This morning I am being continually reminded of a rebirth that is occurring here in McClellanville under our feet.  Like most change in McClellanville it doesn’t happen in broad sweeping movements, but in gentle strokes.

The cries of my newborn child as my first comfort him as he has seen us do so many times before remind me why I made the move from a secure job in a distant land to return home for a different type of security more than 5 years ago.

A tweeting songbird and a thin layer of yellow dust on my car reminds me that spring is approaching and that we will soon break off the shackles of the cold winter’s night.

I walk into Archibald Rutledge Academy to find my 5-year-old’s classroom has moved across the hall to open up yet another classroom for remodeling as the school undertakes it’s evolution into the new Cape Romain Environmental Education Charter School.

I drive into work past a new rental home coming onto the market with much demand and a home under contract to be sold that will close next week.  Yes, the real estate market too is shaking off it’s shackles and it looks like it will be a good year for those both trying to sell their homes and those buying a new home to begin new phases in their life.

When I arrive at my new office to work on my new website, there is an email reminding me of a meeting for the Sewee Summit Jobs meeting to create a new Business Owner’s Association for the McClellanville / Awendaw region.

I realize, as I turn on my space heater to warm my fingers to type, that these signs of change have presented themselves to me all before 9am and all of this before winter has fully released it’s grasp on us.

Change is something that the people of McClellanville have grown to fear for decades and that fear has allowed the Town to preserve it’s way of life while the world around us collapsed to the pressures of change.  It is not a bad fear, more like the healthy respect that lion trainer might have for his partner.   We have whipped back the roaring lion without a sign of cowardliness and have earned it’s respect in the process.  The time for fear is passing though and we must put on a new face.  A face that welcomes good changes like I will welcome my son into my arms today when the last school bell rings.

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant;
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
~Anne Bradstreet

This summer brought news that the Cape Romain Environmental Education Charter School had gained approved by the state charter school board.  This school, which will me most likely begin it’s life at Archibald Rutledge Academy’s facilities, will be publicly funded and free to attend but will operate autonomously from the Charleston County School Board.  Decisions governing the school will be made by a local board of teachers, parents, and community leaders with the best wishes of the children placed first.  As the name implies, education at the school will be intertwined with the rich natural resources that we have here, raising a generation of children who appreciate and understand the bountiful resources that nature has bestowed upon us.   The school is able to attract students from beyond Charleston county, with enrollment open to all South Caroline residents. This means that students living in nearby Berkeley and Georgetown counties will be able to attend.  The school will open it’s doors in 2012 teaching Kindergarten through 5 or 6th grade, with the potential to grow to a full K-12 school in the coming years.  For those with a family, or plans to start one, this is a monumental achievement that offers parents struggling with the choosing between local public schools or cross-district enrollment a great opportunity.

The second news comes from a committee that has been in the works for several years now but is gaining steam recently.  The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation (huge advocates for the environment throughout the lowcountry) is paying for the formation of a group called the Sewee Summit.  The group seeks to protect the resources of the Francis Marion Forest, Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge, and beyond by getting local governments to agree to a standard of development more suitable for this area.  McClellanville was the first municipality to approve the recommendations of the group, which did not conflict with Town’s existing Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. The Summit doesn’t just stop at getting the regulations in place however. It is also working hard to assist the area in regard to employment, education, health, infrastructure, housing, and more through professionally lead forums in which local community members and experts in the corresponding field sit down to brainstorm on ideas for improvement

The most recent jobs forum had local business owner and organization leaders from across Awendaw and McClellanville seated together with the heads of government agencies including the Forest Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service. The coalition to came to a consensus on a list of resources that should be marketed to promote the uniqueness of the area. There was a strong call for the formation of a chamber of commerce to be shared by the communities of Awendaw and McClellanville, which I hope will soon begin.  The group identified many low-impact sources of jobs that could be fostered and nurtured to further develop the unique assets of this area without taking away from what we hold near and dear.  By working together local businesses will be able to achieve greater marketing strength than they could have ever achieved as individuals and also increase job opportunities in the region that will strengthen our community rather than change it in the negative.

I could easily hit the publish button on this article and hope that it improves everyone’s day, but here is where I ask you to roll up your sleeves. Both of these plans do not seek to change McClellanville, but to promote it’s uniqueness and sustain the way of life that it has.  That is not something that comes from a government bailout check, a new law, or a visit from your representative, it’s change that the people must want and it’s change that the people must make for themselves.

One thing that I have learned is that you can either sit around and say, “Someone should…” or you can be that someone.  I am involved with both of these organizations and have taken a lot of  time out of my schedule which truly belonged to my family and my real estate business to participate with both of these organizations, but my hope is that my family and my business will be better off in the long run through these efforts.  Just as this community banded together after Hurricane Hugo in a time of community crisis, I hope that we again can band together to avert potential crisis.  There will be jobs that everyone can fill and I truly believe that when we look back 5 years from now at our hard work that we will all have an enormous amount of pride at what we have accomplished and have changed McClellanville’s path for the better.

$175,000 House for Sale Among Amazing Historic Homes

Looking for an affordable house in the Historic District?
Looking for a potential home to rent?
Looking for free food and something to do this weekend?

If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, than you won’t want to miss the open house at 540 Pinckney Street this Saturday between 10am and 3pm. This event is presented by MCVL Realty and will include grilled hotdogs, drinks, and snacks and allow you a first look at this great housing opportunity.

540 Pinckney Street (Listing Details) is offered at $175,000 and all offers will be presented to the sellers.  Pick up the phone and call that friend of yours that is always telling you that they want to move to McClellanville and tell them this is their chance.  See You There!

White Gables - $150,000

528 Pinckney Street, known as “White Gables”, is for sale. This isn’t news, it’s been on the market for over 4 years, but now it is banked-owned and listed by Beach and River Homes and has been reduced to the shockingly low asking price of $150,000.  ”4 years?”, many people ask.  Well yes, but it was introduced to the market at $688,000 when I had a competing home listed for $750K that had been completely remodeled and this home needs a lot of work.  Over the years the price just kept dropping along with the market and was listed at $258K most recently before the bank finally foreclosed and slashed the price by over $100K.   I’ve shown this house more than any other house in town and  have learned that historic fixer-uppers just aren’t for everybody.  It is going to take the right buyer even at this price to want to restore National Historic District landmark to it’s former glory.  I’d be sure to have at least $100k that you are ready and able to spend on repairs because you just don’t know what you’re going to find once you start opening it up.  That being said, $150K is a steal and this house is the buzz of McClellanville.  The new owners will surely be the envy of the town and should get used to hearing “We almost bought this home ourselves” on a regular basis.

Most people that buy a home do so for their own enjoyment, whether full-time or part-time, but today I wanted to have a discussion about the other side of the coin.  Using this home as an example, I want to show the various investment opportunities that one can explore when buying a home.   One of the advantages of being the only real estate agent in the area who also specializes in rental management is that I know these markets and the prices that homes can fetch.  I should probably disclose that all buyers should do their own research and due diligence and understand that I am using big round numbers for easy math and to make examples.   Contact me directly to come up with a detailed analysis of your needs and how a home can work for you.  

First of all, appraisals aside, they are not making any more road frontage along Pinckney Street in this most historic avenue of homes just down from the boat landing. A vacant 2/3 acre lot such as this would fetch at least $150,000 even in todays market. You get the bonus of a home and a garage on the ground level which can not be duplicated under existing building codes.

The cost to renovate will vary depending on the decisions how far you want to take things, but I think it is safe to say that you’ll want to spend at least $50,000 and probably more like $100,000.   Investors should be aware of the rule that does not allow you to spend more than half the value of the home ($75K in this case) on improvements every 5 years without bringing the entire home up to code, which in this case would include the very impractical feat of raising it 10 feet off the ground.   You can and should be able to get a variance for this particular home however because most would agree that it is better to restore old homes to protect the essence of McClellanville than to modify or demolish these treasures.

Now let’s look at what could be done with this home.  Well, sure, you could live in it, but that’s not very creative.  The home is zoned in the historic residential zone which only allows for single family residences, so short of moving your parents or children in with you, that’s not paying any extra bills.  So what now?

Flip It

House “flipping” got a bad name 5 years ago when you could turn on TLC or HGTV and every idiot who couldn’t swing a hammer was making $500K on their west coast rehab…fast forward to the present and for some reason California has one of the highest percentage of foreclosures and upside down home ownership, go figure.  The numbers look pretty good on this house though.  After purchase price, repairs, carrying costs, and real estate commission to sell you’d probably have $275-300K into the home and could hopefully ask $350-400K in return, but every month it’s sitting on the market your profit is counting down.   You’ve also put in a lot of hard work and are paying taxes on the profit, so if you’ve already got a nine-to-five it might not be for you.

Long-term Rental

Well you could also do all the repairs and rent it out long-term and probably fetch about $1200-$1500/month depending on the finishing touches, but that is the top of McClellanville’s rental market (waterfront could fetch more, but are more profitable as short-term rentals) and renters are scarce, but not impossible to find.  Your mortgage payments if you financed the purchase and your improvement and are paying taxes and insurance are going to be around $1750, so you’re losing money each month (good investors try to avoid doing this).  Combine this with house flipping approach and try to rent while you sell and you may be able to hold out for the perfect buyer, but you’re going to need a patient renter that doesn’t mind showings and a month-to-month lease.

Vacation Rental

Short-term or vacation rentals is also a possibility in this area although most people who want this amount of space want to spend the extra money for waterfront with a dock.  If you average $1000/week and figured a conservative 50% occupancy, you’re making about $2200/month but your expenses (including marketing, insurances, taxes, and incidentals) are going to shave that down to around $1500/month but you can count on that occupancy rate to improve each year as you build up return guests.

Rent a Portion

There is a provision in McClellanville ordinances that allow for a portion of a home to be rented as long as it is separate and distinct from the home and is under 800 square feet.  That means it’s own entrance and kitchen and doesn’t work very well in this home but in the historic district you’re talking about $750/month in rent and you can now live there with a mortgage payment down around $1000.

B&B

The final option that I’ve come up with is to manage the home as a bed and breakfast.  McClellanville has supported many different types in the past and truly is the perfect setting for this type of accommodation.  The law allows for only 1/3 of the home to be used for the purposes of the guest, which means that 2/3 or more must be split between the owner’s private living quarters or common area for guests.   In this home this basically allows for two of the very large rooms to be guests suites.  Each suite could rent for $100/night and I think that you could assume 40% occupancy for the first room and 20% for the second which would come out to $1825/month before taxes, marketing, and insurance whittled it down to around $1200, but remember you’ve got the benefit of still having most of the home to occupy as well. Running a B&B (scheduling renters, changing sheets, cooking, entertaining, etc) is certainly not for everyone, but when you figure that each year the return should grow, you could soon be enjoying a mortgage free home it’s not a bad option to have.

Investment property doesn’t have to be the bane of the neighborhood.  When properly cared for and managed rental properties of all types can contribute to the overall improvement of an area.  Short-term rentals stimulate the local economy without much negative impact (I hope) while long-term rentals allow for a greater diversity of the population such as starter families that may not be financial able to purchase a home but are still involved in local activities.  Even if this home slips through your fingers, don’t be afraid to give me a call and let me know what your dreams and aspirations are and I will see what I can find for you.

Update: I received a tremendous outpouring of responses to this article which really shows that the market is not as bad as you hear.  I showed the house to two prospective buyers and had many calls from latecomers alas the sellers have accepted a contract and the sale is pending.  This contract was actually submitted with 24 hours of the huge price drop although they did wait through the weekend for other offers.  The accepted offer was actually for $5,000 above the asking price.  The moral of this story is to get your financial ducks in a row because you don’t know when the next deal will come along.  You can’t truly be “in the market” for a home if you don’t have a pocket full of money or a pre-qualification letter from a bank.

Click Image for Event Flyer

Don’t let the word “Triathlon” scare you away, this is a laid back, non-competitve event consisting of a paddle, parade, and a picnic.  In fact, the event planners warn that “serious competitors will be fed to alligators”, so leave your A-game at home and just come out with the family to to enjoy a leisurely time on the water and walking down our oak lined avenues.

The event begins on Saturday, June 11th at 10am at the town boat landing with a kayak (donated by Nature Adventure Outfitters) paddle out to birthday island (first spit of land  between ICW and Five Fathom creek) and back, then the group parades from the boat landing to the restaurant’s where participants will enjoy a picnic on the porch at T.W. Graham’s or patio at Pinckney Street Kitchen.  The cost for the event is $33 and includes kayak rental and t-shirt!

Proceeds from this event go to support a really great cause called Begin with Books, which seeks to improve childhood literacy at an early age by providing area residents with 1 book each month from birth to 5 years old.  $33 covers one year of books for one child and can make a huge difference in the child’s development and attitude toward reading.  A donation of $165 will buy a complete library of 60 books for a child. You can also follow this cause and the event on facebook.

Registration is easy, but necessary to do so early to ensure that enough t-shirts are ordered and kayaks are provided.  If you will be attending, email elizabeth_livingston@charleston.k12.sc.us today with your t-shirt sizes and bring a check to the boat landing on the day of the event.

I have just received a new shipment of McClellanville bumper stickers.  I had a little fun with the design and added a picture of McClellanville’s unofficial mascot; the mosquito.

These bumper stickers are completely free and I have distributed them at the following local businesses: Kingfisher Construction, Another Time Art Gallery, Town Hall, T.W. Grahams, McClellanville Arts Council,Village Museum, Pinckney Street Kitchen, and Bulls Bay Supply.  So please stop by and pick one up today.

For loyal out-of-towners that want to show off their McClellanville pride too, you can fill out this form and I’ll mail you one.

PS – If you’re on facebook, be sure to stop by and “like” the unofficial McClellanville, SC page.  I post local news and events more regularly there than I get a chance to here.

This Saturday, April 2nd at 10:30 am is the McClellanville Wisteria Parade.  This is truly a site to behold if you’ve never attended; golf carts, strollers, floats, hats, horses, bicycles, pets, and little red wagons all loaded to the brim with flowing wisteria blossoms.  The event starts at the Presbyterian Church and continues on Pinckney Street to the Town Hall where there will be an inflatable jump castle for the children.  This is one of those silly McClellanville events designed for no other reason that to be outside and enjoy each other’s company in the beautiful weather.

This quickly fleeting flower often makes planning for the event ahead of time hard, because the flowers all burst forth at once and then begin wilting within weeks before turning into those odd seed pods.   This year the event happens to coincide with the rabies clinic in the parking lot of McClellanville Middle School from 9-12, so get there early with your pets if you’re planning to attend both events.  Also this weekend, on Sunday from 1-5pm will be a benefit concert for Savana Whalen with local music at the Don Britt Bandstand at the Town Hall.

I found this poem called “Wisteria-Hysteria” which I just loved.

No fair maid of Algeria,
muchacha from Iberia,
has beauty that’s superior
to flowering wisteria.
Some call her purple, some say mauve,
I fancy her, for she is fauve.
Wisterially, I’m feeling chauv-
inistic for her in her grove.
With blossom purple and imperious
she beckons to me, mauve, mysterious,
and draws me to her, mute but serious,
and wonderful and wild, wisterious.
~By Gershon Hepner

Friday, December 3rd  (tonight) from 5-8 p.m.

The McClellanville Arts Council will be hosting many artists throughout their gallery for the event as will many of the other business fronts including Pinckney Street Kitchen, Another Time, Elizabeth Bronson Studio, Lee Arthur Studio, Sassafras, The Yellow Shop , T.W. Graham Restaurant, and Kingfisher Construction.

I will also be co-hosting an open house of the new Red Rooster Loft vacation rental above the Kingfisher Construction at 824 Pinckney, so please feel free to come up for some wine and cheese or hot cocoa and observe the festivities from the balcony.   This is a great opportunity to find some truly unique Christmas gifts, see McClellanville in a different light and catch up with friends and meet new ones as support the well-deserved, local economy.

October 26th at 7pm – Candidate Forum
October 30th at 10am- Eggstravaganza
October 30th at 4:30pm – ARA Halloween Carnival
November 6th – Children Clothing Sale
November 6th at 6pm – Village Museum Oyster Roast

Candidate Forum

This Tuesday, October 26th the Cape Romain Environmental Charter School brings education to the forefront with a political forum featuring candidates from the House District 108 and East Cooper seats of the Charleston County School Board.   Bring important questions and brush up your knowledge of the issues just one week before the elections.

Eggstravaganza: The Art of Sustainable Living

October 30th from 10 to 6:30, the McClellanville Arts Council presents Eggstravaganza: The Art of Raising Chickens, the first in it’s series of lessons on sustained living. The event will feature the “Tour da Coops” allowing patrons a peak into the backyard coops across McClellanville in a sort of chicken meet and greet.  There will be lots to learn and raffles and door prizes as well.

ARA Halloween Carnival

Follow up your “egg-siting” afternoon (I couldn’t help it) with a trip to Archibald Rutledge Academy’s annual Halloween Carnival from 4:30 to 7 featuring hot dogs, baked goods, costume contest, pumpkin carving contest, Hay Rides and fun and games for all ages! Pumpkin contest entrees need to be brought by 4:30 to participate.

Barefoot Daydreams Children Clothing Sale

November 6th at the Methodist Church Annex, Barefoot Daydreams will hold it’s first sale of clothing for children.  There will also be professional photography by Rebecca Porter Photography at the Deer Head Oak.

Village Museum Oyster Roast

Last, but certainly not least, on your McClellanville dance card is the Village Museum Oyster Roast.  This annual event starts at 6pm under the Town Hall on November 6th and goes into the night.  It is free to Village Museum members or just $15 donation for non-members and includes mountains of fresh Bull’s Bay Oysters and heaping kettles of “He Crab Soup”, Seafood Chowder, Fish Stew, and Chile.  BYOB and oyster knives and have a great time.