Hilton Head Monthly Connecting the Lowcountry 
With the start of a new school year, September ends the summer holiday and signals everyone to fall back into a routine. What does this mean for our area’s real estate market? Traditionally, most people think that summer is the busy selling season. While that may be true in many parts of the country, the fall brings many potential buyers to our area.
The decision to buy or sell a home is one of the most important financial decisions most people make. Do you pick an experienced Realtor with a successful track record, or do you go with a hungry agent eager to make his or her mark in the industry? Each situation is unique. Some agents are chosen for their hometown, the college they went to or the friends they keep. Some are selected for their professional accomplishments and accreditations.
As with any professional organization, members of the National Association of Realtors are diverse. There are members of both sexes, members of all generations, and members with varying amounts of experience. According to the group’s 2016 Member Profile, however, there have been shifts in some of these groups. For example, the report shows a drop in Realtors’ median age from 57 last year to 53 this year, the lowest that number has been since 2008 (when the median age was 52). Related to that, the typical Realtor reported a median of 10 years of experience in real estate, which is down from the 12 years in the last profile. Looking at those numbers from another angle, 41 percent of Realtors were more than 60 years old in last year’s report, while only 2 percent were under age 30. Today, the percent of Realtors older than 60 is down to 30 percent, and the number of those younger than 30 is up to 5 percent.
ENGEL & Völkers, SOAR PARTNER FOR GALLERY EVENT
SOAR-Special Recreation worked with partner Engel & Völkers to plan a unique gallery event to launch the #WeLiveHereHHI campaign, a movement recognizing the Special Olympians in our community and celebrating the natural beauty of Hilton Head Island and Bluffton. Many residents in our community aren’t aware of the Special Olympians living in our very own neighborhoods.
I remembered the day my parents moved out of the home they owned for more than 40 years. I could not imagine living in one house for all those years, but that was not unusual for people who bought in 1949.
Today, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2016 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trendsreport, homebuyers between the ages of 61 and 69 expect to stay in their homes the longest when compared to all other age groups, at 20 years. Buyers ages 36-60 and those 70-90 all expect to stay in the homes they purchase for 15 years, while buyers 35 and younger expect to be in their newly bought homes for 10 years.
When you are buying or selling real estate, it might not even cross your mind that the safety of your home and personal information could be at risk during the transaction process. Typically, sellers know to clean closets, declutter rooms and freshen paint. But it is also important that you secure your home — after all, strangers will be walking through your home during showings. Realtors do their best to to interview prospective buyers and take all precautions when showing your home, but you can help by alleviating temptation.
In 1951, there was one hotel on Hilton Head Island: the Sea Crest on North Forest Beach Drive. It had a grand total of two rooms, but expanded to eight by 1960.
The Sea Crest was built because day-trippers to this little-known island “were constantly getting stranded, having missed the last ferry trip of the day back to Buckingham Landing,” according to a newspaper column by Jim Littlejohn from the files of the Heritage Library on Hilton Head.
Demand to live in the Lowcountry has always been high
EDITOR’S NOTE: As part of Monthly’s yearlong 30th anniversary celebration, we are highlighting 30 years of different industries in each issue. This month, we feature the real estate industry and how it helped shape Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the surrounding Lowcountry.
The real estate industry has evolved and changed over the past 30 years.
Back in 1986, we couldn’t even fathom the idea of consumers having the ability to search real estate in the privacy of their own homes. Today, there are numerous platforms that allow consumers the ability to search properties, view pictures and receive neighborhood information.
HERMAN & DAVIS ADD NEW MEMBER TO TEAM
Ruth Parris is joining the Herman & Davis team. She was born and raised in Columbia and received a bachelor of arts degree in French and comparative literature from the University of South Carolina.
