Tips to Sell Your Home in a Slow Market

HOME SELLING 101:

Selling in a buyer's market, with an oversupply of homes and/or falling home values, does not occur often, but certainly presents challenges. My top ten tips listed here should help you and most tips are applicable in any home selling environment. Homes SELL because they exhibit great VALUE!

1. Prepare yourself for market conditions - Be prepared for fewer showings and longer "days on the market"
2. Make a good first impression - That first few seconds in front of a home can make or break a possible sale
3. Prepare your home for showing - make your home look like Mr. & Mrs. Clean live there
4. Hire an inspector - Very few sellers do it, but, a home pre-inspection may be of great assistance to you in determining what's wrong and what needs to be repaired in your home
5. Make repairs - Make repairs that are profitable or will be necessary for the sale of your home (for example, the Buyer will need to have "clean" heating & air and termite inspections
6. Special touches inside the home - eliminate odors, add seasonal touches or flowers, turn on lights or open blinds for showings, etc.
7. Select the best selling agent - Your choice of a Realtor IS important! Call Mel Coker.
8. Set a competitive price - Your home is in a competition... to SELL! An example... if you have a home to sell at $175,000 (close to the average home price in Columbia), you have 524 other homes for sale within 10% of $175,000 (that's just in the most sought after school district areas too). That's a lot of competition!
9. Offer a home warranty - buyer's agents will typically negotiate for this anyway and a home warranty gives buyers additional confidence in a real estate transaction
10. Be flexible and patient - use feedback and suggestions from your Realtor to make adjustments

Click Here for Mel Coker's Home Selling Tips web page (you can also obtain a Lowes 10% off coupon)

Contact Mel Coker when you're ready to sell your home in the Columbia area. I would be happy to offer a FREE market analysis, answer questions and explain my extensive marketing plan. Your choice of a Realtor IS important!

Internet: www.ColumbiaSouthCarolina.com/homes

Telephone: (803) 749-5800

email: melcoker@remax.net

Veterans Day - Columbia SC

I attended the Veterans Day parade in Columbia yesterday. There was a great crowd on hand to honor our veterans. I took a number of pictures and I also stopped by Memorial Park in downtown Columbia.

CLICK HERE for a link to my Veterans Day photo album.

More Links:

Columbia Veterans Day

Military in South Carolina

Charleston Day Trip

Want a suggestion for a great day trip or weekend trip to make from Columbia? Try Charleston!

Barbara and I went on a spur of the moment day trip yesterday (Friday, November 7th) to Charleston. Our primary focus was to visit Patriots Point and the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. Click here to visit our photo tour.

The USS Yorktown (CV-10) was the tenth aircraft carrier to serve in the United States Navy. Yorktown received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in World War II. Yorktown also earned 5 battle stars for service off Vietnam and recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and capsule (December 1968). Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970. In 1975, Yorktown was towed from Bayonne, NJ to Charleston to become the centerpiece of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

Patriots Point tour exhibits include: USS Yorktown, historic planes and flight deck, USS Laffey, USS Clamagore, USS Ingham, Congressional Medal of Honor Museum, and the Vietnam Support Base.

Patriots Point website

We toured all of Patriots Point and walked some of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River. My pedometer indicated that we walked 5.4 miles in our Patriots Point and Cooper River bridge walking!

After leaving Patriots Point, we headed over to the market area in Charleston on Meeting Street. We had a great seafood meal at Hymans Seafood (highly recommended!) and walked and shopped in the Market Area.

Hymans Seafood
Charleston Visitors Bureau
Ravenel Bridge over Cooper River

We recommend Charleston highly! Visit soon.

Click here for our Photo Tour

Veterans Day in Columbia, SC

Veterans Day is Tuesday, November 11th!

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.

Veterans Day is largely 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!

The City of Columbia will observe the annual Veterans Day Parade on November 11th in downtown Columbia. This parade is one of the largest Veterans Day parades in the United States.

I've created a webpage with information for the Veterans Day parade and to honor our veterans. Please check the page out as it contains other information such as: Veterans Day links, pictures from our Memorial Park in Columbia, SC and the name of America's most decorated soldier from ANY international/foreign war (HINT: it's not Alvin York or Audie Murphy and he WAS born in South Carolina!).

CLICK HERE for the Veterans Day website from Mel Coker

Click Here for: Military in South Carolina

The Flight Deck... Great Food, Great Fun in Lexington

Flight Deck Restaurant is my favorite place to eat in Lexington.

My friend, Ted Stambolitis, owns the restaurant and The Shoppes at Flight Deck. The restaurant is easy to find at the intersection of U.S. Highways 1 and 378 in downtown Lexington, South Carolina. The address (for your GPS) is: 109 Old Chapin Road, Lexington.

Enjoy great meals and desserts in a family friendly atmosphere. You will also enjoy the aviation theme throughout the restaurant. It's really a tour through the history of aviation. Your children will enjoy seeing King Kong and eating from the "Little Flying Aces" menu specials. There's a really large group area for celebrations, church socials or just friends getting together. Call (803) 957-5990 for your reservation.

I get by as often as possible at lunch to enjoy the Blue Plate Special! It IS "special." You will get a delicious entree, two vegetables, iced tea, and dessert bar or cookie. All of this is only $6.95 and it's served Monday - Saturday for lunch AND dinner. Of course, there's much more on the great menu. Click here to see the menu.

For a great meal, excellent service and and the fun aviation theme, please stop by soon to enjoy the Flight Deck Restaurant. Be sure to say hello to the ever present and friendly owner, Ted.

Flight Deck Restaurant website

The Flight Deck Restuarant is the anchor for the Shoppes at Flight Deck. So, while you're there to enjoy a delicious meal, be sure to do some shopping! Designed with architecture of the bygone era of the early 1900’s. The Shoppes At Flight Deck -“the place for one stop shopping AND dining."

Shoppes at Flight Deck website

OPEN HOUSE - Night Harbor at Lake Murray

Open House this Sunday, November 2nd
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Night Harbor at Lake Murray

I'm having an Open House at 2 NEW all brick homes in Night Harbor subdivision at Lake Murray. These homes, quality built by Lexington Development and Builders, are priced to sell quickly!

Directions: I-26 West to Chapin (exit 91); turn left on Columbia Avenue towards Chapin; at stoplight (at U.S. Highway 76), continue straight onto Amicks Ferry Road; continue approximately 6 miles; turn left on Green Meadow Drive; left on Night Harbor Drive; left on Daymark Drive.

The builder has already paid the initial fee for a boat slip for each home in the Night Harbor community marina. This is a great deal for a Lake Murray access home. In addition to the marina in Night Harbor subdivision, there are tennis courts, a clubhouse and boat ramp.

Each home has custom features including: 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, beautiful hardwoods (foyer, formal dining, great room and study, heavy wood trim, gas fireplaces, screened porch and much more. Generous allowances will allow you to pick your carpets, lighting fixtures and appliances.












More information on these homes:
221 Daymark Drive - $351,850
309 Lighthouse Lane - $356,450

Interested in living at Lake Murray at at reasonable price? Please be sure to stop by my OPEN HOUSE this Sunday, November 2nd (1:00 - 3:00 p.m.)
Mel Coker - Columbia, SC Realtor

Click here for more Lake Murray information

Columbia Parade of Homes

The Columbia Parade of Homes is underway now at Saluda River Club. The 24th annual Parade of Homes runs through November 2nd at this exciting new community in Lexington, South Carolina. If you're looking to buy a new home or get ideas for building a new home or for decorating ideas, you need to make sure you get out to view these 6 custom built homes. Builders featured in the 2008 include: Baudo & Associates Home Builders, Capital Construction, Carolina Custom Homes, Dunbar Builders, Vesta Builders and Zeigler Home Builders.

The Parade is open daily through November 2 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily. Tickets are $7 each and are available at the event. Directions: Take I-20 West to Exit 61, Hwy. 378. Turn toward Lexington. Take an immediate right on Corley Mill Road. The entrance to Saluda River Club is located 1.5 miles down Corley Mill Road on the right hand side. GPS address location: 644 Corely Mill Road, Lexington, SC 29072

Visit the parade (before it's gone) for new home construction techniques and home decoration ideas. You will enjoy seeing custom kitchens, outdoor patio areas, green construction ideas, custom media rooms, the best in smart home technology and energy efficiency and much more. ALL of the homes are very nice and have unique features. My favorite home was The Briarwood, built by Baudo & Associates Home Builders. Be sure to check out the smart home technology and the large home theater with stadium seating. The home is so special it's already SOLD! Mr. Baudo can build you another one like this.

The Saluda River Club is Lexington’s newest community. I have been to this community twice now and IT IS my personal favorite new home community in all of the Columbia area. I live at Lake Muray (for the past 5 years). IF I did not live at Lake Murray, I'd want to live at Saluda River Club! I'll do another blog by the end of the year just on Saluda River Club. It's one of the most beautiful places in Columbia along the banks of the Saluda River.

MORE INFORMATION:

2008 Columbia Parade of Homes

Saluda River Club

Ready to buy or sell a home in Columbia, South Carolina? Contact Mel Coker at RE/MAX Metro Associates: Call (803) 749-5800 or visit my website or email.

Upcoming blogs: Fire Safety Month, Great Lexington Restaurant, Mel's Preferred HVAC contractor, Saluda River Club and much more!

Featured Home Community - Eagles Rest

EAGLES REST... beautiful traditional homes built near Lake Murray and between Chapin and Irmo, South Carolina. The developers have devoted 25% of the land in this community to common use preservation. This community features 16 estate lots, 32 garden homes and 167 single-family homes. There are sidewalks and walking paths in the neighborhood and a community pool will be built in 2010.

The all brick garden homes start in the 220s and go to the 290s. You will have the opportunity to upgrade to a wide array of various options in your custom-built home if you so desire. One very popular custom feature is the Florida room with fireplace. These homes are built by Shumaker Homes, family owned and operated in Columbia since 1965.

The single-family homes have a typical price range from the 220s to the high 300s. You may choose a home from an existing "spec" model home or build "your" home with the features you desire. You will enjoy the Shumaker commitment to building the highest quality architecturally designed and constructed new homes.

Another option is to buy an estate size lot (in the 70s) and select your builder to build a custom home.

This community is just minutes to Lake Murray, which is the water playground for central South Carolina. You're also only minutes to the highly rated schools of Lexington District 5 (Lake Murray Elementary, Chapin Middle and Chapin High). Also nearby are excellent medical facilities, parks, shopping and dining in Irmo and downtown Columbia.
Click here for more Columbia area information.

Want to tour or buy a home in Eagles Rest? Please be sure to contact Mel Coker. I have experience with selling many new homes and homes built by Shumaker Homes. When you have Mel Coker as your buyer's agent, you get professional representation, friendly service and a SPECIAL BONUS! With Mel Coker as your buyer's agent for a home in Eagles Rest, you will receive a $500 Lowe's gift certificate at closing! It's EASY... call or email Mel Coker for more information:
melcoker@remax.net
Toll-free: 888-528-2258 or office: (803) 749-5800 (ask for Mel Coker)

Click here for Mel Coker's exclusive Buying Guide for Columbia Real Estate.

Columbia, SC real estate: www.ColumbiaSouthCarolina.com/homes
Lake Murray: http://www.lakemurray-sc.com/