It’s not a life style, It’s way of life!

Legends Real Estate just brokered a transaction between Muirfield Homes and a private individual for The Toscana model at Legends Resort.  The Toscana is accented by an outdoor living paradise. It won the Myrtle Beach New Home Parade and had become the must see home in Myrtle Beach.  Now one lucky family gets to call it home.  

The Toscana                                  

Close your eyes.  Listen to the soothing sound of falling water….From your great room.  Through a wall of glass, a tropical paradise awaits you.  You never thought you could dream this big.  A covered lanai with a spectacular pool and a custom waterfall, an exterior fireplace, and an outdoor kitchen are all an extension of your living space. Muirfield Homes’ development of “outdoor living” has quickly become a Coastal Carolina home building must!  

Muirfield Homes Online Brochure

Please be sure to ask about the Model Lease back opportunity in Sago Plantation at Legends

The Facts

4031 Girvan Drive – MB SC 29579
3558 Heated Square feet – 4779 under roof
3 bedrooms 3 full 2 half bathroom, study, media room, and oversized 2 car garage
Granite, Custom Cabinets, Central Vac, Travertine Floors, and many more upgrades
Screen Enclosure, Pool, and Custom Water Feature
Sale Price $825,000
Sale Date 9/30/2008

The Builder

Muirfield Homes – Post Office Box 3202 – Pawleys Island, SC 29585
800-473-1367 – Jenny Banta – jenny@muirfieldhomes.com
www.MuirfieldHomes.com

Sago Plantation at Legends – Update 9/30/08

Sago Plantation a natural gas community…

Myrtle Beach’s newest community – Phase 1 A&B are paved and homes have started… Phase 2 infrastructure is under way — Please call or e-mail with any questions!

Sago Plantation at Legends – Update 9/30/08 from jason ellis on Vimeo.

Sago Plantation at Legends – Myrtle Beach

Sago Plantation at Legends – Video Update

The east side of the property paving is under way and should be complete Thursday September 25, 2008 — The infrastructure work has started on the 3rd Phase of home-sites.  Everything is moving at a very exciting pace.  Please watch the video below for a first hand experience.

Sago Plantation Update – 9/23/08 from jason ellis on Vimeo.

Is now the time to build a new home – Myrtle Beach Real Estate

By Steve McLinden • Bankrate.com     

 Dear Steve, 

Is building a home wise during these times of low market value? We’re retired and have decent pensions. We just bought 15 acres in the country and our current home is fully paid for. I seldom see any discussions about this.

– M. Edwards

Dear M.,

Then let’s start a discussion. For starters, previously owned homes typically provide more space for the dollar, particularly in this market. But since you’ve already bought the acreage for the project, there’s probably no better time than the present to get things rolling.

Costs for drywall and lumber have dropped since the home-building boom ground to a halt a couple years ago. Trade labor is also plentiful and less expensive and pricing is more competitive among vendors and subcontractors. Most builders are offering a wide array of inducements. Take full advantage of these and ask for additional throw-ins.

Though financing is a little harder to find for new construction, that shouldn’t be a big issue with you, given your full equity position in the current home. In fact, you stand to benefit from relatively low interest rates at present.

But building a house is not for the squeamish, especially if you’re a novice at it and want to construct a fully customized house. It may seem like you have a full-time job again once the process commences. There are many basic home models, I might add, that can be slightly modified at a much lower cost that will still project that custom feel and look.

Whatever tact you take, do your homework. Make sure you get a clear snapshot of present home values in the area, especially if near-term resale potential is of primary importance to you. Talk with several builders and have a budget in mind before you do.

To avoid wasting your time, do a Better Business Bureau search before meeting with them. Some builders are in deep trouble at present. Among the many books in the self-building library are “Be Your Own House Contractor: Save 25% without Lifting a Hammer,” “The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home” and “Everything You Need to Know About Building the Custom Home: How to be Your Own General Contractor.” You can’t do too much research on the subject.

Realize that in a newly built home, there are unseen and additional costs to factor in, including lot preparation, grading, driveway construction, permits and the laying of infrastructure for utilities. Also, in determining your home-building budget, it’s good practice to factor in up to a 10-percent buffer for cost overruns, upgrades and unexpected expenses.

It’s rare that a newly built home comes in on budget. And when construction begins, visit the property frequently to make sure everything you’re paying for is being done.

Myrtle Beach is a Buyers Market – Don’t Delay

“You may delay, but time will not” Ben Franklin

“Time waits for no one” Rolling Stones

Both parties were considered experts, if not geniuses in their respected fields and both comments apply to the current real estate market.

It has been a long time since the market favored the Buyer as much as the current one does.  Supply is up, interest rates are down.  But you may ask yourself “How can I take advantage of this”.  

1st Get mortgage approval – Sellers will be more willing to negotiate and take a little less if they know once they commit the sale will go through.

2nd research the market or have a real estate professional do it for you. Look for a low dense community (not a community of 1000 homes). Unless you plan to live there the rest of your life you will eventually have to sell that home and if you are competing with a bunch of the same homes what advantage will you have.

3rd Look for areas that have the potential for growth.  Buying in an area that is already grown up will limit your potential appreciation.  Coastal regions are a big draw for retirees and those looking for a more laid back lifestyle.  People move to these areas all the time which in turn creates demand for the property that you own.

4th Remember Real Estate is a long term purchase.  Don’t look at what will this property be worth next month or in 6 months.  When you purchase a home you need to be looking 2 to 5 years out – Ask yourself would I buy this home again in 2 years or 5 years. If the answer is no then you are looking at the wrong home.  If it is yes, then now is the time to take advantage of this situation.

5th Real Estate is proven to grow your wealth.  It is one of the best long term investment engineers for your money. The financial markets and economy are in a rough patch currently but remember ‘THESE TIMES ALWAYS PASS”.  Are you going to wait till the market turns to the Sellers favor?

“The Greatest Investment on Earth, is Earth” William T. Ellis

The US Financial Crisis Q&A

What’s behind the financial crisis?
It is a continuation of several factors including but not limited to the housing meltdown due to sub-prime lending, credit crunch, and the major factor of a “crisis of confidence”. 

What is sub-prime lending, credit crunch, and crisis of confidence?
SUBPRIME LOANS/Lending – Is the practice of lending money to a more risky borrower or riskier type of loan (no income documentation, no money down etc). When these type of loans are made the money is paid back at a higher interest rate than a conventional loan.  These loans were bundled together with good loans and sold to investment banks. So it is hard to tell how many bad loans are bundled with good loans.
CREDIT CRUNCH – Lenders/Banks tightening their guidelines, amount of money, and raising the rate at which the lend money to other Banking Institutions.
CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE – With  large well respected Investment and Brokerage Houses failing, selling themselves and going Bankrupt the public/investor was not willing to invest “new” money the firms were not able to raise the capital to stay alive.  Some of this fear was warranted however a lot of it was perpetuated by the media outlets pushing their agenda of ratings and politics.

How did this happen so fast?
Many Financial Firms became so big and so complex that it was impossible to tell at what depth their exposure to bad sub-prime mortgage loans had become. So with the “fear in the market” these firms were not able to raise new capital to stay alive. In short consumer confidence had dropped so low investors would not and did not invest new money with these firms.

What does a potential bail out mean? 
That is all going to depend on the way the Government Structures the financial assistance.  There are several things to remember 1st this will not be a “bail out” it would be better to think of it as a bridge loan.  The Government will be lending money on the potential equity of the bad mortgage loans in the market place. 2nd In the long run the Government could actually end up making money of this deal.

What is the goal of the bail out?
The Government is attempting to employ some type of program that will buy (at a steep discount) all of the bad sub-prime mortgages from the struggling financial institutions that are on the blink of collapsing. Then in the future they can sell the loans that survive at a profit that will be shared with the Taxpayers.

How will that help?
The main problem in the financial markets is the lack of lending between banks.  With the uncertainty of a Banking Institutions viability, Banks are not as willing to lend money to one another for the fear that it will not be repaid and the bank borrowing money may go bankrupt due to the unknown amount of bad mortgage loans in their portfolio. So now with the Government buying up all the bad mortgage debt, Banks will again have the liquidity to lend to one another and the consumer which in turn will spur consumer spending and buying.  This process will inject much needed confidence in the Credit Markets, financial institutions, and banking as a whole.