Thoughts for the New Year

As we wind down 2009 and prepare for a new year there are several opportunities that folks need to consider as part of their financial future. For many reasons we all believe that the start of a new year is the perfect time to wipe the slate clean and get organized and ready to commit to goals and dreams. Here are few important things to consider as you enter a new year.
* Is this the time to refinance? Interest rates are still at some of the lowest rates ever , but many experts expect the interest rates to begin to climb.
* Should I consider buying my first home? Investing in real estate is still one of the most sound investments folks can make and with just 4 more months of the tax credit for first time home buyers now is the time to start looking.
* Are there advantages to consider in possibly buying a larger home? With the interest rates still low and many options available for potential buyers now is the perfect time to explore all the many options.
If we can assist you in determining what is the right path to take when it comes to your home options give The Guilliams Team a call today and let us help you. We want to help everyone start the new year with achievable goals and a plan in place. Best of luck to everyone in 2010!

Visit York , South Carolina

Located in north central South Carolina, the City of York is a small community with a strong historic core and traditional lifestyle. Real estate options consist of single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses as well as land lots for custom building. A welcome alternative to life in the larger metro areas, York is experiencing the overflow of the rapid growth in the Charlotte Metro Area, less than 30 miles away. Positioned between the I-77 and the I-85 corridors, transportation is easy and provides excellent channels for local business parks and government. While renovation and restoration continue, new municipal facilities and road projects are on the horizon boosting economic development. The leisure and excitement of water play is just minutes away in Lake Wylie. With 325 miles of shoreline, the lake is ideal for boating, fishing and diverse water sports. Seasonal changes enhance the surrounding area’s beauty and allow for outdoor activities such as golf, tennis and bicycling enjoyment. Every year, York celebrates Summerfest, a widely anticipated festival that celebrates the community through arts, crafts, concerts, golf, tractor show and a moonlight bike ride. The annual Christmas Parade is also a favorite event amongst the 7,500 residents, inviting visitors into the historic century-old homes and churches decorated for the season. The residents’ involvement has helped establish a healthy business setting while preserving the area’s natural environment. A family-oriented oasis within close proximity to Charlotte and lakeside towns, York offers the best combination of traditional, small town charm with big city opportunities

Visit our Blog at York, SC Home Values for all the latest news in York and we hope you find the free links below useful in your home search. We look forward to talking to you soon.

Homes for Sale in York under 100,000

Homes for Sale in York 100,000 to 150,000

Homes for Sale in York 150,000 to 200,000

Homes for Sale in York 200,000 to 250,000

Homes for Sale in York 250,000 to 300,000

Homes for Sale in York 300,000 and above

White Tiger Furniture

We have recently discovered a great treasure in Rock Hill, SC for anyone look for quality furniture, accessories and help with decorating needs. The White Tiger is located on Highway 274 in Newport which is a secret that is quickly getting out in the community. The White Tiger has a huge selection of furniture for living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms as well as odd and end pieces such as end tables, ottomans, pictures and accessories. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and you can rely on their decorating expertise as you shop for your selections. The prices and uniqueness they offer at The White Tiger are incredible and the pieces are not ones that you find in many of the popular stores so you feel like you are buying one-of-a-kind pieces. The deals that they find are incredible and you never know what kind of surprises you will find when you visit The White Tiger. We suggest if you see something you like you better pick it up becomes the merchandise goes flying out the door and the prices can’t be beat. Be sure to check out The White Tiger today. You will love it.

Credit Restoration Advice

Life events can effect our credit drastically. We run into people everyday who had great credit at one time but now they find themselves in a situation where they cannot qualify for a home loan.
It does not take very long and a great credit score can go down quite quickly. Sometimes it is a job lay off (there are almost 7 million Americans drawing unemployment checks right now), an accident or an illness. These things many times come upon us without warning.
Many times people find themselves unprepared for these emegencies. The bills keep coming due every month and the income has been drastically reduced. Before long they start to fall behind and new lates begin to show up on their credit reports. We have seen one new late drop a credit score 100 ponts while the average is probably more like 30 to 40 points. The rest of the bad news is that it will effect their credit scores for at least two years.
Whether unexpected life events have lowered your scores or just bad past credit decisions there is a way back to healthy scores again. There are certain prinicipals, if followed, that will cause your scores to climb fairly rapidly. You can rebuild your credit file so that it will be healthy, assuring you of a much better interest rate.
If you would like to know how you can improve your current credit situation contact us at The Guilliams Team or at Credit Restoration Advice.

Is refinacing an option for you?

With the interest rates of late being so low we had been discussing refinancing our home. After doing some checking and getting various quotes on interest rates we decided this was something we needed to explore. After finding one of the lowest rates around we worked with a lender to get a good faith estimate and much to our surprise we decided that refinancing would save us a tremendous amount of money each month and over the course of the loan. Refinancing may not be an option for everyone, but it certainly is something that everyone should consider. There are a lot of first time home buyers feverishly trying to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit that will soon end so we are seeing financial institutions offering some awesome rates to another group of folks who are looking to refinance. Even if you refinanced just 2 years ago a couple of phone calls may be worth several hundreds of dollars in savings per month. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain so check it out today and see if refinancing is right for you!

Active Lifestyles

More and more adults are discovering the benefits of active lifestyles. Go to any park, fitness center, tennis facilty and so forth and you will see more baby boomers than ever adopting more healthy and active lifestyles. Today more than ever many homeowners are looking for ways to downsize the size of their home without sacrificing the quality and amenities they expect. Many builders are recognizing the desires of active adults and as a result low maintenance, quality throughout and custom feature neighborhoods are popping up more and more. The options are incredible and there are more features than ever to meet the demands of this group of adults as they enter a new phase in their lives. Wonderful communities featuring incredible homes which are smaller in size and require less maintenance for upkeeping are becoming more and more popular. People want to enjoy their free time enjoying many active lifestyles instead of feeling that the weekends were meant for cleaning house and doing yard work. We would love to help you transition to this type of lifestyle so give The Guilliams Team a call and let us introduce you to the number of options available to homeowners today.

Restoring Your Credit Scores

Life events can effect our credit drastically. We run into people everyday who had great credit at one time but now they find themselves in a situation where they cannot qualify for a home loan.
It does not take very long and a great credit score can go down quite quickly. Sometimes it is a job lay off (there are almost 7 million Americans drawing unemployment checks right now), an accident or an illness. These things many times come upon us without warning.
Many times people find themselves unprepared for these emegencies. The bills keep coming due every month and the income has been drastically reduced. Before long they start to fall behind and new lates begin to show up on their credit reports. We have seen one new late drop a credit score 100 ponts while the average is probably more like 30 to 40 points. The rest of the bad news is that it will effect their credit scores for at least two years.
Whether unexpected life events have lowered your scores or just bad past credit decisions there is a way back to healthy scores again. There are certain prinicipals, if followed, that will cause your scores to climb fairly rapidly. You can rebuild your credit file so that it will be healthy, assuring you of a much better interest rate.
If you would like to know how you can improve your current credit situation contact us at The Guilliams Team or at Credit Restoration Advice.

The Lakes at Derby Downs

There are many popular areas surrounding the Charlotte, NC region and one of the fastest growing and most sought after areas is York, SC. York is the county seat and many businesses are moving to this area and great neighborhoods are being developed to compliment the wonderful homes already in York. One neighborhood that is finding itself on the radar of potential buyers is The Lakes at Derby Downs. The Lakes is located close to the heart of York and is within an easy drive of Rock Hill, SC and Charlotte, NC. The Lakes offers residents large lots, custom homes, equestrian facilities and so much more. The homes are unique and offer characteristics throughout. Most homes range in size from 2500 sq ft to 5000 sq ft. The Lakes was built into an area with mature trees which were not bulldozed down when the Lakes was developed. The Lakes offers a wonderful area to enjoy the outdoors with several lakes, walking and biking areas, and trails for horseback riding. The Lakes is ideal for people who enjoy the outdoors and the quiet peacefulness of country living while still offering city amenities. Give The Guilliams Team a call today and let us help you discover The Lakes at Derby Downs.

Lets Market your Home

When putting your home on the market for sale make sure you are working with a real estate professional who will do more than just put a sign in the front yard. Today’s buyers don’t spend time driving all over town into various neighborhoods to see what homes are on the market. In the age of technology potential buyers are shopping from home to research what homes are on the market and find the best match for their needs. Make sure your real estate professional takes advantage of all the power of the internet with visual tours, various websites to advertise, etc in order to get the maximum exposure for your home. There are a number of websites that people will search so make sure you are taking full advantage of these 21st century tools. If you are looking for a real estate professional who has the savvy to navigate the many website options contact us at The Guilliams Team

For Sale By Owners

Whenever homeowners are considering selling their home one of the first questions they ask themselves is should they try to do "for sale by owner" instead of listing with a real estate agent. This is a fair question and many folks think they can manage the process of selling a home on their own while saving commission to a realtor. Many folks who take this path quickly become disenchanted with the process and all that is involved in trying to sell their home.
The truth is a real estate agent can help homeowners from the beginning of the process by gathering information such as comps in the area, analyzing home trends, make recommendations to get your home ready to sell and more than anything market your home. Potential buyers these days are fully utilizing the internet to do home searches and folks trying to sell a home on their own will not have the access to meet the mass number of folks that are surfing the internet each and every day. Realtors utilize a number of sites and can make sure your home is being exposed to as many folks as possible. In addtion the process of managing showings including having constant access for buyers is very critical in the seling process. Buyers will cross homes off their lists quickly if they cant get access to homes on their terms. With the large invnetory of homes on the market For Sale by Owners properties can miss out quickly on buyers due to communication issues.
Statistics show that sellers who list with an agent sell their home 20% faster and for a much higher price than those that try to sell themselves. For sale by owner can work, but you need to understand the pros and cons of the process. Give us The Guilliams Team a call today for a free consultation and let us help you determine what is the best way for you to sell your home.

Arts , Culture and Entertainment in York County

York County has so much to offer to residents and visitors and unfortunately many of the offerings go undiscovered. We would like to share with you some of the wonderful activities that we enjoy and hopefully you can enjoy with your family and friends.
One hidden gem in York County is Historic Brattonsville which is a 775-acre living history village and Revoluntionary War battlefield site which features 29 historic structures and programs chronicling the development from 1750s to the 1840s. There is a heritage farm program that includes the preservation of rare breeds of farm animals. Also available to enjoy are trails to hike, bicycle or horseback riding. Special events include a Battle reenactment, Historic Brattonsville Craft Fair and a Christmas Candlelight Tour. For more information on activities offered at Historic Brattonsville or other areas of interest in York County contact The Guilliams Team.

Take a look at York County , SC

York County is consists of 685 square miles and nine municipalities which make this the South Carolina's fourth most populated county. Though the county maintains a thriving business climate with investment by numerous national and international firms, the region retains much of its rural character, particularly in the western portions. The largest city, Rock Hill, remains the commercial and financial center of York County, but each of the others, including Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Clover, Hickory Grove, McConnells, Sharon, Smyrna and York, along with the Lake Wylie community, is vital in its own way.
York County boasts an industrial base with a strong blend of heavy and light industries, service businesses and professionals, as well as access to rail, freight and international travel, and state-of-the-art medical facilities. All the various areas of York County are conveniently located to large cities such as Charlotte, NC which make the opportunities limitless depending on what folks are searching for. York County offers amenities suitable for any person or family looking for a desirable area to call home. Give us a call and let us show you all York County has to offer.