Lee and I went for a date in Downtown Greenville last night. We got to see first hand what we are always writing about - Riverplace, Falls park, the swamp rabbit trail and children's garden to name a few things. We ate dinner close to the Reedy River and walked a mile up the Swamp Rabbit trail. The children's garden is really shaping up and becoming more mature and beautiful. It was fun to point out all the new Greenville SC Real Estate developments like The Brownstones and The Field House next to the Greenville Drive's wonderful new baseball stadium. We checked out the new artist space under the riverplace development. The new studios have lots more room for the artists to actually work there. Only one was open so far. The old units are small, but filled with pretty cool works. What am... 08/16/2008

I saw the Dark Knight yesterday. It was a superb movie, and clearly the best batman movie ever made! It is incredibly sad that Heath Ledger won't be able to return and play the Joker again in another Batman movie. Near the end of the movie, Ledger's Joker is captured and strung upside down by Batman and he says something like "you and I are destined to complete each other forever" at which point you realize that this line was intended to hint towards future sequels. Then, you're instantly struck with a feeling of sadness as you realize that Heath Ledger is gone and this cinematic pairing in the future will not be a reality. From my knowledge of the batman comics and the true, intended role and psychotic state of the Joker, I must say that Heath Ledger absolutely nailed it! Heath brings ... 08/16/2008

I just saw Tropic Thunder in the movie theater and I have to say that it was both very unique and quite funny! I don't want to ruin any surprises for those who haven't seen it, but I will say that Mr. couch-jumping, Scientology freak himself, Tom Cruise, has taken on a ground-breaking role for himself in this movie! Robert Downey Jr. steals the show as he plays an African-American in the movie. Even better, when he finally "breaks character" and allows himself to be his normal, true self, he is still playing (quite brilliantly) an Australian actor, complete with a perfect Australian accent, blonde hair and blue eyes. This is a movie within a movie and it is pretty much a spoof on many famous jungle warfare movies. Don't take it too seriously. It is a "stupid" comedy! As long as you go i... 08/16/2008

I've been watching the olympics over the past week. As I watch the olympics, two things keep popping up in my mind: 1: A sense of American pride 2: A feeling that it is long past due that I dedicate myself to a regular exercise regimen I don't know if I am alone, but as I watch these incredible athletes do amazing things with their bodies, with precision, strength and amazing endurance, I feel inspired to get off my lazy butt and get back to a more physically fit lifestyle. I think with the kids going back to school, it is the perfect time for my wife and I to adhere to a regular exercise schedule. Our home gym equipment usually serves as furniture, art, crap in the garage or a conversation piece. It is obvious to me that getting out of the house and visiting a gym is the most effective... 08/16/2008

Before I moved to Greenville, SC I recall people telling me two things about this area: 1: I would absolutely love living in Greenville 2: It gets pretty hot and humid in the summer months Well now, I'm just a little confused about this "big bad wolf" that is supposed to appear...."heat and humidity". I guess I'm used to hot weather after having lived in CA for so many years. We had almost a constantly comfortable temperature in CA, but it did get pretty hot at times. After having grown up in MI I can tell you that I experienced some insanely hot and humid summers. Probably more humid than hot (in terms of being uncomfortable). Maybe I've been lucky since I moved here, but thus far we've had some hot weather in the summertime, but I would say it is tolerable and at times a pleasure. Thi... 08/16/2008

I can't believe how fast time can fly by! My boys have had a nice summer and I remember how proud I was of my two older boys after finishing the school year with good grades. Now, the summer has flown by! Tuesday August 19th my boys are back in school. We've got to get back to a more structured time table with homework, showers and bedtime at more specific times, etc. My boys will be getting up early once school starts and we always get out the door and on the road no later than 7:25AM or the traffic gets considerably worse over the next 30 minutes. Back to structure...back to routine! 08/16/2008

The Upstate Shakespeare Festival brings the magic of Shakespeare and other classic plays the Greenville, SC. This free summer festival, which focuses on high quality and entertaining performs three different plays during the season. All performances are Thrusday through Sunday starting at 7 pm. Bring your chair or blanket and come early to find your perfect spot. More information about the performances can be found at our TransDomo.com © Flavia Westerwelle TransDomo, LLC - Real Estate, Start-Up and Business development Immobilienvermittlung , Start-up und Business Development Service in den USA TransDomo,LLC / ShellTree Realty Flavia & Klaus Westerwelle Phone: 864.908.0690 Email: info@transdomo.com http://www.transdomo.com 08/14/2008

In an expansion of the arts base here, the second phase of Art Crossing in the West End's Riverplace has opened on the bottom level of the Bounce Building.  It will provide common gallery space for seven artists as well as individual studio space. The first phase, which you pass as you stroll upriver from Falls Park, has been very successful, but does not provide much studio space. Greenville Technical College's art program will also occupy about 500 square feet of space and offer a class on how to operate a gallery. The Greenville SC Real Estate in the area appreciates due to the proximity of the arts. 08/13/2008

The SC Arts Commission recently reported that arts and culture contributed $2.4 billion to the state's economy in 2006, up 30% from 2001.  That may be difficult to measure locally, but Greenville has certainly seen an impact from the arts. "The creative types like to be in a cool place, and Greenville is a cool place", says Ken May, deputy director of the South Carolina Arts Commission.  Arts also have influence on relocation to the area, according to the Greenville Hospital System.  When the GHS University Medical Center recruits physicians, the prospects have inevitably done their research on the availability of cultural amenities and it plays a large part in their decision to buy Greenville SC Real Estate. 08/13/2008

Greenville SC Absorption Rate I have decided to add a new chart to my quarterly analysis of the real estate market in Greenville, South Carolina.  This graph will depict the absorption rate for single-family homes, condos, and townhomes in the Greater Greenville area.   What is the absorption rate?  Well, the absorption rate has been in the national news quite frequently in recent months.  The absorption rate should not be confused with how long it would take to sell a home, but the idea behind the absorption rate is to see how long it would take to sell every property currently on the market based on the number of comparable sales within a certain time period.  The absorption rate is also sometimes referred to as the current supply of homes in Greenville SC, or supply of existing homes... 08/11/2008

Greenville SC Real Estate Statistics I have taken a significant amount of time compiling sales data from the past 5 years.  I have created the charts below by taking data from the Greater Greenville SC MLS.  This data represents the single-family homes and condos sold from 1/1/03 through 6/30/08.  I will continue to update this at the end of each quarter, so please feel free to bookmark this page, and check back often. Greenville SC Number of Homes Sold The first chart depicts single-family homes and condos sold by calendar quarter.  I have separated new construction and resale homes.  The number of existing single-family homes and condos sold in the 2nd quarter of 2008 has declined from previous years.  This is the one area of the Greenville real estate market which is seeing a decline... 08/11/2008

Sadly, another talented performer has passed away. Only a couple days ago Bernie Mac passed away at the age of 50. Now, Isaac Hayes has passed away at the age of 65. I was just reading about him and I must confess I did not know much about him, other than his Southpark voicing of the Chef character and the fact that he did the Shaft song. Apparently he has written no less 300 original compositions as a musician and been in films over the years. He was an interesting and talented man. There appears to be quite a controversy brewing over the true nature of his death. An article from Roger Friedman of Foxnews.com can be accessed via the link below for more information on the speculations, controversy and confusion surrounding the death of this talented man. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2... 08/11/2008

Paul Newman is now 83 and he recently finished chemotherapy in an effort to treat cancer. Apparently he has been told by the hospital that he has only weeks to live. He told his family that he did not want to die in the hospital. He wants to die at his home, with his family. His wife, Joanne Woodward, and their daughters are beside themselves with grief. It was reported that Mr. Newman was preparing his oldest child to take over running Newman's Own salad dressing company, which donates its profits to charity. This is clearly such a sad time for Paul Newman's family. When and if he succombs to cancer over the next few weeks, it will have been an incredible loss to American culture and cinematic history. Paul Newman's salad dressing company and the other food products that carry his name... 08/09/2008

Real estate investors seeking property in Greenville, SC are encouraged to give us a call! Whether you are seeking a quality Realtor to work with, an investment partner, foreclosures, multi-family units or if you'd just like to chat and learn more about this region, Van West Enterprises, LLC will be happy to help you! Whether you are looking to flip a property or buy and hold, we'd love to speak with you about your objectives. Speak with Van West Enterprises, LLC for all of your real estate investment property needs in Greenville, SC! Call or email us today! 08/09/2008

One of the problems that agents in the Greenville, SC area are running into are buyers who expect to make a killing on selling prices of homes.  This generally happens with out of state buyers who come from markets that have taken severe hits.  Often times the buyer was hit hard as a seller themselves, and now wants to take that out on someone else. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), this is not the case in Greenville SC.  Our homes are selling for an average of about 3% below asking price, so if a home's list price is $200,000, and it's priced correctly, it should sell for around $194,000.  If buyers are looking for deals, the best place to find them is on builder spec homes.  There are a lot of builders who want to move spec homes off of their balance sheets, and are willing to cut deal... 08/09/2008

Real estate investors seeking property in Greenville, SC are encouraged to give us a call! Whether you are seeking a quality Realtor to work with, an investment partner, foreclosures, multi-family units or if you'd just like to chat and learn more about this region, Van West Enterprises, LLC will be happy to help you! Whether you are looking to flip a property or buy and hold, we'd love to speak with you about your objectives. Speak with Van West Enterprises, LLC for all of your real estate investment property needs in Greenville, SC! Call or email us today! 08/09/2008

We all had a great time today at the Keller Williams 2nd annual family picnic. There was so much great food, I felt like it was Thanksgiving! I pigged out and then went for seconds! Then, I barely had any room left for apple pie, or brownies, or cake, etc. My 4 boys all had a great time in the large swimming pool at the Five Forks Plantation, where we all gathered. This subdivision has a wonderful, large club house with a beautiful kitchen in it. A great time was had by everyone at the Keller Williams Greenville Central 2nd annual family picnic!   08/09/2008

What a sad thing it is to see so many relatively young, talented people die over this past summer. Tim Russert, Tony Snow and now Bernie Mac have all passed away far too young and much too early for their friends, colleauges, fans and family members to accept. It makes me think we should all do more to try and stay healthy, especially as we get older. My thoughts and prayers go out to Bernie Mac's family. Excerpt from Fox News: Bernie Mac, an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and comedian, died suddenly Saturday at age 50 of complications from pneumonia. The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumo... 08/09/2008

Friday morning we had a special guest trainer spend about 3 hours with us. This was a very well constructed productivity coaching class, focusing on communication, marketing, selling and time management. It was very good content and Vaughn is very smart and a skilled trainer. However, it truly was too much content to cover effectively in only 3 hours. The end result was a rushed verbal style from Mr. Loudenback. I suggest he breaks the course up into an AM and PM session and does not rush through the content. I also suggest an overhead projector during the sections where he shows how to best utilize his proprietary time management tables. Otherwise, the course was filled with valuable information and I'll look forward to listening to the audio CD he gave us to reinforce the materials he... 08/09/2008

Well, it's been a just over a year since our Keller Williams Greenville Central office opened up. We've got close to 100 agents hanging their hats at our office. At our 1 year anniversary it was announced that our office was in fact quite profitable at the 1 year benchmark. It has been a complete joy working alongside my colleagues at the Greenville Central office over the last year. Today we'll all gather for good food and some swimming pool fun at  our 2nd annual family picnic. It's such a joy to work with a group of people and feel like they're more like friends or extended family than business colleagues! 08/09/2008