March 2016

Not everyone can remember the exact moment the decision to move to Charleston was made. It was May 27th of 1977 and I was sitting on the upstairs piazza at the famous Poogans Porch restaurant. The meal had been superb and I lingered a bit watching a few horse draw carriages move down Queen Street. That was when Queen Street got quiet late in the evening. My day trip down from Myrtle Beach had surprised me with the Spoleto Festival well underway. In that one day I had seen a drawing room comedy play, shopped for art in the park and attended an outdoor jazz concert. By the end of that day I knew I would never miss the Spoleto Festival again and I was moving to Charleston. 

This year marks the 40th season of the festival and it promises something for

Well I took a little heat from my friends at The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition for waxing poetic about Spoleto without even mentioning the February Exposition. So as a remedy here are the spring and early summer big events here in Charleston. These are world class so attendance is huge and securing lodging can be a challenge. It's best to book early but if you are having trouble finding something I'd love to help.

39th Annual Cooper Bridge Run     April 2nd   learn more @ bridgerun.com

Volvo Car Open Tennis Tournament [ Daniel Island]  April 2nd- 10th  learn more at volvocaropen.com

Charleston Wine and Food Festival   March 2-6  learn more @ charlestonwineandfood.com

69th Annual Spring House and Garden Tours  March 16th -April 24th  learn

Once you buy and sell a few homes you realize that having information about the home you are considering, other similar homes, the local economy and so on is very important to making an intelligent decision.  Numbers, metrics and objective analysis drive the business. Without this information you are subject to the whims of the real estate agent and whatever their agenda may be. Whoever has access to the best data wins. Getting data in residential real estate is daunting. Most turn to Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. These sites either don't publish useful info or it is notoriously outdated or misleading info. 

The answer is to hire a sharp realtor who does the research for you for market data only available to realtors.   A good realtor is constantly