I-26 ALT

Transit area being studied
From the Town of Summerville to Charleston

     Did you know there are current studies being done right now to determine more efficient ways to get around town.  There are meetings scheduled tonight and Thursday for the public to weigh in: tonight (1/26) from 6-8:00 at the Charleston Museum Auditorium or Thursday (1/28) in Summerville at the Bethany United Methodist Church (118 W. Third Street) from 7-9:00.  The best way to access this information is click HERE.  This site will provide more information on the current research studies being done regarding mass transit options from Summerville to Charleston.

     One of the options being studies is called the Bus Rapid Transit which allows for buses (such as CARTA) to have their own designated lanes thereby allowing them to miss the traffic and congestion. I've seen this in Pittsburgh and it works very well.  Here is a link for more information on the BRT - https://www.itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/what-is-brt/

    This is a huge area of need as it affects over 600,000 people.  I heard a statistic today that our metro area will reach 1 million people by 2027 and that 43 new people move here every day.  That's over 15,000 people/year coming here and Summerville is in the top 10 fastest growing cities in SC. As a Realtor I love this (how do I find these 43 people every day?) but as a resident I get worried about the congestion and my daughter driving here.

     What do you think? If you ever drive 26 or 526 in the morning or later afternoon you agree with me that we have an issue. I'd like to see a commuter train arrive on the scene as I think it's more efficient but that's just this writer's opinion. I'm open to any remedy that will alleviate traffic.  I also think we should build an overpass that will avoid the restaurants and shops around Azalea Square so that if people are heading to 26 they avoid all that congestion.  It just makes sense!!!

He Had a Dream!

Instead of writing a post about about the life, history and sacrifice of Martin Luther King Jr. I decided to post his "I have a dream" speech.  Have you ever read it?  Until today I had not read this speech but today I realize and learned it's an amazing piece of history and poetic writing.  I hope you take 5-10 minutes to read it here and I think you'll walk away with a "wow" feeling in your brain.  I'm grateful for his actions, motivation and behavior invoking change he brought about within our nation.  It's a shame it took 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and his death to incite major change. It's also very sad that racism is very real today and I personally see that it's generational in nature. People are not born racist - they are taught it.

This speech was delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!



And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.



But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.



And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

* = text within asterisks absent from the above audio but verified as originally delivered

1 Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

2 Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV.

3 At: http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm

Also in this database: Martin Luther King, Jr: A Time to Break Silence

Audio Source: Linked directly to: http://www.archive.org/details/MLKDream

External Link: http://www.thekingcenter.org/

U.S. Copyright Status: Text and  Audio = Restricted, seek permission. Image = Uncertain.

Copyright inquiries and permission requests may be directed to:

Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Intellectual Properties Management
One Freedom Plaza
449 Auburn Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30312
Fax: 404-526-8969

Our local Market - WOW!

Summerville's real estate is HOT

The real estate market in Charleston and Summerville (actually all 3 counties) in 2015 was awesome and record setting.  It was the 3^rd busiest year ever in sales.  We sold 15,486 residential units with a record median sales price of $235,000.  Back in the crazy days of 2007, we sold 18,000 units but the median sales price was only $210,000.  The best news is that we are still undervalued and have lots of room for appreciation.  My trend line back to 1991 shows that we should be above $250,000 right now, but we are still making up lost ground from the recession years of 2008-2011.  Another important note is that prices only increased about 5.5% over 2014.  That’s great, but more importantly it’s reasonable and shows that the tighter lending practices put in place after the recession have been doing their job of keeping things under control.

We set an all time record in the spring with over 400 properties going under contract in one week and repeated that feat 4 times during the spring.  Generally, any time 200 properties go under contract in a week is considered a very good week.  36 of the 52 weeks had over 300 under contract and only the first and last week of the year had under 200.

Our current inventory is very low with less than 5000 homes for sale.  I haven’t seen a number like that since 2007.  At the height of the recession we had over 11,000 homes for sale and were only selling about 8500 per year.  Overall months of inventory(MOI) is below 4.  Six months of inventory represents a balanced market.  So, this is certainly a sellers market. 

People from all over the world are moving here to make Charleston their home.  We’ve gotten a lot of positive press including being voted number one city in the world to visit and number one city in the US for 4 consecutive years.  Boeing has been the big job producer but there is also a new Volvo plant coming.  And the Silicon Harbor label has just gotten stronger with several hundred software companies calling Charleston home.  So, new construction has become very popular to these newcomers since inventory is so low.   And the boundary of our area seems to be going further out with new communities popping up on the outskirts of the edges in Summerville, Mt Pleasant, and rural West Ashley.  If you have not checked our new Summerville Communities such as Nexton, Carnes Crossing, Summer's Corner, etc you should - they are pretty impressive.  New construction now makes up over 41% of what we currently have under contract.  Short sales and foreclosures, leftovers from the recession, are fairly insignificant now.  They only total 4% of our active inventory and only make up about 8% of what’s under contract.

What does 2016 hold in store for us?  I see more of the same as 2015.  Lots of people moving here and lots of new construction.  Maybe we’ll set a record for sales this year with over 18,000 units sold.  I would imagine that median sales price will again rise a modest 5-6%, limited somewhat by the tighter lending practices.  We have a new mayor  here in Summerville and Charleston has a new mayor for the first time in 40 years.  Mayor Joe Riley has left us in the very capable hands of John Tecklenberg and Mayor Collins has been replaced by now Mayor Wiley Johnson.  We have new businesses and restaurants popping up all over town and this means more families will call us "home."  We are so blessed to live in this great town of Summerville and so close to the Holy City of Charleston - America's number one city.

If you'd like to know what your home may be worth, how to stage it better to sell or interested in up-sizing or downsizing let me know and I'd be happy to help you out.

-Jason

For Sale By Owner

FSBO or Hire Jason

     You're saying "Right, this Realtor is really going to be tell me to sell my house on my own."  Well, yes and no. I'm going to educate you on the ins and outs of a FSBO and then you decide. Recently, I made fliers for a home that was on the market FSBO just to help the guy out because he was kind enough to hear me out on why he should list with me. Turned out he was an old real estate agent and actually knew what he was doing which is very rare when I encounter a FSBO.  Back in the day I was naive enough to think I could sell my home yet I had no knowledge base, experience or time to do it. Knowing what I know now and having a wife and daughter I would never sell on my own if I were not an agent.
     There are a lot of reasons to NOT sell FSBO and then there are some good reasons to try so keep reading.

1. As a husband and father of a teen girl I would never want strangers looking through my home - especially if I were not there.  Safety is my number one concern and it's becoming a more dangerous world out there. I don't want my girls in our home with strangers touring it and putting themselves at risk. 
2. Did you know Realtors are required to have with a background checks to practice?  You know buyers in your home are in trustworthy hands when a Realtor is present and not having strangers peering through your windows wondering what you have and looking to see what type of floors you have. 
3. Most people have no idea what a good agent does and trust me - it's very time consuming. If you work and are not home to take care of these things you will not sell your home. Here are a few of the tasks you'd have to do with any chance at selling your home

•  Find and schedule an appraisal - you don't know how to read the market, know your comps, compare your property to others and your emotions will not allow you to be unbiased in your home.  I just heard yesterday, "My neighbor sold for $xxxxxx.00 and my home is much nicer. Wrong! Everyone thinks their home is worth more than it is.  I do not value your home - the comps do!!!! You need an unbiased opinion and skin thick to hear the truth.  
• Find and contact an attorney that works in real estate. You need to protect yourself but do you have the time to go out and interview multiple attorneys?
• Keeping your home show ready!  You have to do this anyways but when you do FSBO you will have strangers knock on your door at any given moment. With an agent you can schedule electronically in a program called Showtime when you are not available or don't want the house shown. No random door knockers or strangers peering in your windows. 
• Do you know all the documents you need and contracts required to buy and sell? If not - use an agent because you don't want to get sued. 
• Usually a buyer will get a home inspector but it's always good to get your own and make the appropriate fixes ahead of time. Please hire a professional to do these repairs and keep the receipts. Recently a seller made his own repairs because he thought he was the tool man and the deal almost fell through because of it. 
• You'll end up paying a buyer's commission anyways so you might as well get a listing agent.  All commissions are negotiable but many buyer's agents want 3% and if you are not willing to pay this you cut your showings by about 90%.That other 3% (if that is the price negotiated) for a listing agent definitely pays itself off in liability, time saved, less stress, more time to go fishing or shopping and more money.  Often times when a buyer sees a FSBO they will either forgo even talking to you because you are not represented or give you a low-ball offer because they feel they can automatically offer you at least 6-10% under the listing price. 
• How good are your negotiation skills?  If you are not confident in your skills and you are up against an experienced agent you better have your A-game on.  You are going to negotiate price, repairs, closing costs, time-frame, closing date and more. 
• If you don't put your home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) you are losing opportunities by the minute. You can pay a company to put your home on our local MLS but many of those don't look professional because you used your cell phone for the pics and took a picture of your toilet instead of your backyard (I saw this on the MLS). I just saw a home listed FSBO and they marketed berber carpet.  I'm sorry but berber carpet has not been popular in a long time.
• Do you have time to host open houses and properly market your home. A good agent will use 1% of the sales price to market your home. A good agent (me) has an internet strategy, email strategy, communications strategy and a good mail campaign as part of their marketing. Are you willing to do all this or do you even know how?

In our market we have about 9% of homes FSBO.  Statistics say only 10% of FSBO homes will sell on their own. So, you list your home in March as a FSBO and then in August you decide to use an agent.  Ooooops - you just missed the hottest season of the year and now you will make less money because buyers will come and see it's been on the market for 5 months so they offer you less.  Are you willing to take less money and more time to sell your property? If so - by all means then try FSBO but if you want to get the most money in the least amount of time call me so we can set a plan. If you are experienced in real estate, understand the contracts, have the time to market yourself and know an appraiser, attorney and inspector then I say give it a shot and see if you can't save yourself a few percent on the sale.   

If you need help, want more information, or want to see what your home is worth give me a call.

-Jason Gregg

843.696.8627

Jason.Gregg@kw.com

www.palmettodreamhomes.com                                                            

Looking Behind or Ahead?

Wow, can you believe it?  2016 has arrived and 2015 is behind us and in all honesty it's a good thing 2015 is behind us.  It was a pretty rough year for the Low Country. Here are a few of the things I can come up with regarding 2015 that I am glad are behind us:

• Thousand year flood with devastating effects such as 19 dead, numerous homes lost and millions in damages
• Dylan Roof's racist ideology that ended 9 lives at the Emanuel Church
• The shooting of Walter Scott
• Too many murders/shootings
• Elections (especially the drama here in Summerville between Johnson and Collins)

But, in all this tragedy came life and hope here in our town.  Charleston, SC did not become Ferguson or Baltimore because we forgave and our leaders handled the situation with respect.  It was inspiring to watch the survivors and family of the Emanuel Church tell Dylan Roof he was forgiven (click HERE for the video) and this is what makes us different. In the eyes of hatred we can forgive.  

Here are some positive things I have witnessed and these are what we need to remember:

• Forgiveness and justice
• Reconciliation of marriages and relationships
• Community banding together to help flood victims
• Churches helping the community
• Our amazing real estate market
• Charleston being one of the best cities again to visit and live in
• MUSC saving lives
• Our public educators changing lives
• decreasing unemployment
• and people finding their dream homes and selling their homes all while making a profit

I look forward to 2016 both personally and professionally. I am excited to see what is going to happen in our town with a new mayor, see what new businesses pop up (there are so many already opening and coming such as Dunkin' Donuts, Earth Fare, Krispy Kreme, Top Dawg Tavern, Palmetto Armory, Crust and so much more). Our little town is growing at an exponential pace and I know many of you are saying, "what about the traffic?" I'm with you!!!  I really hope we can get some of it under control. 

2016 for me is a new start. As I start to work on getting even more new clients, list more houses, and help more buyers find their dream home I know I can make a difference. I love what I do and this is why I am so excited for this year.  Please let me know if you are looking to buy or sell or even have any questions regarding real estate.  I see too many agents that are not good at what they do and I pride myself  by working with strong ethics, character and excellent communication skills.  These set me apart from the "List it and forget it" agents and I'm good at what I do. Give me a call at 843.696.8627 or see my site at www.palmettodreamhomes.com.

Let's make 2016 better than 2015!

-Jason