Collins Group Realty

Today we’re kicking off our Hilton Head Island Real Estate Tuesday Q & A series! Today’s topic is the subject Low Ball Offers…

We had a client ask last week: “Do ALL buyers make low-ball offers these days?”  The quick answer is NO, but most buyers are pretty sure they smell blood in the water, and they have heard at least one story each about how someone they know got a “steal” on real estate recently, so there is a greater inclination and comfort-level for buyers to approach a seller with an offer under the list price.   Sure, some offers are WAY under list price, but then again, how inappropriate/appropriate that is depends much on what the list price SHOULD be.   We always tell our seller clients “If we can justify the price to the buyer, we can justify the price to the buyer” – meaning, if the price is appropriate, attractive AND competitive, a buyer might TRY to make a low offer, but if they are truly interested in the property then we should be able to readily show the buyer the actual/real value of the property at (or reasonably close to) the asking price.

Do you have a question you’d like answered? Reply to this post with your question and it could be featured in an upcoming Tuesday Q & A!

Good Morning!

Here’s hoping you had a great weekend and are looking forward to Labor Day! The number of newly accepted contracts rose last week by 29%, while the number of newly listed properties fell by 22%!

Below is the MLS report for all listings on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton for the week of August 28, 2010. Please review the following and let us know if you have any questions on the statistics.

Active (New listings): 162 (Down 22% from last week)    

Homes: 86

Villas: 49

Lots: 27

Pending (Accepted contracts, but not yet closed): 81  (Up 29% from last week)

Homes: 57

Villas: 19

Lots: 5

Sold (Closed contracts): 62 (Down 8% from last week)

Homes: 37

Villas: 19

Lots: 6

Price Reductions: 242  (Up 1% from last week)

Homes: 149

Villas: 58

Lots: 35

Click on the image above to read the newsletter in it’s entirety.

The Hilton Head Island Association of Realtors has just released their July Housing Outlook and Monthly Indicator Reports! Highlights include days on market until sale, median sales price, months of supply as well as the number of new listing, pending sales, housing affordability index and a market overview.  These are great reports to peruse if you are interested in learning more about the unique Hilton Head Island/Bluffton market. Please click the links below to read the reports…

Monthly Indicators

Housing Outlook

Good Morning!

Here’s hoping you had a great weekend!  The number of properties reaching a successful close rose by nearly 25% last week while the activity level for the other three categories fell…

Below is the MLS report for all listings on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton for the week of August 7, 2010. Please review the following and let us know if you have any questions on the statistics.

Active (New listings): 148 (Down 3% from last week)    

Homes: 79

Villas: 36

Lots: 33

Pending (Accepted contracts, but not yet closed): 80  (Down 4% from last week)

Homes: 53

Villas: 24

Lots: 3

Sold (Closed contracts): 78 (Up 23% from last week)

Homes: 49

Villas: 23

Lots: 6

Price Reductions: 190  (Down 14% from last week)

Homes: 102

Villas: 54

Lots: 34

It’s that time of year again! South Carolina’s annual tax-free weekend is officially underway! Running from 12am on Friday, August 6th through 11:59pm on Sunday, August 8th, the “holiday” allows shoppers to purchase many back-to-school related items without paying the 6% SC sales tax.

Keep in mind that you can’t buy EVERYTHING tax free…here’s a list of what’s included…

Tax Free – clothing, clothing accessories (such as hats, scarves, hosiery, and handbags), footwear, school supplies (such as pens, pencils, paper, binders, notebooks, books, backpacks, lunchboxes, and calculators), computers, printers, printer supplies, computer software, and linens such as towels, blankets, bed spreads, sheet sets, comforter sets, shower curtains, bath rugs and mats, pillows and pillow cases!

Items not covered include jewelry, cosmetics, eyewear, wallets, watches, furniture, rental of clothing or footwear, items for use in a business or items placed on layaway or other payment plans.

Happy shopping!