All Forum Posts by: Troy Gandee

@James Kampmeyer Hi, James. I'm a Realtor and investor in the Charleston area. You should definitely talk to your lender first and get a "pre-approval or a pre-qualification". They will let you know what amount you can comfortably afford and which loan products you're eligible for. You can even send them property details of a home that's similar to what you would like and they can run a kind of mock loan scenario for you. More often than not, you will NEED a pre-approval letter from a lender before the seller will even accept your offer anyways. Once you get an offer accepted, then you (or your Realtor) will send everything to the lender and they will begin the process of underwriting and approving the loan. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I work in those areas.

@Jay Hinrichs I'm a Realtor. I represent a lot of first-timers that are looking in PC. I'll keep an eye out there for you. You can send me the property info in a message. My girlfriend and I might be buying something as a residence soon.

@Jay Hinrichs I'm glad you are. Our inventory is too thin. We need more new structures.

@Jay Hinrichs I absolutely agree. That's why Park Circle exploded in the last few years. I'm a millennial and it's so hard for us to get a decent house in a desirable neighborhood. A lot of us are finding ourselves in rougher neighborhoods because we're poor, too haha.

@Russ Scheider and @Jay Hinrichs I've got two in the Dorchester Terrace neighborhood on the neck. The area is really rough, but it's getting better. You've got to be a little brave to  deal with some of the bad eggs. I've been in the process of dealing with barking dogs behind one property for months now. One of the residents of that property was shot in the driveway three years ago, so the police keep encouraging me not to engage that neighbor directly, which has made the entire process very lengthy. It's really like any other D area, but Charleston is so geographically small that the area will start to change relatively soon.

@Edward Hann is correct. There is a lot of inventory here in SC. SC is also pretty friendly for mobile homes. I would certainly recommend speaking to him!

@Menon Whitsitt You could have a difficult time trying to utilize any of the land for mobile homes. I agree with @Russ Scheider and @John Semanchuk about the flood insurance. I think Awendaw and McClellanville are trying to reduce their mobile home presence near 17 in anticipation for expansion. There are tons of lots available up and down that stretch of road, too. Most of those lots are HUGE. If you could offer a smaller lot, it may contract well to some of the bigger ones.  If you keep it as a rental, consider that the whole area should be growing in the next few years. Not only would you be getting rental income, but the property should appreciate. It would just be kind of a long term flip! I'm a Realtor. I'd be happy to pull some comps and email them to you. 

Hi Aimee,

That is a difficult situation. If you were planing on being a buy and hold investor, I would say that the $450 is great cash flow as long as the assessments aren't too steep. But, since you live farther away and don't have the infrastructure, it can be quite difficult to manage and maintain it. If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, it may not really be a big deal, but it is a little unsettling that things could change with your current mortgage. If you were thinking about selling, right now is a great time to do it. Things are flying off the market in the Charleston market. I'm a Realtor and I would be happy to help you. If you want to DM me the address of the condo and your email, I can pull some comps to send to you. You can at least see what the current value of the property should be if it were on the market now.

Thanks!

Troy Franklin Gandee

@Brian Burke Charleston here. Charleston's a strong market, but it can be hard to invest around here. There is very little casual investing anymore. We're considered a noteworthy city mainly because of the cultural and historical relevancy of the area. Charleston is quite small as far as "cities" go. It goes from urban to rural really fast here. And it's very competitive because of the size. I see bad deals get scooped up in days all the time. That's only because good deals are pretty scarce unless you have the infrastructure to fill the pipes. I would think Charlotte would be a much stronger market for multifamilies because of the size of the metro area and the sprawl. We don't even have much of a turnkey service like most of those other places mentioned. 

I completely agree with @Russ Scheider and @John Semanchuk. We are certainly experiencing very consistent appreciation, but it is not superficial. People just stop buying when homes inflate beyond a certain point. Largely because everyone has a mortgage limit. The real problem here is that we're going to face a huge shortage of available properties. Any one helping retail buyers in the Spring/Summer will concur that it is a serious battle to get qualified buyers into homes during peak season. If that happens, we may start to see more of a problem with appreciation. But even then, it won't necessary be superficial. That would be based on a low inventory. And because our geography is so disjointed from the various islands and waterways, we're going to experience some jarring suburban sprawl in the coming years. I expect builders to make hay in the next couple of years. 

Also, @Russ Scheider, I meant to call you today. I'll give you a call in the morning!