Purchasers and sellers of Hilton Head Property will run across “as-is” in the contract form and may wonder what exactly this means to them.  As a buyer or seller, the as-is part of the contract allows information about the home to be put on the table.  Paragraph 8 of the Hilton Head Area Association of REALTORS (HHAAOR) contract states that “as-is means the property is being conveyed in the condition in which it is presently found subject to the aforementioned paragraphs”.  Looking through the previous paragraphs we find out more information on what “as-is’ could be for a purchaser and seller.

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Tax time is here again, and for those who purchased in 2010, this is your opportunity to appeal.  Your appeal must be filed by the end of 2011.  The good news is that even if you purchased in 2008 or 2009 you can still appeal.  Like the 2010 purchaser, the 2008 and 2009 appeals may only appeal with transfers that occur in the year of purchase and no transactions after the year of purchase may be used as a basis.  Unfortunately, if the property was acquired before January of 2008 the chance of a successful appeal is minimized.  Realtors ® did make some positive strides in 2011 to change the 2006 Point of Sale tax code but the change only benefits 2011 purchases and only those assessed at the 6% rate or commercial properties. In a nutshell, if the property had been acquired after 2002, the chance of benefiting by this law is minimized because the purchase price less 25% cannot be below the property’s Fair Market Value of record. Read the rest of this entry

With the sale of every Hilton Head Property, a quarter of one percent transfer fee is paid by the purchaser(typically). This transfer is collected for Beaufort county and paid to the town.  The town of Hilton Head has purchased over 1,170 acres with it and have reduced the potential of 4.37 million square feet of commercial development, 1,365 motel rooms and 4,210 residential and timeshare units on the Island.  As a buyer you will benefit with more open green spaces, more parks and less development, the very reasons why you are buying in the first place. Read the rest of this entry

If you are a Hilton Head purchaser looking for property now or in the future, we offer South Carolina Buyer Agency and our Agreement which you may want to review.  No longer is it caveat emptor or “buyer beware”.  For buyers, this agency agreement can include term, be property specific and the proceeds can either be paid by you or as it is in most cases, paid by the seller from the published co-op fee(published proceeds) in the Multiple Listing Service. Many buyers that arrive on the Island do not know that this form of agency is available and should ask their Realtor about agency.  It is always nice to be able to dance with the person that brought you!

Although some properties today are selling “as-is” usually there is some time frame that Hilton Head sellers will give a buyer to complete a property inspection.    While property inspections cost about $500 dollars depending on the size and type of property, they are well worth this out of pocket cost for the purchaser.  Within a few days the home inspector will send via email photos and detailed information about the property that helps a buyer understand their new property and may identify any areas that may require more review. Read the rest of this entry

We have used everything including facts, humor, time lines, fast talking, slow talking, explaining the rules up front and for some reason nothing has worked, yet!  The next time we have a buyer for a short sale we are going to have them take this test.  The results will reveal their tolerance for patience and we than will know what is expected of us.   In order to add some humor to these challenging sales we have noted a few rules below.

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