Greenville, SC Real Estate Podcast with Dan Hamilton

We’re only a short way into the new year, but I hope you’re having a great year so far! Today’s message is to inform you that you’re invited to join Hamilton & Co.’s VIP group on Facebook. Mind you, this isn’t our public Facebook Page—this is just for Hamilton & Co. insiders. So if you’d like to be included in our monthly giveaways and get insider information about what’s happening in the local real estate market, join our VIP page! In the meantime, if you have any questions about your real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to help.

As we move into the second quarter of 2019, our Greenville market is looking stable, and now is a great time to sell. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.Now that we’re into the second quarter of 2019, it’s a great time to look back at the first quarter of our market to see where things stand between buyers and sellers as we move through spring. To really gauge our market, there are four numbers I like to track: inventory, home sales, the average sale price, and the average days on market. Here’s how each of these numbers stack up compared to the first quarter of last year:Inventory rose 6.8% to 4,271 active homes on the marketThe number of sales dropped 1.7% to 2,768 homesThe average sale price rose 0.9% to $240,398The average days on market rose 4.9% to 64 days“Just a few months ago, the U.S. News & World Report said that 2019 was going to be the best year for home sellers in recent memory.”What these numbers mean is our market is very stable, and stability is good. Just a few months ago, the U.S. News & World Report said that 2019 was going to be the best year for home sellers in recent memory. Interest rates are still very low, and 20% of all millennials say they plan on buying a home within the year.  If you want to sell your current home and buy another home, I recommend putting your home on the market first and getting it under contract before looking for your next home. Otherwise, you run the risk of owning (and paying for) two homes at the same time. If you have any more questions about our Greenville market or you need help buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

The winter might be a better time to sell your home than you think. Here are a few reasons why. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.Winter may be the best time to put your home on the market. If you were waiting until spring, you may not have to. On my recent appearance on “Your Carolina with Jack & Megan,” I discussed why the winter is a fantastic opportunity for homeowners to get their properties on the market.One of the biggest misconceptions in real estate is that the winter is a bad time to sell. However, lower inventory means less competition. If you wait until June or July, you’ll be competing against many other homebuyers. The more supply that’s out there, the more home prices get compressed.“If you wait until June or July to list, your competition will increase exponentially.”Secondly, this is the time of year where many companies are helping their employees out by giving them bonuses and year-end payouts. They are starting to collect those right now and will have a little bit of extra money in their pocket.Finally, did you know that January is the No. 1 month for corporate relocations? With that being so, there will be a lot of people coming into the area, looking to pick a house quickly by January. You'll want to be on the market now to take advantage of those buyers.Thanks again to Jack and Megan for having me. If you have any questions about why winter is a great time to sell or about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pest and termite control is certainly an important thing for homeowners to pay attention to. However, did you know that moisture and mold control can be just as devastating and worrisome? Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.Whether you’re thinking about buying, selling, or wanting to preserve the investment you’ve already made in your home, we’re here to give you smart advice to be able to do that.I was recently joined by Tyler Rehn from Pest Guard Solutions to talk about what his company does and how they can help you. He runs a termite, pest control, and moisture control company. He married into a family who had this type of business and recently went on his own in the last year.The No. 1 question people have for Tyler is whether or not they have termites in their home. His team’s experience makes it easy to find an answer. Another common question Tyler hears is about mold and moisture control. Everyone thinks about termite control when it comes to getting rid of pests, but when Tyler and his team start to look at homes, the moisture and mold side is something that’s often forgotten about.“Moisture and mold problems can be just as devastating as pest and termite problems.”A lot of times, when you’re putting your home on the market, wood destroying mold can be just as big of an issue as termites. It could be mold, fungus, or termites that could rot wood away and even lead to health issues.If you want to know more about what Tyler and his team do, you can visit them here or give him a call at (864) 616-6308. They’d be happy to answer any questions you have. They even have a special offer for those of are subscribers of ours.If you have any other real estate-related questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today I want to share our latest market numbers and help you decide if it is a great time to buy or sell. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.I was recently on “Your Carolina with Jack & Megan” to talk about the market, and if you're thinking about buying or selling, you won't want to miss this episode—which you can follow along with above as we discuss the latest developments in our market. The first statistic we should consider is inventory, also known as the supply. When the market slows down, supply typically rises. Currently, we're still seeing supply decrease with a 2.7% decrease compared to this time last year. This indicates that it is still a strong market.The average days on market (the amount of time it takes a home to sell) is another key indicator of overall market conditions. Currently, the average number of days on market is down about 3%, which means that we are still seeing a strong market, even though some people are saying it is slowing.The numbers don't indicate a slowing. In fact, the average price of a home is still going up. We are up 8.4% from this time last year with a price of $245,000. It is still a seller's market below $250,000. If you put a home on the market that is $175,000 to $225,000, it sells very quickly.“The great thing about selling now is that there's actually less competition because there are fewer homes on the market.”Since it is fall, many people think that now isn't the time to sell because homes don't sell. However, this is a misconception. It is actually a very robust market here and we see a lot of homes sold. The great thing about selling now is that there's actually less competition because there are fewer homes on the market as you go into the winter months. The buyers that are out there are also more serious about finding a home and want to buy.The entire Greenville area is still very popular. Specifically the Five Forks area as well as inside the city is becoming increasingly popular. In fact, we put a home on the market a few weeks ago in West Greenville that received 15 offers. People want to go into the village and fix homes up and make a nice community.Days on market still does matter greatly. We try to price a home so that it sells in 30 to 45 days. If it does stay on the market longer than this, we don't want it to reach 60 days because then when buyers look at it they make lowball offers. You want to come onto the market and price to sell it quickly, or people may think that there is something wrong with the property.If you have any questions about our current market, or if you're interested in talking about buying and selling, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Today I want to talk about what you need to consider when buying a new construction home. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.What steps should you take and what factors do you need to consider when buying new construction? To help you, I will go over some of these points today. Of course, you can also speak with one of our buyer's agents who can go further in-depth with all of these areas. You can start by looking at the pros and cons of buying new construction. You may want to consider that new homes are typically built farther from the city center, so you may have a longer commute depending on where you work. You may also have to coax a new lot into existence because it may not have a lawn or trees. Subdivisions can also be very cookie-cutter since they go up quickly. You'll have to decide if you're okay with your home looking similar to your neighbor's as well as if it is okay that you could be in close proximity to your neighbor.The next thing you need to do is research the neighborhoods and builders. Our buyer's agents know a lot about the neighborhoods and builders because they have worked with them before. They’ve even been invited to get behind-the-scenes looks at what some of the builders can do for our clients. Although they come fully prepared, it doesn't hurt for you to do some research yourself so you know what you're getting into.“Builder's have a standard floor plan and many times the one you see marketed isn't the standard floor plan with the standard options.”It also is of great benefit to you to find out what comes standard from the builder and what costs extra. Builders have a standard floor plan and many times the one you see in marketing materials isn't the standard floor plan with the standard options. There could be many extra options that could end up costing a lot of extra money.Our buyer agents always advise getting an inspection and home warranty. Most builders actually come with some sort of home warranty on them, so you want to know what that is and what it covers. This way you will know if you need an extra warranty on top of that. This can be negotiated with the builder as well. In fact, we negotiate this for our clients because we want them to be protected when they purchase a new construction home.The final thing to consider is how to close the deal. This is actually what we specialize in; we write the contracts and negotiate price points and add-ins for you.We are here to help you every step of the way through your home buying process. If you have any additional questions about new construction or buying or selling in general, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Follow these five steps when you decide to undergo a remodeling project in your home. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.When it comes to remodeling your home, how do you know if you’re getting a good deal?Because of the shortage of inventory, we’re finding that a lot of buyers are emulating HGTV and trying to remodel their current homes instead of buying a new one. With that in mind, here are five steps to consider when it comes to remodeling your home:1. Vet your project. Put together a plan for how to complete your project, including blueprints, materials, and potential costs so that you’ll know how feasible your plan is.2. Vet your contractors. Be sure to ask a potential contractor for their portfolio, ask past clients about their experiences working with them, and check online reviews to get a sense of people’s feelings about them.“Since they’ll be your greatest ally in getting your remodeling project done, you’ll need to establish a relationship based on trust, regular communication, and reasonable flexibility. ”3. Compare your bids. Make sure that each of your bids have the same features—when comparing different contractors in terms of prices and time frames, you don’t want to compare apples to oranges.4. Motivate contractors with money. Contractors need an incentive and a budget to be able to create your project, so be sure to be fair to them. Withholding funds from a contractor could make your project take longer than expected and possibly cost more, too.5. Build trust with your contractor. Since they’ll be your greatest ally in getting your remodeling project done, you’ll need to establish a relationship based on trust, regular communication, and reasonable flexibility. Hamilton & Co. has a number of contractors we work with on a regular basis. If you would like a referral to get a bid on a project you’re planning for your home or have any questions for us, please reach out. We’d love to connect you and help you on your way to accomplishing your goals.

If you’re trying to sell your home during the back-to-school season, here are a few tips that will help you. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.On my latest appearance on “Your Carolina With Jack & Megan,” I talked about the keys to getting your home sold right now during the back-to-school season. A lot of sellers with school-age children tend to rush to get their homes sold so they can move into their kids’ school district before the school session starts. Is it hard to sell your home right now, though? It’s not hard, but it is a different season. The summer market was our peak-selling season, and now things have slowed down a bit, so you have to make your home stand out. Here are a few tips to do that. First, make sure your home’s priced correctly. The market will tell you what your home should be priced at, so it’s important to be realistic in this regard. If you’re determined to sell your home for a certain amount because of how much time and money you put into it, you might be setting yourself up to fail. The market doesn’t care about what you put into your home. Buyers are out there looking, so you have to be competitive. “Make your home show-ready by decluttering and depersonalizing it. ”Next, you need to make your home show-ready, which means decluttering and depersonalizing it. Remove any personal items and make the interior as wide-open as possible. Buyers want to be able to visualize themselves living in your home when they walk through it. Think of it as merchandising your home. On our team, we have a professional stager work with our sellers to do this. Lastly, remember that buyers tend to make a snap decision when walking through your entryway. As soon as they walk through your front door, they’ve either eliminated your house from consideration or decided they’re interested in it. Since you only have a few seconds to make a great first impression, fix up your entryway.As always, if you have any other questions about our market or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you. 

Have you ever thought about updating your home with smart home technology? Here are a few different ways to do that. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Today I want to talk to you about smart homes. They are becoming very popular nowadays and people are under the impression that making their home “smart” is really expensive. However, there are two easy ways that you can turn your home into a smart home and still save some money:1. Smart thermostats. The Nest brand is one of the most popular options on the market and they cost around $249. However, customers are saving an average of $173 per year on their energy bills, so the thermostat will pay for itself within two years.“A smart thermostat will pay for itself within a few years.”2. Video doorbell. Ring is the most popular option here. It has a camera right on it and whenever someone rings the bell, it will show you who is there. These doorbells can sync directly to your phone, tablet, or computer, and are wifi-enabled. These cost around $200 and they’re a great way to integrate smart home technology into your current home.If you have any more questions about smart home technology or want to know how you can integrate it into your home, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The current situation in our market is great for sellers but a little tough for buyers. Here’s why. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. On my latest appearance on “Your Carolina With Jack & Megan,” I provided a quick mid-year market update by looking at a few key year-over-year statistics that I’d like to share with you.The first is the inventory available for sale, which is down 3% compared to this time last year. At that point, we had low inventory as well, so this goes to show you how few homes are on the market. Next up was the number of homes sold year to date, which has increased 9% compared to last year. This increase, coupled with our low-inventory environment, means demand for homes is sky-high right now, and this demand is driving up prices. “If you’re looking at a house that just came on the market, be prepared to offer full price or more for it.”If you’re a homeowner who’s trying to build equity in your home, this is good news. If you’re a buyer, however, the situation is tougher and affordability is becoming an issue. The average price for a Greenville home is currently $243,000. About four or five years ago, it was $186,000. As I mentioned on the show, my advice to those who’re looking at a house that just came on the market is to be prepared to offer full price or more for it. Odds are, there are many more people looking at that house. Also, remember that the highest offer isn’t always the one that gets the house. If you find yourself in a multiple offer situation, try including a letter to the seller in your offer that tells them a little bit about you and why you want the house. As always, if you have any questions about our Greenville market or you’re thinking of buying or selling a house, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you. 

How can you help your pet get adjusted to your new home? Here are three great tips. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Today I have some great tips for you on how to integrate your dog into your new home. We are seeing a lot more people come to Greenville with their animals. Getting a dog acclimated to a new place can be almost as stressful as moving itself. Here are some tips to help make things easier:1. Set some boundaries. You can do this by getting a crate and not allowing the dog to go into certain areas or onto certain furniture.  2. Be consistent. No matter what you choose to do, animals love consistency. If you are consistent in your behavior towards them, they will be consistent with their behavior too.“Animals love consistency.”3. Get a good vacuum. This will help keep the house clean and avoid as much chaos as possible with shedding pets.To get even more tips for acclimating your pet into its new home, check out this link.If you have any other questions for me or want some more tips, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

How does our Greenville market today compare to last year's? I have the numbers to find out. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Today I want to do a comparison between last year's market and this year's.Last year at this time, we had 4,420 homes sold. This year, we’ve sold 4,303 homes, which is a decrease of only 3%. So, if you thought that last year was a crazy seller's market, then you should know that it still is. In fact, it is even more aggressive because of all the people out there looking to buy homes and not a lot of homes available.Our median sale price difference is very telling of these current circumstances. The median sale price is calculated by taking all of the home prices, organizing them from most expensive to least expensive, and then finding the one in the middle. Last year, the median sale price was $182,000, while this year's median sale price is $199,900. This is a price increase of 10%.“If you bought a home in the right area in Greenville last year, you should’ve seen a 10% increase in your home’s value by now.”If you bought a home in the right area in Greenville last year, you should’ve seen a 10% increase in your home’s value by now. That’s a staggering number which is encouraging because if you bought a home last year and now need to move, there is a high chance that you could recoup some of your money spent.Last year, there were 10,362 active listings on the market. Today there are 10,207 homes on the market. That is a difference of 1%.We have low inventory and high demand in our market, which means home prices are increasing. For this reason, I am looking for people who are interested in selling their homes. If you want to reach out to me and discuss selling your home and making the move, please feel free to call or contact me via Facebook, Instagram, email, or on my website. I look forward to talking with you soon.

The latest Greenville real estate market numbers are in. Here is what you need to know. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Today I have some great information about the areas in and around Greenville. I am going to highlight two major areas today. The first is Simpsonville.In the last two years, we have seen homes appreciate by around 7% in Simpsonville, which is great news for homeowners. This means that if you bought a home two or three years ago, you could sell it for 10% to 15% more than you bought it for potentially. When you are looking at home values, there are really only a few things that determine what a home is worth to a homebuyer:1. Condition2. Location3. Competition4. TimingIf you listen to our radio show on Saturday mornings, you would know that May is the perfect time to sell your house. We generally see about a 6% increase in home values during the month of May. If you have been thinking about selling, let us know and we can develop a great plan of action.“Now is a great time to enter the market.”How does our market look right now compared to last year? Last year at this time, we sold 4,419 homes. This year, we have sold 3,812. That’s a decrease of about 607 homes. Inventory remains incredibly low and there are a lot of buyers who need homes to move into. However, there are not as many sellers. With such high demand, prices are going to continue to go up.Now is a great time to enter the market so if you have any questions about selling your home or about the real estate market in general, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

We love helping our clients buy and sell homes. Here’s what a few of them had to say about working with us. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. We’re so lucky to have worked with so many great clients here in Greenville. It has allowed our team to grow and it has allowed our agents to form some fantastic relationships with our clients. We recently caught up with a few of these great clients, and here’s what they had to say about working with us:“I was up here on vacation around Christmas time visiting my daughter. I liked the area, and started looking online at some houses. Some way or another, I got onto your website and was looking at homes. I went back to Florida, thought about it, then decided I wanted to move. I got back in touch with Carissa and was able to buy the house without even having to come up. I just had conversations with her explaining what I wanted.”“This is the third home I’ve sold with Hamilton & Co. and they’re exceptional. Every time I’ve put a house up with them, it has sold very fast for the price I wanted.”“We’re so lucky to have such great clients.”“You couldn’t go wrong working with Dan Hamilton and the entire team. I’m very satisfied and I’m looking forward to closing last Wednesday. I think my house was on the market for a total of three weeks. They’re exceptional.”“I made one trip up here to take a look at a house and make an offer on a home that somebody ended up outbidding me for. I couldn’t come back right away, but within a couple of weeks, Carissa found the house. She did all the leg work while I was in Florida selling my house. I closed on Thursday in Florida, and closed on my new home on Friday in South Carolina.”To hear all of the great things our clients have had to say about us, make sure to watch the full video above. In the meantime, if you have any questions for us or want to know more about how we can help you accomplish all of your real estate goals, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

What additional considerations should retirement-age homebuyers keep in mind before making the move into a new home? Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Buying a home in your 20s and 30s is much different than buying a home for retirement. When purchasing a home for your retirement years, there are a few special considerations to keep in mind. When you’re retiring, your choice of home will likely be a more practical reflection of your lifestyle and needs. There are three L’s I recommend retirement-age homebuyers keep in mind:1. Location. When you’re older, this ever-important aspect becomes even more critical. It is important for retirement-age buyers to consider whether the home they’re looking at is nearby to family, shopping areas, and more. If transportation is an issue, location will be especially crucial. 2. Level. One-level living will really become ideal as you get older. Back pain, knee pain, and general mobility issues all become more common as we age. So, a one-level living situation is certainly something to think about. 3. Lifestyle. Before choosing any particular home, consider whether it will suit your lifestyle. Retirement communities often limit your control over exterior aspects of the home, as well as the activities you can engage in while living there. Be sure to keep lifestyle in mind before making your move.“When you’re retiring, your choice of home will likely be a more practical reflection of your lifestyle and needs.”If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What’s going on in the Greer real estate market? Let’s find out. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Within our Greenville real estate market, there are a number of smaller communities that each have unique market conditions. Today, we’ll be talking about Greer.The downtown area of Greer is so charming. There’s actually a rule against buildings being more than three stories high. I definitely recommend visiting this community if you haven’t already. If you already live in Greer, today’s market update might be of interest to you. It’s actually a great time to sell.The average home price in Greer is $201,000, thanks to an appreciation rate of 7% or 8% over the last couple of years. Also, 2,016 homes have sold in Greer in the past two years.“Right now is an amazing time to sell in Greer. ”

If your home hasn’t sold yet, it could be because of one of these three reasons: price, condition, or marketing. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. Are you trying to sell your home, but you’re just not having any luck? At this time of year, if your home has been on the market for a while and it isn’t selling, it’s probably one of three reasons why.The first is price. You can’t change your neighborhood or your location, but you can change your price. We all have a feeling of what our home might be worth, but we test the price to make sure that we’re in the market and not just on the market. When determining the asking price for you home, you have to consider what other homes around you have sold for. People have emotional attachments to their home. You may think, “Well, my kids grew up here, and we replaced the roof for $5,000.” Other buyers won’t care about that. Instead, you need to look at the last six months of comparable sales in your area. In this market, you really have to look at the homes you are competing against and what other buyers are looking at in this market. If your home isn’t selling, another thing you’ll want to look at is the condition of your home. Your home needs to be in the best condition possible for your price point. Buyers will come in, look at different things that need to be done to the home, and start discounting $5,000 here and $5,000 there from their asking price. Before you know it, they are making a lowball offer. Your home needs to be in great condition. Take care of repairs and make upgrades so your home doesn’t feel like it’s stuck in 1988. “Your home needs to be in the best condition possible for your price point. ”You also need to market your home properly. Just like a builder puts their best foot forward with model homes, you need to put your best foot forward with your home. Declutter, depersonalize, and take top-notch listing photos. Staging your home will help buyers envision what the property will look like once they are living there. So, if your home has been on the market for a while, take a look at your price, the condition of your home, and your marketing. What can be improved to help your home sell? In today’s market, buyers need to be prepared to make an offer at that first showing, especially in certain price points where the market is more competitive. Some buyers do like to come back and bring some other friends or family members to look at the home before making a decision, but again, the market is a little too competitive for that. Inventory is even lower than it was at this point last year. There are very few homes available on the market. We have buyers who are ready and willing to purchase a property. In fact, some of them are living in temporary housing, so they are ready to move into a home right now. We need more homes to come on the market, because demand is higher than supply right now. That said, today’s buyers are very educated, which is why you need to make sure that your property is properly prepared for the market. If you have any other questions about selling a home in today’s market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

I recently talked to Matt McCulley from Greenville on Greenville about starting the first Keller Williams in South Carolina, the future of our market, and more. Looking to buy a Greenville home? Click here to search all local homes on the MLS.Looking to sell your Greenville home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool. I recently sat down with Matt McCulley from Greenville on Greenville to discuss why I got involved in real estate and how I started the first Keller Williams in South Carolina.Greenville has a very traditional real estate market. When we started the first Keller Williams in the state of South Carolina, we were up against some very old firms. However, I saw that Keller Williams could bring about a real paradigm shift in real estate. “It’s been really cool to have a firsthand look at how Greenville has changed, grown, and become even better. ”Matt and I also discuss the future of the Greenville real estate market, what challenges we’ll face, and more. To hear our full conversation, check out this video.If you have any real estate questions for me, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!