CTAR Names Stephanie Davis 2011 REALTOR® of Distinction

28 01 2012

The Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS@ (CTAR) announced this week Stephanie Davis of Carolina One Real Estate will be honored as one of its REALTORS® of Distinction for 2011 at its awards luncheon on February 23.

The REALTORS® of Distinction award recognizes Charleston REALTORS® who have achieved the top 10% in sales production, met additional continuing education requirements, and adhered to CTAR’s strict code of ethics.

Her 2011 sales production puts Davis in the President’s Circle category, which means she closed $5,800,000 – $7,999,999 in volume and/or 20-29 units (sides).

The Post & Courier will publish the full list of 2011 REALTORS® of Distinction in late February.





Thoughts on Christmas

21 12 2011

It’s snowing here at wordpress.com. It’s probably the most snow I’ll see all winter. In South Carolina we rarely see snowflakes, and when we do it almost never sticks to the ground. In the six years I’ve lived here in Charleston we’ve had one snowfall that was measurable. There was a snowman in every yard that morning.

Vickery's

Vickery's

Even without the snow, Christmas is a magical time of year here. It’s warm so people are out and about, enjoying the weather and their time off. These are some of my favorite things about Christmas in Charleston.

James Island County Park offers one of the best light displays in the country, called the Holiday Festival of Lights. They have a 3-mile loop set up with thousands of lights in the form of everything from a candle stick to replicas of the old and new bridge over the Cooper River. Cars line up and crawl bumper-to-bumper through the park to enjoy the lights, the music, the activities, shops, and a visit with Santa.

Speaking of lights, it seems like there are more houses with lights on here than anywhere else I’ve lived. The restaurants and businesses around town hang lights as well. There’s something special about a palm tree and Christmas lights. Last night we enjoyed the lights and palm trees on the deck at Vickery’s on Shem Creek. Read the rest of this entry »





Buyers Say “No” to HOAs

30 07 2011

This was the feedback from an agent who showed one of my listings this week:

Stephanie, we ended up not looking at this home. Buyers don’t want to be in a neighborhood with HOA where they have to pay the fee and are so restricted.

Surprising? Not really. Lately I’m hearing the same thing from the buyers I’m working with.

Whether they’ve had a firsthand negative experience with a neighborhood HOA (Home Owner’s Association) or they’ve heard horror stories at work and from friends, HOAs are fast becoming the least desirable “feature” for today’s home buyers. What once seemed like a good idea to prevent “eye sores” from cropping up in the neighborhood has become a pestering bureaucracy that keeps people from enjoying home ownership. Read the rest of this entry »





Cruising: from Charleston

16 06 2011

My husband and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas last week to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. We haven’t taken very many vacations since we’ve been together and neither of us had ever been on a cruise before so I think it’s safe to say this was a monumental occasion.

We set sail from Charleston aboard the Carnival Fantasy on June 4. After seven days touring islands and relaxing at sea, we returned to the beautiful Charleston harbor. While I was sad to see our trip come to an end, I have to say it was a wonderful feeling to walk through the front door of our home less than 60 minutes after getting off the ship.

How many people can say they live in a city where that’s possible?

To book your next cruise call Grace Wincklhofer at 843-821-6862 or contact her by e-mail: cruisingwithgrace@juno.com.





New Video Series: Home Seller Basics

16 05 2011
New Video Series: Home Seller Basics

New Video Series: Home Seller Basics

There are a handful of questions that come up consistently when I’m counseling home sellers. The process of selling a house can be very overwhelming. Terms like staging, listing, and showing are sort of foreign, the fees can be confusing, and the time line can sometimes seem impossible.

I’ve taken a few of the common questions I get from home sellers and started a new video series, called Home Seller Basics.

This video series will be a great resource for anyone thinking of selling a house. The idea is that one specific question about the home selling process will be answered with each short, one-minute video. Read the rest of this entry »





Where’s the Beef?

27 04 2011

This post was contributed by Andrew Wright, a Carolina One Mortgage loan officer.

Nearly anyone over the age of 30 remembers the little old lady in the Wendy’s commercial trying to purchase a hamburger and wanting to know where the meat was.

Almost everyone this day in age can relate. Today we are constantly left wondering “where’s the service?”

ANY experience with a vendor can be made or broken through the level of customer service provided.

If you’ve been out for a fine meal and felt that you were treated without respect, the food wasn’t good, and what started out as a memorable evening became memorable for the wrong reasons.

Don’t even get me started on going to the mechanic, the doctor, any government office, or dare I say trying to purchase a home or applying for a home loan?!

Excellent customer service can be achieved through the smallest details. There is a fast food restaurant that requires the employees to respond to a “thank you” by saying “my pleasure.” I am so impressed with this one little detail that I’m actually disappointed if I stop in for a meal and I don’t hear it!

We all deserve the best customer service as consumers of goods and services and really should expect nothing less. Excellent customer service is the “meat” in a vendor/patron relationship. So just like the little old lady in the commercial we have the right to ask “Where’s the Beef?”





You’re Not Worth My Gas Money

21 04 2011

Last week a woman called me, desperate for help. We’ll call her Natalie. She had gotten my contact information from her sister, who had gotten it from a friend who is also a friend of mine. (Thank you!) Natalie was in town for one week and needed to find a place for her family to live.

Finding a place to live is very stressful, especially when you’re in a new town and you only have a week to do it. I believe our job as real estate agents is to ease the stress. We do this by providing solutions. When I get a call like this I’m ready to spring into action. Read the rest of this entry »





Get that Fire Hydrant Out of my Front Yard!

17 12 2010

PROBLEM

What would you do if you entered into a contract with a builder to have your dream home built, and then halfway through the building process a fire hydrant showed up in the middle of your front yard?

For starters, let’s hope you have a buyer’s agent on the scene looking out for your best interests and working on your behalf. I’ve got folks moving here from Seattle, living in temporary housing until their home is finished. We’ve had their house under contract since the middle of October. Like most people building a house, they go out to look at the progress of it almost every day.

A few weeks ago they went to the house and, with the land finally free of debris from the construction crews, they noticed for the first time there is a fire hydrant right smack dab in the middle of their front yard. They called me right away to see if it could be moved. Read the rest of this entry »





Rental Market: HOT!

19 08 2010

It’s no secret Americans are struggling right now. Lost jobs, failed marriages, and other life situations are causing more and more people to leave their homes behind or split their homes in two. The result is a bulging rental market.

Whether they can’t qualify for a mortgage or don’t want anything to do with a mortgage, the number of tenants out there is increasing. Read the rest of this entry »





What if the House Doesn’t Appraise?

21 05 2010

When an agreement to buy and sell real estate is made between a buyer and seller, there are usually several contingencies that have to be met before the sale can close. One of those contingencies is that the appraised value of the property is at or above the agreed sales price. Nine times out of ten – or should I say 39 times out of 40 in my case – the appraisal comes in a few dollars more than sales price and everyone is happy. But what if it doesn’t? Read the rest of this entry »








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