Contact Pricing How To

Learn about the Palmetto Hero home purchasing program

Agent Jean-Marie O'Connell of Ashley Cooper Real Estate offers her insight:

It’s a beautiful day to buy a house! With interest rates at historic lows and grant money for down payment assistance, it’s the perfect time to buy!
SC State Housing has $5000 to $7000 in grant money available for down payment assistance.
Low 30 year fixed rate of 5.25%.
 

$5000 forgivable grant  to use for the down payment on your home available to first time buyers, single parents, disabled parties and new construction projects.
 

$7000 forgivable grant to use for the down payment on your home available to 2010 Palmetto Hero’s. To qualify for the Palmetto Hero program you must be a teacher, police officer, correctional officer,firefighter* or EMS* employee (*Firefighters and EMS can be volunteers).
 

Also, HUD offers a $100 down payment program on government owned properties.
Please call Jean-Marie at 843-478-6333 to see if you qualify for any of these programs.
 

Now is the time to buy in the Charleston, SC real estate market!

Interest rates have not been this low since 1960! What a great time to take advantage of low home
prices and low interest rates. If you are considering a second home purchase in the Charleston area,
now is the time. The forecast for the Greater Charleston area is quite positive, many companies are
moving their headquarters to the Charleston area. The colleges are expanding their campuses and
enrollment. The Medical University of S.C. has many research programs and provides the community
with excellent health care. Not to mention, our wonderful natural recreational resources. Charleston
is a mecca of art, food, beauty, history, and southern charm!

Read  "5 Reasons to Buy a Home Today" by Steve Harney -  read more....

Home buyers are spending more time doing this than any other time since 2001. What is it?

The process of finding a home in Mt. Pleasant, SC or Charleston, SC can be daunting and time consuming. I came across a survey done by Realtor.org and discovered that home buyers across America take a lot of time in deciding which home to buy. Here is the poll question...

The typical home buyer searched how long before purchasing a home? 

 
Correct Answer: 12 weeks
On average, a home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 12 homes before purchasing, according to NAR research.
That's the longest average time that buyers have spent looking for a home since the survey started tracking it in 2001.
Buyers searched, on average, two weeks on their own before contacting an agent. 
 

Do you know what buyers and sellers really want?

In a recent survey the National Association of Realtors published some interesting facts about todays buyers and sellers. According to an article published in the Realtor.org site....

1. What service did sellers most often say they want from their real estate agent?

 
 Pricing the home competitively
Of the sellers surveyed, 22 percent said they wanted help pricing their home competitively so it would sell. Other popular responses included help finding a buyer for the home (21 percent), marketing the home to potential buyers (19 percent), and selling the home within a specific timeframe (19 percent).


 
2. What service do buyers most often say they want from a real estate agent?

 
 Finding the right home to purchase
Nearly 50 percent of buyers most frequently reported that they want an agent to help them find the right home to purchase, followed by assisting them with negotiating the terms of the sale (16 percent) and price negotiations (13 percent). The least-frequent response was help in finding or arranging financing to purchase a home (2 percent).

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