Imagine this scenario:  the balance of the mortgage on your home is $300,000, and you just lost your job. A couple of months down the road, you are unable to make your mortgage payment, and the bank does what banks inevitably do in this situation.

Now, the bank does not want to own your home, so they sell it - at any price - to the first reasonable buyer.  In this example, let’s say that the bank sold your home for $200,000.

Since the bank knows your financial situation, and recognizes that you aren’t likely to cough up the $100,000 difference, they may forgive the $100,000 difference and go on about their business.

The reality here is that your financial situation hasn’t changed either way because of this $100,000.  Until recently, however, our friends at the IRS looked at this situation and decided that by forgiving your debt, the bank handed you $100,000 in cash.  And you can bet that the IRS wants a piece of the pie, so the IRS called this $100,000 “income” and taxed it.

Can you imagine?  Are you outraged?  You should be!

Here’s the good news:  last December, Congress acted responsibly and provided temporary relief from this ridiculous tax policy, but only for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years, and only for principal residences.  So the wave of foreclosures happening right now is exempt, which should help - at least in some small part - stabilize our housing market and should help many homeowners in these situations.

We heard the rumor yesterday, but today’s newspaper confirmed it: a family of bears was up a tree in the Forestbrook section of Myrtle Beach yesterday. Neighbors believe that a fenced-in dog scared them up the tree, and local experts say the bears would come down and continue along their merry way after dark - and after the dog stops barking at them.

Well, they are called Caroina Forest and Forestbrook for a reason!

Thanks to The Sun News for confirmation and the picture!

“Myrtle Beach has so much affordable inventory in new and existing homes and condos that you’re likely to feel like a kid in a candy store.”

Thus begins Carole Jacobs’ write-up of Myrtle Beach in this month’s edition of Where to Retire magazine.

The article quotes our very own Chris Price discussing current trends in Myrtle Beach real estate, including what retirees from New Jersey and New York are finding here - and why they’re putting down roots immediately.

Pick up this month’s Where To Retire to see the whole thing. Carole’s article is entitled, “8 Popular Spots With Home Bargains Now.”

The media are finally seeing the light.  Interspersed with this week’s real estate news is - could it be? - a glimmer of hope!

OK. First the bad news. According to Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University, local retail sales, building permits, hotel occupancy, airport passengers and real estate sales are all down for the spring quarter (March through May).  The numbers for the summer quarter are not final yet, but appear to be flattening.

The good news?  There are signs that our economy is hitting bottom and will be ready for a turnaround in the spring.  Plus, builders have kept the brakes on new construction, and the real estate market is again showing signs of life.  “The buyers know it’s a real buyer’s market,” Schunk said. “It seems like we’re at that point where things are starting to turn around.”

What the numbers won’t show is that Myrtle Beach real estate buyer traffic has picked up even if people aren’t ready to sign a contract yet, said Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors market analyst Tom Maeser.  “It’s been a long correction, but we’re in a correcting mode right now,” Maeser said. “The good news, which is not statistically analyzed, is the amount of traffic in interested people that are out there. We’re having some pretty good traffic flows.”

We told you so.

Interviews by Jessica Foster of the Myrtle Beach Sun News

You’ve heard it before.  We are in a full-on Buyer’s Market.  Why are people so apprehensive about buying anything?  So many are just sitting on the fence, waiting for some “sign”….

Here are your signs:

1. Sellers are offering concessions and incentives to buyers in order to make their homes more attractive.

2. There are lots of homes to choose from - in every price range.

3. Interest rates are as low than they have been in years. In fact, we received a rate sheet from a major national bank just this morning and their FHA loan rate dropped .375%  (that’s a 6% drop, folks!) today!

4. If you wait for the Myrtle Beach real estate market to “get better”, you’re going to pay more by way of fewer incentives, higher interest rates and less inventory to choose from.

Savvy investors like Donald Trump and Warren Buffett love this kind of market.  This is what they wait for!  They wait for these types of conditions and then acquire as much real estate as they can get their hands on.  It’s the golden rule of finance and real estate alike - BUY LOW, SELL HIGH.

Get off the fence!  You’ll be in great company!