Life on the Grand Strand: The MyrtleBeachCondos.Net Blog

Buying a vacation condo can be one of the smartest things you’ll ever do, as well as one of the most stressful. But you can cut or even eliminate the stress by being an educated homebuyer, plus greatly increase your chances of getting a better buy.

First, get to know the Myrtle Beach area you’re interested in, the value of its condos for sale, the schools, transportation considerations and other factors. You’ll also want to make sure you have the necessary money for a down payment and closing costs. Typically down payments can be anywhere from 3% to 20% of the condo for sale’s value depending on the type of mortgage. And if your down payment is less than 20%, you may also be required to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI).

Owning a condo in Myrtle Beach will be a wonderful experience, but you need to do your homework first.

Your closing costs will need to be prepaid and placed in escrow. Closing costs include taxes, title insurance, finance costs, mortgage points and other costs related to the purchase. When you apply for your mortgage, you should receive an estimate of these costs. And you also have the option of asking that the seller pay your closing costs as part of the contract.

Of course, before anything else you need to know how much you have to spend. The general rule when buying a condo in Myrtle Beach or anywhere else along the Grand Strand is that payment shouldn’t be more than 25% of gross monthly income. And your monthly housing expenses and outstanding debts shouldn’t be more than 30-40% of gross income. Obviously you’ll need to know what your expenses will be, including utilities, insurance, condo homeowners’ association fees, maintenance cost as well as a little extra set aside for unexpected emergencies. And know your spending limits! You may prequalify for a higher limit, but make sure it’s not more than you can afford long term.

You’ll want to obtain a credit report from the three main agencies TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian and check to make sure accurate. And you’ll want to hold off on buying big-ticket items before applying for a mortgage, since it can affect whether you’re approved and the amount you’re approved for.

About Abe Safa

Decisions, decisions, decisions. If you’ve decided to invest in one of many great Myrtle Beach condos for sale, you’ll be making a number of decisions as you look to find just the right property to fit yo­­­ur budget and needs. For many, one of the big decisions they’ll be making is whether to invest in oceanfront property, golf course property or other location when buying a condo along the Grand Strand.

Traditionally, oceanfront resort condos for sale bring the highest rental income as well as the best appreciation over time. Put yourself in the place of a vacationer and ask yourself where you would rather stay: oceanfront or golf course? The answer for the overwhelming majority of vacationers is oceanfront. Who wouldn’t want to be able to just step out their door and walk out on some of the greatest beaches on the face of the earth whenever they wanted? There’s fun in the sun and surf during the day and relaxing to gentle sea breezes and the sound of the surf from your private balcony in the evening. With more than 100 great golf courses throughout the Grand Strand, a great round of golf on a great course is never more than a short drive away.

That’s not to say buying a condo on one of the area’s great golf courses isn’t a good investment as well. Just as there are renters who don’t mind paying a premium to be on the oceanfront, there are renters looking for more affordable accommodations who don’t mind a short drive to the beach. And golf course units are typically more affordable and fit a wider range of investment budgets.

Of course, there are many other important considerations when buying a vacation home. What are the homeowners’ association fees and what do they cover? What’s the rental history? Where is the property located and what are the location’s benefits and liabilities? What are the resort’s amenities? These are all great questions a professional Realtor will be able to help you with.

About Abe Safa

From local history to history of the just plain weird to learning more about the world around us, a number of museums across the Grand Strand offer exciting and educational insights to vacationers renting condos in Myrtle Beach and points north and south.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum – Filled with the collection from the travels of its famed rounder, Robert Ripley, there are more than 500 exhibits of the odd, strange and unbelievable in 14 galleries.

Children’s Museum of South Carolina – Features programs and interactive exhibits where children can learn about the world around them.

Horry County Museum – From prehistoric times to the present, this museum of Horry County’s history and natural history offers exhibits and programs from a historic post office in the county seat of Conway’s historic district.

Country Farm Museum – Offering a look into the equipment and methods used when America was fed by family farms, this a great opportunity for kids to learn more about farming and that food doesn’t just comes from the grocery store.

Rice Museum – Maps, artifacts, dioramas and other exhibits help visitors trace the colorful chapter of coastal history when rice was a driving force of the area’s economy.

Wheels of Yesteryear Car Museum – Beautiful collection of more than 50 classic vehicles from collector Paul Cummings and one of the most impressive collections in the Southeast.

About Abe Safa

Myrtle Waves

3000 10th Avenue North,Myrtle Beach

The state’s largest water park in the heart of Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Waves offers slides and rides for all ages including a wave pool and the dreaded Turbo Twister, where you drop 10 stories in and out of a dark tunnel, falling at a rate of 50 feet per second. A great ride for the entire family, Snake Mountain is a long and winding tube ride down the mountain at a clip neither too fast nor too slow. Featuring fast and slow river rides, the 1,200-foot-long LayZee River is for the meek while the Racin River is for the more stout at heart. And for the younger ones, there’s Saturation Station, a large tropically themed area with a variety of great rides just for them.

Wild Water and Wheels

910U.S.17 South, Surfside Beach

Head south to Surfside Beach and this great park that features a wave pool, children’s area, lazy river, and bumper boats as well as dry attractions like miniature golf and go-cart racing. For the fearless, the park offers the Free Fall Cliff Dive where riders take a near vertical drop into a dark tube at up to 45 miles per hour. Kids will love rides like the H2O Racer where they’ll plunge head first through rolls and dropsand can race each other in up to four lanes. There’s an activity area for kids, the Wee Kids Water Works for the youngest as well as an adults only Lounge Pool, combing lounge chairs and water.

Family Kingdom Amusement and Water Park

300 S. Ocean Blvd.,Myrtle Beach

The only oceanfront park along the Grand Strand, Family Kingdom is also one of its tamest. But what it might lack in scare factor, it more than makes up in its wow factor, with great views of the beach and ocean from its slides and other rides and one of the best family atmospheres to be found. A smaller park, the winding slide rides are the most fun for many since you get a changing view of the ocean on your way to splashdown.

About Abe Safa

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

Hello it’s Greg Harrelson here with Century 21 Harrelson Group down in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Just wanted to send you a quick little video. Most of you are getting my monthly emails and usually I’m giving you some good information as to what’s going on down here in the Myrtle Beach real estate market as well as a few tips on whether you should do some things now or maybe wait and put your plans on hold.

I wanted to shoot a quick video and send it to you, from my perspective as a professional real estate agent in Myrtle Beach I can honestly tell you that the Myrtle Beach buyer activity is changing. And it’s changing in many different ways. So I wanted to discuss with you three questions that I’m consistently asked, especially in the last month. These are three questions that continue to come up as I’m talking to owners of real estate in Myrtle Beach. Or people who own from out of the area but who own a condo in Myrtle Beach.

Are there any real estate buyers in Myrtle Beach?

Right now the main question that I’m being asked is, “are they any buyers?” And let me just answer that real quickly. Yes. There are actually a lot of buyers in our market or there are a lot of buyer phone calls. People calling us and asking us what’s available and setting appointments to come down here in one week, two weeks or later even a month from now. So not only is there more buyers in town right this second and looking to scoop up property before the summer but there’s also an increased amount of buyer activity  coming through the internet, coming through emails, coming off of website advertisements, etcetera. So there are a lot of buyers.

What kind of offers are these buyers making?

Number two. I have to say that I’m being asked …”ok there are a lot of buyers, but are they still making low ball offers?” There are a few buyers that are making low ball offers. That’s going to be the case though whether it was 2005 whether it was 1995, whether it’s 2012, and it’ll be the case in 2015. There are always going to be those people that make low ball offers. What I can comfortably tell you though now is or I can share with you at this point, is that there are not as many low ball offers as there used to be. In other words the people let’s call them sharks that were out there trying to get that best deal at practically the lowest price or steal the property let’s say. They’ve either acquired properties already or they have not been successful in acquiring properties and they’re becoming a little bit more realistic in what they’re proposing to the sellers. So yes there are still some low ball offers taking place but it’s an amount that we would say is normal in any particular market. So I don’t think that the market conditions are really inspiring people to continue making those low ball offers. The level of confidence that they have to buy a quality property at such as low ball offer. I think they’re losing confidence so now they are being a little bit more realistic or they are going away altogether which is perfectly fine to me.

Are they willing to negotiate?

The third question that I’m getting from owners like yourself is, “okay there’s buyers in town, they’re not making lowball offers but when they make an offer do the buyers say this is a take it or leave it offer or are the buyers willing to negotiate?” Now I have to say it depends. From the buyers standpoint we’re starting to see that buyers are a little bit more negotiable and a little bit more flexible when it comes to making a fair offer and then trying to negotiate with the seller based on what they feel might be the fair market value. Now the exceptions could be when a seller over prices the property and builds in a big cushion anticipating a very aggressive and lengthy negotiation.

So if a property was worth $200,000 and they put it on the MLS or listed that property fro say $230,000. That’s quite a bit of a cushion. So that buyer that’s coming in they may offer say $200,000 what the appraisal value is. But when it comes to how much they will negotiate they’re not going to negotiate that far up because the buyer is basically on a value they’re typically not basing offers anymore on list price. That’s critical so let me kind of say that once again. Offers by the buyers are based on real value; they are not usually making offers on based on a list price.

So as long as a list price is within the appropriate range then we’re seeing qualified buyers make good offers or fair offers. And we’re starting to see them negotiate up to what we can both get a seller and a buyer to both agree is fair market value. So all of these signs are really positive for the real estate market here in Myrtle Beach. We had to have buyers. At one point we didn’t have a lot of buyers. That’s no longer the situation.

We had to have fair offers, at one point we had all low ball offers and a lot of deals were never making it to the closing table because there was unreasonable expectations of the buyers or the investors. We haven’t eliminated that situation but that situation has declined dramatically.

And last but not least the buyers that are here seem a little bit fairer. Their expectations seem to be a little bit more reasonable. And they seem to be compromising in and engaging in some form of negotiation with our sellers.

So I thought that would be something positive I could share with you. Some information that may help you decide whether or not this is a good time to sell or whether or not you should just continue to hold it and see what happens. I cannot promise that these three things are going to continue to happen. I don’t know what going to happen the rest of the year but one thing I can assure you of that the people that are attempting to sell right now that are on the market. They are being successful. If there’s anything that I can do for you in the future. Remember its Greg Harrelson with Century 21 the Harrelson Group. Have a great day.

About Abe Safa

Negotiating is usually considered one of the hardest parts in buying a primary or vacation home.  And while the best tip for successful negotiations is to let a qualified Realtor handle them, knowing some of the basics can come in handy when looking for a Myrtle Beach area condo for sale.

Know the market. Knowledge is indeed power when it comes to buying a condo in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach or anywhere along the Grand Strand. You can’t expect to negotiate a good transaction if you don’t know the market.

Knowing what is motivating a seller is also good to know, especially if he is selling a condo to avoid foreclosure. Are there any recent events, major changes in their life or other factors behind their selling? How indebted is the seller? Is he making his payments on time? The more eager the seller, the better the chances for a more favorable deal.

While sellers won’t necessarily volunteer this information, if you build a rapport with the seller, these are the kind of things you can learn during conversation, especially if you’re willing to give some personal details about yourself. Of course, this is an example of where the considerable people skills of a professional Realtor can be a real asset in negotiations when buying a condo.

Chatting with the neighbors can be invaluable, since they are more likely to give you an honest appraisal of the area than the seller. And, they might provide additional information about the specific condo for sale you are looking at.

You’ll want to have the results of a professional inspection as well as market information about the area, information readily available from Realtors. You’ll also be in a much better position if your financing is in place and you’re preapproved for a loan.

Of course, there’s much more involved in successfully negotiating the purchase of any condo for sale in Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas, including specific negotiation techniques. But these are some of the basic things you need to know, and things a professional Realtor will know before making an offer on a vacation home.

About Abe Safa

An unexpected and undeveloped oceanfront oasis of maritime forest in the middle of miles of commercial development, one of the great opportunities that come with renting a condo in Myrtle Beach is Myrtle Beach State Park at 4401 South Kings Highway. Offering uncrowded beaches, educational activities, and some of the best fishing to be found along the Grand Strand, the park also offers one of the best values to be found along the Grand Strand as well with admission just $5 for adults, $3.25 for senior citizens, $3 for children ages 6-15 with children 5 and under free.

A great opportunity for vacationers in any of the many great Myrtle Beach condos for rent, park goers can not only fish from the park’s pier, one of the best along the Grand Strand, but learn to identify fish and crabs caught their including king mackerel, whiting, trout, Spanish mackerel, and flounder. While a saltwater fishing license is required, these can be easily obtained from major retailers, bait stores, or online from the SC Department of Natural Resources. Cost of a 14-day license for non-residents is $11 and $5 for residents. There’s no additional fee for those wanting to surf fish in the park, but a small daily fee does apply for pier fishing: $5 for age 16 and older, $3.25 for seniors, and 2.50 for children ages 6-15. Fishing rods are also available for rent at $7.50 each per day. And the pier features a gift shop that carries everything you need for a day of fishing including tackle, bait and snacks.

A great added amenity for vacationers in Myrtle Beach condos for rent, Myrtle Beach State Park also offers a playground, picnic shelters, swimming area with lifeguard, biking, bird watching, horse shoes, bocce ball bowling, and much more.

One of the park’s chief draws are the numerous walking, biking and nature trails including the Sculptured Oak Nature Trail, which gives a rare glimpse into the park’s maritime forest, one of the last stands on  South Carolina’s northern coast. Biking is allowed throughout the park except on the beach from10 a.m. – 5 p.m.from May 1 until Labor Day.

About Abe Safa