Charleston Foodies Unite!

A good friend noted when I announced I was moving to Charleston that it was going to be great living in a town with a five-star restaurant on every corner.  And the friend was from Asheville!  While that may be an exaggeration, certainly outstanding food abounds all across the Charleston region. 

One of my favorite tasks when meeting new clients or tourists in town is to share with them the many different restaurants and food styles in this city.  Italian, no problem -- do you want romantic, bustling, or just economical and quick.  Seafood, no problem -- do you want fried, broiled, locally fresh, or just something casual with a great view.  French, no problem -...

THE BEST WAY TO SELL YOUR HOME IS TO SELL IT FAST!

When your house isn’t in the best condition, it sits on the market for far too long and becomes stale. That’s when people begin to wonder what’s wrong with it...

You only have one defense against one stagnant showing after the next. You need to be absolutely certain your house is in the best condition possible. Marketing has everything to do with presentation. When you present a poor and flawed product, its negative aspects stand out and affect the entire experience.

When you put your home on the market, it needs to be immaculate. It needs to have all of the positive aspects that attract buyers. The market is full of people who spend ever...

If you're looking for homes for sale in Mt Pleasant SC, it's a great idea to really go through what's called a loan prequalification process. The reason that I say this is that the market is moving fairly quickly and knowing in advance all about the mortgage process and how much you qualify for will help you make the right decision.

There are many realtors that will not allow buyers in their car that haven't been pre-qualified. I personally find that strict "draw a line in the sand" mentality a little bit brash. Of course, I also feel that being prequalified is important, not for me, but for the client.

Let me explain… Early in my career I would take people out because I was excited to be a...

If you're searching for homes for sale in Charleston SC, ask yourself a simple question along the way… am I putting the cart before the horse?

Sure, moving can be stressful. With so many unknowns , it is not uncommon for people to jump the gun and do things in reverse. Find a home, then try to sell.

While this is a good way to avoid being homeless, there are some very good reasons to be careful not to put the cart before the horse. Not to buy and then sell.

Consider this:

• You think about wanting to move, and you decide to start looking.
• Your intention is to just get a feel for the market.
• You stumble across the perfect house.
• It is definitely the one, it has everything. Perfect price...

With the recent change in the Mount Pleasant SC real estate market, Labor Day takes on a completely new meaning. A few years ago the real estate market was tough. The sky was falling and nobody knew really what the future held. It's always easy to look back in time and really see what has happened, and with that being said I can safely say that the bottom of the real estate market in Charleston SC happened in the fourth quarter of 2011.

One of the biggest changes that I've seen since then has been the construction of new homes. It's wonderful to see contractors working on their projects, rather than the tumbleweeds rolling by like they were in 2009. It seems like every day in Mount Pleas...

Charleston SC Houses (or poultry farms)?

I sell homes for a living and have been doing so since 1995. Of course I have seen many trends occur along the way. Some very obvious, and many that happen slowly and gradually.

Sure, house styles in Charleston SC have changed over time, and the change from the 1960’s rancher, to the 1970’s retro feel, into the 1980 contemporaries and on up until present day are the easiest to see as you are driving through an area, but what about things that happen in people’s back yards?

Let me back up. I live in an older subdivision in West Ashley. I was looking for the covenants of the area for a friend the other day. After exhausting my search on the county we...

Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale

If you are looking for a Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale , there are many tools that this website offers  that will aid in your process. Nat Wallen has taken great strides to not only make the website clean and easy to use, you will notice that there are many tools that will make your search for Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale both streamlined and informative.

The first thing about this website that makes it different is that it offers a video tour of the area that Nat Wallen produced. This will help you get a lay of the land from a local’s perspective and provides information that will help you make your decision to find Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale more strate...

What makes Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale fly off the shelf?

If you are considering purchasing a property, the Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale offer a family friendly, mid-sized community located just north of downtown Charleston SC.  It is one of the newer communities that was largely developed after the building of the first Cooper River bridge in the mid 1950’s. Prior to this bridge being constructed, this area was only accessible via Ferry Boat from the city of Charleston.

Since the early development of the area, it has boomed in popularity and at one time there were many buyers looking for a property. It was the fastest growing town in the state and all Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale off...

Finding Homes for Sale in Charleston SC

If you are looking for homes for sale in Charleston SC, there are many offerings and the areas can differ greatly. It is an easy area to understand because it is separated by rivers and marshes. James Island is an area close to the city and enjoys easy access to the beach and the  local restaurants. Mount Pleasant has many homes for sale in Charleston SC that buyers consider because of the school system.

If you are looking for a home, residents are typically generous with their desire to share their experiences. It is a polite city. Simply engaging someone in a friendly conversation can result in a wealth of information about where to look. Of cours...

Charleston SC Houses

If you already call Charleston SC home then you know what this vibrant city has to offer. Coastal living in the low country offers a comfortable, breezy pace that makes people feel like Charleston SC houses are some of the best real estate offerings on the east coast.

Fortunately, Nat Wallen has lived here his entire life. This experience and intimate knowledge gives Nat the ability to provide unique insight for buyers which helps them make prudent, well-informed decisions about their upcoming purchase.

Nat Wallen likes to discuss the different things that make him proud to share his hometown with his clients. Many of these things are not apparent and can only be full...

A Look Back at the Homes For Sale In Charleston SC

There are many homes for sale in Charleston SC to choose from compared to the booming market of the early to mid 2000’s. Throughout late 2005 and well into the 2006 market, the media started to discuss a real estate bubble that most likely going to burst. This discussion in the media had not affected the homes for sale in Charleston SC yet, but early in 2007 the rate of sale started to slow down considerably.

1997 to 2006 was primarily a buyer’s market. When sellers decided to place their homes for sale in Charleston SC during this time, all sold within a few months. When sellers started placing their homes on the market in early 2007, th...

Foundation Types Found In Charleston SC Houses

Home inspections are an important part of the process when closing on Charleston SC houses. The low country atmosphere is very desirable (though some would disagree with that in mid July) but the elements here can also have an effect on houses in the area.

There are many types of Charleston SC houses to choose from and the foundation is always a good way to categorize them. The flood zones along the coast have an effect on how they are constructed, as a home’s flood zone determines the height at which a home’s ground floor can be above seal level.

Most of the lower priced houses in the new construction market are built on a slab foundation. Th...

Houses for Sale in Charleston South Carolina - Obtain Top Dollar

Houses in Charleston South Carolina that are well prepared sell faster and for more money. If you are considering placing yours on the market, there are many things to do prior to presenting it to buyers. The natural tendency is to base your decision of the asking price by how much you need in order to move to the next destination. This is not always the best way to make decisions, as a buyer will only pay what they will pay, however, great steps can be taken in advance to accomplish the highest and best result.

Moving is a great excuse to go through everything that builds up over time and minimize what you have into what yo...

Homes With Pools for sale in Charleston SC

Well, the weather is heating up and many people are now gearing up for a fun summertime. At this time of year it is very common to see homes with pools for sale in Charleston SC get snatched up. With this in mind, I have created a group of landing pages on my site that will help people dive right in (excuse the pun) to the search process.

This has proven to be a very effective way to niche advertise homes with pools for sale in Charleston SC. So how did I do it?

I took these steps:

• I looked for a segment of the market that people wanted. Keep in mind, this thought did not come to me in mid January. Of course, living in Charleston I certainl...

Finding houses for sale in Charleston South Carolina is not quite the needle in a haystack as the title suggests. But there is certainly a drop in the number of homes for sale for the past few years.

Many buyers coming into the market feel like they're going to spend a lot of time sifting through Charleston SC houses, and this is really not the case, especially if you're looking for homes for Mt Pleasant SC homes for sale.

Supply and demand is very real in Charleston (as I am sure it is in any market.) This time last year there were 30% more sellers trying to sell. Buyers had the luxury of taking their time to really look through what options they have. Sellers were feeling much more stress...

We all know the three important things about real estate. We have heard it over and over again. Location. Location. Location. This certainly still holds true, but it also makes things a challenge as the area grows.

There many people who would like to find a Houses for Sale in Charleston, South Carolina close to town, but many need a lot of work. Understandably, buyers try to focus in on being conveniently located. This poses a challenge. In fact, it is a challenge that I am currently facing right now on a personal level. No I'm not looking for a home to buy, but I am in the process of renovating my personal home.

We bought the house about nine years ago, and it was semi-renovated at the ti...

Working as an agent selling homes in Charleston South Carolina, I have found that representing the seller in a multiple offer situation is much different than when representing buyers.

Sellers are very happy to have more than one person wanting to buy their house. And as an agent, it really is a good position because we know someone's going to buy the home ultimately.

But I still don't really love multiple offer situation through representing the seller because I know that there's a buyer on the other end that will ultimately be let down. (I like selling houses, but I want everyone to feel good about it. With multiple offers, someone always loses)

With that being said, treating other agent...

Now that the market in Charleston is really starting to heat up, agents are starting to see many multiple offer situation's. And while a lot of people would think that this is beautiful thing for us agents, in some ways it's really not so great.

Every time this happens I think about the buyer. They are making a huge financial and emotional decision, and there's a chance that it may not happen for them. With that being said, handling a multiple offer situation while representing a buyer can be a little bit tricky.

Sometimes the best advice is to put a really strong foot forward, but I try to make it a point to find out exactly where a buyer is coming from prior to offering any opinions on ...

Well it is been quite a week. I have had the opportunity to work several transactions, I listed three properties, and also helped some really nice people purchase a Mount Pleasant, South Carolina home.

Jay and Melanie are a recently married,  really nice couple. Melanie works as an interior designer for a large builder locally, and Jay owns his own kitchen design business.

They called me on one of my listings a few months ago, and it turned out that it just wasn't the right fit for them. We hit it off well and I began showing them properties in the "up to" $350,000 range in Mount Pleasant.

It was a bit of a whirlwind with them because they were looking in a really tough price range. (Supply...

This market continues to amaze me. I have a good friend named William that I grew up with in Mount Pleasant, SC.

He became a builder after he got out of college and I became a real estate agent. He had the luzury of taking a few years off when the market crashed and became a boat captain. He managed a large yacht for someone in the Northeast and traveled for several years throughout all the islands in the Caribbean.

So he had the best of both worlds. He had the ability to build houses and help people for several years and take a little time off when things weren't happening in the building industry.

When he came back the market had still been somewhat soft, but he decided to buy a foreclosu...