These are seven hacks that’ll save you time, money and hassles if you’re looking to buy a home in Myrtle beach
Hi, thanks for stopping into the mango homes channel. My name is Lance MacMillan. I’m a licensed realtor with Keller Williams, Myrtle beach and I wanna have a quick word about how I’ve got these hacks organized for you. I’ve got these hacks organized chronologically from when you start shopping for the home online. And when you close and move into the home, when you’re done, that means the biggest hack is going to be at the end of this video. So stay tuned to the end of the video because there’s something at the end. That’ll save you one third on your property tax bill. Can’t miss that one. So let’s jump in first hack how to save time and effort shopping for homes online. So you’re looking at moving the Myrtle beach because home just, isn’t what it used to be. And you’re ready for some low taxes, sunshine and friendly people.
You go online to one of the popular real estate websites, to scope out homes: like Zillow, Trulia, maybe even realtor.com. You’re gonna save time and anxiety if you skip those. Why? Two reasons. One, those sites make a ton of money selling your information as a sales lead to as many rando real estate agents as they can sell it to. That’s bad, here’s worse. Sometimes those websites have a reputation for having old outdated listings and information online, hoping you’ll just click on anything so they can get your information. Add those two things together, and you could fall in love with a home you see online, end up getting all kinds of random calls from total strangers trying to sell you all kinds of different things. And then in the end, you find out that the house hasn’t even been for sale for two weeks, cuz somebody else has already bought it.
There is a better way. Go to mangohomes.kw.com. Everything is up to date straight outta my own MLS. So there are no false positives and no strangers are gonna be calling you five times a day, trying to sell you something. It’s up to date, super easy to use and hassle free. It’s hassle free because you don’t even have to register to use it. If you do choose to register, you get your own private space where you can keep track of your favorite homes and neighborhoods and organize your entire home search right there on your computer. No paper notes required. So first hack say no to Zillow, use mangohomes.kw.com instead.
Second hack: How to know if that home you found that you like is in a flood zone. Now you’re looking at homes online and you’re building your list of favorites. You note that there are 50 miles of beach and two major inland waterways, as well as Lord knows how many streams and creeks and ponds all over Myrtle beach. Knowing if the home that you wanna buy is in a flood zone lets you anticipate if you’re gonna need flood insurance or not.
In the video description below, I have included direct links to the Horry and Georgetown county websites where you can find the flood maps at. You’ll also find a link to a playlist that I built on how to use those tools to find out whether a home is in a flood zone or not. They’re some of the first videos that I ever did, and while the production quality is…well, not like this, they are chockful of information and incredibly informative. So your second hack know your flood zone. Avoid any ugly surprises.
Third hack: get a pre-approval letter, not a pre-qualification letter from the bank. Note: If you’re buying a home with cash, this hack is no good to you.
You’re in a serious stage. Now you’re gonna take a week off and fly here and look at some of these homes that you found online. Knowing you need financing in order to put an offer on a house, you contact your local mortgage lender. Your mortgage lender can issue you one of two letters that proves that you have the ability to buy a given home a preapproval letter and a prequalification letter. A prequalification letter means in English that your lender took your application. They ran your credit. They looked at it and then they said, this buyer should be able to buy a house of up to $500,000. Once I all the paperwork and know what home they’re buying, I’ll get the loan processed and we can close. A preapproval letter means that your mortgage lender took your application, ran your credit, took your personal documents up front and processed them and then said, this buyer will be able to buy a house of up to $500,000. I already verified all the paperwork. I just need to know what kind of home they’re buying so I can fill in the blanks and we can close. A pre-qualification says that you should be able to buy a given home. A preapproval says you will be able to buy a given home. When a seller is reviewing offers. Do you see how that might make them pick one offer over another? Hack three, get a preapproval letter and not pre-qualification letter. It could mean the difference between a winning and losing offer.
Hack four: save money on new construction. If you are looking at new construction, some builders have in-house lenders and closing attorneys that you can use to help you in the buying process, using them can potentially save you thousands of dollars and help you come up with less money up front at the closing table. Now in South Carolina, nobody can force you to use a given lender or closing attorney or anything like that. But in some cases, home developers will sometimes offer to pay some of your closing costs, sometimes a lot of your closing costs, if you use their in-house attorney and or lender, why do they do that? They trust their own people. They know that if there’s a snag in the mortgage process, or if something comes up on title on the home and an attorney has to fix something that they will know before anybody else and they’ll get right on it.
That means no game of phone tag with any external company and that’s worth a lot to them. Sometimes thousands of dollars. So hack four, ask about rebates on new construction for using the lender and the closing attorney for the builder.
Hack five: be aware of expansion plans in your neighborhood. This might sound odd to say, but it’s not as common sense as you would think that it is. It pays to be aware of what’s going on around your home before you buy it. Let me explain. There is a huge amount of growth happening in Myrtle beach. Right now, infrastructure is being upgraded. New developments are being added. Homes are being built everywhere. But those exact things, might impact your decision to buy a given home if you know about it beforehand. What if that big forest behind you that you love so much in the pictures…what if that’s slated to become new town homes? Wouldn’t you like to know that the main drag in front of your home is gonna be expanded and construction’s gonna take over a year. What if your neighborhood was gonna end up with over 400 homes in it? And you didn’t know that when you picked the corner lot near the entrance, and now you have 10 billion people driving past your home every morning to get to work. You laugh, but I didn’t make any of that up. Those are actual complaints from real intelligent and responsible homeowners who didn’t know any better before they bought. Of those three stories, one of them is staying put one, of ’em is in the process of moving, one of them already moved again. So it can matter. Hack five, look for expansion plans near your home before you buy, it could impact your buying decision.
Hack Six: seniors can save money on their property tax bill through the state of South Carolina. So you’ve bought a home now and you’re getting ready to move in. Congratulations! If you’re 65 years or older and you own a home that you call home in the state of South Carolina, you can apply for a $50,000 homestead exemption. That’ll help you save on your property tax bill. Here’s how it works. South Carolina will consider the first $50,000 of fair market value on your home to be tax free if you’re 65 or older. So for example, if you have a nice little condo you bought and it’s valued at $200,000, the tax credit will ensure you’re only taxed on $150,000 of it. In this case, lowering your taxes by 25%.
Now you have to apply with the South Carolina department of revenue to get that tax credit. It’s not automatic that you get it. You can apply by mail online or in person at the South Carolina department of revenue office right here in Myrtle beach. If you have questions about the process you can call ’em at (844) 898-8542. And yes, this is also gonna be in the description of the video. So sixth to hack seniors can save on their taxes, but remember you have to apply to get it.
Hack seven: And here’s the big one. Permanent residents of any age can apply to lower their property taxes by one third. Because this applies to anyone of any age who owns a home here and is a permanent resident, that’s a big hack. And honestly, people forget this one. There are people out there right now in the real world who have forgotten to do this and they’re losing money on their taxes. And honestly, it’s tragic. So you’ve bought your home now and you’re a permanent resident in Myrtle beach and you’re a citizen of the state of South Carolina. Permanent residents pay lower property taxes than people who just own a vacation home or an investment property here. If you own a home here and it’s your primary residence, your base tax rate is 4%. If that same home is an investment property or a vacation home, your base tax rate is 6%. That’s a third less on taxes. That’s a big difference. Now in order to get that 4% rate, you have to fill out a special form with the county tax assessor and prove that it’s your primary residence. They’re gonna ask you for like a utility bill. They’re gonna wanna look at your driver’s license. Those kinds of things. If you don’t fill out that form, the county is gonna assume that it’s either your vacation home or an investment property. Then you get hit with a 6% tax rate. Retroactively, your escrow account gets all messed up and your mortgage payment changes. And that ain’t funny.
Now the good news is when you close on your home, your closing attorney, they are very likely to hand you a copy of that form. Along with a post-it note, reminding you of when and how to fill it out. If you lose that form, you can find a new one online, or you can just go to the county tax assessor and they’ll have it there for you. The Horry county assessor can be reached at (843) 915-5040. And if you live on the south end of the grand strand, the Georgetown county assessor can be reached at (843) 545-3098. So hack seven, the big one, don’t forget to fill out your tax form after you close on your home. Those are seven hacks that’ll save you time, money and hassles if you’re buying a home in Myrtle beach. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to contact me! Again, my contact information is in the description of the video below. I hope you enjoyed the video and remember if you’re buying or selling in Myrtle beach, relax. Don’t stress. Go mango!