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Senate Approves Tax Credit Extension, Expansion
The Senate yesterday passed legislation to extend the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to May 1, 2010, for first-time buyers and add a $6,500 tax credit for repeat buyers if they’ve lived in their home for five of the past eight years. Home prices are capped at $800,000.

The legislation was included in a bill to extend unemployment benefits and is expected to be passed by the House today or tomorrow. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation when it’s sent to his desk.

Under the bill, income limits are expanded to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for joint filers. Individuals with incomes up to $145,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $245,000 qualify for reduced credits.

Households who have binding contracts in place by April 30 will be allowed an additional 60 days to complete their transaction. The deadline for members of the military serving out the U.S. for at least 90 days between Jan. 1, 2009, and May 1, 2010, has been extended one year.

Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal income tax returns. If the credit exceeds their tax bill, the government will issue a check. Taxpayers will be able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return for purchases made in 2010.

More on the credit is available from NAR.

Source: The Associated Press (11/5/2009)

   2 Forest Trail Court II is only two blocks from the ocean and two blocks from the marina/Intracoastal Waterway. Nestled on a quiet cul-de-sac, half acre lot, this comfortable home has been reduced to sell at $629,000!

Move in ready! call for more details! Linda Gordon (843)324-3476

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Do you know where to vote in the local elections?   Here is a link of polling places taken directly from the Charleston County website   http://www.charlestoncounty.org/Departments/BEVR/polling-places.pdf

If you don’t vote, don’t complain!!! 

Welcome to all of you that will be coming here from Seattle!  Are you afraid of culture shock?  I’ve been amused and yes, a little offended, by the Seattle blogs, that describe us as third world, uneducated, toothless, racist, …….. To those that make these comments, I say that if you have lived here, then sure, go ahead and make remarks; if not, then you’re showing your own ignorance.

Charleston is very different than Seattle, in many good ways, and since I’ve lived here most of my life, I’ll tell you about the good and bad.

First, the weather will be very different.  Our weather is warm and humid, and in the summer, downright hot.  Think 98 degrees with 90% humidity- no need for flannel shirts!  Your new wardrobe should include plenty of short sleeved shirts and flip-flops (Rainbows).  We hardly ever get snow.  If we do get a dusting of an inch of so, expect schools to cancel classes and roads to be closed- this usually makes for good laughs from folks that have moved here from up North or out West.  We just don’t know how to drive in the snow (actually I do because I lived in Boston, but just speaking in generalities). 

We do have cool days, even stretches of days below freezing in the winter,  but during this time of year, it still reaches the 80s.  My family and I were swimming in our pool last week!  The ocean is warm and perfect for swimming and watersports as well.  Unlike the chilly Pacific, the Atlantic heats up quickly in the spring, topping out in the 80s during the summer, almost like bathwater.  Boating, kayaking, paddleboarding, surfing, fishing, kitesurfing……many ways to enjoy the ocean and our plentiful waterways. Our beaches are clean and beautiful, with wide sandy expanses to enjoy sunbathing or a stroll.

Washington is a blue state, we’re a red state. However, Charleston County itself is blue.  We’re probably the most progressive county in the state, but overall, Charleston is more conservative than Seattle.

We do have good schools in the Charleston area.  We have problems like every school district, but schools such as the Academic Magnet, School of the Arts and Wando High School have won national awards.  If you want to learn more about schools in the area, check out www.ccsdschools.com.

Coffee on every corner?  Not quite, but your own Starbucks has quite a presence here in Charleston, as well as coffee shops  such as Rutledge Coffee and Cream, Port City Java,….

We haven’t produced our own Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Jimi Hendrix, but we do have Hootie and the Blowfish, Edwin McCain and a pretty nice little music scene.  We have the Music Farm downtown, a Convention and Performing Arts Center and  the North Charleston Coliseum for larger acts, and one of my favorites, the Windjammer on Isle of Palms (a bar on front beach).  Each week in our local paper, the Post and Courier, they have the Preview section on Thursday, where you can check out local venues and find out what’s happening on the upcoming weekend. Visit the Post and Courier  at www.charleston.net.

We also have the Charleston Ballet Theatre, Charleston Symphony, Footlight Players, Charleston Stage Co, Village Playhouse……. many opportunities to enjoy community theater, music, and dance.  Charleston is also host to the Spoleto Festival each year during the last week of May and the first week of June; a celebration of the arts that is one of the largest in the world.  Visit www.spoletousa.org for details.

We have outstanding restaurants!  Just to name a few of my faves- Charleston Grill, Peninsula Grill, Oak Steakhouse, FIG, Il Cortile del Re, Cypress…..I could go on and on.   You’ll want to try some Southern favorites such as barbeque, shrimp and grits, and sweet tea.  Many of our restaurants create their menus using local seafood or old fashioned southern cooking (think collard greens and sweet potato casserole).

Like to golf? Our wonderful climate makes the game possible year round! We have the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, the Links and Harbor Courses at Wild Dunes, neighborhood courses, public courses….. I don’t golf myself, so I can’t give you any more of the scoop here.

Charleston  is home to the College of Charleston, the Citadel (a military college) and the Medical University of SC, so we have some of the vibrancy of a “college town”.  MUSC also has a teaching hospital, attracting researchers from around the world.  We have an outstanding medical community.

Professional sports?  We don’t have the equivalent of the Mariners or Seahawks…. Here you’ll find the Charleston Riverdogs (Class A affiliate of the NY Yankees), SC Stingrays (hockey team- 3 time Kelly Cup Champs) and avid fans of college sports- the biggest state rivalry game will be on 11/28/09 between USC and Clemson.  Go with a local to a Clemson or Carolina game to experience tailgating at its best.

Here are some of the negatives, which you may or may not have in Seattle- bad drivers, humidity, mosquitoes, no-seeums (tiny annoying gnats), “Palmetto bugs” (roaches),  hurricanes, earthquakes, snakes.   As far as earthquakes, we haven’t had a big one in over a hundred years.  Hurricanes- our last big one was Hugo in 1989.  You just have to stay informed during hurricane season (June 1st to Nov 30th), make preparations if a storm is heading our way, and evacuate if warnings are issued. 

You may see the motto “Smiling faces, beautiful places”- this is very true for SC.  We have friendly people, and Charleston consistently wins most mannerly city awards from travel magazines.  Charleston is an old city, rich with history dating back to the 1660s.  I would encourage you to visit downtown Charleston to view the architecture, walk the remaining cobblestone streets, or maybe take a carriage ride.  

This is a great place to live and raise a family! We have a pretty laid back lifestyle, a wonderful climate, and plentiful opportunities for fun.  Finally, you’ll have to get used to hearing “ya’ll” .   

Don’t forget to vote in the local elections tomorrow!  Here on Isle of Palms, we have a mayoral race between Jimmy Ward and Dick Cronin.  Also four City Council seats to fill- those seeking election include Doug Thomas, Barb Gobien, Barbara Bergwerf, Sandy Stone, Ron Denton, and Marty Bettelli.

I urge voters to think independently and not be swayed by groups trying to get you to vote for their “block” of candidates.  Specifically, the Isle of Palms Neighborhood Association (IOPNA) has endorsed Barb Gobien, Doug Thomas and Barbara Bergwerf.    If these three are elected to council, the IOPNA backed council members will be in a majority, with absolutely no balance of power. Exactly like our current Federal government with Democrats in total control. 

The IOPNA wants to limit building of “mini-hotels”, limit size of homes that can be built on property, limit lot coverage, limit rooftop decks, limit rentals, etc.   This is another case of a group that can’t see the forest for the trees.  They don’t have the foresight to realize that if we didn’t have rentals on IOP, our property taxes would skyrocket. 

IOP has always been and hopefully will continue to be a mix of residential and rental properties.  I’m sure that each of us realized this when we purchased property on the island.  I don’t want a block of council members with an agenda to control our city council and essentially run our island.

One of the largest deals in SC history has been finalized- Boeing has decided to relocate its second Dreamliner assembly line to Charleston!  This is fantastic news for our area- the promise of 3800 jobs and the impact that those jobs will have on our local economy.  Boeing said that it wasn’t the low unionization rate, the incentive deal or any single factor that lured them here- The company felt that two sites are better than one to deliver Dreamliners on schedule, that they could better meet market demand.

The impact will be similar to that of the BMW plant that opened in the Upstate fifteen years ago.  It’s funny that in the 70′s, the UAW in Detroit claimed that only their workers were skilled and could produce quality products, that it couldn’t be done in the deep South.  The BMW plant is a shining example of how things are done here- it currently employs almost 5000 workers, and after a recent expansion, one out of every six BMWs driven worldwide is manufactured in SC!

It’s very disheartening to read some of the comments from Seattle regarding this decision; bloggers describe SC as “cracker land”,  say that we have “cheap, uneducated labor” and rant about racism, stupidity, etc.  One reporter that had visited Charleston even stated that we can’t get past the slave era since basket makers are all over downtown Charleston, and that the downtown area smells of horsesh*t.  Does the term “sore loser” come to mind?  This elitist attitude doesn’t bode well in our global economy. 

All I can say is “WELCOME BOEING!”  We are glad you chose our state.  We have a wonderful climate, a low cost of living, and a great lifestyle.  One of our local schools, Wando High School,  offers an aerospace engineering program and the principal, Lucy Beckham, was just honored as being named the National High School Principal of the Year. 

To those in Seattle that disparage our state, I encourage you to travel outside of your little box, maybe hop on a Boeing jet and come to visit Charleston.  It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be!

Did you know that even if a home’s price decreases by 10%, you’ll have higher monthly costs if the interest rate goes up by more than 1%?

Here’s an example:

On a $200,000 loan, if the interest rate is 5%, the monthly payment (principle and interest only) would be $1074.  At 6%, the monthly payment goes up to $1199.  At 7%,  the payment would go up to $1331. 

This gives you something to consider- should you buy now, while rates are low? Or wait to see if prices drop further, but taking a chance that rates will go up?  Rates are creeping up a bit.  Over the past several weeks, we have seen an improvement in the stock market, as well as predicted earnings reports that will show better numbers.  Unfortunately, this usually  affects the bond market, which in turn will push mortgage rates up.  The supposed gains in earnings in many instances are due to employees being laid off- improvements at the expense of jobs, not a real improvement in the economy.

If you’re considering buying a home, have someone run the numbers for you.  Look at a hypothetical purchase price, and figure your monthly payments based on current rates. Then look at your monthly expense if the rates go up.  Remember also that taxes and insurance will affect your monthly expense!

Price reduced to $629,000!  Move in ready. 2100 square feet of living space… located on a quiet cul-de-sac near the beach and marina… new paint…new stainless appliances…new lighting…flooring…. screened porch and full front porch to enjoy the ocean breeze- What are you waiting for?  Deals like this don’t come along every day… A vacant lot just around the corner is priced at $499,000. 

Call for more info on 2 Forest Trail Court II-

Linda Gordon (843)324-3476