Frontdoor.com reported on 5 of the best beach areas to live in and South Carolina's Myrtle Beach was one of them....

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is the cornerstone of the famed Grand Strand -- the 60-mile stretch of uninterrupted beaches in South Carolina. The area's scenic beaches and lively community attract about 15 million visitors each year, but it's the more than 31,000 residents who get the best of both worlds.

"While a lot of people have to set a vacation time to come visit, I can have a vacation much more frequently just by living here," says Kimberly Miles who has lived in Myrtle Beach for six years. "It's great to take part in all of the amenities offered here."

Getting around: A native of Washington, D.C., Miles is accustomed to navigating congested roadways, which comes in handy during the summer months when the area is hit with heavy traffic. The peak season -- the months of June, July and August -- is when traffic is worst, but Miles said it's nothing compared to other major cities.

But if you don't want the hassle of navigating traffic, there are alternatives. Miles says the Coast RTA -- Myrtle Beach's public bus system -- taxi cabs and bicycles are convenient options for those who'd prefer not to drive.

Owning a home: Compared to many other beach towns, owning a home in Myrtle Beach is very affordable, said Miles, who closed on her first home at the end of February. The average cost of a 2,400-square-foot house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms is around $237,000. read more..

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. 
 

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).

read more

A member of the ViewThisHome.com team, Ken Earnhardt, has written yet another brilliant blog with hyperlinks to some of the hottest websites in real estate.  If you have a website that you would like for him to integrate into his blog, email ken@viewthishome.com.  Enjoy!

My home office is on the second floor and has a window that overlooks the street.  34 Rahn Road is an unsuspecting street tucked in amongst an older established community.  While working last week I glanced out of my window and was surprised to see our local news truck.  My interest was piqued as the cameraman unloaded his equipment and pointed his camera directly at my house.  I decided to see what was going on.  The cameraman told me that they were doing a story on real estate in the Low country and since my home was for sale, they simply wanted a shot of the house with the For Sale sign in the front yard.  I continued to talk to the cameraman about how many showings we had had on our property (a whopping total of 8 showings in less than 3 weeks!).  Before I knew it, ABC News Channel 4 had set up shop in my living room and the reporter was interviewing me.  Not only was my house on the news, I even got a plug in for View This Home!  Sometimes it pays to be a little nosey!

To see the video on the news, click on the link below:

http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0209/594107.html

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