One of the biggest mistakes people make when assessing real estate is to rule out a property because of its perceived weaknesses. Why is that such a big mistake? Because oftentimes the greatest opportunities to add value to a property actually lie in that property's greatest weaknesses! Converting those weaknesses into strength disproportionately add value to the property while simultaneously availing you of a marketing strategy the competition likely won't be able to utilize, regardless of whether you're renting, selling, etc. Want to learn more? Tune into this week's episode! As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Whether you're a renter, homeowner, or real estate investor, we all need tools to help us in everyday life. Over the years, I've learned that there are some tools that you simply shouldn't skimp on, and you'd be AMAZED the difference it makes to go into a job, home rehab, etc. with a slightly better toolkit than without. In this episode I discuss six tools that I've learned are not the ones to attempt to save money on - these six simply require you to open up the wallet and splurge a little more than your parents did.  As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

"This doesn't feel right" is probably something that you've told yourself before. That's a feeling we all get from time-to-time. It's our gut - the instinct we develop that is informed by our past experiences - talking to us subconsciously! But our gut can be wrong, or at least misinformed, and when it comes to real estate, we have to teach ourselves where it is wrong and help to educate it. Making the wrong decision when buying or selling a house can cost you thousands of dollars (or a missed opportunity)! How do you do know when your gut is wrong and how do you educate it? That's what we discuss in this episode! As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

This past year was easily the most challenging of my real estate career. It seems like every transaction had some little twist or turn that made it more difficult than expected. But in the end, it was a good year, and in this episode, I give you a behind-the-scenes glance at what my life as a realtor was like the past year. Tune in to this final episode of 2020 for five stories from deals that happened this year that were all a success but had some unexpected chaos along the way. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

As we approach the end of the year, it's easy to think about how trying 2020 was, but I'd rather focus on the positive. There is a lot that I'm grateful for from the past year, and in this episode, I discuss five things that come to mind when I think about 2020, particularly from a real estate standpoint. This is a bit of a more personal episode than some of my past recordings, but I hope it gives you a hopeful focus as we look towards the New Year. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

This past week, I was a part of a live zoom meeting that allowed me to correspond with Dr. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. He gave some incredible insight into what he expects to happen in the real estate market (both nationally and locally) in the upcoming year and how that compares to what happened this past year (and in previous years). In this episode, I open up my notebook to discuss what I learned from him as well what we can gather from the recently released GGAR November statistics for our area. I'll say this: I'm even more excited about 2021 now than I was a week ago. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Did you know that most appraisers in Greenville give basement homes a fraction of the value of what they deserve? It's true, and it causes issues for sellers trying to sell basement homes, while potentially delivering great value to buyers trying to buy them. However, the increasingly prevalent low appraisals that come in for homes with finished basements are frustrating to those of us operating within the marketplace everyday who know their true value in the open market. Why do appraisers undervalue these homes, and what is the true value of a nice, finished basement? I discuss all of that in this week's episode, which I am dubbing a rare RANT. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

There is a science behind determining the value of a home, but not everyone agrees, once the home value has been determined, how high or low the list price should be set at. Any good realtor will tell you that it's a terrible strategy to overprice a listing, but sometimes a realtor's gut can be misleading. Today we crunch numbers from the past three months of real estate closings to determine what the real impact of overpricing your home really is. Spoiler: the data shows that overpricing your home almost always causes you to lose both time and money - and quite a bit of it. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I've negotiated hundreds of real estate deals over the years, and I've learned that although each one is different, there are some tactics that generally work and others that usually don't when it comes to negotiating a deal. Additionally, each transaction has multiple times when you have to negotiate, and any one of these negotiation points can derail a transaction. In this episode, I discuss these negotiation points and five of the biggest and most common mistakes that people (even other realtors!) make when negotiating a real estate deal. You're not allowed to tell your realtor how you want them to negotiate until you listen to this 😉 As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

In just two years (Nov 2018-Nov 2020), average mortgage interest rates have gone down by around 40%! We are seeing rates that are lower than we ever have seen and likely ever will see again. What does that mean practically? For starters, you can buy a lot more house now than just 2 years ago without seeing your mortgage payment go up. How much more house can you buy? Tune into this episode to find out and to learn more about what these crazy rates mean for the future of real estate. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Greenville has developed a reputation for a lot of things - a beautiful downtown area, talented local artists, delicious dining scene, great annual festivals/activities, etc. - but there are a lot of unique traits to the Upstate that fly under the radar while having a massive impact on one's daily life. We explore six of Greenville's (and the Upstate's) most underrated traits in this (short) episode.  As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I am fairly involved and knowledgeable about local politics, and so I get asked with some regularity what my opinions are about different candidates. Rather than typing it out in a massive post, I decided to record a podcast about it, with a special focus on which politicians (particularly among the local ones) will be good for local real estate. I cover county/local, state, and federal elections in this unique episode! Hopefully, it will help you be prepared at the ballot box. All opinions are my own and do not reflect those of C Dan Joyner Realtors, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the GGAR, or the RPAC.  As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

With there being so few homes on the market, it's important that I keep my eyes open for any opportunities that might arise for my clients. One potential avenue for finding houses (particularly investment properties) is to purchase them through wholesalers. What is a wholesaler, and what is the process like buying a house from them? If you're wondering, you're in luck with this episode, because I've done it (multiple times)!  As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I get calls all the time from people who want to get into flipping houses, and for those that do, arguably the most important skill to develop is the ability to quickly assess a property. You need to assess the type of flip, the potential risk/reward, how much of an opportunity it is, and how much competition you are likely to have. In this episode, I discuss some basic criteria to give you an idea of the types of flips that are out there and what categories to have in your mind when evaluating them. Ultimately, the best experience comes from actually looking at houses, and I can help with that too! As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Both the state of SC and the federal government (via the CDC) have issued orders/guidelines addressing a landlord's ability to evict a tenant who has been financially impacted by COVID. This is having a ripple effect on real estate, causing some investors to freak out and sell off their rentals, while others are opting to avoid purchasing future rentals until at least after the elections are over (and in some cases, depending on who gets elected). What does all of this mean, and is there a major risk to landlords losing thousands of dollars due to unpaid rents? Tune in for my opinion on the matter. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Sometimes spaces in a home should be left flexible and open to the imagination of the buyer, but many times, defining a space and limiting its function will actually add value to your house. And oftentimes it doesn't cost much to do.  In this short episode, I discuss various real-life situations where giving a space a specific function could help or hurt your home value, as well as some practical advice for how you can determine if your home has spaces that need to be defined more clearly or not. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Sometimes deals literally fall apart because of a bad buyer's agent. Sometimes a good buyer's agent can present an offer in such a way that gets a house for a client when there are other, higher offers. I have a bunch of stories I could tell, and I tell a few of them in this episode to pull back the curtain on what it's like being a realtor in today's market. The moral of the story? Don't just hire any agent to represent you as a buyer. That decision could cost you your "dream home." As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

As we look at the latest data on the real estate market (courtesy of the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors), we find that the Upstate is setting all sorts of new records, and not all of them are good. Is it still a wild seller's market? Yes, for sure. Is that changing going into the fall season? It sure looks that way - maybe even flipping to a buyer's market! We talk about all this and more in this episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

When it's a seller's market, sellers don't typically want to accept an offer that is contingent on the buyers selling their home. This presents some major challenges for the majority of buyers that need to sell their home in order to finance their next home purchase. How do we overcome those challenges as buyers and what should sellers be considering when looking at a home-sale contingent offer? We discuss that, the concept of the "first right of refusal," and more in this week's episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

"Housing affordability" isn't just a real estate buzz word; it's a real problem in the Upstate, and it's about to come to a head. What is the trend and what can we do about it? That's what we discuss in this week's episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected]. Update Description

A question that has become much more common in the past year among my real estate clients who are planning to move is whether they should go the traditional route of selling their current house when buying the next one or instead keep their old house and attempt to rent it out after buying their next one. The answer to this question isn't straightforward, and as a realtor, I'm not allowed to give financial advice. But I can offer you 5 things to consider that will hopefully help you make the best decision for you and your family, and that's what we discuss in today's episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Due to local real estate politics, the vast majority of real estate contracts in Greenville are done on a form known as Form 310. There's a lot to like about this contract, but when it comes to how a buyer is supposed to go about his/her inspection period, Form 310 can cause a lot of confusion over what a buyer's (or seller's) options are, including confusion that results in the occasional lawsuit. The vast majority of contract disputes are over the language of the inspection period and "seller paid repairs." I sometimes have to spend 2-3 hours explaining this to my clients! So in this episode, I get out in front of that by discussing the contract and some practical ways of understanding it and using it so that you don't get burned when buying or selling a house. (Of course, if you have specific questions relating to your contract, your best bet it to contact your attorney to clarify.) As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

This is perhaps the weirdest real estate market of our time - all-time low inventory makes it a great time to sell a house while all-time low mortgage interest rates makes it a great to buy. So what does that mean practically if you're considering buying or selling a home (including investment properties) in the Upstate? I discuss several ramifications of this weird and wild real estate market and how that might impact you in this episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

The 80/20 Principle (also known as Pareto's Law), has helped to explain a lot of things we experience in life. For instance, 80% of your enjoyment typically comes from 20% of your activities, 80% of a company's profits typically come from 20% of its clients, etc. When we apply the 80/20 principle to houses, it helps to clarify a lot of things, from what we can do to best add value to our house to what features we should look for when buying a house. In today's episode, we explore five uses of the 80/20 principle in real estate and what that means for you when you're buying, selling, or updating a property. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

When you get that home inspection report back - whether you're buying or selling the house - it's easy to freak out at all the issues it flags, particularly the ones that involve major parts of the house, like the foundation. But not all the problems on an inspection report are as serious as they may sound, and when you're buying or selling real estate, it's important to know which "scary sounding" issues are truly problematic or not. That's what we discuss in this episode! (Of course, each house and transaction is different, and you should consult a contractor for more specifics on your unique house situation.)   As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Smart thermostats. Smart locks. Smart outlets. EVERYTHING is smart these days. But how does smart tech impact your quality of life and home value - both for landlords and for owner occupants? In this podcast episode, I discuss several smart home gadgets that I've interacted with, how they've changed my life (mostly for good), and how they've impacted both buyer and seller clients. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Remember when I discussed utilizing backup offers and contracts in episode 15 of this podcast? Well I BACKED THAT UP with a backup contract success for one of my buyer clients just weeks later! In this episode, I tell the story about how one of my recent closings utilized a backup contract, giving you a first-hand look at how the process works and how backup offers can be leveraged in real life. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Every now and then we need to have some fun and bring some lightheartedness to this podcast. So in this episode, I poke fun at realtors (like myself) and point out some of the realtor stereotypes that we've all come across (and maybe that some of us... are). Hopefully, it will bring you a few good laughs. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I've seen and heard for a while that renting a house in Greenville is disproportionately expensive as compared to buying, but what does the data say? In this episode, I dig into the data on houses that have been rented and sold the past six months in the same neighborhoods to compare what it would cost to rent on average vs. paying an average estimated mortgage payment in those neighborhoods. Unsurprisingly, many people who are renting are paying more than they would if they owned, but that doesn't tell the whole story. In this episode, we discuss that and what it means. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

We hear all the time that "your house is an investment," but the focus on numbers and the investment side of a house purchase has gone so far that now some people are downplaying the reality of how much your house dictates your lifestyle and how important of a consideration that is. I take it a step further - I believe that your is your lifestyle, and in this podcast, I describe why I feel that way and how that might impact you if you move in the future. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

The Greater Greenville Association of Realtors released their monthly statistics for May, and the numbers are a mixed bag. Most notably was the plunge in closed sales for the month of May, which seems bad for sellers, but much of the other data paints a contradictory picture of the market. How does it bode for the rest of the year? We discuss all of this and more in this week's episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

As real estate agents and sellers try to find more ways to one-up the competition, they are increasingly resorting to new gimmicks to try to market properties or shave down the costs of selling. Most of these gimmicks are just that - gimmicks that don't work. In this episode I discuss five of them that I am frequently running into, and I present alternative strategies that do work and that have helped my sellers get the most bang for their buck (or listing). As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

One of the most powerful real estate tools both RE buyers and sellers can take advantage of (but frequently don't) is the use of backup offers. The reality is that many people (including real estate agents!) don't know that backup offers/contracts even exist or how they can be utilized. I have used them multiple times with success, and on this episode, I discuss how they work and some creative scenarios in which both buyers and sellers can benefit from them. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I don't know that I've ever seen this much rain in one year, and we're only 5 months into 2020! Rain is wreaking HAVOC on real estate around here, and you should be aware of the issues that rain can cause and what those mean for you when you're buying or selling real estate. Is a flooded crawl space a problem? What happens to a foundation when rain water comes toward it? I'm not a contractor, inspector, or structural engineer, but I do have a lot of real-life realtor (and house flipper) experience with this stuff, and so I share some insight on how rain impacts real estate and what can be done about it. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) is a trendy acronym that a lot of so-called real estate "experts" refer to often. But the BRRRR method assumes you are purchasing a property with substantial equity, and those opportunities are few and far in between when the market (such as the one we currently have in Greenville) has such low inventory. Is there another way to utilize a BRRRR type of strategy without having to hold out forever for just the perfect property that affords you tons of equity on the front end? That's what we talk about in this episode - including a real-life example from yours truly. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

The Greater Greenville Association of Realtors produced their monthly data for April, and there is a lot of interesting information to consider. We still have a seller's market, but with inventory going up year-on-year, we may be seeing a shift that could impact the summer/fall market. We discuss that, what we saw happen in the first part of May, and how all of this might impact your buying/selling strategy moving forward. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

The spring storm season is in full swing with tornadoes, hail, and tropical storm-force winds all over the Upstate! There is a lot to consider when buying/selling a home or even just as a homeowner when it comes to storm season. So we spend some time discussing practical ways to look for storm damages, what to do if you have storm damage on your home, and some little known facts about how homeowner's insurance works. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

We've been tracking the local real estate market in several of these episodes, looking at new listings, new contracts, and showings in order to get a feel for what direction the market is going. This one is a short (eleven minutes!) snapshot to give a quick update on what has happened the past couple of weeks, what that means historically, and what that means compared to the activity in the market since mid-March. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

There is a lot of debate out there over whether real estate is a good investment, and a lot of that debate stems from confusion over how much (or little) real estate appreciates in value each year. In this episode we look at data from the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors and track how much the median sales prices have appreciated in various markets within the Upstate. Nobody can guarantee that home values will appreciate in the future in the way the median sales prices have, but there were some pretty startling increases in some areas that we discuss in here. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Each week the Greenville real estate market is changing, and this past week was no exception. In this episode we look at the data from the past week as well as the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors statistics for March 2020 and speculate on what all of this information could mean for the market as a whole. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Everyone has opinions on what is happening in the real estate market right now and what will happen in the upcoming weeks. But what does the actual data say for what has happened in the Greenville market the past few weeks? We dive into that data, and you might end up being surprised that the market, at least for now, is better than you'd think. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

Is there such a thing as "good debt?" I would argue that there is, especially in the world of real estate. In this episode we discuss what constitutes good debt and what constitutes bad debt, with examples both inside and outside the world of real estate. Of course, I'm not a financial advisor, so I can't advise you on your financial decisions outside of real estate, but I certainly can give some advice on whether I think a local real estate deal would be a good or bad debt type of situation. As always, if you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

I'm getting a lot of questions on how to approach this year of real estate and what to do if we go into recession. The best thing we can do is look back to 2008 and combine some of those lessons with a common sense real estate approach to come up with a game plan for mitigating real estate risks in uncertain economic times. Just remember: sometimes recessions bring the best opportunities. If you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

A lot has changed since we recorded our last coronavirus/COVID19-related podcast, and I want to make sure you are well-informed. Are we going into recession? Is the housing market about to collapse? We explore some of those questions and try to look at the potential impacts on the Greenville real estate market from a non-alarmist perspective. If you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].

We now officially have the coronavirus (aka COVID-19) in the Upstate, and people are starting to freak out. How will this impact the SC real estate market? Should we hold a few months and let the markets respond before doing any major purchases or sales? What happens if the economy goes into recession, and how will that impact local real estate? We discuss this and much more in a timely and practical episode designed to prepare you for the inevitable ripple effects of the dreaded virus. If you have any questions or comments (or, of course, need a realtor), feel free to reach out to Stan McCune directly by phone/text at (864) 735-7580 or by email at [email protected].