Myrtle Beach – A tourist attraction

Myrtle Beach has lot to offer to the tourists. It is mainly a holiday resort. Combined with the tourist attractions, Myrtle Beach can be rightly called a vacation resort. There are amusement parks, water parks, and beachside attractions for visitors. Also are present golf playing facilities and shopping areas.

Myrtle Beach Tourist Attractions include:

Medieval Times Castle – The attractions include exciting Medieval feasting, jousting, sword fighting and pageantry are just some of available at the Medieval Times Castle

MAX Discovery Theater – It have got a huge screen to enjoy movies.

Myrtle Waves Water Park – Myrtle Waves Water Park offers 30 plus water rides and sensational slides including the 10-story Turbo-Twister, the Pipeline Plunge, a lazy river and a wave pool.

NASCAR SpeedPark – Here one can enjoy racing, arcades, miniature golf and rock climbing among other attractions.

Ripley’s Aquarium- One will walk through a tunnel surrounded by sharks or hold a horseshoe crab at Ripley’s Aquarium. The aquarium offers visitors an educational and fascinating journey through the sea.

Ripley’s Motion Moving Theater- One will experience the movements of the movie along with the effects of the 3D glasses, which adds to the fun. Faint hearted or motion sick people should avoid this.

The tourist attractions are all artificial focused on family fun. This spot attracts lot of visitors during vacations which include groups of students; families, elderly couples and the attractions are also available for all age ranges.

 

 

The Bill to Reduce Property Tax in Myrtle Beach is on fast track

The bill to reduce property taxes in Myrtle Beach is now on the fast track, as informed by the lawmakers. The Myrtle Beach City Council had earlier proposed to reduce the property taxes by 2011. But after the special legislative session, which was attended by the lawmakers, the cut may come one year earlier.

State Representative Alan Clemmons told the media that the bill is almost passed in the House and will be sent to the Senate by February. Clemmons said, “I’m just thrilled that this tax reduction is going to happen. I’m pleased that the mayor and city council have been forward thinking enough so they are moving forward. They are advancing this opportunity for homeowners to realize tax relief during one of the most difficult economies that we have ever had.”

This early relief has come due to the 1 cent tourism tax that has been imposed. But there has been some disagreement among the homeowners of Myrtle Beach over this tax. Even though, some of them have welcomed the bill and don’t mind paying the extra money while shopping but on the other hand, some of the residents don’t want to pay this tax.

Steven Pirttima said, “When you go to see your sales receipt, you see an interesting increase. It hurts, but when you balance that to a very low property tax, it’s worth it.” Steven is a Myrtle Beach homeowner.

But another resident, Ashley Gentry doesn’t’ agree with the tourism tax. Gentry said, “I guess it would be a great break for the citizens if we would get that relief on our property taxes, but again, it’s a double edge sword because I disagree with the way the tourism tax was handled,” she said.”

After the second and third reading of the property tax cut bill, it will go to the senate and may become a law.

 

Why you need a home in Myrtle Beach

The coastal city of South Carolina, USA, houses the breathtakingly beautiful Myrtle Beach. One of the most sought after US tourist destinations; Myrtle Beach holds a pride place among the most rapidly developing metropolitan areas in the US. Surrounded by the Long Bay and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Myrtle Beach has pleasant, tourist friendly winters and warm, luxuriant summers. The city is flush with restaurants, resorts, golf courses and convention halls to cater to a mind boggling 15 million visitors every year. Myrtle Beach plays host to several business meets, conventions and concerts. The Myrtle Beach International Airport and several major highways such as the US Route 17 and 501 provide connectivity to other cities.

 

If you are seeking to make a real estate investment in the Myrtle Beach area, there is no time like now. The market in now on an upswing and you can choose to be among the 25,000 plus locals who welcome the never-ending stream of visitors to this resort city. Grab a piece of property that faces the azure blue waters or make that elusive condo yours. Invest in a furnished apartment or set up your home in the Long Bay area surrounding Myrtle Beach.

 

Affordability to buy property is optimum with recession slowly waning. House prices are slowly going northward to follow interest rates. If you are among the scores of people wondering whether the time to buy property in Myrtle Beach is ripe, the answer is yes. Though indecision in this regard with falling prices may weigh you down, nervous sellers and foreclosures present opportunities up for grabs. Get set with your proof of income and sufficient funds for a down payment. Pick up your dream home in a city that is paradise for the rest of the world.

Boost in real estate market in Myrtle Beach

The recession nationwide has not affected Myrtle Beach area that way. This area is said to be clear of recession. Tourism industry has a good prospect in this area and this area is also attracting a lot of people. Myrtle Beach is experiencing an increase in real estate sales lately. For the fourth consecutive month, till September, real estate sales increased manifold along the Grand Strand. The boost in sale is on the other hand driving down the supply of houses for sale.
The statistics from Multiple Listing Service, prepared on the basis of number of properties available for selling and the number sold the past year, shows that it takes about 23 months to sell single family homes and around 30 months to sell the condominiums. For the first time in almost two years, the number of months it will take to sell properties on the market has decreased.

According to Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors, a healthy market should have a six to twelve months supply of houses and condominiums. From these numbers, one can determine when the market will be more balanced. He also indicated that there is some improvement in the market.

The house owners, willing to sell property can get information at a foreclosure prevention clinic. Such clinics are very helpful for such house owners who are struggling to pay a mortgage or who have already stopped paying. Such clinics have a Department of Housing and Urban Development certified counselor and experts on budgeting, credit counseling and legal issues. One such clinic was organized at the North Charleston Convention Center. Property owners attending such clinics are supposed to bring with them certain documents like mortgage statement, two pay stubs for everyone in the household along with proof of any other form of income if present, two bank statements, tax returns with W-2s and a recent utility bill.

Horry County watches a boom in banking business.

When almost 100 banks countrywide are facing closure, banking business is booming in Horry County in southern part of California. Reports show that the number of banks doing business in Horry County has risen to 27 on June 30, 2009 compared to 22 at the same time in the year 2007. On the other hand, the growth in the Grand Stand’s banking industry has come to a standstill.
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the number of banks nationwide plummeted , the number going down to 8200 from 8600, with some  banks closing down while some other merging with larger competitors.
According to experts and local bank officials, Myrtle Beach has a cutting edge compared to other parts. The strong tourism industry along with growth of population is helping local banks to survive and thrive even in time of worst economic crisis of the recent years.
According to Professor Robert Burney of Coastal Carolina University, “Startups are always looking to find business, and when business is slow, it’s that much more difficult for them to find it. That makes it even more curious that we’ve had multiple startups in the recent past. Some of the players are thinking that it’s a good long-term bet, and they’re willing to go ahead and start and wait things out for when the economy starts heating up again.” Prof. Burney said that is good news for the consumers.

The growth of Grand Strand along with increase in facilities and development of new roads are attracting national and regional banks as there are profitable lending opportunities waiting for them.

Real estate development and tourism are the two largest industries of Myrtle Beach. This is a specialized field where lending is associated and this lead to flourishing of community banks.

According to FDIC, the number of deposits in Myrtle Beach contracted slightly between 2008 and 2009, from $5.69 billion to $5.58 billion. It is said that, Myrtle Beach is saturated with banks for now, may has even more than it can support.

According to David Morrow, chief executive of Crescent Bank, “When the growth is there, then a new bank coming into the market really doesn’t upset the apple cart, but because of the lack of growth in the last couple years, the new banks coming into the market have created a tougher market for the existing banks that are already struggling.”

Two new banks came up here this year. Coastal Carolina National Bank opened its offices on Oak Street in June, while South Atlantic Bank recently opened a building in Murrells Inlet. The South Atlantic’s headquarters in Myrtle Beach is under construction at 29th Avenue North and Robert Grissom Parkway and will be ready by early next year.

The Atlantic Bank & Trust, which started in Charleston in 2007 , opened a branch on the Grand Strand in 2008.

Burney says,” You’re still seeing strong community banks that aren’t just being gobbled up by the big banks. That’s a story worth telling. Otherwise, it sounds like the march of the giant banks slowly gobbling everybody else, and that’s not the whole story by a long shot.”

According to Scott Plyler, President of South Atlantic Bank, the bank took less than three months to raise $27.5 million in capital after the bank was planned in 2007. The bank has had a better-than-expected start and its recent beginning has allowed it to avoid the toxic assets and bad loans that plagued other banks.

But everyone is not worried about the new competition and the sluggish economy. Some banks delayed or deferred their expansion plans, waiting for the right time.

Tommy Bouchette, an executive vice president at South Carolina Bank and Trust comments, “Community banks understand that we’re all in this to try and service our customers and try to be the best bank we can and sometimes that competition will drive you to be a better bank.”

Tips for Buying Property in Myrtle Beach

Buying a new home is an event that occurs once in a lifetime for a vast majority. Whether you need a new home or need to upgrade to a larger home in Myrtle Beach, the current real estate market in South Carolina is very attractive. The time is ripe, the conditions are suitable and loans are affordable.

 

A lender may be willing to give you any amount of money. Yet, ultimately, you need to determine what you can afford every month. If you have planned for a secure future with good money managing skills, your dream of owning a home can be realized easily. Once your financial goals are in place, you can plan how much you can spend on EMI’s for a specific duration. Compare your total income, expenses and savings. This calculation will help you take a decision on the amount you can put aside to buy a home in Myrtle Beach.

 

When you come up with a realistic figure to invest on your new Long Bay home, you can’t go wrong. Long Bay surrounds the beautiful in Myrtle Beach of South Carolina. It is ideal to buy a home or a condo that fits into your budget without weighing too heavily on your pocket. When you have a fool proof money saving strategy, you won’t default on loan payments.

 

When you prepare to buy your dream home in Myrtle Beach, you need to understand various aspects of finance such as guide line value, down payment terms and the various modules of a home loan. You may require help to select a money lender or a bank that will finance you. Usually, you will be required to pay 20% of the value of the property as down payment. The remaining 80% will be provided as a home loan.

 

Owning a home is beneficial on both a personal and a financial level. Firstly, you can be sure that you will not be required to shift bag and baggage to a new place, which gives a consistent environment. You can design your house as you wish. The interest on home loans is tax deductible and the capital appreciation of your property will give you a feeling of utmost financial security.

 

Your home in Myrtle Beach could be the largest investment of your life. Be confident of your financial goals and your lender before you own a part of the highly lucrative South Carolina Beach Area. Welcome to the booming real estate in Myrtle Beach!

A Q&A session with a Wells Fargo Securities economist

Talking about the recession, a senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Mark Vinter said that the “recession has ended this summer, but people may not feel change for some time.”

He said that as the Grand Strand moves into the slowest season, it would be difficult to see any improvements in the local economy, and added the businesses and residents can look forward to a better spring as job growth begins to pick up and people begin spending more on travel and leisure.

He also answered some questions on the economy. When he was asked since the Grand Strand has a higher unemployment rate in the nation, would it take longer to see recovery in the nation, he said that “We’re probably going to see things turn around right about the same time as the nation. I mean, we have actually seen a little bit of improvement in residential construction where some developers are coming in and finishing some of the partially completed residential developments around the area and building homes that are priced more in line with historic norms in Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach saw more over-building than many other parts of the country so it will take longer for us to recover, but the recovery should begin at roughly the same time as it does nationally.”

The next question was that today many people say that obtaining financing either for businesses or residential mortgages is very difficult – so, what is the current environment like? To this he said “Essentially what happened during the boom years was financing was way too easy. And most of the reasons financing was as easy to get as it was previously, is that a majority of loans were being packaged as securities and sold to the secondary market. That secondary market is largely shut down and when a financial institution makes a loan today it’s probably going to end up on their books and banks only have a set amount of capital and they only have a set amount of capital that they want to allocate to real estate. So when it comes to making new loans, each new loan is scrutinized to a much greater extent than it used to be and when a bank when it comes to making that lending decision a bank is really looking hard at all five “C”s of the credit – looking at the character of the borrower, looking at the capacity of that borrower to service the loan, they’re looking at the credit history of that borrower, they’re looking at the collateral and they’re looking at the market conditions. A couple years ago it seemed that loans were being made regardless of the five “C”s of credit.”

He was asked what the housing market would do going forward to which he answered: “I think that housing has clearly bottomed. I’m not certain that housing prices have bottomed. I wouldn’t be surprised to see housing prices begin to fall again late this year and early next year, but we’re much closer to the bottom. We have seen a little bit of a pick up in activity as developers have come in and said if we build the right product at the right prices there is a market for it. Some of the improvement that we have seen in the housing market has been due to the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and that’s soon going to expire. So we may see a little bit of a payback; we may see sales slow later this year but the worst is probably past.

As more loans come due in the commercial real estate market, will there be more foreclosures, and what will the commercial real estate market look like going forward? Well we’re still seeing a great deal of foreclosures throughout residential development and to some extent commercial projects. Probably the most troublesome product in commercial real estate is retail, particularly retail that got a little bit ahead of residential development… In many cases the values on these properties have fallen quite sharply and these properties are going to be very hard to refinance and many of them will go into foreclosure and I don’t really see any way of avoiding that outcome. To some extent some loans are being modified and extended but if it’s a situation where the value of the property has fallen so much that it is unlikely to recover for a number of years, if ever, then modifying and extending the loans will do no good. So the best option for many properties is to go into foreclosure … And I’m afraid that there are a lot of small independent banks that are likely to bear the brunt of the cost of the problems in commercial real estate and so we’re seeing a number of the smaller community banks that have been shut down or merged into other institutions and I’m afraid that’s likely to continue.”

The next question was that although there are improvements in the national economy how long will it be before people begin feeling the recovery? To this he stated “I think that right now the recovery is more technical in nature than it is real in nature. The numbers look a lot better than people feel about the economy and that’s likely to continue for a long time…In the early stages of an economic recovery a lot of the increase in GDP comes from a slower rate of inventory draw down, it doesn’t come from any dramatic increase in production and the economy is likely to be driven much more by business investment and less so by consumer spending. That means that a lot more of the improvement in the economy is going to occur in parts of the economy that folks do not readily identify with. We also think the recovery will remain relatively slow compared to previous economic recoveries and the unemployment rates are likely to remain relatively high.”

 

J.D. MacNair’s Monday Morning Myrtle Beach MoJo

Try and say that 5 times real fast. MacNair’s Monday Morning Myrtle Beach MoJo

It continues to be an excellent time to purchase a home in the Myrtle Beach area. There are many
factors that work in favor of homebuyers for the Myrtle Beach Market, both those looking to make
their first home purchase and those seeking to move up into a larger home.

In recent weeks, there have been many indicators pointing to an improving real estate market, so buyers should act now while conditions remain ideal.

Consider these reasons why now is a good time to buy a home:

• Housing affordability remains high.This allows buyers to purchase a bigger home, or one in a better location, than they might have in the past.

• The number of homes on the market has started to decrease. Yet, homebuyers still have a wide variety of homes to choose from, making it more likely they will find their dream home.

• Mortgages are at historically low levels, and some buyers are even able to get 30-year fixed rates below 5 percent. Low mortgage rates also positively impact affordability and allow buyers to enjoy lower mortgage payments for the lifetime of their loan. This may be of particular interest to renters whose rent payments typically rise each year.

Real estate sales up in Myrtle Beach area

News – Local

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

The Grand Strand real estate market is showing some stability as condominium and single family home sales rose significantly in September – the fourth month of increases in at least one segment of the market.

Condo sales were up 10 percent and single-family home sales increased by 8 percent in September, when compared to the same month last year, according to statistics compiled Monday from the Multiple Listing Service.

September was the first month there was roughly even growth in the condo and single family home markets in about two years, said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors. The increases are encouraging but the market won’t reach overall stability until there is a quarter with consistent growth in condo and residential sales.

Median prices, the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less, continued to drop in September with the median single family home price down 15 percent from last September to $170,000 and the median condo price down 13 percent to $128, 750.

“This is extremely encouraging and the prices being down to me is not discouraging in that, that is what is driving up sales,” Maeser said. “Foreclosures and short sales have created some fabulous prices and as a result of that … people are taking advantage of the market.”

Despite sporadic monthly increases, overall sales were down for the quarter – 8 percent for single family homes and 6 percent for condos. Even those decreases point to the market getting better because the drops aren’t as drastic as the same quarter last year when sales were down 29 percent for single family homes and 33 percent for condos, Maeser said.

“I honestly believe the Myrtle Beach area is prepared to recover quicker than most other places,” he said. “We’re still a high demand area; people want to live here.”

Contact ADVA SALDINGER at 626-0317.

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Update on the J.D. MacNair home selling team

Things have certainly picked up in the Myrtle Beach real estate market, and the North Myrtle Beach real estate market.  J.D. MacNair has secured another home for one of his clients this past week.  J.D. MacNair is also in negotiations with several buyers and sellers.  They have been very busy marketing their clients properties, showings this past weekend in North Myrtle Beach have picked up 10 fold. One property in particular has hands down been crowned the showing of the week.  It is 169 Carriage Lake Drive in Little River, SC 29566

We will be adding some new sections to this blog to include: (well lets keep it a secret for now) J.D. MacNair’s ability to keep 3 steps ahead is one reason his team has been so successful in any market.  COMING SOON new features!