Myrtle Beach Real Estate

American Real Estate for the International Investors

Have you ever watched the shows on some of the world’s billionaires? Over the last year there has been an increase in these types of shows. Each one of them explaining how there are more billionaires now than there ever has. Well, one thing you will notice is that a number of these billionaires are actually from Russia. And with the value of the dollar dropping this is creating the perfect avenue for Russians to purchase American real estate and with a drastic savings over their own country. You will hear of Russians purchasing American real estate, but mostly they tend to stay in the Florida real estate market for the warm tropical climates. Some of the properties or vacation homes they purchase come with hefty price tags like the condo in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan that sold for $13.5 million, or Donald Trump’s oceanfront home in Palm Beach that sold for $100 million. With the way the American real estate market is moving now this is a great time for buyers whether they are international buyers or local. Here in Myrtle Beach we have it all vacation homes in all different shapes, sizes, and price ranges from oceanfront homes to deep water homes or even find that exclusive elegant mansion just a short drive to the beach. Contact the Willis Team for American real estate.

In reading an article about how home buyers are hopeful about the real estate market I noticed how it still really comes back to consumer confidence. With the people surveyed 44% felt that the market would get better with the new president. With that in mind 81% surveyed are still nervous about the current market. It went on to talk about how the higher down payments that are expected now are making it difficult for some buyers to enter into the market. If it isn’t because of the down payments then it had to do with the family’s income amount wasn’t sufficient to purchase what they would like, and the other problem dealt somewhat with the high prices that are still apparent in some areas.

This gives us a good picture of some reasons why buyers are a little more cautious now. There is a lot going on in the real estate market across the US, but we should remember that all real estate is local. It is always best to contact a top real estate professional from the area you are looking to purchase in. If you would like to know what's going on with the Myrtle Beach real estate market contact the Willis Team.

I was just speaking with a Lawton real estate professional about relocations to and from the Myrtle Beach area. It brought up a good point about how we have built up relationships with top producing agents in other areas. As we have mentioned before we are members of a “Master Mind” group designed to help ideas and creative thinking that other real estate professionals are using and works! Now, for anyone that has thought about moving from Myrtle Beach to another area you should contact the Willis Team. Our Realtor reach extends from Phoenix real estate to Lawton real estate and from Wilmington real estate to Raleigh real estate. Of course, we have many other real estate professionals that we work with so please let us get you in contact with a real estate professional from the area you’re searching in.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I have updated my site and added a few more communities to make it easier to search for real estate in Myrtle Beach. You will see along the right side some links to local and specialty markets in the Myrtle Beach area. Of these, I have added the Market Common and Withers Preserve, which the Market Common is actually an area within Withers Preserve and of course why not have both communities. Also, I added Barefoot Resort real estate to the mix so this should make it to where we have every section or large community in Myrtle Beach. Now, for the specialty markets I added there are Myrtle Beach REOs (or Bank Owned), Myrtle Beach short sales, and Myrtle Beach foreclosures. Also, there is deep water homes, vacation homes, million dollar homes, and island homes. I created these pages to help out our client base to be able to perform more specific searches for property. If you have any ideas please let us know.

I like to read about how online sources are where consumers will more than likely start their search, but isn’t this exactly what we have been saying for quite awhile? There usually is a little twist in the story that makes it just a little bit different. Realistically, I do still see agents that don’t have a website of their own. Sure, they might have a page on their company website, but how unique are you really making yourself if that is as far as you got in your online marketing? With the numbers that Yahoo Inc. were reporting on RISMedia today (here) you could be missing a large portion of your real estate business:

77% of those studied used an online source for more information.
34% of those studied still used print sources.
Approximately 74% of those that ended up at a real estate agent’s website got there by way of a search engine.
Buyers and sellers look at two different real estate agents before coming to a decision on who they are going to work with.
75% of consumers took about one week to choose an agent.

With these numbers I would hope that those that haven't moved some of their marketing online would do so soon. If the numbers are showing a large percentage of the real estate consumers starting their searches online then you might want to be there too. What are your thoughts dealing with online marketing?

Finally, an article speaking about how the real estate market is showing signs that things are going to get better. This article isn’t all doom and gloom like the ones we have been seeing here for about the last year or so. Also, this showed up a one of Yahoo.com’s featured stories. The story goes into about how the “housing starts” have fallen to their lowest level in around 17 years which could very well be a sign that the real estate market recovery is in sight. Builders built too many homes to be absorbed by the normal household growth causing a lot of homes to sit on the market longer than they needed. Some homes sat vacant while the market took a down turn and in order for the builders or the sellers to get the properties to move they had to keep lowering their prices. Of course, this didn’t help the rest of the neighborhood. Well, now that the homes are more affordable for the first-time buyers causing something similar to a chain reaction all the way up. The first-time buyers will start purchasing homes creating the opportunity for those sellers to finally move up or to another area. In the end, this could be just what we are looking for to stimulate movement across the board for real estate. Let me know what you think.

We have been a part of a “Master Mind” group of real estate professionals which is where we share ideas and information about what we are doing in real estate, what is working, and where we think real estate is heading. We get together and discuss ideas on how we can better service our clients as well as being part of a group that spans the US can add to our own client base or investor contacts. All in all, this means that our reach has drastically improved for getting information out about what properties we have listed and possible contacts on who might be interested in those properties.

Some members of our group would include Jay Kinder who works in Lawton real estate in Oklahoma, Curtis Johnson who works in Scottsdale, AZ or Phoenix, AZ real estate, Marti Hampton who works in Raleigh real estate in North Carolina, and Buddy Blake who works in Wilmington real estate. Each one of these real estate professionals not only are top Realtors in their areas, but also top within their companies.

If you are considering a move to one of these areas contact the Willis Team for more information at: 843-457-9254 or WillisTeam@SCBeachRealEstate.com.

Welcome back everyone after a great 4th of July weekend! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable weekend. Well, we had a number of showings on Saturday and Sunday, and the calls seemed to pick up as well. This is a great start to the Myrtle Beach real estate season. With the increase in the number of sales in our office this is a good sign of what we have to look forward to. Myrtle Beach real estate has been slower than usual, but we are in a second home or vacation home spot so the business tends to pick up while people are on vacation.

Myrtle Beach Condo


The price on the condo that I posted yesterday here has just been dropped by $37,777!!! This is an unbelievable price and this is not a short sale or in foreclosure. The sellers just want it to move. This condo is located in the community of Shorehaven in North Myrtle Beach. Shorehaven is a community located on the second row from the beach on Ocean Blvd. This unit has views of the Surf Club Golf Course from the back and the pool from the front. For this price and being just across the street from the ocean you can’t beat this deal!!!






$227,000
2 Bedrooms
2 Bath
North Myrtle Beach, SC

Beautiful like new Myrtle Beach condo 2 bedroom/2 bath end unit on the lake with views of the 11th tee of the ultimate Surf Club Golf Course from the back patio, and a pool view from the front patio. This condo has only been used as second/primary home so it has never been on a rental. Just installed 2007 new AC (13 seer), new carpet, new dishwasher, new water heater. Just bring your toothbrush & start enjoying the beach life.

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Myrtle Beach condos.

Here is an analysis completed for Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island real estate. The numbers were taken from the CCAR MLS as of June 30th, 2008. These are year-to-date numbers report for the Litchfield Beach and the Pawleys Island covering the first six months of 2008 compared to the first six months of 2007. This should hopefully give you a better idea of how the market is for these two areas.

There were 65 homes sold YTD 2008 with and average sold price of $535,953. In 2007 there were 109 homes sold in the first six months with an average sold price of $755,925. This is a 40.37% decrease in number of sales, and the average sales price decreased by 29.10%.

Now, for the land in Pawleys Island and Litchfield Beach. There were 28 lots sold YTD 2008 with an average sold price of $227,407. In 2007 there were 58 lots sold in the first six months with an average sold price of $299,463. This is a 51.72% decrease in number of sales, and the average sales price decreased by 24.06%.

Condos actually saw an increase in the average sold price. There were 58 condos sold YTD 2008 with an average sold price of $334,716. In 2007 there were 110 lots sold in the first six months with an average sold price of $310,533. This is a 47.27% decrease in number of sales, and the average sales price actually increased by 7.79%.

Keep checking back as I will be posting updates for other communities in Horry County!

Myrtle Beach real estate information and an update as to what’s happening in the market as reported by the CCAR MLS on June 30th, 2008. These numbers are year-to-date as of yesterday and only reported for real estate in Myrtle Beach. We all know that the real estate market here is moving a little slower than it used to, but remember that there are still buyers out there. Below is pretty much an analysis for the first six months of 2008 compared to the first 6 months of 2007.

There were 536 homes sold YTD 2008 with an average sold price of $260,290. There were 801 homes sold the same time frame in 2007, and they had an average sold price of $259,004. This is a 33.08% decrease in the number of sales, and the average sales price actually increased by 0.50%.

There were 72 lots sold YTD 2008 with an average sold price of $247,149. There were 109 lots sold the same time frame in 2007, and they had an average sold price of $224,401. For lots this is a 33.94% decrease in the number of sales, and the average sales price increased by 10.14%.

There were 745 condos sold YTD 2008 with an average sold price of $220,101. There were 1250 condos sold during the same time frame in 2007 which had an average sold price of $318,683. This is a 40.40% decrease in number of sales, and the average sales price decreased by 30.93%.

Again these numbers are for the Myrtle Beach real estate market specifically.

Myrtle Beach Condos

Talk about some great deals, how about this Oceanfront Condo listed right at $100,000? That’s right, an oceanfront condo in Myrtle Beach listed at $100,000. The just shows how the Myrtle Beach market is the place for some great deals!








$100,000
Efficiency
1 Bath
Myrtle Beach, SC

Wonderful ocean front efficiency unit in the popular Sand Dunes Resort. Unit comes with magnificent panoramic views of the blue Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Golden Mile section of Myrtle Beach. Sand Dunes Resort comes with all the amenities to include indoor/outdoor pools, hot tubs, lazy rivers
and restaurants. Located close to all the amusements/attractions, shopping and golf you could desire!

More information and pictures

Click here for the Visual Tour

Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Myrtle Beach condos.

Myrtle Beach Condo

We have this spectacular condo in North Myrtle Beach that is only steps to the beach. This isn’t a high rise so you won’t have to worry about over crowding or parking, and it has never been on a rental program. For this price and being just across the street from the ocean you can’t beat this deal!!!






$264,777
2 Bedrooms
2 Bath
North Myrtle Beach, SC

Beautiful like new Myrtle Beach condo 2 bedroom/2 bath end unit on the lake with views of the 11th tee of the ultimate Surf Club Golf Course from the back patio, and a pool view from the front patio. This condo has only been used as second/primary home so it has never been on a rental. Just installed 2007 new AC (13 seer), new carpet, new dishwasher, new water heater. Steps to the blue Atlantic Ocean. Just bring your toothbrush & start enjoying the beach life.

More information and pictures

Click here for the Visual Tour

Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Myrtle Beach condos.

Arthur Rutenberg Homes of Myrtle Beach



I just received some more information about the Myrtle Beach Arthur Rutenberg Home in Seville of the Grande Dunes. In my previous post I gave a little information about the two model homes they had, but it turns out that they are offering a leaseback on the furnished model which is the Tradewinds III model. The leaseback term is initially set for 18-months with an option to extend the lease for an additional 6-month period, and at a rate of 7.5% based on the final sales price. They just made this the perfect home to purchase if you are thinking about retiring but not for another year or two. I have listed more information on this home below.

Tradewinds III priced at $1,199,900. Features of the Tradewinds III include:



2649 Heated Sq. Ft.
4 Bedrooms
3 Full Baths
Leisure Room
Price includes all Furnishings, Decorator Accessories and Electronics
Features Cabana with Out Door Kitchen and Custom Designed Pool
Mahogany Front Entry System
90 Degree Sliders located off the Leisure Room
Precast Stone Gas Fireplace
Stainless Steel GE Appliances with Built-In Hood
Semi-Custom Maple Cabinets with Glaze Finish / Granite Countertops
Built to Environments for Living standards, guaranteeing Energy Usage and Indoor Air Quality

For more information about the model homes, the lots available to build on, or to schedule a viewing of the homes contact Kylie Whitaker at 843-946-7120 or 843-458-1835. Be sure to tell them THE WILLIS TEAM sent you!!!

Kylie Whitaker
Sales Consultant
Phone: 843-946-7120
Mobile: 843-458-1835
Email: kwhitaker@arhomes.com
Website: ArthurRutenbergHomes.com

Grande Dunes Real Estate

The luxury real estate market has slowed down enough to where we are starting to see some great deals in Myrtle Beach. Take a look at some of these deals in the Grande Dunes!! These first two homes were originally listed at well over $3 million, now look at where they are priced! The other homes have been drastically reduced to sell as well.

Luxury Homes










$2,550,000
4 Bedrooms
6.5 Bath
Myrtle Beach, SC

Experience the elegance of this luxurious 4BR/6.5 BA palace prominently situated on the Intracoastal Waterway in the prestigious Grande Dunes. Features include private pool, hot tub, cabana bath and summer kitchen, 2 spiral staircases, billard room, media room, guest suite, full service wet bar, breathtaking views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the "North Golf" section of the Grande Dunes. Three car garage with an additional golf cart bay. Lavishly decorated and furnished by Sally Stowe Interiors. Relax on the lanai beside the pool as you watch the boats sail along the cyrstal blue waterway! Window treatments and billards table convey. If you are looking for Grande Dunes real estate this is the place to look!

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Multi Million Dollar Homes in Myrtle Beach.


Luxury Homes










$2,450,000
5 Bedrooms
6.5 Bath
Myrtle Beach, SC

Experience the impeccable atmosphere of this majestic 5BR/6.5BA Mediterranean manor nestled away in the prominent Grande Dunes. Features include spacious master suite with its own coffee bar, media room, guest suite, spiral stairway, hot tub and private pool. Lavishly decorated and furnished by Sally Stowe Interiors. Overlooking the 7th tee box of the Grande Dunes Golf Course. Two car garage with an additional golf cart bay. If you are looking for Grande Dunes real estate this is the place to look!

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Multi Million Dollar Homes in Myrtle Beach.


Luxury Homes










$1,149,900
4 Bedrooms
3.5 Bath
Myrtle Beach, SC

Magnificent two story home, steel framed, 4 bedrooms plus study which could be used as 5 bedroom, 3 ½ bathrooms, overlooking lake and fountain, fromyour covered patio. This home has electric appliances with natural gas hook-ups, and upgrades throughout.

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Million Dollar Homes.


Luxury Homes







$1,025,000
4 Bedrooms
3.5 Bath
Myrtle Beach, SC

Luxurious 4BR/3.5BA ICF Mediterranean home in the exclusive Members Club. This is the ultimate style of life & the homeowner has use of the highly acclaimed Ocean Club. This home has all of the upgrades & is built by a premier builder & offers quality, comfort, security & elegance. Centrally located inMyrtle Beach & is conveniently located close to restaurants, shopping and many popular attractions around the beach. Home has been upgraded with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) and also has PGT Hurricane Strength Windows as well. Furniture is Negotiable.

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Million Dollar Homes.


Luxury Homes





$999,000
3 Bedrooms
3.5 Bathrooms
Myrtle Beach, SC

Remarkable upscale 3BR/3.5BA home in the desirable Tuscany section of Grande Dunes. If you are looking for elegance & class, look no further. This is considered the most upscale community on the Grand Strand! Owners receive the privilege of the upscale amenities that the Grande Dunes offers to include on site security, membership to the Oceanfront Ocean Club & convenience to all that the Grand Strand has to offer.

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Luxury Homes.


Luxury Homes





$979,900
3 Bedrooms
2.5 Bathrooms
Myrtle Beach, SC

Remarkable 3 BR/2/5 BA home in the new section of Seville community of the Grande Dunes. This beautiful home has all the options that will please anyone looking for that luxurious lifestyle. Not only are you located in one of the most elite gated neighborhoods of Myrtle Beach, you are also able to take advantage of your membership to the Grande Dunes private ocean front Ocean Club.

More information and pictures

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Call (843) 457-9254 or click here to email us to view this or other Luxury Homes.