Charleston, SC Posts

I had to share this recipe. One of my favorite indulgences is bread, but even better are these knockoffs of Red Lobster's cheddar garlic biscuits. My 2nd favorite is Jim and Nick's BBQ corn muffins so if anyone has that recipe, please share. :)

I made a fresh batch of these tonight to go with some soup and they were a HIT! They pretty much are perfect for any meal.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Start with:

2 cups of Bisquick mix

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

1.5 cups of shredded cheddar

2/3 cup of milk

(You can use more cheese and garlic powder depending on how cheesy or garlicy you want your biscuits. The more the better for me!)

Mix of all of this together and then spoon the biscuits onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. This recipe should yield 16 drop biscuits.

Melt 2 tbs of butter, 2 tsp of oregano (or parsley) and 1 tsp of garlic salt. After 10 mins, brush butter on biscuit tops and then bake for 5 more minutes or until golden brown.  Butter them again when they are hot and ENJOY!

We are so proud of this seller who was willing to act on the advice of our stager’s consultation. The sellers worked really hard to declutter but when we went back to revisit the home, we felt the home was still not ready. After our stager, Melissa Marro, presented a written staging consultation, the sellers had a check list to follow on necessary changes to make and they followed through with flying colors. Here are some before and after photos. 

The master bedroom is beautifully decorated but a mauve coat of paint could be a turn off for male buyers. A simple change of paint really shows off this room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hood over the fireplace was a terra cotta color which went along with the seller’s southwest theme, but it’s hard to take one’s eyes off that hood until you see the after photo which makes this room feel larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bedroom was painted terra cotta and this color may not be for every buyer. A simple coat of paint makes this room ready for any family member. We also removed a few other items in the room, but the change cost less than $50 to make, but the impact is worth much more.

This home is located in Colony North in N. Charleston, SC was just listed at $129,900. It's 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1416 sqft with a 2 car garage. To view other photos of this home, click here. 

If you would like more information about this listing, call us at 843-849-5217 or email @ info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CRETeam. 

Contact Michele Reneau, Top Real Estate Agent, North Charleston, SC Relocation Expert, CRS, GRI, ABR. 843-814-6680. We are approved by Boeing 3rd party relocation company as Charleston Boeing Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC. Michele Reneau is a Certified Staging Professional Elite Instructor and teaches agents how to use staging to maximize their real estate business and Help Sellers Protect their Equity using Home Staging while earning the CSP Elite designation. Michele is a Certified Residential Specialist with a top real estate team in Charleston, SC.  RESA 2009 and 2010 Staging Realtor of the Year Nominee. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in military relocation, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market. Michele can also be contacted by email at michele@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com.

If you have some unfinished shopping, you can do it from the comfort of your home or office and get FREE shipping from over 700 participating vendors on December 17, 2009.  So mark you calendars and set aside some time tomorrow to take advantage of this opportunity. Discount applies starting at midnight and goes all day long. Visit www.freeshippingday.com for details and to view participating online store.  Merchants are guaranteeing deliver by Christmas Eve.

Enjoy!

It's always a tough call to put a home on the market during Christmas holidays because sometimes all those decorations can get in the way and be quite distracting.  Recently, one of our home listings in Dorchester County in North Charleston in Archdale subdivision had a makeover by CSP Elite students, now graduates, led by premier home stager and instructor, Melissa Marro.  The students worked extremely hard and this home had major improvements just in the way of decluttering. This is the before photo to the right.  The photo actually doesn't look that bad but I always prefer a "neutral" photo.  Below is a photo of the dining room after the decluttering project was complete.  The Christmas tree still bothers me, but I realized it is the holidays and it's a tough obstacle to overcome this time of year.  I certainly don't want to take anyone's Christmas.  Regardless, this room looks larger, cleaner and brighter after the small changes.

  

I give kudos to the staging team who sent me these photos.  This next photo shows the importance of having a wide angle lens.  An important move to always consider when taking photos is to consider different angles and take photos from different sides of the room. Each angle can showcase different benefits such as the flow of a room.

I love this 3rd photo because it still shows off the formal dining room but also shows off the openness to the Family Room and it removes the Christmas tree. Viola!! Problem solved.  And this 3rd photos will be good long after December comes and goes.

 

What do you think?  How do you feel about Christmas decorations in MLS photos?

This home is located in Archdale subdivision just minutes from CAFB.  It has 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths, 1822 sqft with 2 car garage. It's priced to sell at $160,000! If you would like more information about this house, contact the CRE Team at info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com.  

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CRETeam

Contact Michele Reneau, Top Real Estate Agent, North Charleston, SC Relocation Expert, CRS, GRI, ABR. 843-814-6680. Michele Reneau is a Certified Staging Professional Elite Instructor and teaches agents how to use staging to maximize their real estate business and Help Sellers Protect their Equity using Home Staging while earning the CSP Elite designation. This class will also focus on helping agents overcome staging objections while emphasis the value and reduction of carrying costs for sellers.  Michele is a Certified Residential Specialist with a top real estate team in Charleston, SC.  Featured on HGTV's House Hunters and Real Estate Executive Magazine.  RESA 2009 and 2010 Staging Realtor of the Year Nominee. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in military relocation, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market.  Michele can also be contacted by email at michele@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com.

I haven't mentioned the news yet, but I'm ready to make an official announcement. I'm pregnant which   explains my on and off again presense depending on how I'm feeling.  On our 20 week appointment, we found out we are having a girl! I'm actually 23 weeks today.  Our tech let us take a sneak peek via 3D because the ultrasound pictures were so clear. She was kicking me the entire time it seemed like.  She was so active that the 3D pictures are a little smeared on the far right side-- she is not missing the side of her head or anything. She was just moving so much, it was hard to take the picture before she moved again as the image changed. We are so excited and seeing her 3D made it so amazingly intimate.  We were both brimming with tears watching her and thinking about the amazement of God's handiwork and what is going on inside my belly at only 20 weeks.  She is healthy with all 10 fingers and 10 toes and beautiful!

We had a tough time with girl names. Among the top choices were Victoria Abigail, Gabrielle, Ava, Audrey, Kayla, and Hannah Grace. A week before the ultrasound, a friend suggested her middle name, Lana.  I didn't think much of it but it dawned on me to mention it to my husband.  He woke up the next morning, calling the baby Lana and it just stuck.

Her name will be Lana Michele. Pronouced La-na, its origin is Gaelic and means rock and in Hawaiian it means awakening. We can't wait to meet her in April 2010!

Ever need to email a file? I mean a BIG file, like a powerpoint, a high resolution photo(s), a pdf file, or audio/video file, but it keeps getting rejected by the receipients email because the file is too big? How frustrating this can be...

The problem is now solved with YouSendIt.com and is easy as A-B-C.  Yousendit is a web based service that protects the security of emailed documents but is an intermediary that allows you to upload the document to their server. The servicesends an email to the receipient on how to pick up the document and viola! It saves the receipcient from getting a jammed up email inbox too.

•1.      Sign up for a FREE account at www.yousendit.com.

•2.      Enter the email address of your receipent.

•3.      Enter a subject title for the email. (optional)

•4.      Enter a short message (optional)

•5.      Upload the file.

•6.      Hit "Send It."

I have a lite account which allows me to send up to 100 MB, but you can sign up to send 2GB if you need to send bigger files for a small fee.

Try it next time you need to send a big file!

Have you read this article yet? It was featured in Business Week.  My first thought, wow! what a blunt and harsh statement! But the writer, Mark Roth, uses this headturning title to get your attention to make excellent points for those who are on the fence.  Namely that interest rates are at an all time low, in fact, the lowest in 40 years. He noted that in the late 70s, rates hit a high of 18%! Can you even imagine buying a house at 18%?  I personally can't fathom it as I bought my first house with an FHA loan while I was in college for 7% in 2001.  In the 80s, when rates dropped from 12% to 9%, my parents practically danced their way to the 1^st refinance of their home.  Generation X'ers probably would never dream of purchasing a home above 7% given all we have ever known are super low rates hovering between 5-6%. Mr. Roth points out the history of previous interest rates as well as the impact of rates on one's purchasing power. I happen to agree with his prediction that as the economy becomes more stable, interest rates WILL rise to hedge inflation.  My prediction has been that by this time next year, rates will have risen 1-2% at a minimum.

In Charleston, the average sale is $250,000. Assuming a 5% down payment at 5% interest on a 30 year fixed, your monthly principal and interest payment would be $1275.  If rates rise to 7%, your payment increases to $1580/month.  Some buyers may be on the fence because they fear prices may drop further. Consider this. If there is a 10% decrease in price and the $250,000 falls to $225,000 in one year, but you wait to purchase and the interest rate rises to 7%, your payment will be $1422.  You spend more money per month plus at the higher interest rate, you pay more interest over the life of the loan.  Real estate appreciation is always a cycle and as the economy stabilizes, values will level out.  Steve Harney is already analyzing data this is happening in many markets and that this will occur by 2014 in many states. Making a home purchase is still a decision that should be weight carefully and is not for everyone.  One important consideration will depend on how long you plan to stay in the home.   

Mark Roth summed up the article, "What I'm trying to impress upon everyone is that if you are planning on being a homeowner now and/or in the foreseeable future, or if you are looking to move your family into a bigger home, then pay more attention to the interest rates than the price of the home. If you have a steady job, good credit, and the down payment, then you really are being offered the gift of a lifetime."

The Charleston Relocation Experts team specializes in helping families make good decisions.  We do NOT think you are stupid or broke if you don't buy a house right now.  But if you are considering purchasing a home and would like a FREE consultation, we'd love to sit down with you and help you weigh your options and direct you to a qualified, caring mortgage professional that will help you with the numbers. 

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We are approved by Boeing 3^rd party relocation company as Charleston Boeing Relocation Specialists with Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston, SC.  Visit us at www.CharlestonRelocationExperts.com. Contact Top Real Estate Agents, North Charleston, SC Relocation Experts,  Licensed Realtors® in South Carolina at 843-849-5217 or info@CharlestonRelocationExperts.com to list your home for sale or to purchase a home in Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, Mount Pleasant and the surrounding areas in Charleston County, Berkeley County or Dorchester County. The Charleston Relocation Experts Team specializes in relocations, first time homebuyers and creating marketing exposure to sell your home in the Charleston SC Real Estate market.