Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah, and here's the deal. We don't do boxes here. Every episode is different, every conversation has its own flavor, and no topic is off limits. If you're looking for predictable, this isn't it. But if you want real conversations, honest takes, and a touch of intellect in the best way, you're in the right place. This is Dr. Random podcast.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: All right.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Well, hello, we're here on the Dr. Random podcast. I am Dr. Sarah Lavaroni, and today we're going to be talking about real estate in Charleston, South Carolina. And I have with me Mrs. Bonnie Cook, who is my good and dear friend. And we met here in Charleston at church, actually.
And she has been in the real estate business almost 20 years here in Charleston. So she is an expert and knows a lot and she can be trusted with her words of wisdom in this genre of topic here.
So, Bonnie, do you want to share a little bit about your story and what first got you interested in real estate and what makes you passionate about.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Sure. So I grew up here in Charleston downtown.
I went to Ashley hall and all girls school in downtown Charleston and then to University of Georgia and then came right back because who leaves this beautiful place?
So I tried it for a little while in Georgia and came right back.
And then I started an advertising company, was there for a little bit. And then I started about 20 years ago. I started with Daniel Island Real Estate because Daniel island was just then starting to be developed, and that was a cool job. I think I was there 10 years. 10 years.
So I got to see a lot of development and learn on that side of real estate, the development kind of side as well. And then I started after that with Carolina one. I've been there ever since. So. Yeah.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Can you tell me a little bit about the Charleston real estate scene right now and what you think is important to share?
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Yes. So there's just been a lot of development around here in the past many years. When I grew up here, it was going to Mount Pleasant was just so far away. We had the old bridges and it was like going to the country.
So now, you know, everything is, of course, Mount Pleasant is booming and pushing even further out. All in Dahl's, you know, a popular place these days. And of course, everything in Somerville, as well as all the companies that have come here like Volvo and Boeing and things like that in the past.
So there's a lot of growth around here, which is a great thing because it's a wonderful place to live. And, you know, it's not only a destination for vacations, but for people to live here.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
And as far as some of the current market trends here in Charleston, the inventory and demand and basically the buyer demand, would you say it's a seller's market, a buyer's market right now or somewhere in between?
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Between.
It is still a seller's market.
So right now I think I have down. Yeah, we have approximately 5,300 active listings right now.
And as. I mean, that's a huge increase from when we were crazy in 2022 with like a thousand listings and people were lined up to put offers on homes. That was a crazy time, to say the least. And not really fun for anyone because it was just, you know, people weren't getting the home that they wanted, and they were you, you know, paying over what the list price was. And it was, you know, but that was because interest rates were low, and that's one reason that was happening. So in other words, we probably need about 3,300 more active listings for it to become, like, an even market.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: So therefore, it's definitely still a seller's market, even though days on market have increased some, which is not a bad thing. It's just normal. And when I say increased, you're talking about 30 or 60 as opposed to like 5.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: So.
[00:04:11] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's still not that long.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: So what is the median sales price in the Charleston area and the average price per square foot right now?
[00:04:23] Speaker B: So it is about 430,000. Of course, that depends on the area you're in. That's for the tri county Charleston area, which encompasses all areas.
And then really, for the last three years, it's been between 400 and 425. So it's staying around the same, you know, general price. However, the sold price, price per square foot is 317.
So previously, you know, it's been lower than that, of course, and it's increased. The main thing that's happening now is that the price per square foot has gone up, which means that you're getting less home for your money. So where the price has stayed the same, you're getting a smaller home for the same price.
So just showing that still prices are increasing around here at about 3% a year. Ish.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: So, you know, people are just getting smaller homes than they were before previous years.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Okay. And what would you say is the most expensive area in Charleston right now?
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Well, that would definitely be Sullivan's Island. So that has been the trend for quite a few years now, I think this year. So Far the median sales price for there is 3.9 million, but that's also only 17 homes. So you're talking about like 8,300 have sold so far this year. So I mean, that's a very small niche in the market.
So you know, that's kind of anomaly over there. But it's strange too because Isle of Palms is right next to Sullivan's island. Still on the beach, still all that. But the price points aren't as high over there as they are in Sullivan's Island. Sullivan's island has just become this kind of popular beach place to live.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Okay, that's beautiful.
And in what area are most of these homes selling? In Charleston.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: So about just 3,000 of that 8,300 was the Somerville area, which includes Next End, which is still just a huge development that's continuing to grow every day.
So, you know, you're looking at Somerville just because of the affordability of Somerville and also because of the big companies that are that way now that, you know, need employees. And so people want to live close to where they work. So it's just kind of expanding out that way.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Okay, and what would you say are some like tips and information for first time buyers and, or really any buyer and how the buying process works.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: So really the first main key, people always like, want to go ahead and you know, they see a house and they call and they're like, I want to see this house. And I'm like, that's great, we can go see that house. But we first need to find out if this is something that you want to afford. In other words, you might qualify for that. But when you look at your monthly payments, do you really want to pay that? So that's really the first step is talking to a lender about, you know, backing in to how much you'd feel comfortable with a month, you know, and that includes you got to add in your utilities, you know, if there's an HOA fee, insurance, all that adds into your monthly payment. So sometimes people get ahead of themselves, which that is the exciting part is going to look at the homes. But first you need to know where you're comfortable because nobody wants to be house poor. So that's kind of the first step. Especially a lot of first time homebuyers don't really realize that, that they need to kind of get that squared away. And then we can look at the range, you know, for the price point and go from there.
I'd say some other things would be, you know, a lot of people want a House that's completely renovated, ready to go.
You know, if you think about it, changing some countertops and some paint and a few things like that is not that difficult. And you can also probably get a home for a little bit less if you're willing to do a little bit of work to it.
So sometimes people are just hell bent on going to, you know, the perfect home. You know, I want this, all of these things, and you have to give and take some. And you have to also realize that if you're gonna do a little work to it, you're actually gonna make more money on the back end.
You also want to look at resale value because most people are not in their home forever and they're kind of stepping stones. So you want to make sure that you are, you know, buying neighborhood that the next buyer will want to be in and things like that. So a lot of people these days like communities that have amenities. So, you know, you kind of want to think about that too for the next buyer and your resale value going forward.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Okay. It's all great points. And you mentioned financing, which I know is always probably the biggest thing on the minds of first time home buyers.
Is there anything maybe you want to add to that?
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Let's see, I did make a note on today's mortgage rate, which is, let's see, today it's about 6.3.
So people get very stuck on the fact that they might have bought a home in like 2021 when the interest rates were like 2.65. And so they sit there and they're like, well, I'm waiting for them to go down. I'm waiting, I'm waiting. Well, it's unlikely that we will ever be back to that. And honestly, it's probably not a good thing. So therefore, you know, I have a lot of buyers who like sit on the fence and they're waiting for the interest rate to go down a little bit. Well, what I would tell you is that go ahead and get the house you want now, because when they do go down, more inventory is going to be even less like we saw before in 2021. So you want to go ahead and buy the house that you want now. Right now is the lowest it's been, I think, in the past, like three years. So it's a good time to buy.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Get out there.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah, get out there and buy the house you want. You can always refinance. That's what some people don't think about. Like, you're not stuck with that interest rate forever. You can Refinance. When rates go down, in fact, they're down right now. So if you did buy a couple years ago where it was higher in the 70s, you know, it would be a good time to refinance.
So those are things that people, you know, sometimes they get stuck on waiting for the best price where. Yeah, then nothing will ever happen. You just got knowing that you can refinance.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Okay, that's amazing. Those are great points. And how do rates affect the market?
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Well, kind of like what I was saying, if they're really low, like they were, you know, with the 2.65, that's.
That was the crazy time where you did have people waiting in line for homes. And it also is not good for first time home buyers and things like that at that point in the market. Because the problem is you have all these investors that are trying to go buy up these homes because, you know, the interest rates are low and things like that. And so therefore it sometimes makes it hard for, especially like the first time home buyer who needs to get financing and you have, you know, multiple offers with half of them cash. Well, for a seller, it looks better to have a cash offer than a financing offer because they know that that's gonna go through and nothing's gonna fall through on the financing side. So therefore interest rates can affect a lot of things as far as that goes.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: Okay, all right. And what would you say about selling too, in that whole process?
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Well, so selling, selling is definitely a process in and of itself.
I would say if you're thinking of selling, go ahead and call a realtor once you start thinking about that, because people think that they can call and the next day they're going to list their house. Whereas it takes, you know, some work to get your house, number one, ready for the market. The most important thing is that these days everyone looks online first, like we all do. We all search, you know, online.
So you want to make the best impression. That's your first impression is for the potential buyer. So you want to make sure that you have your house. You know, a realtor can give you advice about, you know, paint. If you have a red room, you might want to paint it a neutral color. Things like that, where you can get, you know, easy things that you can do to make it look good. You know, landscaping, you know, curb appeal, things like that. There's so many things that go into getting a house ready for the market, including I have a stager who I have, who comes when we're getting things ready to go, and she comes and she's great. She'll say, you know, move this table into this room and let's move this chair out. And she'll tell you, you know, what to get rid of. We only need this in this room. Things like that.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Staging.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: I also one of the few agents who have. I have my own staging furniture. So I have a whole storage unit of staging furniture. So, like, when she comes in, if she's like, well, it'd be nice to put a chair there. I'm like, well, I have a chair. I'll bring that. And I have all the greenery, you know, the plants, the things that you need to kind of fluff up the house.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: The white towels as opposed to the pink ones, things like that.
[00:13:34] Speaker A: So.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Which is really, really does come in handy having all those things. Because the worst thing is having a vacant listing.
I mean, no one can walk into a room and visualize that it is. Very few people. So to have it stay staged, you know, with furniture is huge. It's going to make it sell faster and for more money. And that goes as far as. Even if you're living in your home, that's what I was telling you about there. It's just going to make a difference when you don't go into a room and there's too much clutter, too many items in there.
So that's kind of the first step.
After that, the photos kind of can do that as soon as the staging's done.
And then there's, you know, lots of different marketing pieces. That is a whole other conversation.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: But yeah, and I was just thinking, you know, professional photography. I'm a photographer myself, you know, and I think about how important that is with marketing and photography playing a role probably in this whole scenario. Yes.
And what about listing, Deciding on listing prices themselves. What would you suggest to somebody, how to go about that?
[00:14:47] Speaker B: Well, I sit down with everyone and we kind of go over the comps and look at, you know, what home sold. It's funny because people always.
I mean, anybody does, you know, it's like, well, this home sold for this down the street. And it's like, that's great. But like, this home on the other side of the street only sold for this. So you have to kind of look at the whole big picture because a lot of people get wrapped up into, oh, my goodness, this house sold for so much. But you have to look at what the features are. You know, how does that compare to mine?
You know, was it updated? Was it not updated? What's the lot like, you know, things like that there's so much that goes into it. So that's where people really need the help of a realtor, because, you know, a zestimate is called a zestimate because it's an estimate. It's not accurate. It's just an estimate.
So therefore, you need a professional to really go through the comps with you and kind of tell you, you know, what, why this house sold for this, why this one sold for this. And then you kind of figure out a good price point to go with.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: And it's always beneficial to listen and not overprice your home, because then you'll just spend more time on the market just reducing and reducing. And then buyers wonder what's wrong with this house because it's reduced five times and it hasn't sold, and it looks like it should have sold, so something must be wrong with it. And you have that whole perception, so you don't want to get to that point in the process. It's better just go ahead and list it for a reasonable price and then go from there.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Everything you're talking about is just so wise. And you can tell it just comes from your years and years of working in this industry. It's.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Every day is different, and every transaction is different, and every client is different.
So there's no, you know, right or wrong. There's always. People think that, you know, it's not an easy process. There's ups and downs. There's, you know, it's emotional. It's the biggest purchase or the biggest sale of your life. So, you know, it's your biggest financial investment. So you want to have somebody who knows what they're doing. But then you also want to know that it's not easy. You know, it takes some time. It takes some, you know, emotional stress at the end of the day, but it's exciting at the same time, because especially that's the thing that I love about my job, is at the closing table, when someone gets their keys and they move in. I mean, there's nothing like seeing the smile on their faces, you know, or the kids who go to the house for the first time and this is it. Or I've had buyers that literally, we've looked at so many homes, and they walk in that one house and you can just tell by their face that that's. That's the house for them. And that brings me such joy because it's just exciting.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Awww. I love that.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Well, I definitely hope and think that, you know, you're the Trusted one. In my opinion, of course, maybe I'm biased for the real estate here in Charleston. And, you know, if people would like to reach out to you and, you know, work with you, what is your preferred way of making money? Really?
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Anything. You know, these days, everybody's on their phones, so you can just look me up. Bonnie Cook, Carolina One and all my contact information.
I do work for the biggest company in the area, which is a huge benefit because we have so many different marketing tools and ways to get your house sold.
So many different relationships with different vendors and different things, you know. So just know that there's lots of possibilities out there, you know, if. If somebody doesn't have the extra money to change some paint or granite in their house and that's going to make a huge difference for them selling or they need this done or that done and you don't have the extra money in your pocket. We have certain programs where people come in, they'll do that, and then you just pay for that when you close on the house out of the equity. And, you know, so there's a lot of different things that Carolina one does that have.
And that's just a small touch on things that we do. So that is definitely beneficial to be with a company that has a lot of options that is great for buyers and sellers.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Yes. And also just to touch on, you know, like, I myself personally, I'm currently trying to lock down a art studio slash gallery myself for my art work and my art endeavors. And so someone like me who's trying to find that kind of space.
Do you have, you know, any.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Oh, definitely.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Good words of advice on that.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Well, so I deal mostly with residential, but I have relationships with some commercial realtors that help me with that because I always have friends looking for something to rent or buy sports spots for their businesses. So, yeah, definitely. I mean, if somebody has that need, like, I can help you with that for sure. Get you hooked up with the right people.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: So that's amazing.
Yeah. So if anybody is listening right now and you have needs, of course, residential, reach out to Vonnie Cook. And also if you have maybe a need like me, where it's a business venture and you need a space, she can also help guide you in the right direction.
[00:20:00] Speaker B: Definitely.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: And yeah, what would you say overall is the biggest challenge that you find with people that maybe. Are there unrealistic expectations sometimes of people wanting to come and buy a home, do you think?
And I know you were great at steering that in the realistic direction.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Yes. Well, I never want to. It's funny because I think about it this way, too. Like, I would never oversell someone something because, I mean, no one wants to be in position where they're house poor. So the best thing is a lot of people have their, you know, wants that are up here, and you just have to kind of make a list of what the most important things are, and we kind of go from there. That's why the financing part is the most important part. First step to me, because we want to find you a house that you can afford. We don't want, you know, people stressed out with their monthly payments. That's the last thing any of us need.
So I think it's more getting the expectations down to what you.
What you want and what you can afford.
So a lot of times I start people out with sending them.
We kind of narrow that down and then send them listings, you know, within kind of that price point. And then they get an idea before we even kind of go see things as to what and what area they can afford. Because the area makes a big difference, too. I mean, you might love Sullivan's island, but, you know, the average price is 3.9 million, you know, so, I mean, like, you have to kind of look at the area as well as, you know, the neighborhood and the community. So, yeah, it's all unicorns.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: Unicorns, yeah.
Which is great.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: So, yes, thank you so much for listening and to Dr. Random podcast. And thank you, Vonnie Cook, for being here today.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Yes. And I'm sure I'll have you on again at some point in the future, and we'll maybe get more depth on some certain topics.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Perfect.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you so much.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: Sam.
