JL's Columbia SC Real Estate Blog: March 2008

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com. For all your Columbia, SC real estate needs, please log onto www.jlboney.comor call JL Boney, III at 803-730-9601.

 Earlier this evening I received a call from a gentleman who wanted to look at some new home neighborhoods and a few resales that he had seen. I told him that we would go see what we could and set up a place to meet with him.

 I called all the new home neighborhoods that he mentioned, but no one was left in the model homes because it was after 5pm. Most model homes close between 5pm and 6pm here in Columbia, but I called just in case someone was still around.

 We myself and the buyer got together, we first went to the resale houses and checked them out with no problem what so ever. Most of them were vacant which made them easy to get into and out of. Then, we set out for the new home communities. We arrived at the first one, and had no trouble. However, the next three had no lock-boxes on any of the houses. One neighborhood had ten standing homes for sale, and not one single lock-box on any of the houses.

 I understand that the neighborhoods have office hours, and that's all well and good. But my client has a job and this how he intends to pay his house. So, that being said, he does not have time to go to a neighborhood during the regular office hours and he has very little time on the weekends to go around either.

 It is beyond me why on Earth builders do not make it easier here to see available houses. I can say that there are a few builders here who do put lock-boxes on their standing available houses, and for this I am grateful. But the majority have no lock-boxes at all and this drives me nuts. Do any of you guys have the same problem? It just seems to me that if you want to sell houses, you would make them a little more available for Realtors to show to their clients.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com.

                                                       13th Sparkleberry County Fair

April 26, 2008

 The 13th annual Sparkleberry County Fair in Northeast Columbia, SC is set for April 26, 2008. The event will be held from 9 am to 5 pm at Sandhill Research and Education Center on Clemson Rd. The theme will be " A touch of Yesteryear ". As always there will be arts and crafts, food, a petting zoo, music, educational displays, and fund-raising booths for local school and community organizations. There will also be a cow milking contest and pony rides. Proceeds will benefit Richland 2 schools, so, come out have a good time, and support our schools. For more information about the Sparkleberry County Fair and to find out how to get involved, please call John Monroe at 803-788-2010.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/.

In no version of the American Dream have I heard

anyone say that it was time to give up!!!!

 I have heard or read thousands of stories about the American dream. Stories of immigrants passing through Ellis Island and trying to make the best of their opportunity here in America. Stories of American born citizens who struggled from meager upbringings to great prosperity by hard work and perseverance. Some went to collage, some went to war, and some went for it all. Even the stories that involved a not so happy ending, never had a single line about giving up, quitting, or walking away without giving it all that they had in an attempt to make a better life.

 So, what happened? When did the American dream become something that most American could simply disregard as past rhetoric, not worth the time it takes to imagine? Ilook at my own family, most of which never even made it all the way through high-school and yet they constantly complain about their lives. And they like many others in America are simply not willing to get up off their ass and fight for a better life. Complaints will get you no closer to your goal than simply doing nothing at all.

 I wonder all the time, what happened to the America that my grandparents told me about? Did it ever exist? Did we chase it off, or more likely just piss it away with our plague of apathy that now runs ramped throughout our great nation? Why are so many people content with just floating through life and never willing to lay anything on the line and fight for their spot in the spotlight?

 Now, it seems that most people are content with allowing the government to take care of them and dictate what their lives will become. And in the mean time the government is content to keep taxing the rest of us who chasing the dream to death in order to pay for it all. America used to have so much more pride than that. While people in other countries are still chomping at the bit for the opportunity to get here and chase the dream themselves, it seems that the vast majority of those that were born here could care less.

 It was by no mistake what so ever that this nation became the greatest on the planet. Those that came before us fought and died to make it that way. They would not settle for being OK or for just getting by, they had bigger and better plans. Plans to see this great nation at the top of the ladder and then build a larger ladder. This is the America that I wish to see. The America that won't back down and certainly won't give up. Quite simply the America that we deserve.

 America is far more than just a country, it's an ideal. A state of mind and a home to freedom. But unfortunately many of us have imprisoned ourselves by the belief that we are entitled to great wealth simply by being born. That others are rich and should be punished for it. That we can never be as they are so we think there is something wrong with them. Some people are lucky enough to be born into money, but someone had to earn it before they were. And in the end that is the biggest problem of all, no one wants to earn success anymore. Everyone simply wants it to be handed to them and then blame the rest of the world when it isn't. Never in my life have I heard a version of the American Dream that involved just giving up.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/.

 For those of you who have been following the Woman of Steele posts, thank you for your support. I wish the latest news I have on the topic was good news, but unfortunately that's not really the case. My wife and I found out this morning that the surgery did not take very well and that she has to have another surgery.

 So, this Wednesday morning, I have to take her back to the hospital at 6am and they plan to operate on her around 8am. Hopefully this time things will work out for her and she will start the road to recovery. It still pains me to see her unable to go about her normal life, but this too shall pass. The surgeon says that her situation is already rare, what with her having to have a second surgery so soon. So, that being said, he is very optimistic that this should take care of the problem.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/.

 Fortunately the title has nothing to do with basketball. Though, I am a fan of the sport, thankfully I have been too busy here lately to see many of the games. The majority of the Realtors in my office have seen a significant increase in activity this month. I have seen the same so far, and there are no signs of this wave letting up anytime soon.

 Our sale so far this month are double what they were in January and have exceeded February also. We had a good February, but we are having a better March. My phone has been ringing steadily and I have several people currently discussing listing their house. I have also been very busy on the buyer side, with several clients currently searching for their next home. I've also managed to pick up two investors this month and one is interested in the purchase of seven houses. Hopefully you guys have also seen a great March and hopefully the rest of the year will continue this way.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com.

This is the latest listing to be sold by JL Boney, III of Russell and Jeffcoat Realtors, in Northeast Columbia SC. The market has begun to pick up and there is currently a flurry of activity. Now is a great time to begin searching for a home or to list your current house on the market for sale. If you are interested in any aspect of Columbia, SC real estate, please do not hesitate to contact me for a no hassle, no obligation, free consultation. I will be glad to provide you with market statistics, a free CMA on your current house, or a free list of homes for sale in the area of your choice.

The Columbia, SC real estate market is alive and well. From Northeast Columbia to Irmo and Lexington houses are listing and selling. For more information, please contact me or visit my website.

JL Boney, III

Cell-803-730-9601

Office-803-788-1450

E-mail- jlboney@russellandjeffcoat.com

Website- www.jlboney.com

 In the past two weeks I have received three phone calls from different investors who are now ready to begin looking for properties to buy. Two are searching for single family properties while the other is much more interested in multifamily units.

 Lately my entire office has been very busy and things are starting to gear up. We had a slow January overall, but here in March we are wide open so far. There are also a few other agents in the office are currently working with investors who are very ready to buy.

 So, maybe people have begun to realize that rates are awesome and there are great deals out there just waiting. Here in Columbia, we never saw the market bottom out the way it did in other parts of the country, but we did see a lot of investors shy away from putting money into the market. Well, if this month is any indication, the Columbia investors are no longer afraid to invest in real estate. Hopefully many of you out there are beginning to see some of the same trends.

 Saturday evening here in the Columbia area was quite an experience. We had tornatic activity and had one touch down in Lugoff just on the other side of Northeast Columbia. We also had a great deal of high winds and hail. Irmo is a community in Lexington County, right next door to Columbia.

 I had a buyer who wanted to look at several houses in that area Saturday afternoon. Of course, I said that I would be more than happy to show him around. Earlier that day, the news was calling for rain and possible thunderstorms that night. I attended the Home and Garden Show where I manned the booth for my office for a few hours that morning and thought nothing more about the weather.

 When I met the buyer at our Irmo office, it was cloudy, but nothing major. We looked at the first few properties with no problem what so ever. Well, as we were headed for the last property on the list, suddenly it began to hail so bad that we could not even see the cars in front of us and the wind picked up so severely that we were both sure that it was going to flip my car over. Several trees were uprooted in the area and a few houses were damaged, but thankfully my buyer and I escaped without a scratch. Just some shaken nerves and an agreement to call it a day.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/.

 When my wife and I were planning our wedding, I set up a small website that people could find out information about the event. At the top of the website, we wanted to put a phrase that somehow connected to us. One day while my wife was listening to an Indigo Girls album and I was passing through, I heard the perfect phrase. " the greatest thing you ever did for, was to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all".

 This became the phrase that we placed at the top of our homepage. It seemed to make perfect since to us. Before we got together, we were both ultra serious and ultra determined to take on the world and win. In some ways we are still determined to take on the world, but now we have learned a lot about simply letting go. Sometimes that's the most important thing you can do, just let go. So, remember not to take this whole life thing too seriously, you'll never make it out alive anyway.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com.