July 22, 2008 To:  Columbia SC Homeowners and Irmo SC Homeowners From: David A. Patterson, Broker & Certified Residential Specialist Re:   Selling Homes is My Business Dear Midlands Homeowner: I want to express my appreciation for your visit to this web page and giving me an opportunity to discuss the sale of your home with you! If you are willing to share some of your personal time with me, I would love to interview for the job of SELLING YOUR HOME! I will use my allotted time with you to address your current real estate goals and personal concerns and educate you on the current real estate market in and around your neighborhood. Furthermore, I will share with you my recommendations on the criteria that should be used in hiring a real estate agent. No matter the outcome, I am committed... 07/21/2008

The Most Expensive Homes in Columbia SC Real Estate While I love telling all of you about Columbia SC Real Estate, I thought it would be fun to be just a bit gluttonous.  To desire what some wish to, to explore the human condition.  Today I am going to write about the most expensive houses in the Columbia SC Real Estate Market.  Of course, a good number of them are Lake Murray Real Estate.  That is completely obvious.  Well, lets do it! Time for some fun. While there is one more expensive than all the others, the pictures do not do it justice.  That will be a topic for another day. They were taken with a normal, film camera and then scanned, yes, scanned, on a low DPI scanner.  They are deplorable.  Our number two most expensive house in the Columbia SC Real Estate is Lake Murray Real E... 07/10/2008

Buying Columbia SC Real Estate and Calling on Yard Signs I get the call from a Columbia SC Real Estate Buyer all the time, "How much is the house listed at 123 Main Street".  Of course, I will tell you.  But I also want to know a bit more.  I ask things like, "Is your house already listed".  The majority answer is NO! One question, If your house is not listed, why are you worried about looking at other houses?  This is of course assuming that you are not able to carry 2 mortgage payments for a good long while.  If you are, please call me! Lets think about this.  You, a Columbia SC Real Estate buyer, wants to go look at properties in Quail Valley, Ascot, or any neighborhood.  You find the perfect house.  Nothing will compare to this house.  Now, lets put your home on the market.  By the ... 07/10/2008

Wildewood Neighborhood Columbia SC Real Estate Homes for Sale As many of my readers know, I absolutely love talking about the different Columbia SC Real Estate neighborhoods.  Columbia real estate is blessed to have many great neighborhoods, all over the city, to choose from.    Today I will be talking about a great neighborhood in North East Columbia called Wildewood.  Wildewood is a stunning neighborhood in Northeast Columbia SC comprised of several different sections or phases.  Within Wildewood, you have homes from the high $200,000 mark all the way to nearly $3 million.  Needless to say, there is something for everyone in this developement. The original project was conceived by Heath Manning and Donnie Boyd who developed each section at a time. The total WildeWood community now cov... 07/10/2008

Columbia SC Foreclosure Deals Alright everyone.  I can't say it enough.  Now is the time to buy Columbia SC Real Estate Foreclosures.  I just finished doing a search on some homes that had caught my eye. Some great investment properties, for Columbia SC Real Estate investors or owner occupants, are currently on the market.  How about a house in the Waterfall Neighborhood of Irmo. Over 2100 square feet consisting of 4 beds and 2.5 baths.  You can get it for around $160,000 with the seller paying all closing costs.  This Irmo Real Estate home is easily worth $200,000.   If that doesn't tickle your fancy, do you like Lake Murray Real Estate?  I hope so.  4200 square feet of a Lake Murray Waterfront Real Estate home for under $600,000.  I love that house. Over in Irmo, 1800 square feet in C... 07/10/2008

At times, it can be very difficult to find information online about movie theaters and showtimes. Therefore, this is my attempt to save everyone from "Internet Surfing Frustration". Here is a list of the most popular theaters and cinemas. If you'd like one to be included in this list, please send me an email. By the way..............NO SMOKING..................TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES........................ENJOY!!!   Regal Columbiana Grande Stadium 14 - 1250 Bower Parkway, Columbia SC  29212 Regal Sandhill Stadium 16 - 450 Town Center Place, Columbia SC  29229 AMC Dutch Square 14 - 800 Bush River Road, Columbia SC  29210 Carmike 14 - 122 Afton Court, Columbia SC  29212 Regal Cinema 7 - 3400 Forest Drive, Columbia SC  29204 Carmike Wynnsong 10 - 5320 Forest Drive (This is the closest mo... 07/05/2008

Over the past six months, I have experienced a significant amount of traffic on my website and blogs. After doing some analysis of the data, I decided to share with you the 10 Most Popular Neighborhoods with homes for sale throughout Columbia SC. Please Note -- Crime Statistics, demographics and other common questions about a neighborhood did NOT have an impact on these rankings. These are the ten neighborhoods that have been researched on a consistent basis at www.DavidPatterson.net and www.ThePattersonFiles.info Click each link to preview current Homes for Sale in that neighborhood.                                                               1. Lake Carolina 2. The Summit (click here for The Summit Homeowners Association) 3. Woodlake 4. Turtle Creek (click here for The Turtle Creek ... 07/04/2008

Dangers of Overpricing your Columbia SC Real Estate Home When thinking of selling, obviously the price of your Columbia SC Real Estate house will come into question and come into your mind. People will first think that they should price their house a little high so there is a bit of 'wiggle room' in your Columbia SC Real Estate home. That trick is old, has been played completely, and these days, buyer's have too many options to play. If you still decide to price your house above current market value, here is an idea of some of the pitfalls you may face in selling your Columbia SC Real Estate home. Fewer Offers on your Columbia SC Real Estate home: Overpriced properties tend to discourage buyers from making an offer. The difference between market value and your list price tends to discou... 06/26/2008

Columbia SC Real Estate NO MONEY DOWN! Did "No Money Down" Catch your attention. I hope so! In the Columbia SC Real Estate Market, we have all heard about how 100% financing has disappeared. In a large part it has. That is why you need a good Columbia SC Real Estate Agent and Mortgage broker! The Nehemiah Program allows for you to put no money down on Columbia SC Real Estate! Both Columbia SC Real Estate First Time Home buyers and repeat home buyers can use Nehemiah. So how does it work? Find a house. Get an FHA Loan Get the seller to contribute up to 6% in gift funds through Nehemiah This covers your 3% down payment and closing costs Move into your Columbia SC Real Estate home with no money down Pretty much Nehemiah allows for the seller to contribute up to 6% of the purchase price whi... 06/26/2008

The Columbia SC Housing Authority (CHA) will provide down payment assistance, gap financing and closing costs up to the maximum allowable assistance of $28,000. This may include an allowable amount up to $3,000 in closing costs and up to $25,000 down payment assistance as gap financing for qualified applicants. Any borrower receiving assistance from the Second Mortgage Program must reside in the purchased property for at least 10 years to earn 100% forgiveness of the second mortgage.  The outstanding balance must be repaid if the borrower fails to abide by the terms of the agreement, goes into foreclosure, refinances or sells the property. Any dwelling unit for which assistance is granted under this program is subject to HUD Housing Quality Standards and must pass such inspection by a C... 06/24/2008

.....To Buy or Not to Buy..... Before starting to tackle today's "To Do" list, I wanted to query my Blog Subscriptions Dashboard, read some posts and make some comments. It didn't take too long before I came across Kim Southern's most recent post entitled Home Not-So-Sweet Home. This name was taken from an article written by New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Paul Krugman. From my personal point-of-view, it is a very thought provoking, blood warming piece of writing. Unfortunately, my personality would not allow me to submit minimum comments and continue my planned day. Hence, I'm going to share my thoughts on Mr. Krugman's article. (Kim..........I blame you for delaying my day! - smile) One of the first questions asked and statements made by Mr. Krugman was... "How many people should own h... 06/23/2008

Quail Valley Columbia SC Real Estate Neighborhood Review Posted on June 7, 2008 by hunterjackson  Columbia SC Real Estates’ own neighborhood Quail Valley will be the subject of this post. Many people know Quail Valley. It is a well established neighborhood located between Harbison Blvd and Lake Murray Blvd running the length of Saint Andrews Road. Currently in the Columbia SC Real Estate Market, there are 7 properties in “Active” standing within the Quail Valley Neighborhood. These properties range from $175k to $239k. Quail Valley was mostly built in the Late 70’s through the Late 80’s, though there are some new custom builds currently going on. There are many Brick Colonials as well as many other types of houses including Charleston Houses. The average house in Quail Valley is right a... 06/17/2008

Columbia SC Real Estate FHA Times are a changing Posted on May 31, 2008 by hunterjackson |  Big changes are coming… Currently, the FHA has a ‘one size fits all’ premium structure that charges borrowers 1.50 percent of the loan balance upfront and .50 percent annually regardless of their credit standing. But the FHA felt this approach did not treat borrowers equitably and could put their insurance fund at risk. That’s why under their new guidelines scheduled to begin July 14, 2008, the FHA’s upfront mortgage insurance premium will range from 1.25 percent to 2.25 percent with borrowers still needing to adhere to the FHA’s strict underwriting criteria. By charging different premiums, the FHA will be able to operate like most other insurance companies. This will allow them to serve more peo... 06/06/2008

Keep Your Patience in Columbia SC Real Estate Posted on May 30, 2008 by hunterjackson |  So I have this client. A great client I might add. Absolutely the type of client you want. They contacted me off this Columbia SC Real Estate Blog. They were Pre approved! They knew that I offered deals on properties. They knew that I could find them the perfect house and have instant equity the day they closed. They are great. I love this type of client. Better yet, they email. When they have questions, they ask. I found them the perfect Quail Valley Real Estate Home that they read about on my blog. They looked at it, saw its charm, and we put in an offer…then a counter offer, and another…another…another offer, a counter here, a counter there, a counter everywhere. 5 weeks later we have an accepted... 06/06/2008

With any move, you are faced with creating and resolving a TO-DO List. Depending upon the task, the list can go from a simple list that can be written on a Post-it® Note to a season-long project with an implementation plan in Microsoft Access. My recent move to Keller Williams Columbia SC has required me to update my four-year old website. Hence, updates were more than overdue. I am proud to announce the relaunch of my very first website www.DavidPatterson.net The real estate market is always changing and is local in nature. Hence, if you are interested in a realistic review of our local market, you need a Midlands real estate professional that is in tune with the happenings throughout our area. For those that are familiar with the doom and gloom of the national media, you'd be surprise... 05/26/2008

http://iblogcolumbia.com/2008/05/22/columbia-sc-real-estate-transparency/   Columbia SC Real Estate Transparency is all the buzz these days.  In other markets, it is more than the buzz…it’s a fever of sorts.  You may be asking yourself, “What is Real Estate Transparency.”  Funny you should think that…as transparency is what this article is about. I heard a great explanation in real world terms today on Real Estate Transparency.  On Real Estate Radio USA, which I spoke about Columbia SC Real Estate about a month ago, Barry talked about Real Estate Transparency.  He used this example: When you call Terminex over to take care of your bug problem, they give you a guide which clearly states what they will do, what it will cost, what it covers, what they are responsible for, and their warrant... 05/22/2008

What does Steve Krug, author of Don't Make Me Think, the O'Jays and the website www.RealEstateInTheMidlands.info have in common? They all believe in giving the people what they want! With little fanfare, Columbia SC real estate professionals have listened to the public and real estate consumers and have launched www.realestateinthemidlands.info The real estate market is always changing and is local in nature. Hence, if you are interested in the real statistics of our local market, you need Midlands real estate professionals that are in tune with the happenings throughout metropolitan Columbia, SC. If you are familiar with the doom and gloom of the national media, you'd be surprised about the real health of the metropolitan Columbia SC real estate market. This site will keep you updated ... 05/20/2008

One of the most common questions that are asked by South Carolina real estate Customers AND clients of other real estate licensees is "Can I fire my real estate agent?" That was not asked of me directly on this day. However, the following is a question that was asked by a Columbia, SC home buyer..... "I have seen many properties with a real estate agent. If I am not happy with this agent as I feel they are not working for me the way I feel they need to be, or helping me as much as I would like in negotiations, am I allowed to get another agent and see the same properties and what are the ramifications if I chose to do so?" What was my answer? Dear Home Buyer: If you visit my blog, this will give you a detailed explanation of your rights in relationship to South Carolina Real Estate Age... 05/15/2008

THE COLUMBIA HOUSING MARKET IS DIFFERENT:  but since when is different bad?  I have had so many sellers and would-be sellers lament about the market being slow and housing prices going down.  NOT SO in the Columbia, SC market!!!  First of all, in the past two years, we did not inflate our pricing like other areas of the country.  We did not have massive "bidding wars" on houses.  Yes.  We did have somewhat of a seller's market in the 2005 housing boom, and even in to 2006 and early 2007.  The sellers that had a really sharp property, and an attractive price, were very likely to have more than one buyer. Thus, they got very close to their asking price, if not THE asking price.  Builders were especially spoiled during this time.  They were in a position of luxury where they could afford t... 05/14/2008

Greenhill Parish  418 Upland Trail Road This lovely 3300sqft 3 bedroom 2 and a half bath home located in Greenhill Parish just off of Spears Creek Church RD in Northeast Columbia is a must see. With hardwood floors, granite counter-tops, molding in the living-room, great-room, and dinning-room, this one has all the upgrades. Stop by the open-house  Sunday, May 18, 2008 and see this one for yourself. $439,900   __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com. For all your Columbia, SC real estate needs, please log onto www.jlboney.comor call JL Boney, III at 803-730-9601.     05/11/2008