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Renaissance Tower is one of the accommodations within the Myrtle Beach Resort.  Renaissance Tower was evacuated in October of 2022 after the building was deemed to be structurally unsound due to the deterioration of steel and the concrete foundation.

Since that time, multi-phase work has been ongoing to remediate the concerns, including but not limited to shoring up the three east columns to make them structurally sound. 

Once the engineers have achieved a point where they feel that the building has been remediated and comfortable to be occupied, the next step will be for them to notify the Horry County Building Inspection Branch of the Code Enforcement Department to continue the conver...

New listing in Cherry Grove!

308 36th Avenue North, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

$649,000

MLS# 2224792

Come and see this Magnificent completely renovated 4 bed/2 bath channel front home in Cherry Grove. Totally updated with new kitchen cabinets, granite counter tops, fresh neutral paint colors throughout. Bathrooms updated to include new vanities and accessories and new LVP flooring throughout. All appliances are brand new to include a stackable washer and dryer along with stainless steel oven, dishwasher and refrigerator. This lovely home is in move in mint condition and would make a wonderful family vacation property or a lucrative rental property for short rentals. Very close to th...

Penny Tax Approved

On November 8, 2022, Horry County voters approved to renew the 1% sales tax (Penny Tax) beyond March 2023 for another 15 years. The Penny Tax vote was passed 68.23% in favor of retaining the tax and 31.77% in favor of discontinuing the tax. Of the 125, 978 votes cast by Horry County voters, 48,670 were cast prior to voting day – nearly 40% early voters!

The tax money is planned to be used to help fund future building needs and capital improvements of Public Schools (80%), Coastal Carolina University (13.3%) and Horry Georgetown Technical College (6.7%). Since this has been approved, it will be less likely for significant increases in taxes for houses, business, vehicl...

SayeBrook is a new home community in Surfside that is currently being developed with Phase 1 homes set to release in early 2023.

The first phase of this community will consist of approximately 155 single family homes.  Construction in the new home community of SayeBrook is rather unique in that the completed homes by the builders are intermixed rather than each builder having its own dedicated section of the community.  This lends itself well to result in a community with a nice diversification of homes along each street - with different models from different builders along the way!
Pricing will likely start in the $400's.

Pulte, Toll Brothers and Saussy Burbank are the 3 builders in th...

Penny Tax - On November 8th, Horry County voters will decide whether or not to renew (past March 2023 for another 15 years) the 1% sales tax that has been in effect when voters last approved it in 2008. The tax money would be used to help fund future building needs and capital improvements of Public Schools (80%), Coastal Carolina University (13.3%) and Horry Georgetown Technical College (6.7%). If not approved, an increase in taxes for houses, business, vehicles, land and personal property would be used to cover the aforementioned school expenses.

See Horry County Schools (https://www.horrycountyschools.net/penny) for more information.

Roll-Back Taxes are applied when all or a portion of a property that has been receiving the Agricultural Use Value changes classification. An example would be when a property owner of land that is in Agricultural use builds a new house that is for residential use. The appraiser must determine the amount of the property that must be changed and then roll-back taxes are applied.

Effective January 1, 2021, rollback taxes are to be assessed over a three-year period rather than the previous five-year period.

Roll-back taxes are the difference between Agricultural use value and the property’s actual market value. The difference is multiplied by the millage rate in the appropriate district and...

• The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) regulates all public water systems (PWS) and is responsible for ensuring that these public water systems are in compliance with all state and federal regulations.
• Local municipal, county, and other government entities, along with private water suppliers, are directly responsible for the quality of water that flows to your faucet.
• Water systems test and treat their water, maintain the distribution systems that deliver water to consumers, and report on their water quality results to DHEC.
• States and EPA provide technical assistance to water suppliers and can take legal action against systems that fail to provide w...

A Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) is an IRA held by a custodian that allows investment in a broader set of assets than is permitted by most IRA custodians.  Custodians for SDIRAs generally disclaim most duties to investors (i.e. custodians will not research, investigate or recommend investments), and may allow investors to invest retirement funds in alternate assets such as real estate.

Real estate as an asset in a retirement portfolio can serve as a good way to diversify the investment portfolio and provide another avenue for a good rate of return.

There are many rules regarding having real estate as part of the SDIRA investment, including but not limited to having this asset be purely an in...

Generally speaking, a capital gain occurs if you sell an asset for more than the adjusted basis, with the capital gain being the difference between the adjusted basis in the asset and the amount you realized from the sale.  A capital gain can be realized from the sale of real estate.  The Internal Revenue Code defines the complete set of rules regarding the taxation of capital gains.

You may qualify to exclude from your income all or part of any gain from the sale of your main home. Your main home is the one in which you live most of the time.

Ownership and Use Tests

To claim the exclusion, you must meet the ownership and use tests. This means that during the 5-year period ending on th...

The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) routinely collects water samples at more than 120 locations along South Carolina’s beaches.

Water monitoring samples are taken to test for enterococcus bacteria – to indicate presence of bacteria in the water. Elevated levels of these bacteria in the water can indicate possible contamination by fecal waste. Enterococcus is a type of bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans, pets and wildlife. Enterococci are typically not considered harmful to humans, but their presence in the environment may indicate that other disease-causing organisms may be present.

If high numbers of bacteria ...

The community name of Berkshire Forest in Carolina Forest is commonly used to describe both of the following:

• Berkshire Forest is the name of the “Master Planned Community” off of River Oaks Drive in Carolina Forest. Pulte has completed this Master Planned Community
• Berkshire Forest is also the name of the “Subdivision” that Pulte is building. This Berkshire Forest Subdivision continues to expand, resulting in the Berkshire Forest Subdivision being actually contained within 3 different Master Planned Communities:
  1. Berkshire Forest is part of the Master Planned Community of Berkshire Forest (development completed)
  2. Berkshire Forest is part of the Master Planned Community of Villages ...

As you peruse real estate opportunities in the MLS you will come across listing opportunities defined with the property classification of “Interval Ownership”.

Interval Ownership is a fee simple ownership and contains the same rights as any other property conveyed by deed.  Interval ownership is technically a system of timeshare ownership in which the owner acquires title to a specific property for a certain period of time each year (typically certain week or weeks).

Interval Ownership, also commonly referred to as “Fractional Ownership” – has an investment approach in which the real estate asset is split between the individual shareholders.  All of the shareholders will then split the ...

Effective July 1, 2022, Captain’s Cove is now Oceanside Landing.

This Murrells Inlet active adult 55+ community began development in the late 1980's.  There are approximately 225 single family home sites.  Oceanside Landing is now owned by an investment group that has properties in other states across the US including Florida and Arizona.  Oceanside Landing is located close to the beach, the marsh walk, restaurants, shopping, and more!  Oceanside Landing has a community pool, clubhouse, and so much more!  This Murrells Inlet 55+ community is located within a mile of the Atlantic Ocean!

Current homes for sale in Oceanside Landing.

Contractors for the Surfside Beach Fishing Pier say they are now looking at mid-December to February/March to complete the more than $18-million project.

In a meeting, Wednesday, July 27, about the construction of the town’s pier, the town council and the public heard from contractors and engineers about the pier’s status.

Representatives from Consensus Construction, Collins Engineering, LS3P and consultants from Leitner Management Group answered questions from town administrator William Shanahan and council members.

As contractors continue to extend the length of the pier, now on eight of 13 pile bents, other crews are at work on the buildings that will house businesses on the pier pl...

Myrtle Beach Bicycle Map and Routes

Bicycles are allowed on the beach before 10:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. from May 1 through Labor Day.  Bicycles are allowed on the boardwalk only between 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. from May 1 through Labor Day.  There's no afternoon window for bicycles on the boardwalk during the peak summer months.

Many of the city’s public beach access points have bicycle racks.  Bicycles do not need parking decals and parking is free.  The following beach access locations offer bike racks:  Anderson Park, Breakers Park, Cameron Park, Gardens by the Sea Park, Hurl Rocks Park, Plyler Park, 14th Avenue Pier and the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk at First through Ninth Avenues No...

SC Legislature Code of Laws Section 56-2-105 - Golf cart permit and the operation of a golf cart

(A) For the purposes of this section, "gated community" means any homeowners' community with at least one access controlled ingress and egress which includes the presence of a guard house, a mechanical barrier, or another method of controlled conveyance.

(B) An individual or business owner of a vehicle commonly known as a golf cart may obtain a permit decal and registration from the Department of Motor Vehicles upon presenting proof of ownership and liability insurance for the golf cart and upon payment of a five dollar fee.

(C) During daylight hours only:

(1) A permitted golf cart may be ...

• The widening of Carolina Forest Boulevard and the installation of the Shared Use Path along Carolina Forest Boulevard from Gateway Drive to Postal Way projects are complete.
• The extension, widening, and realignment of Postal Way is well underway with Phase I (from a point near Publix to Waccamaw Pines Drive) being complete and Phase II (Carolina Forest Boulevard improvements and improvements on roads North/West of CFB) scheduled for completion by the end of 2022, weather dependent.
• The extension of Middle Ridge Avenue from West Perry Road to William Finlayson Road is underway with a scheduled completion date by the end of 2023, weather dependent.
• The Southbound widening of US 501 fro...

The Omnibus Coastal Property Insurance Reform Act of 2007 provides certain income tax credits for the costs a homeowner incurs in making his home more resistant to losses due to hurricane damage. 

Section 12-6-3660 of this Act provides an income tax credit for the costs incurred to retrofit a structure qualifying as the taxpayer’s legal residence to make it more resistant to loss due to hurricane, rising floodwater, or other catastrophic windstorm event. The tax credit for any taxable year is limited to 25% of the total costs incurred or $1,000, whichever is less.

Section 12-6-3665 of this Act allows an income tax credit of up to $1,500 for state sales or use taxes paid on purchases of ...

Freddie Mac operates in the US secondary mortgage market, buying loans (mostly from smaller banks) that meet certain standards from approved lenders.  Those lenders are then, in turn, able to provide more loans to qualified borrowers.  Freddie Mac then pools the mortgages it buys into securities, which they sell to investors.

Beginning July 10, 2022, Freddie Mac will consider on-time rent payments for first-time homebuyers as part of its loan purchase decisions.

This initiative of factoring in on-time rent payments into loan purchase decisions could help many renters, including some who may lack the credit history or credit score, to qualify for a mortgage.

For more details please visi...

On July 1,2022, the SC Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement is expected to have a one sentence change.

"Purchaser has sole responsibility for investigating off-site conditions of the property including, but not limited to, adjacent properties being used for agricultural purposes."

This will place the onus on the purchaser to investigate all off site conditions both present and perhaps occurring in the future.   Perhaps, the purchaser’s investigation occurs pre-offer or during due diligence and over distances desired by the purchaser.  The purchaser can always hire a lawyer and/or private investigator to investigate physically and in documents and verbally and observationa...