Real Estate Agencies

Two new swimming pools and a fully remodeled water spot will be available to visitors who lease the dozens of Kiawah Island villas.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort says it is constructing two pools and embarking on the complete renovation of an existing pool.

Over the next several months, the resort will invest in new swimming areas in Night Heron Park and adjacent to the West Beach Tennis Center. The work includes a large children’s pool at the Night Heron Park pool complex complete with a curving waterslide, according to the resort. The existing Night Heron pool will undergo a complete facelift to become the park’s adult-friendly facility. Time will be set aside for quiet adult relaxation, lap swimming and aqua aerobics, the resort says. The pool also will be used for swim lessons and select children’s Kamp Kiawah activities.

A third pool — and second new one — will be constructed in West Beach featuring an adult section and a large play area with water toys and slides.

Installing and refurbishing the pool attractions is another step in the resort’s efforts to upgrade guests’ vacation experiences, according to Missy Wurthmann, general manager of villa operations.

“We know that these projects will be an exciting addition to the 2012 vacation offerings of our loyal rental guests,” she says. “We are hopeful many more families choose Kiawah Island as their vacation destination in order to enjoy these wonderful amenities.”

As with many of the other resort perks, access to the pools will be restricted to guests of Kiawah Island Golf Resort and members and accompanied guests of the resort’s Governor’s Club for island property owners.

The Charleston area got high praise recently from a Summerville real estate entrepreneur, who spoke at a meeting of relocation specialists nationwide.

Linda Collins, owner of Prudential Southern Coast Real Estate, was a panelist at the Prudential Relocation Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Directors and owners of companies that help people move with their jobs or for personal reasons attended the two-day event. They came from across the United States and Canada.

The forum was designed to exchange ideas so as to provide stronger benefits for relocation clients, according to Prudential Southern Coast.

Collins had the opportunity on the panel to present the lifestyles of the Lowcountry.

“We have it all for the various stays of our lives. We love our history, our weather and we appreciate our varied industries,” she says.

If it weren’t for foreclosures and short sales, metro Charleston home prices would be increasing overall. As it is, they’re off $2,300 on a $100,000 home.

The figures come from CoreLogic, a national information company that monthly compiles its home price index.

Local home prices slipped 2.3 percent in August from a year earlier, while they were down 1.4 percent in July compared with a year ago.

Excluding distressed sales — those where the bank takes back the property or negotiates a deal where they aren’t paid in full — prices climbed 3.1 percent in August from a year before and rose 5.4 percent in July compared with the same month in 2010, according to CoreLogic.

Home prices nationwide slid 4.4 percent in August from 12 months before and dropped 4.8 percent year-over-year in July. With distressed sales factored out, prices fell 0.7 percent in August and 1.7 percent in July from a year earlier. They also dropped 0.4 percent from a month earlier, the first monthly dip since March.

“Although the calendar says August, the end of the summer traditionally marks the beginning of ‘fall’ for the housing market as it begins to prepare for ‘winter,’” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

“So the slight month-over-month decline was predictable, particularly given the renewed concerns over a double-dip recession.

“The continued bright spot is the non-distressed segment of the market, which is only marginally lower than a year ago and continues to exhibit relative strength,” he says. By state, South Carolina was among the more active real estate markets. It placed 11th in highest overall appreciation, up 0.5 percent in August from a year ago; and seventh when excluding distressed sales, up 3.2 percent in August from the previous year.

The namesake of a local real estate company has broadened his knowledge of short sales — at a time when such sales are not uncommon.

Marshall Walker at The MarshallWalker.com Group became certified in short sales through the Five Star Institute.

In the course, he learned about the paperwork required by banks to handle a short sale, what’s necessary for a smooth transaction and how to negotiate with the seller’s lender.

“Short sales have become increasingly popular, especially with different federal initiatives coming to life,” Walker says. “As a broker I felt I should be better prepared to handle the influx of short sale listings our company is seeing,” he says.

With short sales, homeowners work out agreements with lenders to sell houses at prices that are reduced to the point that banks won’t get all their money back.

Walker says that continuing education is the key to success in this market.

The Five Star Institute certification is one of several multi-day courses he has completed on short sales. As a result of the training, Walker and The MarshallWalker.com Group are able to assists buyers and sellers with the intricacies of short sale listing and purchases.

The trim on new, Charleston area John Wieland houses gets a distinctive primer coat color this month — pink — and it’s all for a good cause.

Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods is layering on the distinctive undercoating in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As a move to raise breast cancer awareness, the builder will keep the bright pink trim on houses until the primer coat is covered by the final trim color when the home’s construction is being completed.

This year marks the third October that area John Wieland homes have gone pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, the company says.

“Almost everyone has either been affected personally by this disease or knows someone who has,” says Kevin Popson, president of Wieland’s Charleston Division.

“We started thinking a few years ago about how we could show support for this great cause in our neighborhoods here in the Charleston area. We decided on the pink trim paint as a unique way for us as a homebuilder to show our support,” he says.

John Wieland Homes is building on Daniel Island and in two Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Dunes West and Hamlin Plantation.

A number of people who toured an agency’s listed homes last Sunday came away launching their home-buying search or making plans to purchase.

Those are highlights of Coldwell Banker United, Realtor’s yearly Fall Open House Extravaganza in the Charleston area Oct. 16.

According to agents, some buyers who toured homes said they are looking to purchase now or by the end of the year. A few people said they intend to start their search to purchase a home. And at least one person went so far as put his home on the market with plans to buy another house.

As part of the open house event, Coldwell Banker held a registration where people had a chance to win a free iPad.

Coldwell Banker also thanked its sponsors: M&M Home Inspections, Coldwell Banker Mortgage-Jason Rosenthal, Navy Federal Credit Union-Wendy George, Rex Thompson Homes of Charleston, Dallis and Badger, Coastal Insurance Brokers – Keith Tibboel, The Property Preservation Doctor, Carpets-R-Us, Platts Builders, Burr and Associates, Weeks Law Firm, Timberstone, Ace Inspection Services, HHHunt and The Post and Courier.