Lights, camera, action! Carmen Miller’s home listings have hit the big time and gone video. I was going to say Hollywood but would be a bit too much.

Carmen has been very pleased with her partnership with Obeo. Obeo offers her clients with high quality photography, 360 degree room views and much more. We decided to take Obeo’s great photos one step further. In keeping up with the internet power of promoting homes for sale we decided to produce picture videos using the high quality Obeo photos and post the videos to many popular video sharing web sites.

Here is a sample of what we are doing:

Now potential buyers have the ability to view high quality photos, 360 room views, picture video tours via Obeo (featured listings) and other popular video sharing sites like You Tube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video, Clipmeet.com, Zipvo.com, Veoh.com, Vimeo.com, and more.

We have not blown our own horn much in this blog but our hope is to give our clients the most exposure possible and to offer buyers the best virtual home tour experience possible.

In addition to home videos, we have produced a Tega Cay tour. Soon to be updated with summer views and other areas like Fort Mill and more.

So to sum it up besides the huge website listing distribution of Century 21 First Choice has to offer we are stepping it up a notch to offer you and your home listing additional video web sharing sites. (ok here it comes ….here is how to order…..) To contact Carmen to list your home or to buy a home ….

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Crescent Resources, known as Crescent Communities appears to be on a roll as it relates to developing master planned home communities in and around Fort Mill, SC. and Lake Wylie.

The 640 acre Springfield Community in the north part of Fort Mill began development winter of 2006. Crescent Resources announced last March the opening of a new development across from the 1300 acre Sanctuary community called Chapel Cove. Chapel Cove is planed for 250 home sites on 291 acres. It is located off of Shopton Road West in Mecklenburg county NC on the shores of Lake Wylie.

Currently, Crescent Resources in conjunction with a partnership called the Allison Creek Partners is in the planning mode for a massive 2300 acre development on the north and south sides of Big Allison Creek on Lake Wylie. This project is in the rezoning phase with York County. And Crescent plans to develop an additional 460-acre tract at the southern arm of Crowder’s Creek.

Crescent Resources is based in Charlotte, NC. They are a land development company that started back in 1969. Crescent’s funding comes from a joint venture partnership between Duke Energy Corp and the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund.

The quick answer is yes. It seems to be a buyers market for home sales almost everywhere thanks to the media. The media pounds us everyday with bad news about the credit industry, foreclosures, high gas prices, the weak dollar, etc. Some of it is true and some is, well just over exaggerated to say it nicley. So most potential home buyers today think it is a buyers market no matter where they are looking. But we still have a lot of people looking at homes for sale in our area.

So as a potential home buyer in the York County or south Charlotte area what can you expect? Our area has not seen the double or triple digit increases in home values like Florida, northeast, and southwest part of the country in the last few years. Our home values have seen moderate growth. You can find many articles and reports on how our homes have held their values in the last few months. Homes are taking longer to sell today then last year.  If you are coming from one of the over inflated markets, low ball offers on solid (non foreclosures), well kept homes in our area will most likely cause the seller to not want to negotiate. If you want extreme bargains look for foreclosures.

If you are a seller, just putting a sign in your yard today won’t cut it like last year. You need to price your home for today’s market conditions. Many current real estate articles suggest pricing your home without negotiating wiggle room. Carmen can better assist you with your selling price strategy. Other selling tips include boosting your curb appeal. Click here to see Carmen’s tips and Century’s 21′s brochure for more curb appeal and home staging info. If your budget allows, invest in bigger improvements in the make or break it key rooms like the kitchen or bathrooms.

So to sum it up, don’t assume our area has gone completely cold and prices falling dramatically because of the negative national real estate news reports. If you would like to do your own market research, Carmen has a great tool called the MLS Market Snapshot (for Buyers and Sellers). The system is from a company called Top Producer. The MLS Market Snapshot tool searches current home sales and listings in a defined area and reports to you automatically on a monthly basis via email on the current trend. She probably does not want me to say this but she is paying for it and the report is absolutely free for you to use. Carmen has the MLS Snapshot tool on her blog and website.

Tega Cay Mayor Bob Runde published an update in December 2007 of the new retail and housing development under construction. The Stonecrest and Graystone developments are located in newly annexed Tega Cay on SC highway 160.

The Mayor’s update:

• Wal-Mart – The building is on schedule for completion in January. This will allow a March opening.
• Petro-Express – The new Petro Express is open and represents the first commercial property
  operational in Stonecrest.
• Graystone Crossing – The ribbon cutting ceremony took place today.
• Taco Bell will occupy an out parcel and a second out parcel will be occupied by a restaurant, which has
  yet to be announced. Announced tenants are a Nail Spa, Benjamin Moore Paint, Great Clips, Smile
  Cleaners and Fresh Fruit Boutique Company. It is anticipated there will also be a national Wireless
  Company, a Women’s Dress shop and another restaurant. Eighty to Ninety percent occupancy is
  expected by April.
• Stonecrest Villages – These retail stores should be completed in the first quarter of 2008.
• The Terraces at Stonecrest – This project will consist of 71 town homes on the south side of Hubert Graham
  Way. Final approval is pending.

To read more of the Mayor’s update Click here

LAKE SHORE
RESALE MARKET ANALYSIS
JANUARY- OCTOBER 15
2006 vs 2007
This information does not include any new costruction sales during that time frame. All numbers are based on homes sold and recorded through the Piedmont MLS system.

AVERAGE PRICE
2006- $351,752
2007- $412,933

HIGH PRICE
2006- $588,793
2007- $803,500

LOW PRICE
2006- $200,000
2007- $187,500

MEDIAN PRICE
2006- $315,000
2007- $375,000

AVERAGE $ PER SQFT
2006- $116.35
2007- $136.16

AVERAGE SALE PRICE % OF LIST PRICE
2006- 98.27%
2007- $95.94

AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET
2006- 89 days
2007- 107 days

With so many news stories telling us how much of a downtrend the real estate market has had in the last six months it is encouraging to see that our neighborhood is holding steady. Prices of homes have gone up, the selling price is still within a very short margin of last years numbers and while Days on Market has increased, the increase can be seen as a reflection of
the increase on prices and the actual time that it is taking our buyers to sell in other more challanged markets.

If you would like a more comprehensive market analysis on your home please call me 803 322-3479 or e-mail me at csmiller9@comporium.net.

See more local info on my website blog http://www.carmensmiller.com/BlogFrameset-6.html