South Carolina is a NICE Place to Live!

NICEST place to live?   May just be SOUTH CAROLINA.

A nice place to live?  South Carolina.  A rude place to live?  Ohio.   Marchex, an advertising technology company, conducted a survey of over 1/2 million phone calls to various customer service numbers.   Highlights and the lows:

South Carolina is #1 in courtesy (lots of "Thank you" and "Please")
Ohio is #1 in "Most Likely to Curse" AND #5 in "Least Courteous"

My unscientific BEST and WORST places to live based upon my analysis of this study:
BEST: South Carolina
Other nice places: Arizona, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia.
WORST: Ohio
Other crude places: New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennnessee

Ready to leave one of the CRUDE states (Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Tennessee)?    Contact Mel Coker when you're ready to move to Greater Columbia, South Carolina (Columbia, Lake Murray, Irmo, Chapin, Lexington) and mention "South Carolina is NICE" and you will receive a $500 Lowes Gift Card at closing (offer good December 7, 2013 thru December 31, 2014.

Lake Murray Sunset - Photo by Mel Coker

Mel Coker
Realtor - RE/MAX Metro Associates
Columbia, SC Real Estate

Where are the Greater Columbia Area Registered Sex Offenders?

So, where are the Greater Columbia (SC) registered sex offenders?
Everywhere, unfortunately.
And, they are everywhere in other places all over the USA too.

Recently, I saw an article that indicated the highest percentage of registered sex offenders  in the USA were in Arkansas.  This made me wonder how the various areas in Greater Columbia compared to each other.   Early in 2013, I had completed my 500th real estate closing, so I decided to list the top 14 zip codes by number of my closings (accounting for 88%) and then make comparisons.   All zip code areas analyzed were below the South Carolina average percentage and significantly below that of Arkansas.

One zip code, 29036, was significantly lower for the number of registered sex offenders than any of the other 13 zip codes.  The 29036 zip code is an area Northwest of Columbia and includes the town of Chapin, surrounding area and many homes on Lake Murray.   The four zip codes with the lowest percentages in my analysis were 29036, 29072, 29229 and 29073.

Two zip codes, 29045 and 29070, were significantly higher than other zip codes.  The four highest percentages for registered sex offenders in my analysis were 29045, 29070, 29170, 29016.

View the Analysis by Mel Coker HERE.

Resources for Sex Offender Registries:
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
CriminalPages.com
Safety Tips for Children

Created for information purposes only and to remind home buyers and homeowners of resources to check information related to this important topic.


Mel Coker
RE/MAX Metro Associates
To BUY or SELL in Greater Columbia, contact Mel Coker.
(803) 388-8011
Columbia, SC Real Estate

Change Your HOME HVAC Air Filters

The MOST simple and best return on value for home maintenance?
Regular changing of home air filters!

I change my home air filters quarterly:  March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31.
I use NORDICPURE Air/Furnace Filters.  The quality if as good or better as Filtrete and are priced much better with FREE shipping.  I use NordicPure brand filters with MERV rating of 8 to 12.

Order here with FREE shipping (minimum quantity of 6)

 
Go to the NordicPure page and click on AIR, then click on the left column for the size filter you need. As an example of pricing, 20x24x1 filters for MERV rating 10 are only $8.84 EACH when buying 6.   Similar quality filters for 3M brand are about double this price.

Change your home air filters regularly with high quality NordicPure filters!

We buy NordicPure AC filters!  Great pricing, free shipping and fast delivery.

Mel Coker changes filters quarterly

Mel Coker 
Columbia, SC Realtor
 RE/MAX Metro Associates

What is Your Home or Start Page?

A "COOLER" OR BETTER HOME (START) PAGE?
Get it from Mel Coker.

The first web page that I personally wrote HTML for was my own HOME page.  It was finished and posted to the World Wide Web way back on September 24, 1995.  That was over 18 years ago - in the very early days of the Internet.   And, that page is still there.

www.ColumbiaSouthCarolina.com/links.html

Check out my personal home/start page above.  It's got most everything you need on one clean page:  Google search box (and Bing, Wikipedia, Amazon) and the best links for news, weather, sports and financial.   Also, there is more: South Carolina links, travel, health & fitness, government and even my newest link for Diffen - compare almost anything (under the cool section).  All the BEST links are on this one page.

Please take a look at my HOME page and consider making it YOUR HOME PAGE.

Mel Coker's Home Page

Mel Coker
Columbia Realtor
RE/MAX Metro Associates 

Veterans Day 2013

TODAY IS VETERANS DAY!
This federal holiday was initially known as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I on November 11, 1917. The holiday officially began in 1926 and in 1954 the holiday name was changed to Veterans Day.  

PLEASE take 4 minutes to watch this video:  I FOUGHT FOR YOU

History of Veterans Day website

Veterans Day is intended to thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to United States national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty. PLEASE BE SURE TO THANK A VETERAN FOR THEIR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!

Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor


 

Recommendation: Bugman Pest Elimination

BUGMAN PEST ELIMINATION: Recommended by Mel Coker

I have recommended Bugman Pest Elimination Company for termite inspection letters during my entire career in Columbia SC real estate.  They also did the termite pest control treatment for my new home construction about 10 years ago and currently perform my quarterly pest control treatment too.  I can easily recommend this company.

Bugman was established in 1983 and is a full service, locally owned and family operated pest elimination company.  The company is owned by Steve and Karen Borden.  Visit the website to get the 15% off ANNUAL SERVICE coupon.

Call Bugman today and tell them that Mel Coker referred you.
Call (803) 951-3111. 

CLICK for the Bugman Pest Elimination Website

 

Bugman - Recommended by Mel Coker

 Mel Coker
Columbia RE/MAX Realtor
(803) 388-8011 
 

RE/MAX Balloon - 35 years old in October 2013

The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon is 35 Years Old in October 2013



Ready to BUY or SELL in Columbia, SC?
Contact: Mel Coker RE/MAX Metro Associates
 (803) 932-2144
  Website | FACEBOOK

What's MOVING You? Retirement in Columbia, SC

What's MOVING You?   Retirement?
Call Mel Coker for Columbia, South Carolina real estate including: Lake Murray, Lexington, Chapin, Irmo and Northeast Columbia.
Call Mel at: (803) 388-8011.
Web:  www.BuyAColumbiaHome.com

Columbia is a great place to call home for retirement:

• Nice weather
• Friendly people
• Reasonable home values and taxes
• Significant Tax Breaks for retirees
• Lake Murray
• Golf Courses
• Excellent Medical Care Facilities

Mel Coker - Columbia, SC Realtor