The following transcript was taken from a Facebook video on 10/2/23.

If you own real estate, you own an investment, so you should know what the market's doing and the news is going to tell you on a national level what the market's doing. But it's my job responsibility as your trusted advisor in real estate to tell you what we are doing here in the Lowcountry.

So what is the market doing? It's challenging. Buyers right now are chewier than ever, and here's why. They feel like they, and they actually are, paying premium prices in addition to these higher interest rates. So they deserve to be choosier. You deserve to have confidence in what you're buying. They're making sure that they are loving this property. There's more inventory right now. There's more to pick from. Buyers are dragging their feet, so to speak. So it's just important to know that you've got to get your house ready for the market, if you are in fact looking to list it and sell.

It's a partnership when you list with a real estate agent, listen to their advice, take it to heart and act on it. It really is teamwork to get that mission accomplished.

So here's what the market is doing. I get these weekly reports in my inbox and so here's the numbers, here's the stats. 237 total sales happened this past week in real estate in the Lowcountry. 22 of those were over a million, which is phenomenal numbers. I mean, we know that our price point has elevated, but 22 of those. The median sales price for what went pending last week was $425,00, puts us about 230 a square foot.

And here's a number that I've been watching over the years of short sales and foreclosures because when we think about is a market going to tank, what's really healthy in the market? Let me just tell you, that's a pretty good temperature read. If people are having to short sale and foreclose in their properties, that number every week that I watch it is important because if we are not having a lot of hardship in the market, chances are we're going to hold pretty steady. People have more equity in their homes than ever, and this past week we had 3. So 3 out of the 237 were short sell or foreclosure hardship situations. So that's nothing. That's nothing, guys.

So anyways, that's what the market's doing. It's a little bit slower this time of the year, which is pretty expected. My advice to you as always, if you're looking to sell, get the house staged, get it clean. Doesn't matter what price point you're in, people care about those things. Let's virtually stage it. If you don't want to spend money to stage it in person, then let's just virtually stage it and take that approach. People largely can't see past walls that are not painted the right color for them or furniture placements. And so let's tackle that early and upfront. But get your house cleaned, paint it if it needs painting. Power wash it if it needs power washing. Let's do all the things to line you up for success. And if you're living in a house that you don't love, great, you deserve to love where you live. Let's sell it and find something different. But still plenty of opportunity in this market.

Not many of you guys, post a little comment down below if y'all are finding investors in this market and the conversation largely is circling around these, what we call short-term rentals, STRs, 30 days or less rental opportunities. If you're wanting to get educated on the short-term rentals and kind of the different municipalities, reach out to me as well and I'll be glad to share our research with you.

Well, I hope that y'all have a wonderful rest of the week. It's beautiful weather, finally feels like fall here in Somerville. It's homecoming week, so we have tons of activities happening and revolving around that and all the excitement. So hope to see you out around town soon and let me know how I can help. Be glad to be a resource to you.