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Grand Strand Real Estate News
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April 2021
Volume 2021 Issue 4
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If you would like to receive this monthly newsletter CLICK HERE
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Dear Gene Carter Team,
Summary
Our local market continues to heat up. The sales pace has actually slowed down a little bit because there are fewer choices to buy. Since October, the numbers of active listings for oceanfront condos and non-oceanfront condos have dropped 50% and 61% respectively (See graph below).
If you have any intention of selling in the near future, now would be a great time to list. There’s a chance that prices will go higher but trying to time a sale at the peak is risky. The only way to recognize the peak is from the other side.
Also, if you are planning to upgrade to a bigger and better property, either in our area or elsewhere, the price for your replacement property could be going up even faster than the value of your property. You could hold out for a higher price for the property you want to sell and the gap could still grow.
For you buyers out there, Grand Strand prices are still amazingly low compared to prices in just about every oceanside resort area in the country. Move quickly and decisively when you find something you want. Your choice of real estate agent has never been more important.
Anyone interested in real estate has a “go-to” website they use. Whether you already own or are just thinking about purchasing in our area, Beachproteam.com should be your “go-to” website for oceanfront and resort condos. For these types of properties, Beachproteam.com is far superior to all the others - including the big national websites (Z...com and R….com).
Here are some reasons you should give it a chance, if you haven’t already. It might be useful to toggle back and forth between this newsletter and the website to follow along.
If you’ve been using any other real estate website, here’s a comparison. See explanations below.
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Z...com and R...com (as well as most agent and company sites) -
There is no way to search directly for condo listings in a particular complex because these websites are based on street addresses and do not work very well with condos.
Beachproteam.com - Over 90 of the largest and most “Popular Grand Strand Condo Developments” are listed on the home page (sorted by geographic areas and master-planned communities). You can also find almost any condo development on the Grand Strand by clicking on the blue search button at the top of the home page (‘Oceanfront and Resort Properties) and typing in the name of the complex of interest on the page you will be taken to (Give it a few seconds). Once you are on the page for the development of your choice, click on the Green Tab at the top of the page for Current Listings to see all current active and pending listings.
Z...com, R..com, etc. - They provide no general information or history on a resort other than what can be pieced together by reading through the individual listings (the ones you can find).
Beachproteam.com - For any of the 90+ large developments, the resort page will open to an overview which will provide you with a brief history and description of the resort along with a list of amenities.
Z...com, R...com, etc. - They provide no info on floor plans or resort configurations. Most sizable developments have multiple floor plans (even with the same number of bedrooms).
Beachproteam.com - At the top of each resort page use the Green Tab to see Floor Plans (along with site plans and numbering grids - info that is almost impossible to find on other websites). There also are tabs for More Pictures, Inquiry and Mapping the property.
See below for an example of why this detailed info is so valuable - complete with screenshots of a typical site plan, numbering grid and different 3BR/3BA floor plans in the same building. This detailed info enables you to accurately compare one listing to another. This is why appraisers frequently utilize our site.
Z...com, R...com, etc. - They offer search features using several criteria including number of bedrooms, price range, location, etc. They also offer map searching.
Beachproteam.com - We offer better versions of the same search features. Our Advanced Search and Map Search, both located at the top of the home page, are more accurate and allow far more specialized searches than either Z...com or R....Com.
Z...com, R...com, etc. - They provide no info on local lenders, no newsletters for local developments, no sales histories for resorts.
Beachproteam.com - We offer our local lender list (which is updated frequently and includes condotel and conventional lenders). We offer 50 versions of our newsletter (like the one you are reading). We offer closed sales histories for over 190 developments
since 2009.
The many more tools and special features on Beachproteam.com have been carefully designed to be simple and easy to use from any device, from desktops to cell phones.
Beachproteam.com generates inquiries from potential buyers and sellers every day. The website’s growing popularity benefits our seller clients by supplying potential buyers for their listings.
Check out all our usual Grand Strand Market Reports, Sales and Listing Updates, my Best Buys, and new Beach Pro Team reviews.
Greetings from the Grand Strand!
Our hot market has been the focus of my most recent newsletters so I’m not going to devote all my attention to it this month. For the best way to keep up with our red-hot condo market, please read the section below on our amazing website (Beachproteam.com)!
The sales pace has actually slowed down a little bit but it’s not because of lack of buyer demand. There are just far fewer choices to buy. The available inventories in large segments of the market are extremely low. Listings for just about any condos which are eligible for conventional financing, on or off the beach, are few and far between. We’re definitely seeing some prices which are higher than we’ve seen in a number of years.
By the way, condotel sales have picked up dramatically too. We are still seeing the same pattern – most of the interest is in the larger condos. However, the one bedrooms and efficiencies are selling faster as well.
If you have any intention of selling in the near future, now would be a great time to list. Of course there’s a chance that prices will go higher but I can’t tell you how many owners I’ve spoken with through the years who regret not selling back in 2005 at the top of our most recent really hot market because they wanted to wait until the prices peaked. Unfortunately, the only way to recognize the peak is from the other side. Many of these owners are still kicking themselves.
Also, if you are planning to upgrade to a bigger and better property, either in our area or elsewhere, the price for your replacement property could be going up even faster than the value of your property. You could hold out for a higher price for the property you want to sell and the gap could still grow. You’d win the battle and lose the war.
By the way, for you buyers out there, Grand Strand prices are still amazingly low compared to prices in just about every oceanside resort area in the country. We’ve been long overdue for some solid appreciation. And of course, the low interest rates make it even more affordable to own. You will just need to move quickly and decisively when you find something you want. Your choice of real estate agent has never been more important.
Below is a chart showing the number of available listings for oceanfront condos and non-oceanfront condos since October 2020. There are some missing data points because this is not a statistic that I’ve recorded on a regular basis but I usually jot down the number of total active listings whenever I’m doing my Best Buys. Keep in mind that we’ve had between 1000 and 1200 oceanfront condo listings every month for about 10 years - until now.
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As you can see, since October, the numbers of active listings for oceanfront condos and non-oceanfront condos have dropped 50% and 61% respectively. This is about in line with what we are seeing in our local single family home market as well as oceanfront houses.
Okay, I’m going to move on to a new subject - my team’s website (beachproteam.com). Anyone interested in real estate has a “go-to” website they use. Whether you already own or are just thinking about purchasing in our area, ours should be your “go-to” website for oceanfront and resort condos. When we started building this new website back in 2018, we wanted to focus on resort and oceanfront condos and to make it better than all the others - including the big national websites (Z...com and R….com). We also wanted to make it useful and interesting for owners and potential buyers alike. I think we succeeded. If you haven’t visited the site, please follow along below. Even if you have visited, you might learn something new. By the way, it will always be a work in progress with frequent improvements. For instance, we plan to add a great deal more tools and information on new homes and luxury neighborhoods in the near future.
Here’s a recent comment from a local appraisal team. “Thank you for your excellent condo website. We use it all the time for our condo appraisals.” That’s high praise when an appraiser says your website is the best!
For oceanfront and resort condos, Beachproteam.com provides more information than any other site you will find. Below are some reasons to give it a chance if you haven’t already. It might be useful to toggle back and forth between this newsletter and the website to follow along (or use a split screen).
If you’ve been using any other real estate website, here’s a comparison. See explanations below.
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Z...com and R...com (as well as most agent and company sites) -
There is no way to search directly for condo listings in a particular complex - you have to use a keyword search or map search and neither method was accurate for condos when I tried. The searches on these websites are based on street addresses and do not work very well with condos in which all of the units in a building have the same street address.
Beachproteam.com - Over 90 of the largest and most “Popular Grand Strand Condo Developments” are listed on the home page (conveniently sorted by geographic areas and master planned communities). Note that on the cell phone version, you can toggle between the Myrtle Beach list and the North Myrtle Beach list. You can also find almost any condo development on the Grand Strand by clicking on the blue search button at the top of the home page (‘Oceanfront and Resort Properties) and typing in the name of the complex of interest on the page you will be taken to (Give it a few seconds). Here’s a partial screenshot of the home page.
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Once you click on the development of your choice, you’ll be taken to that particular resort’s page. Once there, click on the Green Tab at the top of the page for Current Listings to see all current active and pending listings. (By the way, because of the inventory shortage, there are many resorts with no current listings so it doesn’t mean the website is not working if no listings are reported for many developments).
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Z...com, R..com, etc. - They provide no general information or history on a resort other than what can be pieced together by reading through the individual listings (the ones you can find).
Beachproteam.com - For any of the 90+ large developments, the resort page will open to an overview which will provide you with a brief history and description of the resort along with a list of amenities. Here’s a screenshot of part of Anderson Ocean Club’s page. Note the Green Tabs at the top.
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Z...com, R...com, etc. - They provide no info on floor plans or resort configurations. This is important because most sizable developments have multiple floor plans (even with the same number of bedrooms), often with very different types of views depending on the relative locations within the buildings.
Beachproteam.com - At the top of each resort page use the Green Tab to see Floor Plans (along with site plans and numbering grids - info that is almost impossible to find on other websites). As previously mentioned, in properties with multiple floor plans and widely varying building locations, this is valuable information. By the way, there also are tabs for More Pictures, Inquiry and Mapping the property.
Here is an example of why this detailed info is so valuable. Below are screenshots of the site plan, numbering grid, and two of the 3BR floor plans for Crescent Keyes. On the numbering grid, you can see that there are three different 3BR floor plans and two different 2BR floor plans (only one of which is direct oceanfront). The floor plans below are for two different 3BR/3BA layouts. One is larger with a different balcony arrangement, extra windows, etc. Without this detailed info, you wouldn’t be able to accurately compare one listing to another. This is why the appraisal team said they used our site all the time.
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Z...com, R...com, etc. - They offer search features using several criteria including number of bedrooms, price range, location, etc. They also offer map searching (draw a circle around the area of interest to see listings).
Beachproteam.com - We offer better versions of the same search features. Our Advanced Search and Map Search, both located at the top of the home page, are more accurate and allow far more specialized searches than either Z...com or R....Com. (Tip - For the map search, be sure the filter is properly set for the type of property you are looking for - Condo, single family home, etc.).
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Z...com, R...com, etc. - They provide no info on local lenders, no newsletters for local developments, no sales histories for resorts.
Beachproteam.com - We offer our local lender list (which is updated frequently and includes condotel and conventional lenders). We offer 50 versions of our newsletter (like the one you are reading). We offer closed sales histories for over 190 developments since 2009.
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There are many more tools and special features on Beachproteam.com and every one was carefully designed to be simple and easy to use from any device, from desktops to cell phones.
In addition to being a great source of information, Beachproteam.com generates inquiries from potential buyers and sellers every day. Each one of the resort pages, floor plans, and site plans is individually searchable through Google and other search engines. In particular, the website’s growing popularity benefits our seller clients by supplying potential buyers for their listings.
By the way, if you ever run into a problem, please notify us and we will get it corrected as quickly as possible. Also, please let us know if you have suggestions for improving the site.
That’s it for now. Check out all our usual Grand Strand Market Reports, Sales and Listing Updates, my Best Buys, and new Beach Pro Team reviews.
See you at the beach!
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Here are some new reviews published in Zillow.
- The entire Team Teressa works with was great. I was moving here from out of state and going to purchase a condo. I worked with a few others during my search, when I found a reference to Teressa's team I reached out. From that point on the entire process was exceptional. She provided me with a lot of local knowledge of the area over the phone. She took our requirements and provided me with a number of listings that fit the bill, for my review prior to getting here. Selected a number of properties to look at, and she was able to give me the pros and cons of each unit. We came to town with the list, revised the list and came up with a property in less than a week. The web site that we had access to provided by Teressa was a great resource and allowed us to key in on exactly what we needed. We closed on our condo and are very happy with the entire dealing. I would consider using her and her team in future dealings. She arranged the showing in an efficient way so that we could see a number of places and a day and not be overwhelmed. We were never disappointed in the properties and they all fit our needs. Would work with her and her team in a heartbeat. Fantastic group. Joe. Maisons Sur Mer. Myrtle Beach.
- Gene's experience, enthusiasm, work ethic, and steady hand were much valued as we sold our second home in North Myrtle Beach. House sold in 5 days at pretty close to asking price. Highly recommend Gene and his team. Mark. North Beach Plantation. North Myrtle Beach
We have chosen to utilize Zillow's review platform. This is not an endorsement of Zillow (Please ignore the ridiculous "Zestimates") but we think an online third-party review service provides more credibility than simply printing reviews ourselves. At this time, we have over 100 reviews with more coming in each month. To see all of the reviews at any time, you can visit Zillow Beach Pro Team reviews.
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Grand Strand Market Report
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Below is a link to a detailed report on the current state of our local real estate market complete with statistics for just about anything imaginable. Please keep in mind that these statistics cover a broad range of properties and that particular areas or developments may behave quite differently.
As always please contact me if I can be of service in any way.
See link below to interpret terms used in this report.
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Grand Strand Market Report -
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