------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of this photo, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent.  A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level. 03/18/2009

Many buyers are thrilled when they purchase a new home and the one thing they quickly want to do is furnish each and every room.  At times this is not feasible especially depending on the amount of furniture one currently owns and how much they need to buy.  Someone once offered me a tip that has always stayed with me and it is a piece of advice that I have shared with many of my friends.  When purchasing furniture you want to purchase better quality furniture particularly if it is a piece that will frequently be used so it can withstand daily wear and tear.  One thing to also keep in mind on furniture purchases is ask yourself if the piece can be used in more than one room.  Switching out furniture and even accessories such as lamps will give rooms a "new" look.  As an example I once c... 03/17/2009

Many experts will tell you that even with the state of the economy this is the perfect time to be purchasing a home.  The interest rates continue to be at all time lows and with the tax credit program available to first time home buyers there are options available to help all kinds of home buyers.  When looking at homes that are on the market price and the "deal" one can get is a key incentive, but be sure not to purchase a home based on price alone.  When looking for a home it is wise to make a list of requirements that fit the needs you and your family need in a home.  Take into consideration the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the size of the yard, city vs county taxes, school systems and so forth.  Again, price is important, but your best bet is to consult with a real estate professi... 03/15/2009

The asking price you set for your home significantly affects whether you will profit in the sale, how much you will profit and how long your home will sit on the market. Your real estate agent's knowledge of the overall market and what's selling - or not selling - will be invaluable in helping you determine the price. The objective is to find a price that the market will bear but won't leave money on the table. Here are some points to consider: Time. Time is not on your side when it comes to real estate. Although many factors influence the outcome, perhaps time is the biggest determinant in whether or not you see a profit and how much you profit. Studies show that the longer a house stays on the market, the less likely it is to sell for the original asking price. Therefore, if your goal... 03/11/2009

   ------------- Turn up your speakers ----------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of this video, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level. 03/10/2009

It not surprising to hear that Fort Mill is ranked in the top ten most affordable suburbs by a recent Business Week Feb 2009 article. Business Week studied suburbs near the biggest cities in each state to find what the publication considers the best quality of life for your money. They evaluated suburbs on a variety of factors but weighted affordability most heavily. They also considered lifestyle (short commutes, clean air, low crime, good weather, and green space), the quality of schools, and the strength of the local economy. Populations were in the range of not more than 60,000 or less than 5,000. The Top Ten Suburbs in 2009: 1. Pewaukee, Wisconsin 2. Mill Creek, Washington 3. Brandon, South Dakota 4. Munford, Tennessee 5. East Norriton, Pennsylvania 6. South Weber, Utah 7. Corneli... 03/06/2009

So President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, what’s in the bill to benefit Fort Mill home sales? As it stands now the latest version of the bill according to the National Association of Realtors is: The final stimulus bill increases the first-time home buyer tax credit to $8,000 and eliminates the repayment requirement of earlier legislation. In addition, the credit availability has been extended until December 1. The bill also reinstates the 2008 higher loan limits for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The NAR estimates that the home buyer tax provisions could stimulate up to 300,000 additional home sales, helping stabilize home values and potentially preventing some homeowners from being “underwater” on their mortgage, which can often lead to foreclosure. REVIS... 03/06/2009

BUSINESS WEEK NAMED FORT MILL, SC THE 10TH MOST AFFORDABLE TOWN IN THE COUNTRY Even during the national recession, Fort Mill retains its appeal for being in the top list for "Best Affordable Suburb 2009″.  Fort Mill is a former mill town that is now considered a suburban hot spot.  The magazine considered the affordability of suburbs around the country and chose one from each state that met their criteria for affordability. Suburbs located within 25 miles of a major city with populations of 5,000 to 60,000 people and median incomes of $51,000 to $120,000 were considered. The quality of education, crime rates, ease of commuting and the availability of green space were all considered. Locales were penalized for poor weather, high divorce rates and lack of racial diversity.  BusinessWeek s... 03/04/2009

    ------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of this photo, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent.  A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level. 03/04/2009

S Whether you’re a current home seller, a home buyer, or a home owner many are asking me on a regular basis how home sales are doing in our Fort Mill and Tega Cay SC area. I try and post on a monthly or quarterly time period a home sales market report. Most of my reports are for the Fort Mill or Tega Cay “township” area. So you can subscribe to my blog newsletter and be informed on the homes sales market status on a regular basis. Or better yet you can have a custom market report emailed to you monthly, automatically. I have a powerful free market report service called the “Market Snapshot”. Here is a current market report for home sales and listings in the zip code 29708 which is Tega Cay and a portions of the Fort Mill Township. The time period is a snapshot of the last thirty days en... 02/13/2009

No, not Carmen. Carmen’s website www.carmensmiller.com has a new look. It’s a new year and we thought it was time to freshen up Carmen’s original real estate website. The new website features a clean crisp design with a built in slide show at the top of the page to feature pictures of our beautiful area Tega Cay, Fort Mill, Lake Wylie, and other local  scenes. In addition, we think the website is easier to navigate to assist home buyers and sellers in their quest for local information, featured homes for sale, and homes sales research. Another benefit of the new design is the RSS feed for Carmen’s listings featured on the carmensmiller.com website. Ok, in english it means when Carmen posts her seller’s homes for sale on her website, a really simple syndication (RSS) data feed is broadc... 02/13/2009

As a seller in a "Buyers" market, you may find yourself asking, is it worth putting my home on the market right now?  For some, you may not have a choice and for others you would rather capitalize on being able to move up and purchase at a lower price or maybe downsize but pay less for higher quality.  Whatever the reason may be, you're still stuck with the decision to sell your home. Making the choice to sell your home is never a decision taken lightly but in todays economy and market with such job uncertainty it is more important now than ever before to be well educated and make sure you are going to be able to sell your home for top dollar in the quickest amount of time. In the current inventory for the York, Lancaster and Chester counties we are sitting on a 17 month inventory of ho... 02/04/2009

The third and final part of my rant and rave.  How will get get out of this recession? I'll tell you right now its not be waiting on the Federal Government to bail us out.  That's the worst thing. Now lets bring America out of our recession and run with this idea.  How can we get out of the recession by spending money you ask? When you think about it, the housing market probably keeps more people employeed than any other market.  Realtors like myself are employeed by you, the buyers and sellers.  But you not only employ my services.  Banks depend on you, the government depends on you to buy and sell and workers probably including yourself depend on you to invest in Real Estate some way or another either directly or indirectly.  Here's how...A home is first bought from a builder, who emp... 02/04/2009

Continuing on from Part 1 This will detail how we got here and how long we will be in the recession. Guess what! Home Mortgages are among the largest revenue producing entities in the nation.  With all these banks merging and buying each other out now that they are allowed to also do investment, commercial and insurance loans Freddie and Fannie backed these banks loaning money's and essentially went back to the roots of why these so called "private" companies Freddie and Fannie were formed.  Remember, they were formed to encourage homeownership by buying the mortgages from banks.  A New York Times article in September of 1999 stated that Fannie Mae has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and the cor... 02/04/2009

                   Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC is a master planned community that not only offers beautiful homes but a lifestyle that is reminiscent of the Old South.  There is really no "earth shattering" news about Baxter, but I love this community so much that I wanted to write about it.  Baxter Village has a smalltown feel that many other communities do not offer.  Located in historical Fort Mill, the homes mimic many of the old homes you will find in Charleston, SC. (A city I love)  The community has sidewalks, tree-lined streets and a trail network that links to parks and playgrounds.  There are over 500 acres of parks within Baxter.   Within the community you will also find an Elementary School (my son attends this award-winning school), a library, an Urgent Care Center, poo... 02/02/2009

                                                             The Springfield Community in Fort Mill, SC is a multi-phase community that has been developed by Crescent Resources.  Crescent Resources is a leading developer in upscale communities throughout the South.  The community sits in Fort Mill just next to the new Nation Ford High School and backs up to Anne Springs Close Greenway. The Greenway is 2,300 acres of undeveloped land that includes, lakes, trails, cycling and horseback riding.  The community is only 30 minutes from uptown Charlotte, and I-77 is only 3 minutes away via the brand new Springfield Parkway. The community has the home town feel that brings many homebuyers to Fort Mill in the first place.  It offers southern-styled, luxury custom homes and charming golf villas. ... 01/21/2009

Well it's no secret! We're in the second worse recession in the history of America.  How did we get here? How long will we be in this recession? What will it take for us to get out?  I'll attempt to give my opinion of what ail's me today.  Sit back, relax and enjoy the bumpy ride we are in for! According to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) recorded in the second quarter of 2002, the Bush administration entered into office with the American economy already in a recession according to the declined 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2001 which would have begun with the Clinton Administration.  So lets step back a little further in history and find out what really started this.  We can all agree that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the nations biggest underwriters of home mortgages securing over 5... 01/19/2009

I wanted to write about one of the reasons that I love living in Fort Mill, SC.  Of course, there are many reasons that we love living here.  I have lived and worked in this area for over 25 years.  Most of my time was spent living and working in Charlotte, NC but when our son started Kindergarten we decided to move just south of the border to York County, SC.  We chose Fort Mill for several reasons.  The top reason being the excellent schools.  The Fort Mill School District continues to draw many folks from all over the U.S. as well as from Charlotte.  The other reason being the tax structure.  Property taxes in Fort Mill will run you about 2/3 less than they would in Mecklenburg County.  (Keep in mind that tax reassessments occur regularly.) We are still within minutes to uptown Charl... 01/18/2009

Support for the McKemey family and Connor continues to grow in the Tega Cay and Fort Mill community. And in some cases beyond our fair township borders. Many local citizens talk about Connor daily. For some the daily news or updates on his condition is a daily priority. Let me back up a bit and if you haven’t heard of the tragic McKemey storey here is a brief recap. Just before Christmas, Connor McKemey, 13, suffered second and third degree burns over 85 percent of his body and is currently in critical condition at the Joseph M. Still urn Center in Augusta, Georgia. Connor has undergone several surgeries and faces many more. Connor’s mother Karin suffered serious burns while trying to help Connor after an explosion in their outdoor fireplace. The interesting thing about this story is t... 01/17/2009

WELCOME TO MASSEY of FORT MILL, SC      Here, just south of Charlotte, is an ideal place to regain your balance and enjoy the things in life that really matter.   A new master-planned community in historic Fort Mill, South Carolina, Massey is a natural enclave that provides a true respite from the day-to-day. There are so many things to do and so many places to do them in, including a beautifully appointed, 5,000 square foot expansive Residents' Club. You'll find more ways than you ever imagined to reconnect with your own family and to establish new connections with neighbors. It's a lifestyle you can't help but embrace.  So many ways to relax and rejuvenate.  For some, the best form of relaxation is a leisurely float down Massey's Lazy River Pool. For others, it's a fun filled splash w... 01/12/2009