Greater Columbia, Chapin, Irmo, Lexington and Lake Murray.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hilton Head Island Real Estate - Time to Invest?

NOW may be the time to buy that 2nd home or investment property at the Beach!

My wife and I have owned a condo at Hilton Head Island for approximately 12 years and have been very satisfied with our getaway at a lovely beach destination. We do our own rental program and our rental income has been very good. Our condo is located at Hilton Head Island Beach & Tennis Resort. The resort is an oceanfront resort and our condo has an excellent ocean view. The resort has excellent amenities including an oceanfront pool and a nice tennis complex.

Now is a great time to buy as prices have not been lower than in the last 3-5 several years. Inventory is plentiful and sellers are ready to negotiate prices. For example, prices at our resort, start in the low $100s for a one bedroom condo. Also available: 1 bedroom oceanfront and oceanview, 2 bedroom oceanfront and oceanview and 2 bedroom "tennis" villas.

My Hilton Head Island real estate buddies, Johnny & Mary Hiers, are available for real estate consultation for ANY real estate on Hilton Head Island (or off island such as Bluffton and Sun City). We have personally found Hilton Head Island to be a wonderfully relaxing beach getaway destination! Call Johnny at (800) 717-7886 or visit his website at: http://www.thehiersteam.com/ . Be sure to let Johnny know that Mel Coker sent you.
If you have questions about my experience with beach investment ownership or wish to investigate other areas (such as Myrtle Beach), please call Mel Coker at: (803) 749-5800.









Monday, April 28, 2008

Community Spotlight - Belmont Townes


I recently visited Belmont Townes in the West Columbia area. Belmont Townes is a new and very nice townhome community with a short commute to Lexington or Columbia.
These homes are affordable and quality built by Hallmark Homes. Homes are currently priced between $116,500 and $120,000. It's SMART to buy your own home rather than pay rent!

Belmont Townes is conveniently located about half way between Lexington and downtown Columbia. Also located within 7 minutes of Blemont Townes: 2 Interstates (I-26 and I-20), Lexington Pavilion (includes Target), Lexington Medical Center, Congaree Vista, Wal-Mart Supercenter, and Columbia Metropolitan Airport. This great community has a great location!

Features include: dual owner's suites with private baths and closets, study/office, gas fireplace, 9 foot smooth ceilings on main level, and a private patio. A very reasonable $45 per month regime fee includes all of your landscaping maintenance. These new townhomes are energy efficient too.

BUY a Belmont Townes home and SAVE (build equity with significant tax benefits), SAVE (gasoline) and SAVE (electric bills).

Call Mel Coker NOW for a free and no-obligation tour of Belmont Townes. You'll be impressed! If you decide to BUY with Mel Coker as your buyer's representative (free representation), I will provide a $200 Lowe's shopping certificate at closing. Call Mel Coker at (803) 318-2007, or if you stop by Belmont Townes, please be sure to tell Jordan Hammond that Realtor Mel Coker sent you out.

Belmont Townes: Site Plan Floor Plan

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Mel Coker's Websites

A Recap of Mel Coker's Websites!

I've been writing my own HTML and owning my own domains since September 1995. That's almost the frontier days of the Internet. My websites have won recognition from various Realtor magazines, including a feature in REALTOR magazine in April 2000. Also, my real estate websites have led to 210 Internet related real estate closings. THANK YOU to my Internet referred clients!

Columbia Real Estate:

Mel's Primary Columbia, SC real estate website - launched in January 1998

Click here for Mel Coker's RE/MAX website - HomeFinder MLS search feature

MelCoker.com * Meet Mel Coker Virtual Tour * About Mel Coker * All Real Estate Agents Are Not The Same

Columbia, SC:

Columbia "A to Z" * Lake Murray * Columbia weather * Mel's Home Page (great links and Internet search features) * Fort Jackson

Vacations:

We own a rental condo at Hilton Head Island and can offer assistance and suggestions for other vacations including Myrtle Beach and Cancun. Just contact us!

Our Hilton Head Island condo * Hilton Head Island * Myrtle Beach * Best Caribbean.info

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Mel Coker starts CFL / Energy Savings Initiative

Use Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Bulbs to Save Money and Help the Environment!
I have started a local/national energy savings initiative involving compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs. CFL bulbs save money on electric utility bills and are good for the environment. It will also help reduce our energy dependency on other countries and on fossil fuels.

Benefits of using ENERGY STAR CFL BULBS:
  • Use 66-80% LESS energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light, and last up to 10 times longer
  • Save $30 or more in energy costs over each bulb’s lifetime
  • Generate 70 percent less heat, so they’re safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

I have personally replaced 14 old fashioned standard incandescent bulbs in my home with new technology CFL's. A 60 watt incandescent bulb can be replaced with a 13 watt CFL. I bought about 3 dozen bulbs at Sam's. Wal-Mart also has great prices on these bulbs in multi-packs.

Recently, I started the first “One Billion Bulbs” group in South Carolina. The One Billion Bulbs initiative has a worldwide goal of replacing one billion standard incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Join myOne Billion Bulbs group to learn more about CFL energy savings and register your light bulb replacements. It's FREE! Group reporting encourages participation!


Sign-up today to record your energy savings and let’s compete with North Carolina and Georgia. Both states have much higher levels of membership and recorded savings. North Carolina has 14 "One Billion Bulbs" groups; 106 members and 1215 bulb replacements. Georgia has 10 groups; 104 members and 2924 bulb replacements. South Carolina ONLY has 3 groups (mine is one of these and the first in the state); 5 members and 32 bulb replacements. Please help by signing up in my group.

Anyone (from Richland, Lexington, Saluda and Newberry counties) that signs up in my group through December 25th is automatically eligible for a drawing in December for 2 $25 dinner certificates to be given away.

Mel's One Billion Bulbs Group - Click to sign-up free

Learn more: Mel's CFL web page * Press release to media for Mel's CFL Initiative