Meet Our Chief Marketing Officer & Associate Broker, Rachel Cooper

Have you met Rachel Cooper? She’s a rising star on our team, and today you can get to know her a little better.
Today we’re happy to spotlight one of our team’s biggest assets: Chief Marketing Officer and Associate Broker, Rachel Cooper. If you’ve never been properly introduced to her, today’s your chance! In our agent introduction, we picked her brain about what her first three months were like with the Lance Woodley Team, what she enjoys most about being on the team, and more. If you have any questions for Rachel or the rest of our team, feel free to reach out. We’d be happy to help.

The difference between 2 of our home seller programs

Here’s the difference between our guaranteed sale program and our buyout program.

What’s the difference between our guaranteed sale program and our buyout program? Each of these
programs benefits different home sellers in different ways. 

Our guaranteed sale program is meant to sell your house quickly and for top dollar. In short, it
guarantees a home sale because it states that if we can’t sell your home within the agreed-upon time
frame, we’ll buy it ourselves for up to 90% of the list price. 

The buyout program is designed for homes that are not in the best condition or can no longer
be cared for and just need to be sold. It’s ideal for things like an estate sale. In a situation like this,
perhaps the heirs of the estate live out of state or the house is an old rental property that’s been
neglected. 

"Each of these programs benefits different home sellers in different ways."

For example, we recently did an estate sale where the house was bought for the children of the
owners to live in while they attended college. Well, as you can imagine, after 15 years, this home
looked like a giant dorm room. After it served its purpose, the owners wanted to get rid of it. 

When utilizing the buyout program, we come out to your property and make you an offer. If it’s an
offer you can agree to, we’ll buy the home as-is and close within two to three weeks. 

If you have any more questions about either of these programs or you’d like to use one for a home
you need to sell, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

Real Estate Is Local, But How Do You Use That Information?

Real estate is local, and using that knowledge to help you means hiring a local expert

when selling your home.

We all know that real estate is local, but how do you use that information?

If you’re selling your home, you use it by hiring a local expert to help you. Go with the people who
know the marketplace here in the Midlands of South Carolina. They know the area, they know the
process, and they know the people.

When picking out a local expert, there are three criteria you need to remember:

1. They must have been in the industry for a long time.
2. They must have performed many transactions year after year, in both good markets and bad.
3. They must have a successful home-selling system.

To that last point, we at the Lance Woodley Team have a home selling system that’s both proven
and duplicatable. We can apply it to your home the same way we’ve applied it to thousands of others.
It’s backed by market research, and more importantly, it gets results.

So if you’re thinking about selling or you’d just like to know your home’s value, don’t hesitate to reach
out to us. We’d love to help you.

As always, if you have any other real estate questions, feel free to get in touch with us as well.
We look forward to speaking with you.

How Do We Use Merchandising to Sell Our Homes?

Merchandising is one part of a successful home selling strategy. Here’s how our team does it.

Today we want to talk about something that we think is very important when you’re trying to sell
your house: merchandising.

A lot of times, people don’t understand the art of making your house look great. It will take
cleaning, decluttering, depersonalizing, upgrading, updating, and more. Merchandising is one of the
things we do for our clients to help them sell fast and for top dollar.

We can make it even easier for you because we have the contractors necessary. A lot of times,
all that is needed is a little furniture adjustment.

If you’re interested in selling your house quickly and for top dollar, give us a call today. We’ll take
a look at your house, give you our opinion on its value and let you know what you can do in
order to sell it for top dollar.

If you have any questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an
email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Tax Benefits & Deductions You Only Get as a Homeowner

Tax season is here, so today we've got a quick guide on how to reduce your taxable income if you're a homeowner.

It's that time of year again—tax time.

One of the biggest advantages of being a homeowner is that you can use part of what you pay for your home to reduce your taxable income. This holds true for first-time homebuyers or anyone who owns a home.

If you bought a home in 2018, there's a one-time deduction you can take for the costs incurred when buying the house. This includes closing costs, banking fees, and interim interest to name a few. There are also ongoing deductions you can deduct year after year as long as you own the house. These include mortgage interest and property taxes.

We recently had a client who saved $2,400 a year by becoming a homeowner.

These deductions can combine with your other deductions to decrease your overall tax burden. In fact, a recent client of ours saved $2,400 a year in taxes by being a homeowner that he wouldn't have been able to take advantage of as a renter. 

If you're thinking about buying a home, we would love to help you reap all the benefits of home ownership. Just give us a call or send us an email and we can discuss your unique situation.

Here’s How You Can Sell Your House As Is

We have a way to sell your home as is and without any hassle.

You may have heard of our Guaranteed Sale Program, but did you know we have another program
that allows you to sell your house as is?

Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, people need a home sale done quickly and easily. Perhaps
they’re doing an estate sale. Or maybe they’ve lived in their home for a long time and haven’t made
any updates to it.

Whatever your situation, if you have a home you need to sell quickly, we have an investment group
that will make you a cash offer on your house as it is. If the program works for you, you’d get
paid in cash and go through a quick closing (usually within two to three weeks).

If you’d like to take advantage of this program or you have any other questions about it, don’t
hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

We’ve Got What Home Sellers Need

To get real results as a home seller, you need to hire a real team with a real home selling system. We have all of that here on the Lance Woodley Team.

If you want to sell your home for top dollar, then you need to hire a professional agent with a real home selling system. When you hire the Lance Woodley Team, that’s exactly what you get. We have a real team with a real system that gets real results.

"We can get your home sold fast and for top dollar."

We can get your home sold fast and for top dollar, so if you’re ready to make the leap, give us a call or send us an email today. To learn more, watch this short video.

What We Can Guarantee When Selling Your Home

If you need to sell your house and you don’t want to mess around, call the Lance Woodley Team and we’ll get it done for you.

If you’re selling your house, you need to work with an agent with a plan. That’s why, no matter what
reason you’re selling, you need to call the Lance Woodley Team. We have a professional home selling
system that will sell your house quickly and for top dollar. We have a guaranteed sale program with no
strings attached that guarantees that we’ll sell your house for at least 90% of its real market value. To
hear our full message about why you should call us to help sell your home, watch my latest video.

What You Need to Know About the Changes to Lake Murray

There are changes coming to Lake Murray. How will they affect you?

Lake Murray is one of the best assets we have in the Midlands. It's fun to live on and play in. If you're a seller
or a buyer, though, and you're interested in the lake there are some things you need to know.

Starting with sellers, you should know that starting this October they are going to start pulling the water level in
the lake down until about mid-December. If you're selling your property and a potential buyer sees that there is
no water below your dock, it could be hard to explain that the water will return in just a month or two.

So if you are interested in selling, you should consider speaking with us now before this process starts. By
contacting us early, we can also get great photographs done before the water level is lowered in order to show
potential buyers what the lake normally looks like.

If you're interested in buying a property on the lake, this may be a great opportunity for you. I'm not
saying that you're going to get a place for 50 cents on the dollar, but you could be able to get it for 5% to 10%
less than usual.

If you have any additional questions about buying or selling on Lake Murray, please feel free to reach out to me.
I look forward to helping you soon.

PQ: If you're selling your property and a potential buyer sees that there is no water below your dock, it could be
hard to explain that the water will return in just a month or two.

Q2 2017 vs. Q2 2018: How Has Our Real Estate Market Changed?

How did this year’s second quarter real estate market stack up to what we saw in 2017? Let’s find out today.

Whether you’re a buyer, seller, investor, or homeowner, understanding local market trends will be
critical to your success. That’s why today, we’ll be comparing the second quarter of 2018’s real
estate market to the second quarter from 2017 to determine how our Midlands area market has
changed over that time.

First of all, there were slightly more active listings on our market during this year’s second quarter than
what we saw last year, with there being 4,861 active listings in Q2 of 2017 and 4,998 in Q2 of this year.
Of those listings, 75.23% sold this year, while just 71.6% of those listed last year successfully
closed.

The average list and sale prices have also risen. This year, the average sale price during our second
quarter was $200,250. During the second quarter of 2017, though, the average sale price was
$195,382. This constitutes a year-over-year increase of 9.75%. Of course, this figure only accounts
for the average property values. Not every home in the Midlands rose in value by this amount,
but the statistic does give us a good indication of how our market has developed.

Another area of change we’ve seen in the last year is the rate at which homes are selling. Homes
during this year’s second quarter spent an average of 56 days on the market, while homes during the
second quarter of 2017 spent an average of 65 days on the market.

With all of these factors in mind, it’s clear that our real estate market right now is very solid. Those
who are thinking of buying have a great opportunity to do so. In fact, the faster you make your
home purchase, the better.

So, if you have any other questions, would like more information, or would like our help in making
your move, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why Is Our Home Selling System the Best Around?

Our home selling guarantee is the best in the Midlands. Here is why.

Buying a Columbia Home? Search All Homes for Sale

Selling a Columbia Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

How are we going to sell your house? We are going to talk about our unique process today.

We can sell your home fast and for top dollar because we have the No. 1 home selling
system here in the Midlands. In fact, we are so confident about our home selling system that we have
a guaranteed sale program. It is the most aggressive guaranteed sale program you will see anywhere.

We have a three-part system that guarantees you get at least 90% of the fair market value of your house. If you or someone you know is interested in hearing more about the program, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email today. We would love to hear from you soon.

Should You Stay or Should You Go?

Should you stay or should you go? Here is how we are helping homeowners answer that question.

Looking to Buy a Home?  Search All Homes

Looking to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

Today the big question is this: Should I stay or should I go? Remember the song? Well, a lot of
homeowners are singing it in their heads while they ask themselves this question. Some people need to
downsize, some people need to upgrade for their growing family, and some people want to be in a
different part of town.

However, there is one common thread between every one of our clients. When they sell their
house, they want it sold fast and for top dollar. With our professional home selling system, we can do
that. If they are also buying a home, they want to have some coordination. We can help with that too.
We have the most efficient system for finding the perfect house for you, and we have the tools and
negotiating skills to get you the best home for you for the very best price.

“

We want to make it easy for our
clients because that is our job.

”

Oftentimes, we actually close on our client’s home sale in the morning and their home purchase in the
afternoon. We want to make it easy for our clients because that is our job and that is what we
want to do.

If you have any questions about how we help our clients buy or sell a home or you need any help
buying or selling a home anytime in the near future, please feel free to give me a call or send me an
email anytime. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Announcing Our 2017 Giveaway Winners

We’re excited to announce our 2017 vacation giveaway winners. Without further ado, here they are.

Today we are excited to be joined by the winners of our 2017 vacation giveaway, Jerry and Brenda. They were a joy to work with and we were so happy to be able to help them find the home of their dreams

Now that we’ve drawn the winner for 2017, it’s time to look ahead to 2018. We’re hosting the same contest this year and you can get entered for the drawing anytime. All you have to do is send us an email with the contact information of somebody who is looking to buy a home, sell a home, invest in a home, or hire a property management company. Let us know this person’s name, phone number, and email address (if you have it) in an email and you will automatically be entered. Each time you repeat this, you’ll be entered again, so each referral gives you a better chance of winning

You can get entered for our 2018 drawing now.

If you have any questions for us in the meantime or want to learn more about our vacation getaway, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you soon.

What's Happening with Columbia Real Estate?

How is the real estate market in Columbia doing? Today, we'll compare numbers from the first of this year to the same time period in 2014.

Buying a Columbia Home? Search all Homes for Sale  
Selling a Columbia Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

How is the real estate market in Columbia doing? We looked back from the first of this year through to now. Today, we'll compare those numbers to the same time period in 2014.

Right now, there are 27,000 active properties on the market. That is down 1% from last year, which is good news. Properties are being absorbed by a quicker rate now compared to last year.

This year, the average sales price was a little over $178,000, which is up 4% from last year. That's a 4% appreciation, which is great news! Properties are going up in value.
 
This year, 10,000 homes have sold in our area. Since there are still 27,000 active homes on the market, we know that over a third of homes are selling. That places us in a slight buyer's market. We're not in a raging buyer's market, but there is more inventory available than what's moving.

Finally, the list to sales price ratio is up 0.5%. This means that sellers are 0.5% closer to getting their list price this year than last year.

As you can see, volume is up, inventory is down, and sales prices are up. This is great news! We expect this great news to continue into 2016. While the market is up 3% overall, our team is up 11% year over year.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

What Loan Program Is Best for You?

Buying a Columbia Home? Search all Homes for Sale  
Selling a Columbia Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Today I have our preferred lender, Gina Bush, NMLS#119307, and she works at Midland Mortgage Corporation, NMLS# 66708 (www.midlandmortgagecorp.com). She has a lot of different loan programs that she can offer you, and that's what she's here to talk about.

There is an FHA Loan and a State Housing Loan that require low down payments and work very well for first-time home buyers. There is also down payment assistance available for those loans.

We also have conventional loans that work well for people who have stronger credit. There are also VA loans for anyone who has served in the military, and these come with fantastic benefits (no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance).

We also have a USDA rural housing loan. This is only available for homes that meet the requirements, so location is important if you wish to get one of these loans. There is no down payment and no mortgage insurance required, but there are some income requirements for this loan.

Another type of loan we have is a construction to permanent loan if you want to build your own home. If you want to buy a home that needs a little work put into it, you can qualify for a rehabilitation loan, which can actually help you pay for the cost of repairs.

As you can see, there are a lot of different loan types that are available to you. If you have any questions about which might benefit you most, please feel free to contact us or you can get into touch with Gina by clicking this link: http://www.midlandmortgagecorp.com/meet-the-team/gina-bush

What Makes SC Homes and Land Different?

There are many excellent homes to choose from in the Columbia area, with a variety of local real estate markets that have properties of great quality available for purchase. If you're considering buying real estate in the Columbia area, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're in the process of selling your home, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding the market conditions of Columbia real estate, or your own home's value, please don't hesitate to contact me at  (803) 407-3883. 

Here at SC Homes and Land, we have a strong administrative staff and client care department. Their role is to make sure that our clients have the best home buying and selling experience possible.

When you work with SC Homes and Land, you aren't simply hiring a single agent to assist you throughout the process, you are hiring an entire team. Lance is the coach, and his agents and administrative staff are his star players. Most agents work alone, or just have one or two people helping them out. Here at SC Homes and Land, we have an entire staff dedicated to making sure everything is taken care of in your next home transaction.

We are constantly entering information into the MLS, getting feedback from showings, and promptly answering calls and emails to make sure all of our transactions are successful. Here at SC Homes and Land, we make sure your buying and selling experience is seamless and easy.

If you have any questions for us, or are thinking about buying or selling a home yourself, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to assist you!