Hampton Hall represents one of the best values available in Hilton Head and the Low Country.  Hampton Hall offers unbelievable amenities are optional for the property owner – if you don’t want to join the club you don’t have to, which is different from some of the other developments that have been hit harder through the recession. 

Hampton Hall is a private, gated country club community with an 18-hole Pete Dye designed golf course.  Hampton Hall also offers a great clubhouse area with private dining, library, billiards room, card room, meeting rooms, etc.

Also included are six clay and hard surfaced tennis courts, state of the art fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, basketball courts, playground, bocce courts and much more.  You name it – Hampton Hall has it!  There is a 26-acre lake for fishing and 6.5 miles of biking and walking trails. 

I am having more and more buyers looking at Hampton Hall because of the excellent value it represents in today’s market. 

At the present time there are 58 homes listed for sale ranging in price from $289,900 to $899,000 and 93 lots listed for sale ranging in price from $28,000 to $284,900.  There are also a number of great foreclosure properties available in Hampton Hall. 

Click here to view our best values in Hampton Hall Plantation. 

I had someone call to ask what I thought his house was worth.  I told him was worth less than $2 million.  He then asked how I knew that because I had not seen his home.  I was familiar with the home and knew the location.

There is a pecking order of value as it relates to the Hilton Head real estate market.  For instance, oceanfront sells for more than sound front, sound front with a deep water dock sells for more than sound front without a deep water dock, sound front sells for more than marsh front, but marsh front may sell for more than a golf course home, etc.

We see this at all levels of sales.  We can usually tell someone what their villa is worth based on our understanding of villas – the same with lots.

Next week, January 23rd-30th marks the 2nd annual Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Week.  This week features great menu options at many favorite eateries. 

Click here for a list of the local Hilton Head and Bluffton Restaurants participating in this year’s event or visit the Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce website. 

One of the agents in the office was showing me the numbers this morning concerning home sales in different areas.  They are as follows:  Sea Pines Plantation – 121, Forest Beach - 18, Shipyard – 7, Wexford – 15, Long Cove - 10, Palmetto Dunes - 45, Folly Field – 5, Port Royal - 35, Hilton Head Plantation - 164, Palmetto Hall - 14, Indigo Run - 37, Spanish Wells - 4, Windmill Harbour - 12, Off Plantation – 63 for a total of 516 sales. 

Villa sales were as follows:  Sea Pines Plantation - 61, Forest Beach - 120, Shipyard – 42, Palmetto Dunes - 98, Folly Field – 53, Hilton Head Plantation - 7, Hilton Head Off Plantation – 124, Windmill Harbour - 1, and Indigo Run - 4 for a total of 510 sales. 

Unfortunately, there were only 47 lots sold on the island during 2009. 

The total home sales volume was $399,000,000, villa sales volume was $133,000,000 and lot sales volume was $20,000,000 for a total of $552,000,000 in sales.

It is this time of year that we all start thinking about our goals for the new year.  Here are my suggestions to my real estate clients on Hilton Head. 

If you are thinking about buying resort property, now is the time to buy.  Prices have never been lower, interest rates are low, sellers are motivated and the selection of property is unbelievable.

If you are considering selling, you should probably go ahead and do it now.  I know a lot of people have been waiting, thinking that prices were going to go up in the next several years.  I wish that were the truth, but I do not think it will happen.

I think we will look at 2010 and it will be called “the year of the buyer”.  There are so many good properties available – now is the time to buy!

It has been my experience that people always miss the bottom and a year or so later wish they had bought the year before.

When I go on a listing appointment and I am explaining the value of property, people often tell me that they want to list their property at “x” value.  Many times the price they want is way above the market, but they reply “find me a buyer who does not care about money.” 

I’ve been looking for that buyer for 29 years.  I’m sure there is a buyer out there who does not care about money, but I have not found one.

I was in Aspen, Colorado recently and was talking to a Realtor concerning the real estate market.  Aspen’s market has some of the top values anywhere, but there market is very slow.  I told my Realtor friend that I did not think the top end of the market would not be hurt by this economy.  They laughed and said that all ends of their market was hurting. 

People think that people with money will buy when they want to buy.  I often think that people who have money have gotten this money by being astute and not wasting money.

It is important to realize that in a slow real estate market, everyone is affected - top end, low end – everything is relative.

I recently flew to Aspen, Colorado for a family friend’s wedding.  One of the other guys that flew with us asked if we had noticed the seven Falcon jets at the airport – I did not even realize what they were.

Our traveling companion went on to explain that you cannot land planes like those on Hilton Head Island.  In Aspen, people have expensive homes and they want to be able to get to their homes at a minute’s notice.

I started thinking about how our short runway (the shortest commercial runway in the United States) needs to be lengthened.  It has been a hot political topic, but most every Realtor on Hilton Head feels it would benefit the real estate community to have a more accessible airport.

People who have airplanes want to be able to get to their homes; and at the present time they cannot do that directly – they have to fly into Savannah which makes it a little harder.

We were recently working with someone who was looking at a $7.5 million dollar home and was going to fly his jet to Hilton Head to look at it.  When this particular buyer discovered that he could not fly directly into Hilton Head, he canceled his trip altogether because he did not want to buy a place that he could not directly access. 

This would not only benefit the real estate market, but the people who live on the island as well.  In the long run, I think this would benefit everyone in one way or another and would bring more value to Hilton Head Island.

I recently had the opportunity to work with a couple who had traveled all over the world working for different companies.  When it came time to retire, they wanted to retire and live in Hilton Head.  This couple was fortunate because they had a choice as to where they could live – most people don’t have a choice, their job is keeping them somewhere, or perhaps family.

I asked them why they liked Hilton Head Island the best.  They said they loved it because of the great climate and the great amenities including the beautiful beaches, world class golf courses, tennis courts, fine dining and entertainment. 

I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to get to live and work on Hilton Head – one of the best places to live!

I was watching The Weather Channel last night and they showed the local weather; it was 33 degrees on Hilton Head Island, 28 degrees in Hardeeville and Ridgeland.  That made me realize how fortunate we are to have what I call “the thermos bottle effect” on Hilton Head.  It is always 4-5 degrees warmer during the winter and 4-5 degrees cooler in the summer on Hilton Head than it is on the mainland.

In 1983 when I was living in Sea Pines Plantation, a client of mine in Bluffton called and ask that I come list his house in Bluffton.  He said that the only problem was that he did not think I could get there.  He said the roads were iced over.  I looked out my office window – it was cold, but it was sunny.  When I got about half a mile off the island, all the trees had ice on them and I figured out what was going on. 

A thermos bottle keeps things cold when they are supposed to be cold and hot when they are supposed to be hot.  The island is surrounded by water which has the same effect as a thermos bottle.  I think this is a pretty good comparison.  I’m just glad I live in a thermos bottle environment.