I had a blast yesterday having lunch with all my "Blogganistas" at Clark's Inn and Restaurant in Santee, South Carolina.  I was so excited last week when C Tann Starr emailed me that she was coming down to visit with her mom in Greeleyville (just outside Manning.)  She originally invited me to a barbeque at her parent's house, but because of scheduling and limited communication (see C's Blog about being in "Twitter Hell" lol) we were unable to get it together.  Mama Liz suggested a lunch meeting in Santee and it was on!

    I know you can't wait to find out just who showed up to this Lunch of Champions.   Mama Liz Loadholt arrived first, even though she had the longest drive (she's always early so she can greet everyone with a big hug.) I bounced in shortly afterwards, inhaling the awesomeness of Clark's aroma.  C Tann Starr arrived with her Facebook addicted brother who was just as charming as C, along with his sweet and very quiet girlfriend.  Actually, she wasn't so quiet, the rest of us just overpowered the conversation. Imagine!  Then, Kim Parker-Peasley came in with our favorite guest of all... Little Miss Maddie, our miracle baby.  JL Boney was invited but had a conflict.  Maybe next time, JL!

I felt so unworthy being in the presence of such blogging queens.  I am the quiet type that sits back and soaks up everyone's ideas in ActiveRain.  I'm one of those self-help nerds who loves to learn.  Don't get me wrong, I think I have okay blogging ideas, but I get overwhelmed sometimes when I anguish over "perfecting" my blog post.  C offered some valuable advice about that.  Thanks C - I'm posting this one today!  Ironic that I post this on a Wordless Wednesday.  I know, I know... be patient with grasshopper, okay?

     My only regret was that I was so excited and came out of the Wyboo office in such a hurry that I forgot my camera!  Photos will follow guys... just as soon as Mama Liz emails them.   

     Thanks, you guys for the great conversation, and thanks so much, Mama Liz for buying our lunch!

Celina Gleason, Realtor

Serving all your Real Estate Needs for:  Lake Marion Area of Manning/Summerton, SC; Clarendon County, SC

Check out my featured listings: www.manningscrealty.com or email me: Celina@sc.rr.com

or Call me Direct: 803-473-6002

     "Oh, you don't need title insurance - it's really a waste of your money."   Or, here's a real winner, "You don't need to purchase owner's insurance because you have coverage.  See there on the settlement statement, the line that says lender's coverage?" How many times have I heard an attorney across a closing table make an incompetent comment like that? Way too many!  This is precisely why I educate my buyers way ahead of time, like immediately upon getting a ratified contract. 

    Sure, not every title insurance policy or company is created equal.  It is our job as Realtors to do our homework on those companies and recommend the best company and policy for their money.

Why am I such an advocate of purchasing title insurance?  Let me count the ways.  In an attempt to keep this post at a bearable length, I will only give my Top Three.

     *Reason Number One:  This is also known as Celina's Primary Reason to Push Title Insurance.   Prior to my becoming a Realtor, I was a legal assistant for quite a few years - six to be precise.  I worked for about fifteen attorneys in three separate offices.  One particular attorney insisted that he perform his own title searches.  I thought that was pretty unorthodox, but he was a crotchety older guy who didn't take kindly to a young non-attorney questioning his methods.  The first closing I was to handle for him, and the clock was ticking away.  Three weeks out, Mr. Crotchety-at-law asked me to remind him in a few days to do the title search, so I did.  Two weeks out, I reminded him again.  One week out and on the third reminder, his response was this: "Young lady, I know those sellers - known them longer than you've been alive.  They're good people and keep good business.  There is nothing wrong with the title on that property."  I could only assume that he simply wasn't going to do the title search.  Did he charge for a title search?  Well, ya' know?!   Now, before you go calling me an attorney basher, just know that he was the exception to the rule.  Out of all the attorneys I have worked for, he was the only one who ever practiced that way.  All I could think was, "What if Mr. Upstanding Seller got sued and had a judgment on that property?  These poor buyers!"  I was young and inexperienced, not to mention completely dependent upon my paycheck, so I didn't question his actions.    

    *Reason Number Two:  Hope I get all of the details on this correct, but the gist is this:  One of our company's agents recently had buyers receive a $2500 property tax notice on a cash purchase - no mortgage.  Buyers called closing attorney and asked him to fix it.  "No problem," says closing attorney, "I have copies of the paid tax bill right in the file, faxed to me prior to closing by none other than the Treasurer's Office."  "Must be a mistake or something."  Attorney calls Treasurer's Office and explains their mistake.  Treasurer says, "Doesn't matter who made the mistake, the buyer still owes the bill.  When they purchased the property, they purchased all liens and debts related to that property."  A judge also made the same ruling.  Wasn't the attorney's fault, so his E & O was screaming, "No way! We did our homework."  Long story short, the smart Realtor/Buyer's Agent had highly recommended that the buyer purchase owner's title insurance even though there was no mortgage - so no lender's coverage.  Thankfully, they listened!  The title insurance covered the tax debt. 

    *Reason Number Three Buyers Need to Get Owner's Title:  Lender's title only covers - guess who - yup, the Lender.  With title insurance company policies being so vastly different and fine print changing all the time, Buyers need their own good coverage.

     Do any of you Rainers have your own title insurance stories explaining the benefit or otherwise?  I would love to hear about them. 

 The Clarendon County, South Carolina market has weathered the storm and is holding steady.  Has it been a tough year? Sure - but we are resilient people who are not falling for the "Chicken Little" theory. 

My personal production has not been near what it was last year; however, in looking at the overall numbers and comparing the figures from last year at this time, there has not been a great deal of change in the overall market. Luckily, when other areas of the country were booming and overbuilding, our area remained steady and careful not to create an overabundance in inventory with new construction homes.  The builders in our area made calculated decisions about their new construction planning, and as a result, they are still in business!  If you are interested in relocating/retiring to our area, NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR MOVE!  Prices have adjusted thirty percent from last year and activity is now starting to increase.  If you are looking for a waterfront or lake area home, now is the time to invest.  Although our state tax laws have changed, we are still very competitive and reasonable with our tax base.  Here is a brief overview of our activity:

As of today's date, we have 457 residential listings.  This time last year we had 552.

Sept - Oct '08:                                                                         Sept - Oct '07:

New Listings This month:  40                                   New Listings for month:  86

Avg List Price:    $137,000                                       Avg List Price:  $155,200

Pending/Under Contract this month: 19                    Pending/U Contract for month:  19

Sold this month:  25                                              Sold for month:  36

Avg Sold Price this month: $121,000                        Avg Sold Price for month: $152,700

If you have been contemplating making a move to our area or invest in a future retirement home, I would be happy to help you find what you are looking for.  Prices are more reasonable than ever.  I am a full time Realtor specializing in waterfront and lake area residential homes.  Take a look at our active listings on my website:  www.manningscrealty.com  I look forward to serving you.

Celina Gleason, Realtor, Million Dollar Producer

Direct Cell:  (803) 473-6002

I want everyone in the ActiveRain industry to see this guy's face.  This joker shot a young lady execution style in the dry cleaners just feet away from my real estate office in my wonderful, sleepy little town.  He INTENDED to kill her, but thankfully, the bullet only mushroomed at the base of her skull.  Miracle?  I'd say that is the understatement of the Century!  Not one artery was hit, not one major nerve was damaged - not even a crack in her skull!  The most damage he did to her was to her psyche - and to ours, as her hometown family.

Manning is the greatest town.  We are a farming community with a fantastic Lake (Lake Marion) and quite a draw for retirees because of our golf courses and wonderful climate.  I'm guessing this guy found his way to our town by the I-95 corridor and raped us of something sacred- our peace of mind. 

This brave young victim was recently interviewed on the Today Show on NBC, talking about her horrible experience and featuring the monster who made her lie on her face and shot her in the back of the head.  He didn't HAVE to shoot her, but he did.  He only robbed the cleaners of a minimal amount of money, showing no regard at all for human life.   My goal in this is to simply get his face out in as many cities and small towns as possible.  He needs to be caught before he takes another life.  If he shot one person in the back of the head without any struggle or resistance, he will do it again.  Look at him long and hard, and be careful with walk-ins in your offices.  If he looks familiar, WILL YOU PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES IN YOUR TOWN?!  Please post this in your offices (especially if you are along the I-95 corridor.)

     Isn't it TIME you thought about a great place to retire? Consider our beautiful City, Manning, South Carolina.  Stroll with me for a moment, will you?  The smiles are plentiful and the friends are waiting on the porch with a tall glass of sweet iced tea and a swing with your name on it!

   If porch visiting is too laid back for you, there are plenty of other activities to get you going!  Manning has so much to offer.   You'll love the choices; from fishing our nationally known and lovely Lake Marion, to our fantastic golfing, where you can Golf-til-You-Drop! This part of the Lowcountry is practically a Hunter's Paradise!  

  I have lived in Manning for almost fourteen years now and I absolutely love it!  I moved from a much larger city and, at first, thought I would be sorry... I was! Sorry that I didn't do it years earlier!  After my return from my first downtown shopping experience my husband asked me how it went.  I chuckled and told him I was waiting any moment for Sheriff Andy Taylor and Opie to round the corner!  The people really are known for great southern hospitality.   

  We have the real estate inventory you need.  We have upscale gated communities and very nice subdivisions.  If medical services are a concern, let me put your worries to rest!  Our hospital is planning yet another expansion right now.  Even if you need a specialist that we don't have locally, we are one hour or less in any direction from major cities and major medical providers. 

  If you would like more information about our wonderful area, please give me a call and I will be happy to mail or email you an informative packet.  I would love to introduce you to my beautiful home!

Celina Gleason, Realtor:  www.manningscrealty.com   Direct Cell Number: (803) 473-6002

AgentOwned Realty

I have spent the last few days literally in a knot, worrying about and praying for the poor people of the Gulf Coast.  My memory is not short about these horrible acts of nature's fury as my mind goes back to the chaos and destruction Hurricane Hugo sent our way in 1989.  That dreaded knot in my stomach is forming again as a result of the otherwise sweet name of Hanna.  Our area was without power for almost a month after Hugo.  Can you imagine?

Amazing how quickly the unfortunate shoe on a group of people can be placed upon your own foot.  I'm not ashamed of begging in advance for your prayers for our area.  Our market economy was already in a state of near crisis and now... Hanna. 

Just goes to show you that in life, some days you are the Pigeon, flying around without a care in the world, depositing where you wish; and some days you are the STATUE, receiving those deposits!  If you can't chuckle about the bad times, what can you do?

On a serious note, will you please pray for our fine folks in South Carolina?   

I had to break the confusing news to my daughter, who by nature, is a big animal lover and someone who is always ready to help.  We both watched that little butterfly struggle and writhe for more than an hour, trying to exit it's cocoon and emerge into it's new world.  She could not understand why I was so uncaring and unwilling to aide that poor little creature.  "Mama, it's stuck - help it!"

I carefully chose my words in explaining that "helping" the poor thing was giving it a death sentence for the days to come.  I stressed to her that in the struggle, these delicate beings develop the strength they will need to survive.  If they receive "help" they won't be strong enough in the days to come and will ultimately die.  Finally, her five year old mind wrapped around the concept and she backed off and began to cheer the creature on. 

I know firsthand that all of these new, seemingly rigid, mortgage guidelines can be totally frustrating; however, I can't help but think of the butterfly's cocoon.  For far too many years, many buyers have received detrimental "help" and have found themselves unable to survive financially as a direct result of that assistance. 

Sure, it's stressful and annoying trying to obtain financing in this already tough market, but ultimately, it will establish a healthier overall housing economy, with fewer future foreclosures.  The best example for us Realtors right now is nature.  Nature adapts and so can we!

If you are buying or selling your home in South Carolina, please consider my services.  Even if you are relocating outside our beautiful Palmetto State, I can assist you in locating a hard working Realtor for you.  Remember:  Timing is everything in Real estate! 

       Celina Gleason, Realtor - Million Dollar Producer with AgentOwned Realty of Manning

       Direct Cell:  (803) 473-6002  *   Email:  Celina@sc.rr.com    *  www.manningscrealty.com

Prissy was her name, and she taught me more about people than I ever learned from a human.  Prissy was a chihuahua my husband just HAD to have.  I wasn't really warm and fuzzy about the whole inside dog thing, much less, the inside dog that looks like a rat thing.  Anyway, one day Prissy was visiting my father-in-law's chihuahua while we were on a mini vacation and low and behold, got herself pregnant.  GREAT! To say that we disliked each other was a major understatement.  She already knew she didn't have my favor and with my husband being her favorite possession, I wasn't her fave either.  This being her first litter and compounding the situation, I knew with her tiny size, she may have some trouble in the birth.  So now I'm nursing this little demon.

All night long, my husband and I took turns checking on her when the birth process finally started.  We decided we would get back up around 4:00 a.m. so we set the clock, but it malfunctioned and did not alarm.  At five I woke up on my own and ran to check on her.  As luck would have it, she had given birth to all four puppies and all were dead, except one.  Each dead puppy had what appeared to be a puncture would at the back of the head.  I thought she panicked in the birth and bit them, causing them to die.  As soon as she saw me, she started the most demonic growling I'd ever heard from her.  I knew I wasn't her favorite but this was a bit much.  I thought to myself, "You little devil... you've killed your own babies!"  As you can imagine, she REALLY lost all my sympathies.  She wouldn't let anyone (not even my husband) go near that live puppy, EXCEPT me.  What do you know?  I gave her the bare minimum treatment to get her back to health, but no sympathy.  After all, she had killed her own puppies, and what normal animal does that? Time rocked on and her one live puppy thrived, but Prissy never seemed the same.  She would still growl furiously if anyone but me came near that puppy... strange.  If I didn't know any better, I thought she was depressed.  I later did some research and found that her puppies had a birth defect.  She had not killed her babies after all... in fact, she was depressed about their deaths.  Boy did I feel like a piece of dirt!  After I beat myself up for a couple of hours, I went to Prissy and had a long, human heart to dog heart talk.  I know, I know - she's just a dog, right?  I just felt that I let her down right when she needed me the most. 

You know, sometimes we do that with people we are working with, or our own family, or a neighbor in need.   Someone once said, "Hurting people hurt other people."  Without looking deeper, we react at the surface when someone lashes out.  Maybe it's a homeowner who is about to lose their home.  Maybe it is a loss mitigations rep who's up to their eyeballs in short sales and looming foreclosures and we are the tenth person to chew them up and spit them out in a given day about why our closing is being delayed.  It has been over ten years since Prissy had her puppies, and there is not on instance that I see another dog that I don't think about her valuable lesson.   I think Erma Bombeck once said, "Guilt - It's the Gift that Keeps On Giving."  So, let me save you some future guilt.  Today, when someone lashes out at you for what you think is no reason, look a little deeper into their situation.  Don't rush to judgment.  They just might be your Prissy.