Many clients, friends and associates ask “how is your market?” If we listen to the National New media, all we hear is gloom and doom about the housing market and new construction everywhere. There does not seem to be a bright side to the coin in sight.

Well, I am just NOT BUYING the hype. I look at the facts as they are presented.

According to the State of South Carolina, the Tri County area of Charleston (Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties) during 2007 experienced a net growth of 5500 New Residents per month. They have to live somewhere now don’t they.

According to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, in December of 2007 there were 603 closed transactions for single family homes and in January of 2008 there were 473 closed transactions in our area. That translates into 1,076 buyers bought homes HERE in the past 60 days.

In an article published by the National Association of Realtors, we in the Charleston area had a reduction in value of our homes last year of approximately 9.6%. But we had a five year net gain of 56.4%. So our five year average is still over 11% per year in appreciated value for our homes. I haven’t seen the Media Pick up on that one.

Also while we last year (2007) “suffered” a 26% drop in home sales over the previous year (2006), we still had the FOURTH BEST YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF REAL ESTATE! My oh my, now that does not sound too bad to me.

Last year was my best personal year ever in Real Estate. This year I have already closed three transactions and have two more set to close in the next thirty days. If this is a slow market, I hate to think what my “busy” market work schedule will look like.

A large portion of my success I believe is directly attributed to my association with an INTERNATIONAL Real Estate Company. Coldwell Banker has been selling Real Estate for more than ONE HUNDRED YEARS. We have a web page seen by more buyers and sellers than any other real estate web page except one. That is Realtor.com. So last year, our President fashioned an agreement with Realtor.com so that all Coldwell Banker listings appear on both Coldwell Banker.com and Realtor.com giving us a dominance is exposure of our clients homes to potential buyers worldwide. This and our Marketing Programs have given our Clients results.

Many of the buyers who are coming to our market now are not local. A large portion of home buyers in the Charleston Market are coming from outside of our area. If your home is not being marketed on a National Level then you are potentially missing a HUGE market and it may take longer for your home to sell.

Coldwell Banker United, Realtors, is the largest customer in the United States for CARTUS. CARTUS is the largest relocation company in transaction volume in the World. Having that connection allows us to service a very large number of home buyers that are being transferred to the Charleston area. Last year in the Charleston area alone, over 42% of our total sales volume came from relocation clients.

Please remember that homes are not sold, they are marketed. And that marketing is not an event, it is a process. Marketing today encompasses so much more than it did several years ago. The skills learned by Realtors then don’t have the same effect today. It is imperative that to keep up with our technology, Realtors must learn new skills every year to stay competitive. Internet marketing is ESSENTIAL to finding buyers and sellers in todays Real Estate business. The National Presence with Coldwell Banker and the marketing skills offered locally will result in Great Results for you.

That is why I believe our Charleston Market is GREAT compared to other markets. AS it has always been throughout History, The Strong Will Survive and Thrive.