As most of you do; I often receive mail outs from Realtors at home.  Recently, I have had one Realtor mailing something about once a month claiming to be an expert in my particular market.

I find it funny because this particular agent has never made a sale in this market; in fact, his company has only made a couple of sales in this market. 

Unfortunately, this happens too often; people designate themselves as an “expert” at something just because.  I think this title is something you should earn. 

So when looking for the “expert” in your market, check the stats – and work with a real expert!

As I was driving to work this morning, I noticed this license plate on the car in front of me.  It was pretty clear to me that these people were from New Jersey and they wanted to move to Hilton Head Island. 

I think it great to live in a place where everyone wants to be.  I can’t believe how many people have even said that of all places they would want to live, it would be Hilton Head.   

Why?  Maybe it’s the year round good weather; sure, there might be one month a year when they might rather be in South Florida and there might be 6 weeks in the summer that they might prefer to be in the North Carolina mountains, but overall – Hilton Head has PERFECT weather!  Not to mention all the great things Hilton Head offers – world class golf, beaches, shopping, dining and entertainment. 

I was fortunate enough to move to Hilton Head Island when I was just 30 years old – a lot of people wait and retire here.  I’m one of the lucky 35,000 who get the opportunity to call Hilton Head Island home.

As some of you might know, my wife recently insisted that I have a personal trainer to get in shape and I have religiously been doing that for the past 4 years. 

There is a young girl who lives down the street from me who goes to the same trainer.  I told my trainer that my goal was to look like her.  My trainer then asked what I had to eat the day before because the young girl had eaten tuna and yogurt – unfortunately, I had eaten fish tacos.  I guess that doesn’t quite cut it…

I started thinking about it and came to the conclusion that if I want to look like that, I’m going to have to be willing to do what it takes to get those results.  It’s the same way with real estate. 

I have talked to a lot of clients who want their property sold, but they are not willing to do what it takes to get those results.  Competition sometimes dictates what needs to happen, whether it be in your workout or in pricing and selling your home.

Everyone knows that the real estate market was not exactly a bright spot in 2010. 

I can say that tourism was good for Hilton Head Island during 2010; hotels, home and villa rentals were up 4.4% according to the Chamber of Commerce.  I believe that the real number is higher because a lot of people have started renting their properties through VRBO.

A lot of this increase was due to the lack of uncertainty by the oil spill in the gulf.  We saw a lot of tourists who normally travel to the west coast of Florida.

Many rental companies were 100% booked all summer.  Other areas also saw an increase in tourism: Charleston was up 9%.

Some good news is that Southwest Airlines has started flying to Charleston and Greenville – this will provide yet another avenue to travel to Hilton Head. 

So the question is, will this translate into a rise in the real estate market?  I think it eventually will.

It’s that time of year again; Hilton Head Island Chamber Restaurant Week.  You can dine out at many Hilton Head restaurants for a sampling of their best dishes at a discounted price. 

The only problem; choosing a restaurant from the great list – and you only have a week.  Haven’t seen who’s participating – click here for a list of restaurants with their special menus. 

If you’ve already been out and about this week on Hilton Head and have had a great meal tell us about it!

Jane and I visiting the Extreme Makeover home in Beaufort

Jane and I had a chance to drive to Beaufort and visit the Extreme Makeover home; I can truly say that I have never seen such an operation. 

It is hard to believe that they can built a 4,500 square foot home in one week - it took over 20 months to build my home. 

There were over 3,000 volunteers with the build; in fact, there were so many volunteers that they couldn’t use everyone.  We were fortunate enough to get to walk through the home with the architect – it is looking great. 

I think the response really speaks well for the residents in Beaufort County.  I think a special thanks needs to go out to Todd and Tracy Hawk of H2 Builders and all the great ladies at J. Banks Design. 

I can’t wait to see the finished result – we will keep you posted as to when this episode will premiere on ABC.

I recently listed a villa for a client of mine who had purchased back in 1980. When I was talking to him about what his gain would be he mentioned that he owed on the villa.

I couldn’t believe it – I didn’t understand how that was even possible! He said he kept taking out a line of credit on the property and now he is in a catch 22.

He is going to have a large capital gain, but he owes what the property is currently worth. He is going to sell the villa and walk away with nothing and on top of that will owe a lot in capital gains tax.

My father always taught me to live within my means and not accumulate debt. I think there are a lot of people in today’s world who wish they had a father like mine teach them that lesson.

Yesterday morning I received several emails and phone calls concerning an article in The Wall Street Journal mentioning 2nd home sales in several areas – including Hilton Head Island. 

Check out the article featuring Hilton Head Island here!

I think the article is right on and that now is a great time to buy a 2nd home – prices are right and the selection is good – what more could you ask for???  Check out my featured listings which include some of the best real estate opportunities on Hilton Head Island. 

With all the talk of snow the last few days (even Hilton Head schools were on a delay this morning) I thought this was a great topic for a blog this morning.

Some might be confused by the title of this blog, but I started thinking about some of the similarities between skiing and the real estate world. 

Over Christmas my family went skiing for 7 days.  The first two days we had great conditions; good visibility and the lines weren’t too long.  This scenario reminds me of the real estate market in 2004 and 2005.  The third day a storm came in and conditions deteriorated; I couldn’t see anything.  This reminded me of the market in 2008 when we started the year off ok and then the market slowly deteriorated.  I spoke to some locals and they said that they don’t ski when the conditions were like that – they wait until the conditions improve.  I think this is what some sellers were choosing to do that in the market; waiting to sell their property until the conditions improve. 

The fourth day was worse than the third day; my daughter, Brandi Jane, and I were skiing down a slope and we had to stop because we couldn’t see the runs.  We ended up following some people down what we found to be a double diamond.  It took me forever to get down the mountain and it made me lose a lot of my confidence.  It made me think how a lot of my sellers must feel – they have lot confidence in the market and it scares them to get back in the market if they are buying.

So if you have some snow outside this morning, enjoy!

As we roll in the new year, I think there are more people in the market looking at real estate.  I received two of the worst offers I have ever gotten today; but hey, it’s a step in the right direction – at least someone is making an offer!  A month ago people were not making offers at all. 

I think people are entering the market; we saw an increase in sales from 2009 to 2010, despite the fact that the market has been dismal over the last 2 months. 

I think there are some good signs out there pointing in the right direction – I’ll keep you posted.