Doug Holmes, “the Stat Guy”, gives his insight on what’s happening in local real estate. Listen to www.VOICEforMP.com and learn how these comments were generated as a result of a request by the Wall Street Journal.
- I have a buyer who was set to come here in 18 months. They flew down this past week and have decided to buy early. They have stated that they have GOT TO GET OUT OF NY. He is an agent on Long Island and has stated that he is getting droves of calls to put houses on market. He is also a fireman and he stated that 500 officers put in papers this week for early retirement. I have been speaking with 4 people from the Northeast.
- 1 couple, who live in Connecticut, are coming down in August to buy a secondary home that they will eventually move into full time now that the husband can work remotely permanently. Looking to do a new build in Oakfield on Johns Island
- My sister, lives in midtown NYC, has been in Rhode Island for 2 months and now Charleston for a month. She is looking at properties in Charleston so she never has to go back.
- A friend referral, lives in NYC, moved to Johns island for quarantine and now wants to fully relocate to Charleston and not go back to NYC. Viewing properties in the coming weeks. Another couple, live in DC, came down to Hilton Head and now want to buy a secondary home until they can fully figure out how they can both work remote.
- We had a young couple drive an agonizing 12 plus hours from NY to look at 1 home. Looked at the home, and flew back. They currently live in Battery City – downtown NYC. In a small condo, looking at private school for a child to go to kindergarten. And the mess that NY is. They are buying in Old Village of Mt Pleasant !
- I’ve got a family buying one of my listings (this weekend) who is coming from DC. One family coming in from San Francisco next week. I’ve found them a 4 month rental so they can search and buy. They’ve practically been trapped inside for months. Another couple coming to look from Minnesota. Inquiries from a family in Michigan.
- I have had a huge influx of northeast buyers. Most are looking to rent first (to get their kids in school and learn the area) and then buy in the next 6-12 months. The single family detached rental market has become incredibly competitive for this reason and we are having to find rentals among the for-sale properties to place clients in. If I had a couple of extra million bucks, I would buy a couple of luxury single family homes in Mt Pleasant and rent them out for a premium. Its a SOLID investment right now because of what is going on.
- Last 7 contracts have been Boston, NY, Chicago, etc. It’s definitely happening especially in higher price points. Should see price increases as a result.
- Pandemic quarantine fatigue. Shopkeeper recently shared that a family with children made the decision they were moving from New England to either Florida or South Carolina. They drove to Florida and then arrived in South Carolina. They are relocating here.
- Yes, have met with buyers from Northeast – now able to work from home and this is speeding up their plan to move to Charleston.
- I have an 85-year-old woman buying a townhouse over and West Ashley and a couple in their 40s moving from Denver Colorado to either Charleston or Georgetown. I know of several people looking from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut however they cannot get here because of the Covid restrictions. California as well.
- In the last four weeks, with the exception of two new clients, all have been from the northeast. 4 from NJ, 3 from NY, 3 from CT and 2 from MA. They are all saying the same thing. Tired of the high taxes, overcrowding, and not looking forward to another winter. I think the stay-at-home orders in those states amplified their growing dissatisfaction. One couple had planned to make their move in the late Fall, and just became so exasperated, they moved up their move to July. The good news is that the market is strong in NJ, NY and CT. The couple I just mentioned, from NJ, put their house on the market on a Saturday morning, and had 10 offers by Sunday afternoon. They ended up selling for $51k over asking. Everyone is suffering from low inventory. I’ve also had 2 sight unseen offers. Crazy times!
- On my James island listing, my last two offers were sight unseen from buyers in MN and CA, (seen virtually with buyers agent video)
- I have a $1M+ buyer from NYC that I had prior but they were in no rush, now they want to come in August and buy asap. I have a new $1M+ buyer from Boston that wants to come look in July. (wants a second home so not necessarily that he wants to get out of Boston)
- We have a buyer from Virginia looking for second homes in Wild Dunes, looking for a place to escape. I just got off the phone with a Mortgage lender that says 20-30% of his current buyers are outwardly stating they are buying in Charleston to “get away from the COVID and Rioting.”
- Working with 3 different parties from PA (2 under contract), 1 from AZ
- I have seen a massive increase in interest from the Northeast. I would say about 25% or more of the leads that we have generated through google ads that I have contacted have been from just NY and NJ.
- One of my friends in DC said that he has several friends looking to move here if they do not start in class schools up there in the Fall
- Buyers for my personal house in the crescent are from Seattle
- We have one current buyer client from NYC who is still looking. We sold two houses on Folly- New Jersey and Ney York buyers (closed middle of coivd). Agent in my office has house under contract on Folly with buyer from Pennsylvania.
- Yes, a number of my listings have FaceTime tours with Northeast and Midwest buyers. A good number of people from Ohio are still coming to the Lowcountry as well. Yesterday, Our rental manager told me that one in four of his rental clients are from Ohio. I believe we will continue to see a mass migration of people from the northeast who want to live on the coast but are escaping the big cities. Most are able to work remotely and have a better quality of life. My neighbors across the street moved here from Pennsylvania for the very same reason
- I have 2 northeast buyers-both buying deep water homes. We’ve had multiple buyers from the northeast in the past year and a couple more looking in the area now to permanently get out of that area or find a vacation home to get away from time to time