All Blog Entries by Todd Covington

One of the gratifying aspects of selling real estate is helping really nice people buy a perfect new home. It's particularly gratifying when the really nice people get a whale of deal.......and when they are newlyweds!

We were fortunate enough to be able to help just such a couple a week or so ago, as they purchased a super, like-new home in Walling Grove, a terrific neighborhood on Beaufort's Lady's Island. This 2524 square-foot-home, located at 229 Green Winged Teal Dr. in the heart of the neighborhood, is yet another example of the seemingly endless array of incredible real estate opportunities available in today's real estate market.

The home had originally been listed at $450,000 way back in 2009. After two years of chasing the market, the sellers

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Folks, this is a blog I wrote a while back and forgot to post.  I figured I would go ahead and post it in case someone was interested in a respective view of the first half of 2011.  Here we go...

We are five months into the 2011 real estate year, and there are some encourage signs, although I would be cautious before making any plans to do any house flipping just yet.

Real estate professionals and market observers have long maintained that the heavy inventory of foreclosure homes and short sales needs to be thinned before a recovery can begin.

And there is some encouraging news regarding the Beaufort market in the statistics through May 31.

There have been 421 home sales recorded through the Beaufort MLS. The median sales price is $175,000, which

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Investors are always looking to buy for pennies on the dollar.  We have been encouraging real estate buyers and investors for more than a year now that there are truly amazing real estate opportunities available in Beaufort's best areas for pennies on the dollar.

Recently, Lowcountry Properties' agent, Keith Strawn sold 10 Anchorage Drive in Beaufort, SC.  This was an opportunity to buy a waterfront homesite, in one of Beaufort's best neighborhoods, for pennies on the dollar. 10 Anchorage Drive overlooks a tidal creek within Islands of Beaufort, with the potential for a dock.

10 Anchorage Drive Purchased just a few short years ago for $280,000. The asking price on this attractive building site was just been reduced to an astounding $99,000. Heck, this

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Once in a while, it's nice to just take a moment, and reflect on some of the incredible opportunities that buyers have been able to take advantage of in our charming Beaufort, SC real estate market. We in the real estate biz have been harping and preaching about "opportunity" for a couple of years now.

1) Take the folks who recently purchased a deep-water homesite, in a darn nice neighborhood, for $230,000, about 53 percent less than the $480,000 the previous owners paid for this deep-water property in 2006. That's opportunity!  This homesite is located on Lady's Island, and will provide years and years of enjoyment to these folks, who hale from the Midwest. They came south to Beaufort, SC, looking to "steal" a piece of waterfront property, and that is

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Once in a while, a property comes along that captures all of the elements many buyers seem to be looking for when they begin searching for homes in Beaufort, SC.

137 Sunset Boulevard is one of these special homes. Located on Lady's Island, this home offers the proximity to downtown Beaufort that most buyers seem to desire. The home is a mere 3 miles from the bridge connecting Beaufort's Historic Bay Street with Lady's Island.

137 Sunset Boulevard also offers the water access that is so appealing to prospective Beaufort real estate buyers. The property has a desirable, short pier head, and a floating dock, which allows the owners easy access to Factory Creek, and then the Intracoastal Waterway. Via boat, Historic Downtown Beaufort can be reached as quickly

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Pleasant Point is a neighborhood on the ascendency, and 2 Piccadilly is a very well-priced home within the community.

I recently toured 2 Piccadilly, and its assets are too numerous to list here. The home has a terrific lifestyle element, with views of the Intracoastal Waterway in the distance, and two lakes. The outdoor covered patio and deck allow the homeowners to enjoy the Lowcountry lifestyle on a daily basis.

Inside, the home has been smartly renovated, with wood floors throughout much of the house, and Mexican Saltillo Tile in the living and dining area, creating an atmosphere which is at once both formal, and relaxing.

This 4 bedroom/3.5 bath home has more than 3000 square feet of living space, and a two-car garage.

2 Piccaddilly is offered at…

More Signs of the Times, More Great Opportunities.

307 Burroughs Avenue in downtown Beaufort just hit the market this week. This caught my attention, because I had this home listed a few years ago, for $209,000, if memory serves.

The asking price now? $165,000. Back in the 2004 to 2006 range, when real estate boomed in and around Beaufort, it would have been hard to believe you would again be able to own a really nice home, in the mid-$100k range. Now, to be sure, I haven't been in the home in a few years, so I am assuming the property hasn't been run down.

Back when I had the home listed, it was stellar. The hardwood floors had been refinished, some really nifty fixtures adorned the home, the roof  had been replaced, and the garage had been converted into a…

If you are a Realtor, you get asked a lot about what price-range homes are moving. Whether you are in the lock room at the gym, or at a local eatery, everybody wants the skinny on the Beaufort real estate market.

Let me answer this question two ways. From a personal standpoint, it has been foreclosure and short sale city.

I just closed on a house in Shell Point a few days ago, for $116,000. It was a foreclosure. I am working with four other buyers who currently have homes under contract. Three are under $140,000, and one is a new home for $230,000. Aside from the new home, in the terrific new neighborhood of Somerset Point on Lady's Island, all of my pending contracts and recent sales are either short sales or foreclosures.

Foreclosures and short sales…

A few years ago, if you put the words "deep-water homesite" in the same sentence with "Lady's Island,"  you were generally talking about a property which would cost a minimum of $600,000, maybe more.

Not so, anymore.

Like every other segment of Beaufort's real estate market, the Lady's Island deep-water market has responded to the sluggish sales of recent years, and prices have been reduced. It's now possible to purchase a homesite with spectacular views of downtown Beaufort, with deep-water access, for under $200,000. Please note that this particular property comes with an asterisk, since this $175,000 property, overlooking Factory Creek and the Beaufort River, can possibly be purchased with a slip at the adjacent marina. Without the slip, which the owner…

It's fitting that we take a moment to look back on this past month on Halloween, because it has been a creepy month for Realtors, with a mere 52 homes going under contract so far in October.

Before we go any further, this is not a gloom and doom post. All things considered, there are some encouraging signs to be found in Beaufort's real estate market.

There are several communities that have had real success in the area which ha e had great success selling new homes at the new price point. Liberty Point in Shell Point, which recently broke ground on its new homes, has placed five homes under contract in the past few months, in the $80 to $115 per square foot price point.

Somerset Point on Lady's Island has seen 17 homes go under contract this year, in the $98…