Jan

4

One of the reasons I relocated to Anderson County, SC

Posted by masogeorge under Anderson, For Buyers, For Sellers, Regional News

 

I thought I would start off by recalling one or more of the reasons why I moved to Anderson, SC area from Florida. In early 2002 my wife and I decided it was becoming too crowded where we lived and issues such as taxes, traffic and the humidity were concerns.
I had been an avid Striped Bass (freshwater) fisherman since the early 80′s and had purchased a lot  at Smith Mountain Lake (Moneta, Va) in 2000. I knew by 2002 that I was not going to fully retire and the distance to Roanoke and Lynchburg average 50 miles either way so I wanted a place basically halfway between there and Florida. While driving back one vacation day I chose I-85 to see what the Carolina route back to Florida offered. When we crossed the bridges in Anderson County we crossed Lake Hartwell and then decided to drive into Anderson at Exit 19 and see what it offered. This resulted in a 2 year study of the area by taking our 2 one week vacations in 2002 and 2003 to come up an fish Lake Hartwell and drive around the area and make a decision.

In 2003 we came across 3.3 acres of land in Townville, SC, (Exit 11), called the Realtor, got the price and dimensions ($32,000 and 3.32acres) of this property located in a waterfront subdivision on the across the street side of the waterfront homes. One year later to the week, we returned, and it happened to be Mon. 10/6/04, the week Hurricane Jeanne hit the Gulf Coast of Fl., and was moving North to the Carolinas. I fished Lake Hartwell, the day Jeanne came into the Upstate SC area, and then kept my night fishing appointment with our guide (with whom we had fished three times before in the previous years) and that was the evening of 10/9/04, the day Hurricane Jeanne departed the area.

The photo below shows a view across a section of the Lake just before sunset when the winds had settled down and we were getting ready to start fishing.

45 minutes after this photo was taken, we started getting hits on our bait and it became a very busy half hour as we landed 14 nice eating size Stripers, and lost only 5 more before the fishing frenzy stopped.

The next day we met with the builder we had chosen and wrote up a contract on what we wanted for a new home, as we had settled with the Realtor on the lots two days earlier.  The home was built by June of 2005 and we sold our condo (actually the condo had a contract on it within 90 days of our returning from SC). We used an equity loan on the condo to pay for the property and new home in SC.

This was a great choice and we are happy we made the change. It is a much different life style than we had on the Florida Gulf Coast. We have four seasons, not that I am a great fan of the winter season, but it is a far cry from my early winter days spent in Lynn, MA for 21 years where there average snowfall is measured in feet. Since we have been here, going on five years this coming June, I believe we have had four snows in the Anderson area, the average depth being less than 6 inches.

So, one of the reasons I relocated to the Anderson County area of SC is a combination of the climate, the location and definitely Lake Hartwell.

lakehartwellnightshot.jpg

You do not have to own lakefront property or be an avid fisherman to enjoy the beauty of Lake Hartwell. This is an Army Corps of Engineers managed lake, essentially the waters of Lake Hartwell belong to the public. And I do not go onto the Lake every day. I do drive over it 4 to 5 times a week and especially in the Fall when the balloon festival is celebrated in Anderson, it is a spectacular sight   between 7:00am and 8:00am in the morning to see these multi-colored balloons on the horizon coming over Lake Hartwell in their morning runs.There I go again, digressing. This post is titled, One of the reasons I relocated to Anderson County, SC, but in fact there are so many reasons to appreciate the beauty of this area….great food, horses, space, the natural beauty of rolling hills, lakes, streams, mountain views, waterfalls and national forests in the upper part of the Upstate…

If you are considering leaving your current state of residence for a permanent relocation or possibly a second home before a permanent move, look at my website: www.andersonsalesgmasoblog.com, , or contact me at masogeorge@hughes.net for more information.

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Nov

24

Buying what you need versus buying the best deal

Posted by masogeorge under Anderson, For Buyers, For Sellers, Regional News

The recent “Cash for Clunkers” program revealed an interesting trend in consumer purchase decision making. Were the majority of purchases based upon a need, or did the attraction of the cash make the purchase a “best deal” regardless of the make of vehicle? Is it fair to compare this “best deal” concept with the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program?
Whether you are a first time home buyer, or a move up existing home owner, the “best deal” concept is existing in multiple home markets throughout the country today.
It is pretty much accepted in the housing market today that home values have declined between 20% and 50% and various markets. And because we are in a very slow recovery coming out of the 2008 recession, these values will take a long to to come back to 2006-2007 values. Combined with the fact that the U.S. dollar is bouncing back and forth somewhere between 70% and 80% of valuation in the world market, it  makes sense that before we enter into an inflationary period in our economic recovery, this makes for a “perfect storm” scenario in the housing market. We have the best of both worlds for buyers: namely, plenty of inventory, priced somewhere between 2004 and 2006 price levels. The problem with many buyers is that they use the “…I think I will wait a little longer to see if the market bottoms out more…” mindset before they take action. Well, this is the crystal ball mindset. Good luck if you can predict the future…because historically, when consumers wait for markets to bottom out, i.e., prices fall further, other factors enter into the picture which make the purchase more expensive or unobtainable. The most obvious factor is a change in  interest rates, which combined with the lessening of purchasing power, e.g. the value of the dollar, combined with inflation, and as a result the consumer “misses out” on a great deal. So the simple solution is to act NOW. We plan for the future by acting in the NOW. If we never take action, we never achieve what we want in the future, and we justify our inaction with the simple excuse, “well I guess I missed out this time, I’ll just wait until another “great deal” comes”. In the near future, I’ll talk about the “great deals” that exist in my market, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties in the Upstate of South Carolina, a great place to live, with rolling hills, lakes, streams, forests, wildlife, reasonable taxes, relatively mild climate in four seasons, and an outstanding location midway between Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC.

To see what properties are available click here to search on my website.

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