's agent to represent you. Exclusive Buyer's …

The Advantages of Working With a Buyer’s AgentRead More

Buying a New Home and Selling the Old One: Which Comes First & How to Do It   Most homeowners don't stop at buying their first home. You may be looking to upgrade from your starter home. Or you may be relocating for a new job, needing to sell your currently owned home to make the move. In these situations, homeowners often find themselves both selling their house and looking to buy a new house at the same time. How do you juggle this complicated financial maneuver? There are two ways that we recommend to our clients when they are looking at homes for sale in Greenville who also need to sell their previous home. The first is careful planning and contingency negotiation. The second is a bridge loan that neatly covers the gap. Join …

Buying a New Home and Selling the Old One: Which Comes First & How to Do ItRead More

Sold Property Data Now Available Our IDX Property Search now contains Closed Homes with full sold information! For all of those interested in seeing what homes are selling for in the Greenville area I've just added sold home information to Wessel Real Estate.  This is just another way of providing the best service as your Greenville South Carolina Realtor. Isn't Sold Housing Data Readily Available? Many people think that companies like Zillow have displayed sold property data for a long time.  That is not exactly the case.  For large 3rd party real estate websites to have any access to sold properties, they would rely on getting that data from the local Clerk of Court.  In many instances, that data was not always consistent.  In …

Closed Homes Sold Information in Greenville SC Now AvailableRead More

Help for First Time Home Buyers Hey First Time Home Buyers in Greenville SC!  Do you need help buying your first home?  Would you like an exclusive buyer's agent on your side?  A buyer's agent who has been helping people buy homes in Greenville SC for over 30 years? A realtor who has helped scores of first time home buyers over the years purchase their first home? Yep, you guessed it, that' me! First time home buyers are one of my favorite buyers to work with because the process is so exciting for them and me.  These buyers also have so many questions and are so unfamiliar with the home buying process.  So, let me get you started with the basic process of buying your first home in the Greenville SC area. Determine Your Budget The …

First Time Home Buyers in Greenville SC- Purchase AssistanceRead More

Downtown Greenville Living Good morning folks and a very Happy New Year to you.  I hope yours is starting off well.  I just had a closing at 155 Riverplace Condos in Downtown Greenville SC with a super nice retired couple who had been living out of the country.  There are a lot of reasons why they chose 155 Riverplace Condos and I'd like to share some of them with you. I've been helping buyers purchase condos in 155 Riverplace in downtown Greenville SC for many years.  The reason is mainly because of location.  155 Riverplace is located close to guess where?  That's right Falls Park!  The condos are just a short hop, skip and a jump to the bridge and other attractions!  Now, let's take deeper look at 155 Riverplace. Many Desirable …

155 Riverplace Condos in Downtown Greenville SCRead More

Greenville, South Caroline Market Update Well we are over half way through the year and it's time for my real estate sales update for Greenville SC!  I meant to post this end of June but things have been so busy I let it slip by.  So how's the real estate market in Greenville?  Still on fire!  Yep, the first half of this year was my best and the same for many realtors in Greenville.  Let's take a look at sales year to date through July and make some comparisons with the same time frame for 2017. Sold Home Information A few points: These stats come directly from the Greenville MLS. This is for Greenville County only.  This is for single family homes and townhomes/condos. Sold price $100,000 and up. Average days on …

Real Estate Sales Update for Greenville SC Year to DateRead More

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!  I normally recap the previous years sales but I thought I'd give you my Greenville SC Real Estate forecast for 2018 as my first post of the year.  Hold on to your britches... I recently had a nice fellow from Denver contact me regarding condos in downtown Greenville.  He was interested in buying and I sent him the current inventory.  His comment was that he was afraid at $300 /sq. ft. he would be buying at the top of the market.  Folks, I can't tell you how many years I've been hearing this, well I can... 17. $300 is not even close to the market right now for condos in Greenville that are selling $400+ per sq. ft.  So if you can find something at $250-$300 you might want to jump on it. So where is Real …

Greenville SC Real Estate Forecast for 2018Read More

New Experience for First Time Home Buyers I love working with first time home buyers in Greenville SC.  Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy experienced buyers too but first time home buyers just need that extra special help because buying a home is new to them.  They need help understanding the Greenville real estate market, help knowing where to buy, help writing the offer, help negotiating the offer, help selecting inspectors, attorney and making repair requests. It's very rewarding when we have a successful trip to closing and they get their keys to their very first home!!  I've had a number of very rewarding experiences with first time home buyers this year looking at homes for sale near Greenville SC, but recently I had a closing with …

Happy First Time Home Buyers in Greenville SC!Read More

Great Find in Upstate South Carolina Horse Country Good morning everyone!  Wanted to share a buyer success story in the Anderson area.  I had a very nice couple contact me about 8 or 9 months ago wanting horse property in the Upstate.  They were living and keeping their horses on a rental property in Anderson. They decided it was time to buy and asked me to help them locate a horse property.  There was one in particular in the Campobello area that they really liked so we met there one afternoon and scoped out the property.  Nice property, pretty and well kept home.  But I felt like it was on the high side and did a pricing analysis for them.  We wanted to make an offer but I got the feeling from the listing agent that we were going to …

Buyer Success Story on Horse Property in Anderson SC!Read More

2016 Greenville Home Sale Data Good morning folks and a Very Happy New!  I want to fill you in on year end real estate sales for Greenville SC in 2016.  2016 was my best year since I've been a realtor.  Well let's get to it! Sales figures are for the entire Greenville SC MLS and I'll be comparing 2016 to 2017 for single family residential properties $100,000 and up. Total Sales 2016: 10,779 up 12.2% Average Days on The Market 2016: 61 down 21% Average Sold Price 2016: $231,612 up less than 1% Sales Volume for 2016: $2,496,546,691 up 13.2% So, what does this mean?  The big thing I'd look at is total sales volume for the Greenville MLS.  13.2% is strong and this has been growing for a number of consecutive years.  Average …

Year End Real Estate Sales for Greenville SCRead More

Exclusive Buyer's Agent Well I finally got a day off and remembered I hadn't updated my real estate blog in a while!  Have I been busy?  Are you kidding me?  More and more buyers in the market in Greenville and hey I'm an exclusive buyer's agent and that's what I do. With articles like this one from the Chicago Trib appearing, no wonder I'm busy.  As a matter of fact, I just finished up with a very nice couple who are originally from Chicago.  I find mid-westerners to be so nice.  We toured some great homes for sale in the Greenville area and they are returning home and considering an offer! Successful Buyers I'd like to take a minute to write about some wonderful buyers I've worked with over the past few months and the homes they …

More Great Homes and Homebuyers in Greenville SC!Read More

Hot Condo Market Yep, that's what I said, condos in downtown Greenville South Carolina are on fire...  Why you ask?  Well, everybody wants to be in downtown Greenville and condos are the way to go.  Now I know there are a lot of apartment choices but why go that way if you can afford to buy?  I've currently got 4 condos under contract in the downtown Greenville area.  I thought I'd write a little bit about the different locations.  Enjoy! 220 Riverplace Flats You better hurry, the is the last place to buy directly on the river.  And what a place, I mean man what luxurious downtown condo living.  Folks, everything is top notch here.  I've got one on the fifth floor under contract with a great couple who have been renting downtown for over …

Condo Mania in Downtown Greenville SC!Read More

Many Decisions to Make in the Home Buying Process Good morning!  Hey, I've had a great year so far and a lot of that success has come from helping first time home buyers in the Greenville Market!  I just had a closing yesterday with a young couple getting married in a couple of months.  It's so rewarding to see the transaction through between offer and closing. And hey folks, there is a lot that goes on in that time frame.  Of course we first have to find a home, then decide on our offer price, then there are decisions to be made. Financing Attorney Inspections Then, just understanding how the contract works and how issues should be handled.  First time home buyers need a lot of help and I'm there to help them. Buyer …

First Time Home Buyer’s are Buying in Greenville SC!Read More

Fast Growing Industry So, how many realtors are there in Greenville SC?  Folks, it boggles the mind...My office is in downtown Greenville and I'm just around the corner from the Wyatt Institute of Real Estate... where I studied for my license 15 years ago. What amazes me is every time I go by there the parking lot is full and so is the street. Hey, you know, I get it.  The real estate market is on fire in Greenville South Carolina, but seriously how many realtors can it support?  I wrote a post about this years ago but now it's just out of control.  I'm going to pop over to the Greenville MLS and search the membership.  Ya'll go grab a cup of coffee... Ok, I'm back, drum roll please..... There are 4,659 on the roster!!! Say what! …

How Many Realtors in Greenville SC are There?Read More