Lease Options and Rent-to-Own

Over the past two years, we have heard from more and more clients expressing an interest in Lease/Options or Rent-to-Own listings. In fact, I am currently working with two such clients who both have homes to sell first. They are not comfortable with another mortgage. Here is a good article that mentions some of the pros and cons of these types of scenarios:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/02/real_estate/rent_to_own/index.htm?postversion=2009060416
I attended a class at the Association of Realtors earlier this year that covered this topic with the key point being that the best thing to do is consult your Realtor and attorney to make sure you have all of your bases covered since these deals can be extremely complicated.

Existing Home Sales Up

Here is a link to a great article with some positive news:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/21/real_estate/home_sales_rise_in_July/index.htm?postversion=2009082110
The article notes that affordability is the best it's been in 20 years with mortgage rates maintaining historical lows.

August Sales Activity

We have seen some spurts in activity recently both in condominiums at Pier View and homesites at Beekman Point here on the Island.
In the beginning of August, four condominiums at Pier View went under contract. This week, we saw four homesites at Beekman Point go under contract within a period of two days. Only six homesites remain available there.
Now that kids are back in school, we have seen an increase in activity which is typical for this time of year no matter what is happening in the market. In general, people have a more positive attitude about buying than they did last year at this time. Even if buyers are unsure if we will be out of the recession by the end of 2009, they do see the light at the end of the tunnel.
No one wants to hear the negative news anymore it seems which has had a positive effect on sales on Daniel Island.