To Build Home Equity, Buy The Caterpillar

I just had a client ask this morning: "The Charleston real estate market has been hot for years, so where can you still find value?"

I know this client well though and, without hesitation, said that Park Circle is the spot he should be looking at.

Park Circle is not a secret & I’ve been advocating the area for 10 years. I have plenty of clients who bought there on the back of my advice and are now sitting on a lot of equity.

THE SHIP HASN’T SAILED YET THOUGH

There is still plenty of upswing left I think for folks who haven’t bought up there yet, for something of a strange reason…..it’s just not ‘there’ yet, it’s still in caterpillar mode, you can see its potential, it’s just hasn’t totally transformed into something beautiful……….yet.

That's why I like buying in neighborhoods like this, because they're still a little edgy at the moment, but they won't be for long.

The smart buyer (i.e. my clients) know that in a couple of years that is all going to change, the trailers will be gone, they’re already being replaced by brand new elevated homes overlooking the marsh.

In fact, I know a few of the developers up there, and the only reason that the trailer parks are still there is because the land they sit on is increasing in value. The owners are holding out for the land to keep increasing before they sell out to a builder.

KNOW YOUR FUTURE BUYER

This is what I wrote to my client
”I already know who will buy your Park Circle house from you down the road. I’ve seen in happen in Cannonborough and Wagener Terrace already and Park Circle is the younger sibling of those places.

It will be the typical Charleston Preppy Couple, who probably met at Porter Gaud, who love the idea of living somewhere cos it's hip, it’s something different, and it’s not their parents’ neighborhood.

They’ve probably been to a block party up there and loved the downtown area.

So they’ll drive around the area on a Sunday and they notice that while there are some lovely older homes with lots of character and modern infill new construction homes, there are also some trailer parks, it’s a little rough around the edges and and the neighbors aren't all wearing croakies and visors.

So they quickly turn around, retreat and buy a Mt Pleasant house like all their other friends.

They usually figure out (after they’ve bought it) that they can't afford the MtP house because prices are already so high there.

There’s the SUV & boat to pay for too, so in a couple of years they’ll need to sell up and move somewhere else.

They’ll have heard that Park Circle has cleaned up a lot and they’ll take the same Sunday drive back up there. 

Now it's all beautiful looking, the trailer parks owners have sold up and there’s shiny brand new homes on that land now. There’s a nice grocery store and talk of a Starbucks.

They love it, they take selfies, and get the requisite numbers of Instagram likes that convince them that they can live here.

You can now make a nice profit off them by selling your house to them at a tasty and tax-free profit. Now you can use that equity get one step closer to your dream home.“

VISION = PROFIT

It takes someone with a bit of vision to buy in areas while they are still morphing into something nicer, but vision = profit. 

If you’re prepared to buy when an area is still in the caterpillar phase, just wait because when it inevitably turns into a butterfly, your house is going to be worth more money.