Vote for The Mather Company!

The State newspaper (South Carolina’s main newspaper) holds a “Reader’s Choice” every year where we the readers can vote for our favorite things. The list ranges from restaurants to clothing stores. Two of the categories on this year’s ballot are “Real Estate Company” and “Real Estate Agent”.

We would greatly appreciate it if you took a few minutes to fill out the ballot and vote for The Mather Company as your favorite real estate company, and Charlie Mather as your favorite Realtor.

Here is the link: http://www.thestate.com/bestof/

Thank you so much for your support!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Mather Company!

Have a safe and happy thanksgiving!

5 Tips for Selling Your Home Quickly in Today’s Market

RISMEDIA, November 22, 2010—It’s one thing when someone says “Things are looking up,” but quite another when the numbers actually bear that out. Happily, the latter is the case, evidenced by the latest statistics that show that home prices may be stabilizing. Namely, national home prices jumped an impressive 3.6% in the past year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released in late August. Prices also climbed 4.4% in the second quarter, which contrasts with a 2.8% decrease in the first quarter.

This uptick in prices leads to a simple conclusion: Sell now if you can. And you certainly can. A fast sale, taking advantage of these numbers, is entirely possible, and can result in a lot of profit and a very happy client. But telling your client to “sell quickly,” without backing it up, can inspire fear and even ire. Instead, give them these methodical, easy tips to selling fast and successfully, taking advantage of a market uptick, without inducing panic or stomach aches.

1. Don’t raise the price. The uptick in home prices doesn’t mean that you should get all excited and raise the price. The trick is to leave your price the same as it was—that will encourage a bidding war. Hearing news about home prices going up, and raising your price immediately as a response to that, is typically not the way to go; the home will likely sell for more as a result of two buyers fighting over your reasonable price, rather than walking away due to a price that’s too high. Remember, the goal is ultimately to get more money, not to have a higher list price.

2. Remain flexible. Selling quickly means making some concessions—and we’re not talking price. It’s those little extras that may inspire a buyer to sign on the dotted line. Obviously, no one has the right to get your vintage grand piano in the deal. But if a buyer wants your stainless-steel fridge with ice-maker, give it up. There’s more ice waiting in your new home.

3. De-clutter. For a quick sale, you may not have time to fully “stage” your home down to the accent pillows and entirely new living room furniture. But you do have time to clear out the clutter. If we saw a home we’d like, we’d look past the clutter, but most buyers won’t. So, before you worry about making your home pretty, focus on making it neat. In a better market, neat is often all you need.

4. Schedule more open houses—and don’t attend your own. When you have a longer time frame for selling, you can schedule open houses at your leisure, but if you want to sell fast, try for as many open houses as you can—and do not attend them, as a homeowner at their own open house often makes a potential buyer too nervous to comfortably look around.

5. Go big—and go local. If you haven’t listed in MLS (multiple-listing service), it’s a good idea, especially if you want to sell fast. The math is simple—more eyes on your listing equals more potential bites. But a lot of people who use the MLS forget that local advertising is important as well. Advertising in local and regional publications—as well as simply putting the word out with friends and family—are often skipped, expecting that the Internet will get the job done on its own.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

For the original article, written by Dan Stweard, please click here.

10 Tips For New Buyers

It is a great time to buy for many would-be homeowners. The market offers historically low interest rates, as well as affordable home prices.

Here are 10 steps that buyers can take to make home dreams a reality!

1. Savings. You may already know how much monthly payment you can support (experts recommend no more than 1/3 your monthly income), but the buying process will also include upfront costs, such as a downpayment and closing costs. Read more

USC Ranked #4 in Top Ten List For “Most Affordable College Town”

RISMEDIA, November 16, 2010—Every fall, parents wave goodbye as their college-bound kids pack up their belongings, make the drive down university lane and prepare for football games, mid-terms and freedom. While college living is often associated with dorms and campus housing, many parents are opting to purchase a home rather than spend money on rent or dorm fees. According to a recent survey conducted by Coldwell Banker, there is a significant number of “parent investors” buying homes for their kids to live in while attending the university. Read more

Sellers: Don’t Let Emotions Rule

It can be easy for the selling experience to become clouded by emotion. A homeowner may have years of memories stored within the walls of a home. They look at a room, and instead of resale potential, they see a baby’s first steps and early Christmas mornings. When the time comes to sell, however, the time has also come to sever emotional ties with a house.

Emotions can cloud your reasoning. And they can misguide you during a very expensive and important business transaction. Sellers sometimes overvalue their homes, adding in sentimental value on top of property value. They refuse offers that, while reasonable, don’t add up to the value of their memories. Or they turn down a potential buyer, because they don’t garden and won’t “leave the rose bushes,” or aren’t the “type” of person they’d like living in their home. Read more

Real Estate Prices Fall, Will Sellers Take Note?

For the fourth consecutive month, price reductions have increased for home listings currently on the market in the United States. The reductions are now at an all-time high of 27 percent, according to Trulia.com

The record-high reductions amount to more than $30.7 billion nationwide. In a press release, Trulia concludes that there has been “a continual and dramatic price reduction increase in many cities that began in June 2010.” Read more

Get the Most Out of Your Furniture – How to Check for Comfort and Durability

Article written by Jean Patteson

RISMEDIA, November 2, 2010—(MCT)—When men buy “guy stuff”—cars, lawn mowers, electronics—they’re on their home turf. For those purchases, “Men can rely on familiar brand names and test drives to guide their decision-making,” says Jackie Hirschhaut, spokesperson for the American Home Furnishings Alliance. But even though men are becoming more involved in decorating their homes, according to research by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association, “For most men, furniture stores are unfamiliar territory,” says Hirschhaut.

Sofas and chairs top the list of furniture men are most likely to purchase, she says. And the qualities men want in those pieces are comfort, durability and attractive styling.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But once a guy has settled on a style of sofa or armchair—traditional, contemporary or something in-between—he’ll need to check for comfort and durability.For men—or women—shopping for upholstered furniture, Hirschhaut offers the following tips:

• Kick the tires. Not literally, of course. But do put likely pieces through your version of a quality test. Lift one corner of a sofa to see if the frame feels sturdy. Press gently outward on the arms to make sure there is no “give.” Ask what materials are used and how joints and stress points, such as arms, are reinforced. Frames made of link-dried hardwood and hardwood plywood hold pegs, screws, staples and nails more firmly in place than do softwood plywood and strand board.
• If the sales associate cannot answer your questions, find another associate—or a store with a better-informed staff.
• Look under the hood. Some stores have handy “cut-aways,” which show how upholstered pieces are assembled. But you will probably have to rely on the know-how of a well-trained sales associate to explain the hidden benefits of a piece. A variety of construction techniques offer comfort and durability, but in general, the number of springs in a foundation and the way they are reinforced determines the cost and quality level.
• Take a test drive. Don’t buy a sofa, chair or recliner without sitting, slouching or reclining in it for at least a few minutes. Put your feet up. Put your head back—settle into the piece the way you would at home. Furniture cushions may be constructed using springs, cotton or polyester fiber or down, but most are made from some type of polyurethane foam. Generally, the higher the density the foam, the more durable (and expensive) the cushion. But the only way to tell if the piece is going to feel comfortable to you is to sit in it yourself.
• Think safety. Make sure the piece carries a gold UFAC tag, which indicates it was manufactured according to fire-safety standards developed by the Upholstered Furniture Action Council. Those standards reduce the likelihood of the furniture catching fire from a smoldering cigarette, which is the leading cause of upholstery fires in the home.

You can read the original article here.

(c) 2010, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

Renovation of 2723 Monroe Street – Update #4

Check out this Before & After video of the “Transformation of 2723 Monroe Street”:

For more details on 2723 Monroe Street, visit this page. Read more

Subscribe to The Mather Co. Blog!

This post serves two purposes:

First – encourage y’all who don’t already subscribe to our blog, to subscribe to our blog! Are you one of the many who reads our blog by clicking on the links in Facebook and Twitter? If so, are you familiar with RSS Readers, such as Google Reader? If you like to read a lot of blogs, and you aren’t currently using an RSS Reader, then please watch the following video and see how RSS Readers will become your new best friend:

Second – for those of you who already subscribe to our blog, THANK YOU! But we also want to make you aware of a change to our blog. For your convenience, we now have TWO RSS Feeds. One is a feed of EVERYTHING. This feed will include all the important stuff we post on the blog, as well as all the “Just For Fun” things we post. The 2nd feed will only contain the “Important” stuff, and won’t include any of the “Just For Fun” stuff (such as Jokes of the Day, Football Friday, etc). So if you currently subscribe to our and you like receiving everything, then you don’t need to do anything. But if you would like to only receive the important news from The Mather Company, and not get any of the “Just For Fun” stuff, then be sure to subscribe to the “Imporant News” feed, and unsubscribe from the other feed.

The Mather Company Blog – EVERYTHING Feed (this contains everything…important news, and “Just For Fun” posts): http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheMatherCompanyBlog

The Mather Company Blog – Important News ONLY Feed (this contains only important news, and DOES NOT contain any “Just For Fun” posts): http://feeds.feedburner.com/ TheMatherCompany-ColumbiaSouthCarolinaRealEstateImportantNews Read more

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