If you’ve just decided to purchase your dream home, you’ll experience euphoria until the reality of the magnitude of your decision sets in.  As a buyer, you should know that having fear after you have signed on the dotted line is normal and your experienced Realtor will be able to help you survive this challenge.  Just as getting engaged or buying a car creates fear in your mind, home ownership comes with a little fear at what the future might hold.

You’ll be afraid of changing, of committing to a major financial decision, of making a bad choice, and of being taken advantage of.  These are all normal feelings that home buyers may have when the deal has been made.  You found the home of your dreams, you fell in love with it, you made an offer that was accepted and now why are you feeling like this?  By relying on the expertise of your professional Realtor, you’ll soon be looking forward to your move and arranging your personal belongings in the new home you chose with a great deal of care.

How will your Realtor help?  First, he’ll share that this is a normal part of making a major decision in life.  This is one of the largest investments and financial obligations that you’ll ever make and after you study the contract and remember the good deal that you obtained, you’ll realize that you definitely made a good choice.

Second, your Realtor can explain how the documentation that is underway will work to prove the quality of your new home. Inspections and other paperwork will reassure you that you’ve made the right choice and that the home you have purchased will enhance your quality of life.

Thirdly, your Realtor can recap the amenities that you liked about the property and how it will meet and exceed your expectations. Whether it’s the wonderful school district, your proximity to all of the local businesses, or the privacy that your wooded lot provides, he can recreate the emotional feeling that drew you to this property in the first place. Ask him to help you reevaluate your purchase and once again point out the features that you chose to purchase.

If you’ve just purchased a home and are getting cold feet about the process, it’s time to call your Realtor to ask his advice and counsel about the entire process that you have just begun.  You have worked to build a relationship of trust and confidence with him or her and now is when you can rely on their judgment to alleviate your fears of the unknown.  Sometimes just the enthusiasm in his voice about the new home that you’ll soon be moving into is enough to ease your fears and get you back on track to home ownership with a smile on your face and peace of mind in your heart.

Finding a reputable and professional contractor for your job is an easy process if you’ll follow some common-sense tips as you look for the right expert to handle your projects.  Keep in mind that this process might take some time, but having a well-trained and responsible person that is licensed and passionate about his work will make all the difference in your satisfaction with his job.  There are a few factors that you should take into consideration when looking for the right contractor for the job that you have.

Tip #1-Ask for referrals, proper insurance, and legal licensing before you agree to a contract.  A professional contractor will be more than happy to furnish you with satisfied clients with whom he has worked on previous jobs.  He’ll have insurance to cover him and his crews and the proper licensure documents to prove that he is, in fact, and a professional who is qualified to do the work that you need performed.

Tip #2-Be careful of paying up-front money before the job is done.  Asking for a 30% deposit is customary to get the job underway; you can’t expect a contractor to bankroll your project until you are satisfied with the work that’s being done. After all, he’s in the contracting business not the banking industry.  This up-front amount will help to establish a working relationship with you and your contractor and to develop a level of trust that you will appreciate. 

Tip #3-What kind of vehicle is he driving?  Professional contractors will arrive in a decent looking work vehicle that has signage or their company logo somewhere that can be visually seen by you and other people.  This is indicative of his professionalism, that he is in business for the long haul, and that he is using cost-effective advertising to promote his company.  This also distinguishes him from amateurs that are out to take your money and move to the next location.  You should see a contact phone number along with the name of the business that he represents in a prominent place on his truck.

Tip #4-Can he communicate effectively with you?  Communications is the key to getting a finished product that meets and exceeds your expectations.  You must establish a line of communications with your contractor so that he can advise you about how the project will go, the cost of your project, and what you can expect as the work gets underway and progresses.  He will have a working knowledge of what materials cost, the rough price per square foot, and what appointments will make your house a home within your budget limitations.

Tip #5-You must choose a contractor that you can trust.  Going with your gut instinct is not enough; he may be a nice guy but you should have evidence of the type of businessman that he is.  By speaking with customers who have used his skills and talents in the past, you’ll get an idea of how your project will be handled. He should have a passion for building and work diligently to achieve a finished product of which you can both be proud.

Finding the right contractor for your job is an important part of any building project; by using these helpful tips you can have a professional at work on your jobsite and handling the building process effectively for you.

Now’s the time to buy your dream home if you’ve been thinking about relocating, obtaining more living space for your growing family, or downsizing to a smaller empty nest.  Prices and mortgage rates are low and many sellers are anxious to move their property and begin a new chapter in their own lives.  For prospective home buyers your real estate expert will offer four tips for buying a house in a buyer’s market:

1.    If you find the right house at the right price, buy it.
2.    Put technology and a good agent to work for you.
3.    Make sure your realtor can negotiate effectively.
4.    Pay no attention to gimmicks or twist them to meet your specifications.

Before you begin the process of searching for the perfect home, you should determine if you’re “just browsing” or if you are actively shopping with the intentions of negotiating a price and buying a house.  If you wait until the prices fall to your level of anticipation or the interest rates go lower, you’re taking a gamble that the house will still be available and the rates won’t increase instead of decreasing.  It’s like shopping for anything else; if you find your size and the color you like for a price you can afford, you should buy it and not wait until it goes on sale without your size in stock.

Your REALTOR should be a tech savvy person that uses tried and trusted marketing strategies that have brought successes in the past few months.  With the Internet, there’s a plethora of tools that can be used to locate a home that falls within your price range and with the personal preferences that you have.  You’ll want the REALTOR to use the high-performing traditional methods of finding your home as well, but using technology can place you ahead in the competition for making the offer before someone else does.

With fall approaching, the sales pace slows down and you’ll have a little more room for negotiating.  Your REALTOR should be skilled at obtaining a price that’s within your limit by artful and confident discussions about the final buying price.  It’s very important to seek advice from your REALTOR and not make lowball offers which prohibit further negotiations sometimes; insulting the seller with a low offer won’t get any deals or influence his thinking in a positive way at all. 

Offering a gimmick sometimes causes you to lose focus on the real task at hand; remember that you are shopping for a house, not a cruise or a television.  If a seller is willing to offer you a $500 television to buy his home, ask your REALTOR to request that the $500 be taken from the selling price.  If there is an incentive, make sure that it has something to do with your home: upgraded countertops, decorating allowances, a new roof, or payment of closing costs.

Working within your budget to locate the best home for the value of your investment should be a shared goal between you and your REALTOR.  Listen carefully to the advice that you’re given for buying a home in a buyer’s market.

From September 19-21, the 40th Annual South Atlantic Shrine Association (SASA) Fall Festival will bring hundreds of Shriners from a myriad of states to Myrtle Beach.  You’ll see matching blazers, colorful shirts and ties, and the traditional Fez which adorns the head of the membership.  The city of Myrtle Beach has designated this week a city-wide Festival and the entire town is ready to join with this philanthropic organization as they celebrate the unparalleled impact that they continually have on the lives of children around the country.

The first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922 in Shreveport, Louisiana and began a tradition of service to the community that is unsurpassed in medical treatment, care, and compassion.  Nearly one million children have been treated at one of the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children across the US and in Canada and Mexico.  Beyond treating children, Shriners quickly learned that they had two additional missions that need attention in their quest to serve children.  The result has been a three-pronged mission (care, research, and education) that has impacted medical care not just for children but for people of all ages all over the world.

Research in every area of care including orthopedic disorders, burns, spinal cord injury treatment, and cleft lip and palate have been established as “bench” research and represent a hallmark of the Shriners organization.  This lab-based research has been responsible for major discoveries in genetics, nutrition, metabolic function, and wound healing.  Shriners Hospitals for Children are perhaps best known for work in burn research and are responsible for the standard practices used in burn centers across the country today.

In the area of Pediatric Orthopedic Care, Shriners Hospitals for Children are the experts.  Almost every pediatric orthopedic specialist in the US has done a rotation during their educational process at one of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.  These wonderful facilities are training grounds for many other medical professions like nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists.  This focus on education keeps the Shriners Hospitals for Children on the front lines of medicine and impacting the medical community with their willingness to share their expertise.

In South Carolina, we are fortunate to have a Shriners Hospital for Children located in Greenville that delivers the highest quality of care to children with orthopedic and neuromusculoskeletal disorders and diseases.  This 50-bed facility has a family-centered approach that cares for and supports the entire family during treatment; children from all over the country and around the world come to Greenville for services that are performed without care of the ability of the family to pay.

So when you see the traditional maroon Fez around Myrtle Beach, take the time to shake the hand of a man who truly cares about his community, giving back to children who are in dire need of exceptional medical attention, and one that reveres God, country, family, and his fellowman. 

Being organized is a must when it comes to protecting your identity and all of the sensitive data that accompanies you wherever you go.  Poor credit can complicate the procedures for buying a home, getting a job, applying for new credit, or obtaining utilities.  From stealing your mail to rummaging through your garbage, thieves work very diligently to obtain the information that makes you an individual in today’s world.  There are a few tips that you should follow to prevent the tragedy of identity theft from happening to you. 

If a thief steals your personal information he can buy things with your credit cards, obtain new credit cards, open a phone, electricity, or gas account, steal your tax refund, get medical care, or pretend to be you if he is arrested.  It’s imperative that you take notice of your bills when they arrive, that you keep an organized file of your account numbers and how to reach the billers, and review your bank statements every month when they arrive.  You should familiarize yourself with the dates when your bills come due, when you bank statement should be provided for you, and be very careful when making purchases online.  By checking your credit report on sites like CreditKarma.com periodically you can also keep track of any inconsistencies in your accounts or additions that you haven’t requested.

By following some common-sense steps, you can safely keep your personal information protected and your identity safe.  Keep all of your financial records, Social Security cards, credit cards, and medical insurance cards in a safe place.  Make sure that you shred papers containing your sensitive data on a regular basis.  You can purchase a home or office shredder quite inexpensively at a local office supply store or attend one of the social shredding events sponsored by your local police department or other civic organization.  Another important way to protect your identity is to remove mail from your mailbox as quickly as possible after it arrives; many thieves wait for mail delivery so that they can steal important documents from your mailbox without your even knowing it.  Only provide your Social Security number if completely necessary and never have it printed on your checks.  Always use another form of identification when possible and never give personal information to someone over the phone or in an email.

With all of the technical advancements you have at your fingertips today, the computer has become a source for using personal data frequently.  Always use passwords that are not easy to guess and include numbers and symbols when you can.  Don’t ever respond to emails or messages that require you to provide them with personal information; this only leads to tragic results and ruined credit for you.  When using a computer in a public place, never use any of your personal data; the next person who uses the computer behind you may have mal intent when discovering what you left behind.

Now that you’ve decided to make your move to the Grand Strand or perhaps sell your current home and upgrade to a more luxurious style, you’ll need a professional REALTOR to help you find exactly what you want in the right location for your family or to move your current property in a timely fashion.  By asking some pertinent questions, you can find a REALTOR who will match your needs and one with whom you’ll really enjoy working.  After all, this relationship is going to change your life dramatically so it’s worth the time and effort to find the right person for the job.

You might begin by asking how long the REALTOR has been in real estate sales and if it’s a full-time job for; also of interest are any designations that are held by the REALTOR so that you’ll know how much additional specialized training has been achieved.  Like many other professions, real estate skills are learned on the job but at least 25% of practitioners have some special training.
You should ask how many homes the agent and his company sold last year; this gives you an idea of how much experience he has.  You’ll want to know the length of time that it took to sell the average home and how close to the initial asking prices of the homes that he sold was the final sale price.  Keep in mind the state of the market currently but the answers to these questions will give you a glimpse of his skill in pricing and marketing homes to suitable buyers.

Of the utmost importance is how the REALTOR plans to market your home or help you find your dream home.  The most dynamic REALTORS are tech savvy individuals who leave no cyber stone unturned in the effort to sell or locate your home.  You must have aggressive and innovative approaches that bring results; gone are the days of sticking a sign in your yard and hoping for the best.  Also, make sure that your REALTOR will return phone calls.  Communication is the key to any successful endeavor and keeping you informed of the progress of the search or sale is paramount to the satisfaction that you’ll have with your REALTOR.  Let him know your preferred method of contact:  can he text or twitter?  Will he send you a Facebook private message?  Do you like emails or the traditional phone call?  Inform him at the onset about how you want to be contacted.

Because your REALTOR has powerful connections in the industry, ask him if he can provide contact information and resources for your mortgage, home improvement, and other home service providers in Myrtle Beach.  He should have a plethora of knowledge about all of these issues and be able to direct you to a team of professionals who will readily help you.

Determining how closely the REALTOR’s goals and business objectives match yours will assure you of getting the right REALTOR for the job.  You’ll learn what’s important to him, if he is truly passionate about his work, and if he intends to work hard to make your dreams of home ownership come true. 

Source:  http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/handouts-for-customers/for-sellers/12-questions-ask-when-choosing-your-realtor

Because changing weather patterns that include torrential rains, hurricanes and tornadoes can impact your property at a moment’s notice, you should make sure if you are buying property or if you own property in the Greater Myrtle Beach Area that you have flood protection in place.  The Biggerts-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, known as BW-12, is undergoing some changes that will assure the program of a more financially stable status and insurance rates that more accurately reflect the real risk of flooding on your property.  If you own property or are buying property in Myrtle Beach you will be impacted by these upgrades in BW-12.  Over the next few months, various components of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to include flood hazard mapping, management of floodplains, and grants will undergo changes that improve the entire program for consumers.

FEMA is already changing the flood maps for Myrtle Beach and Horry Count to include some properties that were not previously in a flood zone; other properties that were in a higher flood zone may be moved to a lower zone based on their Base Flood Elevation adjustment under the new guidelines.   At the center of all changes to your flood insurance policy is obtaining an Elevation Certificate that shows the true elevation of your property and the premium that is associated with your risk.  If you don’t currently have an Elevation Certificate, you can ask your local flood plain manager if one is on file for your property.  If one is on file for you, the community floodplain manager can complete your Certificate of Elevation; if one isn’t readily available, you should hire an engineer or surveyor to complete one for your property.  The bottom line is that having proper documentation, an Elevation Certificate, in hand will help you to ascertain the correct premium that you should be required to pay.

If you are purchasing property in the Greater Myrtle Beach Area, you must make sure that the Seller of that property has the proper Elevation Certificate on file for the property that you are purchasing.  Flood Insurance coverage IS transferable to you as the Buyer.  By simply transferring the new policy over to you using the documentation that is on file regarding property elevation, some significant savings can be realized.  FEMA has set rate guidelines for all flood insurance policies so there isn’t a need to comparison shop for rates because all insurance companies will be using the same rate schedules.

There are resources available to help you save money on your flood insurance premiums if the property that you own or are interested in purchasing lies in one of the Special Flood Hazard Areas.  By consulting with one of the professionals at Beach Realty Group, you can be confidently directed to a team that can answer your questions and obtain the answers that you have regarding adequate protection for your property.  Owning or buying property that may be in a flood zone requires extra time and effort to ascertain the coverage that you need to have in place to protect you during an unforeseen circumstance beyond your control.

When two gears of a well-oiled machine are working in unison, you’ll get a higher level of productivity and a more satisfying result for the project on which you are focusing.  The same can be said of a high-calibre team of Realtors and an exceptional mortgage company that work hand-in-hand toward the common goal of providing the highest level of customer service, expertise, and professionalism for you.  Whether you’re interested in investment property, primary home ownership, or a vacation home in the Greater Myrtle Beach area, working with a team of professionals that is committed to honesty, integrity, and obtaining the best value for your money is the wise path to take for a successful and hassle-free experience.

August is ushering in a new era for Beach Realty Group and Guild Mortgage Company of Myrtle Beach as they combine their talents, skills, and wisdom in a partnership that will offer clients an exciting new way to locate property and access financial solutions that bring home ownership to fruition.  Not only will you have the experience and knowledge of the team members but you’ll also have a seamless process that takes home-buying to a higher level of success. 

Beach Realty Group is well-known for their seasoned professionals who are tech-savvy, information-driven, and comfortable in the world of Internet and ever-changing technology.  They know that today’s society operates with tremendous speed and a need for information instantaneously and will work diligently to find what you want for an affordable price. Their extensive inventory is unparalleled on the Grand Strand; you’ll find that they use tried and tested strategies that locate premium property for you ahead of their competitors.

Guild Mortgage Company provides leadership, stability, and financial solutions with their first-class service.  Their knowledge of innovative and reliable products that will meet and exceed your needs will help you to obtain the property that you want within your budget limitations.  Their new partnership with Beach Realty Group will make the entire purchasing process a seamless process that offers you peace of mind and confidence as you deal with professionals who are committed to making their motto “Your Loan On  Time, Every Time” work for you.

Together these two teams of professionals will work as one cornerstone to build a successful experience for you as you pursue your dream of having your own home in the greater Myrtle Beach area.  Their attention to detail, the personal touch that is furnished to clients, and the professionalism with which all business transactions are conducted will provide you with premium property and financial options that work for you.  This new team of experts will be accessible for your questions and concerns and will address every issue in a timely fashion.

Having a new and exhilarating team ready to assist you with your property and financial needs is a valuable asset to having working with you and on your behalf.  This elite team of Realtors and Financial experts will work together toward one shared goal with you; they want to help you find the property of your dreams and provide you with the financial vehicle that will help the dream to become a reality.  When you need property and a financial solution that works for you, you should rely on a team of experts that works like a well-oiled machine.