Cute Corner Druid Hills Home For Sale

2440 Craig Rd. is Intown and Move In Ready
This good looking all brick home on Craig Rd. has 1,886 sq.ft. and features 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. Of course more pics and info are everywhere online but here are some easy links to my CB site and Realtor.com.

2240 Craig Rd. sports many cool things that other homes in the area can't touch. In my bias, the most glaring of these is the enormous master bedroom. As you can see from the photo above, the home has been "bumped out the back." This bump-out has made for the huge master that may be close to 20' long. Another awesome feature about the master is that it opens to the back deck (through french doors of course).

Looking further you'll find a nicely finished area underneath the main level. This space can be used for a number of functions. If my family lived here it would probably serve as a ginormous "man room" and office. If Finley were a few years older it would be a huge play area with a "Wii Room."

Before entering the marketplace the finished area beneath was rented out. With it's own entrance and full bath, this could be a great income producing opportunity for the next owner.

This cute home sits on a desirable "corner cul-De-sac lot". The backyard is a gentle slope and very large. Having such a large backyard and elevated back deck, this home presents a nice setting for BBQ's and other outdoor gatherings.

2440 Craig Rd. is a fun home and 5 minutes to anything downtown. The owner of this home can qualify to send children to Brockman Elementary, an extremely popular public Montessori style school.

Please email fjones@cbunited.com or call if you have any questions or would like to view 2440 Craig Rd.

Thank you!

$200/Round Caledonia Was Slammed

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is Top Shelf & Knows It

On Friday, six of us we made our way to the coast for a quick beach weekend. As usual, we had a great time relaxing and hanging out in a way that only the Litchfield/Pawley's area can produce.

For a fleeting moment the guys thought about catching a round of golf. Almost every time we're in the area we have our regular rotation of courses, with Caledonia Golf & Fish Club as a favorite.

When we inquired about a tee time we learned that Caledonia was proudly charging $200 a round. Yikes! I have to admit I was pretty surprised that even this top course had such a big price tag these days. In case you're wondering...it was booked solid.

Good for Caledonia for being so popular. It just goes to show that when a superior product is produced, there is a market. Given its lush landscaping and awesome atmosphere, Caledonia is often called South Carolina's "Augusta."

As you can imagine we decided to let the snow birds enjoy this awesome track on Saturday. Even though we love playing a good round of golf, we're (at least I'm not) quite good enough to pay this kind of coin for a round...especially when I know we'll be back another day. Nevertheless, I know the players on the course enjoyed it as much as we always do.

In the end, we did have a little fun at Caledonia. Sunday afternoon, five of us watched the golfers finish #18 from the veranda (pictured above) while we enjoyed a delicious fish sandwich. :)

State House Being Blackmailed? Hmm..

Lawmakers Put S.C. on National Map Again
Today we learned that members of the SC Legislative Black Caucus have been calling high school seniors to inform them of the racial imbalance of the USC Board of Trustees. I have to admit, when I first read the headline I let go of the mouse, leaned forward and had to read the article again.

After shaking my head a little I leaned back and thought the same ole', "Can't we all just get along?" Hmmm....I guess time will tell.

I wrote a few points but given the sensitive nature of the subject I clicked it all away. This is an incredibly tangled web that includes public money, public officials, free educations from a public institution, a statewide and local community, paying fans, a network of paid coaches and professors, parents of athletes, and on and on. I guess I'll leave it with the notion that perhaps the legislature needs to look into changing the system rather than hooking high school seniors (and therefore their parents) into a political poop fight.

There's no question that the racial makeup of The Board of Trustees doesn't reflect the snapshot of South Carolina or the diversity of USC. I just don't know if this is the wisest action for the group to take.

On the surface, it seems the bigger picture may produce a larger negative than the immediate goal intends. Then again, perhaps all of the facets mentioned above are microscopic in the larger point the Caucus is trying to make. I guess it depends on who you ask.

Either way, I'm sure Coach Spurrier, Coach Beamer and the rest of USC's recruiting team are frustrated, to say the least. Their jobs are hard enough without our own legislators undermining their hard work and long hours.

Columbia's Newest Real Estate Listings

>>Columbia's Newest Hotsheet; March 3 - 22, 2010
You can use our number of listings and sales as a good indicator of what's in this edition of The Hotsheet. Click and look around as some good inventory has hit the market!

2533 Burney Dr. In Shandon For Sale

Cute Shandon Brick Bungalow Hit Market This Week

Two weeks ago we noticed that I had the 4 lowest priced listings in Shandon at one time. We can now add to that list as 2533 Burney Drive hit the market this week at $174,900. I can't remember the last time a move-in ready home on this side of Shandon presented itself at such a price point.

This cute brick bungalow has almost 1,100 sq ft and features 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. A nice room in the rear of the dwelling could serve as a 3rd bedroom but sets up perfectly for an office or nursery. 'Burney' has shining hardwoods, picture moldings, arches and charming transoms.

This cutie also has an open side porch ideal for watching the cyclists and walkers that Shandon is famous for. The backyard is deep and flat with a nice storage building/garage in the corner.

Call or email (fjones@cbunited.com) if you would like to know more about this classic Shandon bungalow. I don't expect 'Burney' to be on the market very long.

Columbia is Perfect for Google Fiber

Columbia is Perfect American Microcosm for Pilot
If you live in Columbia you may have noticed the "Google Fiber for Columbia, SC's" Fan Page on Facebook. It may seem like a late push to lure Google's super duper fast pilot program to the capital city, but its nice to know we're in the game.

Before I posted my blurb about the infamous photo of E.W., I noticed a cool story about Greenville's efforts to lure Google's project from Adam Fogle's palmettoscoop.com. At the time I didn't know of any local efforts, and given the timeline of the selection process I refrained from mentioning the opportunity. As you can see from "Scoops" story, our Sandlapper friends from the northwest part of the state have put forth an admirable effort.

Kudo's to folks like Mandi Engram and Elza Hayen and others for getting Columbia's party started. I actually think the logo is clever and am proud of what their efforts have produced in only a few short days.

Come on Google! Our city can project a little bit of everything you'd want as Columbia, SC is a perfect snapshot of American life. We're small business heavy, diverse, a capital city, home to the country's largest military training base and South Carolina's flagship university.

In short, Columbia, SC may be the perfect microcosm of your macro project. Google...Columbia is Famously Hot. If you'll make us hotter, we'll sure make you faster. Columbia, SC will make you proud.

Everyone Loves Daylight Savings Time

Rib Eyes, Long Naps and Daylight Savings Time
I love things like my job, Starbucks Coffee and two set tennis matches in 100 degree heat. Also at the top of the list are huge rib eye steaks (medium rare), long naps with no responsibilities afterwards (rare these days) and the day when the sun stays up longer in the day.

Daylight savings time is kind of a big deal. First, it allows more time to devote to selling real estate. Second, it's the trigger day for losing weight. It's sort of like a holiday that springs more opportunity for daily exercise. Everyone seems to gain weight in the winter and for me, this is the unofficial end of it.

On a larger scale I argue that daylight savings time is good for national commerce and safety. From golf courses to insurance agencies, having more daylight is good for business. If you think about it, who really wants to pay their auto insurance in the dark. As for safety, having more daylight is a no brainer.

I actually tried to get a candidate for the U.S. Senate to insert a daylight savings extension as a plank to their campaign platform. My recommendation has since come to fruition via another mechanism.

Either way, daylight savings time is here and I welcome it with open arms. Now I can get on the weight loss thing without excuse and now don't have to show houses in the dark for a while. In short, it's awesome!

Richland County Closed Transactions

Richland Co. Closed Transactions; Feb 22 - March 10, 2010
On Monday I thought I was being smart by attaching the information in list form. Well, tonight someone informed me that readers counldn't log in withoug a Realtor code. Ooof. Sorry about that!!!

If you dive into the attachment you'll notice that three of the top five priced homes closed in the time frame are located in Woodcreek Farms. Pretty strong showing for a neighborhood located in Northeast Richland.

Newest Picture Worth a 1,000 Words

Every now and then an image comes along that perfectly captures a moment, tells a story and brands a character forever. The photo above, snapped by Chris Berry, is a perfect example.

Here we have a character dressed in a nice suit fit for a funeral that's accessorized to the brim with hat, scarf and sunglasses. He's exiting a public building familiar to many of the taxpayers of his community. Slowly moving from the building, he's alone and expressionless. His pockets are full with hidden hands. The horizontal lines in the architecture almost complete the story as they provide the symbol for the prison jumpsuits singed in our minds from movies and cartoons of the past.

Enter the vertical bars. The bars complete the story. I don't know if Mr. Berry saw this coming as he waited for his subject to exit, but either way he was in a primo spot for his dramatic shot.

It's unfortunate that the photo even had to be taken and that I'm typing this post in the first place. Notwithstanding all that, this is one of the rare pictures that tells a story and will stay with (brand) a character for a long time.

Richland County Closed Transactions

Richland Co. Closed List: Feb. 22 - March 5, 2010

Slow TV Night Could Use A Bravo Boost

Given the sheer number of channels to choose it would seem that I could find some late night entertainment without a problem. To the contrary, when the nightly 'Will & Grace' and 'Frasier' go off, the entertainment level drops like a rock.

After Frasier ends I usually switch over to The Tennis Channel by default. If you know me you'd think I'd be flipping between FOXNews or CNBC, but watching people yell at each other gets awful after about four minutes. SportsCenter is great but by 2 a.m. it's been rerun a few times over.

Having said all of this I could always count on Millionaire Listing at least once a week. To watch these three dudes go at it is a good hour for a local Realtor to watch. Some of the aspects of this show can be spot on and some can be incredibly stupe. Either way, it was a good hour.

Some folks think the show hit a snag when Josh Flagg (the one with the grandmother) was arrested for stealing valuable art from his listings. Who knows the truth about the matter but I hope that's not what's holding up the show.

As you can tell it's a slow blog night and am obviously looking for something worth a crap to watch on the tube. Jerry Springer just popped on and I'm now surfing again. Come on Bravo, bring on Millionaire!

Columbia's Newest Real Estate Hotsheet

>> Columbia's Newest Listings: Feb. 8 - March 2, 2010

King's Grant Closing Good for Everyone

New Benchmark Comp in King's Grant - 70 Somerton

YAY!! Every King's Grant homeowner will be happy to know about the sale of 70 Somerton Place. This awesome home will serve the the neighborhood well as it fetched a nice $$$/ft.

For a few months King's Grant had 20+/- homes on the market which was a little uncomfortable. The number has come down a good bit but in the process, the price/ft took a small dip. Not since the simultaneous sales of 460 King's Grant Dr., 600 King's Grant Dr. and the awesome home on McKay's Pt. has the neighborhood seen a comp at almost $180/ft/

70 Somerton is a former Parade of Homes participant, completely spotless and backs up to the 'woods side' of the Somerton loop.

This King's Grant beauty is boasting a sales price of $670,000 which translates to $178/ft. I'm looking forward to phone calls I'll be receiving over the next year from appraisers. Congrats to the owners of this home anyone that can use it for their next sale or appraisal.

I'm obviously proud but even happier for the neighborhood. Give me a call or shoot an email if you'd like to know more about the inventory or trends in King's Grant. Just FYI...our listing on Tombee Ct. is also Under Contract and scheduled to close at the end of this month.