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Memorial Day- Vietnam Draft Lottery

On December 1, 1969, the first Vietnam draft letter was held. An estimated 850,000 young men between the ages of 19 and 26 would be randomly selected by their birthdays. A giant glass jar contained 366 capsules (every day of the year plus Leap Day). A representative from the Armed Services Committee pulled each capsule out and that random drawing determined the draft order. If the first capsule pulled had your birthday on it, you were first in line to go to Vietnam. 

I’m struck by the method. It's so simple but it has such lasting consequences. Draftees accounted for 30% of combat deaths and they were selected by their birthday. The day that they had ...

Last, but certainly not least, Dave Ramsey's Baby Step Number 7 is the freedom from debt to be able to build your wealth and give back! You are out of debt and have already started building up your retirement, so let's continue building up your wealth and live generously!

As we discuss the final Baby Step, you have essentially paid off your debts, saved three to six months worth of expenses, are saving for your retirement and your children's higher education, and you have paid off your mortgage. With no debts, you have the freedom to truly use your hard earned dollars to be able to live and give like no one else!

This step is the most fun! 

Now it's time to live and GIVE like no one el...

As we've navigated through Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps towards getting out of debt, financial freedom and building wealth, the next step is to pay off your personal home mortgage.

As we work through the Baby Steps, so far you have essentially paid off your debts, saved three to six months worth of expenses, and are saving for your retirement and your children's higher education. In conjunction with saving for retirement and college, you are going to begin paying down your mortgage.

This is a big one, and it is going to take a while. More than likely, your home has been your largest purchase. But making extra payments towards the principal of your home will save you tens (or even hundreds) ...

I wish I could tell you yes… but it's not really reflected in the data. Yes, we see prices dropping on over-priced homes that are listed for sale. For example, if homes in a neighborhood are selling for $350,000 and someone lists their home for $400,000, but then they drop it to $375,000 and get it under contract, does that mean prices are necessarily dropping? No. I think that the level of crazy is going from high to slightly less high.

According to the data from the month ending May 2022 provided by the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors, the average price of all properties listed in the MLS increased from $371,804 in April to $400,656 in May... almost $30,000!

We’re still facin...

Starting a college fund is a great goal, but it’s not the only goal. You need to pay off debt, have an emergency fund, and start saving for retirement before you jump into saving for college. There are other ways to pay for college too, like using grants and scholarships. Bottom line, you need to take care of your future first, then you can bless your kids. It’s not selfish. It’s smart.

As we work through the Baby Steps, so far you have essentially paid off your debts, saved three to six months worth of expenses, and are saving for your retirement. At the same time you are fully contributing to your retirement, you are going to start saving for your kid's college fund. So many people wil...

So now that you've made your way through the first three baby steps, are debt free and have your emergency fund fully funded, it is time to start saving for your retirement!

As we work through the Baby Steps, so far you have essentially paid off your debts and saved three to six months worth of expenses, based on your situation. This is the time to focus on building your wealth. Technically, you are going to do baby steps four, five and six at the same time but in order. We are going to walk through each one, and baby step four tells you to invest 15% of your income into retirement.

Depending on your employment, your employer may offer retirement accounts such as 401ks, Roth 401ks, and ...

This one may or may not apply to you, but often people ask where in the Baby Steps does saving up for a down payment for a home fall? Here it is!

As we work through the Baby Steps, so far you have essentially paid off your debts and saved three to six months worth of expenses, based on your situation. If you don't already own a home, right after Baby Step 3 is the perfect time to save for a down payment. This is called Baby Step 3B. You've gained so much momentum paying down your debts and saving your emergency fund, let's roll that right on into saving for a down payment. Remember, this is a SEPARATE savings account from your emergency fund. Think of your three to six months emergency f...

Once you are debt free, except your mortgage, it is time to create your personal insurance against life's inevitable hiccups.

In Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, the goal is to obtain financial freedom so that you can live and give like no one else. Baby Step One gives you a $1,000 emergency fund so that if the car needed repairs or the hot water heater went out, you would have a solution that wouldn't totally derail you from paying off your debts. Now that you are out of debt (except your mortgage) it's time to give yourself a true savings account.

Saving up for three to six months of expenses will be based on your individual situation. If you are a full time salaried employee with a stable i...

The goal of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps is to get out of debt, then create a financial situation and future where you can build wealth and live and give like no one else. The second Baby Step is to pay off all of your debts except for your mortgage.

Once you have saved your starter emergency fund of $1,000, it is time to tackle your debt. Whether you have very little debt, or hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, owing to others and making payments to debts will slow down your goal to build wealth. The way to start is The Debt Snowball:

1. List your debts from smallest to largest. All debts, except for your primary residence mortgage.

2. Make minimum payments on all your debts except ...

$5,000 - In February, the average price of a single family home increased from $310,000 to $315,000.

1.5 months - The amount of inventory that we currently have available in single family homes. This is less than half of the inventory that was available in February 2021, and continues the trend since 2019 of low inventory. Understanding how many 'months' of inventory means that you look at how many active and pending homes are currently on the market and divide that number by the current rate that homes are selling per day. So, assuming no new homes went on the market, and the current sales pace continues, it would take a month and a half to deplete our inventory. From 2019 to April 2020...

This weekend, I have the opportunity to serve and support one of my favorite missions, Coastal Carolina Chrysalis. If you've ever heard me talk about my youth group of teenage boys that meets once a week, the Taters, this is where it originated. It is part of a legacy that me and many others are a part of, and a tradition I am proud to carry on as I am a Billy's Boy, the 'reunion' group I attended as a teenager.

These reunion groups are part of the follow up from an organization known as Coastal Carolina Chrysalis, the youth version of the Walk to Emmaus, and a ministry of the Upper Room.

It is the intention of the Chrysalis experience to offer a young person (high school age) the oppor...

The goal of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps is to get out of debt, then create a financial situation and future where you can build wealth and live and give like no one else. The first Baby Step is to save a $1,000 Emergency Fund.

An emergency fund is insurance between you and life. It is only an emergency if it is urgent, necessary and unexpected. Some of you may have no money in savings and will need to start from $0 to build up this emergency fund before you can start tackling your debts. Some of you may have several thousand in savings, but also have debts. Everyone's situation is different, and for some people, the $1,000 emergency fund is already done. But the reality is that only 4 in 10...

The mission of Leadership CCAR is to identify emerging REALTOR® leaders who possess the potential to participate in Association leadership; to empower those individuals to maximize their individual leadership potential; to encourage them to participate in Association leadership roles; and to incorporate them into Association leadership positions.

In January, we met and I was so happy to be surrounded by some amazing people. Other members are not only Realtors, but entrepreneurs, software developers, and incredible humans. Their personal stories were touching and inspiring.

This year, we'll have a legislative retreat in Columbia to learn more about the legislative side of real estate. We...

One thing I am excited about for 2022 is being named a Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider for Real Estate. Never heard of it? Let me introduce you to the basics.

If you’ve never heard of Dave Ramsey and his program for paying off debt and building wealth, I’d love to tell you about it. It changed our life and our marriage in 2014 when we decided that we were sick of drowning in debt and it was time to take back control of our finances. We paid off over $61,000 in debt in 21 months.

Dave’s system is built around the 7 Baby Steps:

1.     Save $1,000 for your starter emergency fund.

2.     Pay off all debut (except the house) using the debt snowball.

3.     Save 3-6 months of expenses ...

2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year!

One of the things that I am most excited about is a huge media content roll-out that is going to help my clients and customers. Partnering with JDO Designs, I've developed Area Overview videos to help folks better understand this amazing place I get to call home. Split into Myrtle Beach, the North End, the South End and Inland, these videos will help visitors better understand and visualize the Grand Strand that spans from Little River to Pawleys Island and all the wonderful communities in between and just west of our coast. These videos were developed after I found myself introducing clients to more of our area when they had only heard of one t...

Whether you're selling shoes or homes, the basic economic principle of supply and demand governs the price of any product. If you have lots of inventory and low demand, your price will be low. If you have a limited supply and lots of folks want your product, your price will be high.

What does that have to do with our current market? HUD has been tracking housing numbers since its creation in the 1960's. In the one housing market crash (that was caused by faulty lending practices), supply was at an all time high in 2006 and 2007. In 2021, we're in the exact opposite situation with the lowest inventory of homes available ever. New construction is not coming to the rescue either. With suppl...

Thank you for an amazing 2021. This year has been filled with challenges, rewards, and ultimately tremendous blessings. At some point this year, or in the years prior, I was able to work with you on buying or selling a home, or you helped me help others by lending your professional help in what ultimately helped make dreams become a reality. I cannot tell you enough how much I love and find joy in working with people who become customers, customers who become clients, and clients who become lifelong friends. I am truly the most blessed person in the world and you are a huge part of that. From my family, to your family, thank you!

During this season of love and giving, I wanted to do s...

In November 2021:

The average sales price across all property types was $311,175 compared to November 2020 which was $268, 474.

The overall supply of properties was 1.2 months of inventory, compared to November 2020 which was 3.1 and November 2019 was 4.9.

What does that mean?

November of 2021 continued to demonstrate that low supply of properties for sale paired with a high demand to own property in this area increased prices. If you're waiting on prices to drop, we'll need to see less demand and more inventory. I'm not seeing either. The most likely factor to come into play is rising interest rates to borrow money. So, if you're financing, prices are likely going to continue to go u...

1. USE THEM FOR MULCH!
When the leaves fall, that means winter is coming. Make sure that you are ready with a lot of mulch to protect your garden beds. Add a layer of leaves to add protection from the cold, wet weather and you’ll have healthier plants in the springtime.

2. CREATE NEXT YEAR’S GARDEN BEDS AND BINS
As the year winds down, use that time to prepare your garden beds for the next year. Add leaves to build soil over the winter in those beds. For instance, many gardeners suggest that you can build a potato bin with your old leaves: “Build the wire frames right now, put them in place, and begin to fill them with leaves. Come spring, the leaves will be partially decomposed.”

3. FEED...

One of the biggest advantages of being a homeowner is that you can make updates! You can paint the walls whatever color you want. If you plan on staying in your home, I recommend making it yours. If you want a pink accent wall, paint it! If you want green tile in the kitchen, lay it down!

However, if you're interested in making updates that will also add value to your home, consider these DIY projects:

1.) Install crown molding. Yes, this can be a surprisingly easy DIY project to add more character to your rooms. Buy the molding from your favorite home improvement store, have the store cut it to size and attach it to the wall with a nail gun (it may be a two-person job). Some crown mold...