If you are looking to buy a home in Sumter and decide to check out real estate websites, expect to find differing levels of details.  One agent may just allow you to search for homes that actually have useful information.  Another agent may use your e-mail address to make some additional money.  Be careful when giving your e-mail address to that friendly face plastered on the front page of "Agent X's" website.  You may live to regret it.

Take for example the following pictures of the exact same house for sale.

 
The differences are clearly visible

One agent will let you see all the details of a house without doing anything other than clicking the "More Detail" link.  And then there is the agent who thinks it's a smart idea to "farm" e-mail addresses before you can see the details.

Lessons Learned
I was searching for homes at one website and ran into the typical "I want your e-mail address before you can see details" agent.  So I filled out the little form and presto, I could actually see the details of the house I had some interest in.  In the next few days, my Inbox was filled to overflowing with spam e-mails.  How did all the spammers get my closely guarded e-mail address?  One doesn't have to have an IQ of a genius to know that real estate agent was involved.  To make a long story short, that e-mail address was trash and I had to get rid of an address I had used for over 5 years.  Basically the agent turned my e-mail address into mystery mean that no one can tolerate.  I learned my lesson.  Never…Ever…Ever give a real estate agent your e-mail address just for the privilege of seeing details of a home for sale.

Try it out
While neither of the listed websites below are the offending party who gave me the gift of mystery meat, you have to wonder why one site asks for your e-mail address and the other doesn't???? Looks like one agent wants to provide information YOU WANT.  The other may just like to collect e-mail addresses?

No E-Mail Address Needed for details of a Sumter homes for sale at:
http://www.summitrealtyanddevelopment.com/

Name and E-Mail Address Required at:
http://www.sumterrealestateforsale.com/

Only in the real estate agent world do we see statements like:
1.  Items Within Deemed Reliable But Not Warranteed.
2.  Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

I dare you to find a real estate website that doesn't have a statement like the above two "cover your ass" statement.  What that real estate agent is really saying is "I'm listing and selling this house to you but I won't bother to check the facts". 

Can you imagine walking into a car dealer and they say "Whatever I tell you may or may not be true and I won't be held responsible."?  I guess it's a real estate agents way of saying I'll be glad to accept $5000 to sell the house but accepting responsibility is out of the question.  Now with an attitude like that, why would you believe a word they say.  You know those words...It's a great time to buy a house.  Or, prices will begin climbing soon. 

Watch out buyers...the market is very bad right now.  And your agent will tell you anything to get you to buy.  So turn the page on them and tell them you expect a Warrantee (that's in writing) the house you buy will not decrease in value in the next 12 months.

Of course your agent will tell you "all real estate is local" but during the hot market of 2004 -2006, these same agents wouldn't have dreamed of saying those words.  Why?  Because home prices were soaring in every market but less so in Sumter. 

The Real Estate market is in a transitional phase right now.  Professionals in this field have been giving you advice on when to buy a home.  In the last 4-6 years they have been saying the best time to buy a home is “Right Now”.   And plenty of people bought into this real estate advice and are now paying the price.  Foreclosures in 2007 were only 75% higher in 2007 than in 2006.  The transitional phase I am talking about is the phase were people are actually listening to the common sense that resides in their own mind and not the advice of shrills, agents and brokers.  The nightmare of selling a home is now harder than trying to sell ice cubes to Eskimos.  

Follow me along the history path of what is being called the Real Estate Nightmare Buying Guide.

The Nightmare of the Past (2004 - 2007)
Prices increasing faster than Jeff Gordon on the oval track.

1.    Get a large home loan and a big ole home.  Buy now before you're priced out of the real estate market forever.  

Results:  Vivid nightmares and drenching night sweats are continuous.  That home you bought 1-4 years ago is NOW worth way less than when you bought it.  But that second job you had to take is paying the mortgage.  

2.    Get a huge home loan and a 3,200 sq ft McMansion type home.  Then refinance with all that equity you're sure to realize.  Plus you can get a home equity loan to buy cars, boats and XMAS present.  Do it now before you're priced out of the market forever.  

Results:  The nightmares seem so real you're wondering if you should charge rent to that monster living in your bedroom closet.  If you had to sell today or even in 2 years, you better bring lots of cash to the closing. You haven't checked your mail or answering machine messages in weeks because of the word “pre-foreclosure” scares you worse than the nightmares.

3.  Get a "stated income" home loan now!  Prices are going up so fast, soon you'll not be able to afford a $500,000 home even on that $40,000 you make.  A $3,000 mortgage payments isn't hard to handle.

Results:  The nightmares have stopped completely because you are living that nightmare in real life.  You've always joked that food and clothes are passe anyway, right?   Selling your dream home isn't so difficult but you never thought it would be happening on the court house steps.  Seven to ten years of bad credit will bring back those nightmares.  

Nightmare of the near Present (late 2007-2008)
Thrown together houses are abundant

1.    It's a great time to buy as home prices are stabilizing or will very soon.  The price reductions won't continue for long.  Renting is for fools.

Results:  Nightmares?  What nightmares?  That 2 year old home you just bought is pretty nice except... half the electrical outlets in the house don't work, the plumber has seen more of your kitchen than your wife and those cracks in the walls give it character.  Two houses down the street just rented for about 75% of your current mortgage.  Oh yeah, you like the privacy that comes with the empty house next door.  The weeds in that yard are quite unusual anyway.      

2.    Even though home prices are still decreasing, it a great time to buy.  This buyers market is almost coming to an end.  Get that dream home before someone else buys it.

Results:  Nightmares only happen every third night.  The builder who built your house just went bankrupt and the class action lawsuit is sure to help you fix all the problems.  Of course structural problems are complex and expensive to fix but the lawsuit should cover at least 30% of the costs.  Who are all those foolish renters moving into the neighborhood?  

3.    Yes, it's hard to get a home loan but with so many homes on the market prices have never been lower.  This is the best time to buy a home.  Buy now or risk paying much more in “the near future”.

Results:  Nightmares are becoming more frequent.  You are hearing rumors that “the near future” the real estate agent was talking about is at least 12 months away.  The house next door just sold for $23,000 less than what you bought your home for less than six months ago.  You're actually upside down on your home loan.  All those renters in the neighborhood seem so happy.  I wonder why?  

Reality (Present - 2012?)

   Renting is the only way to go for now.  Let your landlord fix that dishwasher, plumbing, electrical,  furnace and water heater on his dime. Buy a new home when prices have actually been proven to stabilize.  Maybe in 2009 but likely 2010.

Results:  Sweet dreams continue because you are financially smart.

   Buying now is foolish.  You may be able to get a great deal BUT!  In 12 months  you'll see the value of “that” house you we're looking at is actually 10-15% lower.

Results:  You win but only if you wait to see the real bottom of the market.  Sweet dreams for the buyer that waits.  Sleepless nights for those who buy too soon.

   It's a bad time to buy a home but if you are extremely financial secure, you can be sure the value of the home you buy will not decrease much more than 15-25% in the coming years.

Results:  You paid way too much for that home. "Fools Rush In" isn't just a movie title but you bought a house you can easily afford with 30% down.  You know a house isn't an investment...it's an expensive lifestyle that you like.  

With home prices still falling, the best values will only be seen at the bottom of this housing bubble.  Would you rather gamble home prices will continue to fall or believe the shrills that have been saying we have reached the bottom?  Oh, the real estate shrills have been saying the bottom has been reached for over one year now...and prices keep on falling?  Common sense says buying in a falling market is
like catching a drawer full of falling knives.   

I'm the webmaster and I approved this message.

That's right real estate fans.  I've had all of this website I can handle.  It's too time consuming and not profitable for me.  For example, I have made $0 on this site and it cost me money each month to maintain it. 

For Sale!
I expect a lot of real estate professional in Sumter to gasp at the price I will be asking for this website.  Is this website really worth $2000?  Well, it has content, Google ranking, pictures, a way to add your own data.  Basically it's a premade website that I will customize for the buyer.  The only catch is the $2000 price is firm.  Not a penny less will be accepted but much more money will gladly be accepted.  With the current trend in real estate, having a self promotion tool like SumterSubdivisions.Com could mean the difference between a good year or a bad year. 



No Sale - No Problem
If a local real estate professional doesn't step forward, I will still own and maintain this website but the content will change drastically.



How to Buy SumterSubdivisions.Com
This is the easy part.  All serious offers of $2000 or higher will be considered.  Just use my handy "Contact Us" form.  Please tender your offer in the remarks section and I will contact you via e-mail or phone. 



Link to contact me is: http://sumtersubdivisions.com/modules/formulaire/index.php?id=2

As They Say in the Real Estate Profession
"Time is of the Essence."  But in this case I will not put an unreasonable timeframe to close on this deal.  I will wait until March 1st, 2008 for a buyer.   After March 1st, it will be too late to obtain this profession real estate website filled with data that no other Sumter real estate agent or broker can put together without spending at least $8500 and 100's of manhours. 


Time is of the essence!

Merry Christmas to Sumter

Listen to our Christmas Podcast


Thanks for a great first year.

What are the 5 most popular Subdivisions in Sumter according to the readers of this website?  

Most Popular in Sumter
1.  Beach Forest
2.  Patriot Village
3.  Oakland Plantation
4.  Hunters Crossing
5.  Linwood Plantation

The 5 Sumter subdivisions that have made some big advances in the last month according to requested information:

Up and Coming in Sumter
1.  Gingo Hills
2.  Beckwood Shires
3.  The Cove at Second Mill
4.  Rolling Hills
5.  Carolina Palms

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words But
There are still a lot of neighborhoods in Sumter that Sumter Subdivisions.Com hasn't covered.  But there is only so much one person can do.  Just taking pictures is easy but creating useful information for Sumter real estate buyer's isn't easy.  


Nice Home?


Who Needs Information?  Sumter Home Buyers!
I call upon any Sumter real estate agent to step up to the plate and write an article about a subdivision in Sumter.  It will be published on this website and many people will read it.  I know it's a time consuming task to write a well crafted and informative article but this the penalty we pay to give the consumer what they want.


What about the neighborhood and subdivision?

The Stonecroft Subdivision
There isn't much information available for the Stonecroft Subdivision in Sumter, but I wanted to get the word out on this neighborhood.  This new neighborhood is located inside Sumter city limits.  As of November 20th, 2007 there wasn't much new building activity but there were about 20 new home in various stages of construction.  I think there were maybe 3 home in Stonecroft that had families living in them.  

Close to Schools and Entertainment
Stonecroft Subdivision is located off of McCrays Mill Road.  This means it isn't too far from Sumter High School, the Sunset Country Club and the Sumter Speedway.  Once built, the new Wal-Mart will be an easy 10-15 minute drive.

Sumter's Stonecroft Homes Now and in the Future
I suspect Stonecroft is and will evolve slowly with this first phase already under construction.  There appears to be enough room for a lot more homes on the southern portion of this big plot of land. 



All the homes currently under construction are brick veneer type homes.  The minimum price you'll pay will be around $160,000 but some new home look to be significantly more expensive.  The lots in Stonecroft are a reasonable size but I wouldn't say they are large.  Large enough that you won't be watching your neighbor eating dinner but small enough that you won't be spending hours on yardwork either.

Schools for the Stonecroft Subdivision:
Sumter High School
Bates Middle School
Wilder Elementary School

Click Here to see the short video of the Stonecroft Subdivision

The Williamsburg Subdivision in Sumter is located off of Stamey Livestock Road.  This newer but well established neighborhood offers pleasant surroundings with plenty of trees and a semi hilly geography.  



Type of Homes
All homes in Williamsburg are considered brick style ranch homes on small-medium sized lots.  You won't be burdened with hours of weekly yard work yet your neighbors are not so close to be uncomfortable.  

New but Established
Being a semi-established subdivisions means new construction is very limited.  As of early November 2007, there were still a few lots for purchase and about 6 homes under full construction. 



Click the "Read More" link below for more information and to see the video of Williamsburg

The Stillwater Subdivision is located off of Carter Mill Road in Sumter.  This slowly evolving new neighborhood has seen a lot of new construction in recents months.  The southern portion of the subdivision is being developed first but there is a lot of land still to be sold in the northern parts. 

Homes in Stillwater tend to be on the higher end of the scale with square footage averaging at or over 3,000.  Prices are advertised at starting  in the $250,000 range but it looks like most homes are selling for well over $300,000.  With at least 3 ponds/lakes located in this neighborhood, the comfortable setting will attract many second time buyers and move up buyers looking for a more exclusive living arrangement. 



To see the video of Stillwater please click the "Read More" link below.

I produced an in-depth review of the Oakland Plantation Subdivision.  Click here to see the entire review.  Oakland Plantation is located off of Peach Orchard Road just west of Shaw Air Force Base.  This established neighborhood was developed in the early 1970's so it has a lot of personality.



Oakland Plantation is not your typical Sumter subdivision.  The thing that sets this subdivision apart from most others in Sumter is the geography.  Set on the side of a well developed valley, this allows homes to actually have a vista overlooking the valley.  There are many mature and grand trees and also lots of green spaces.  How about having deer wandering on your lawn during the early morning hours?

My Oakland Plantation In-depth Review covers many of the things that home buyers want to know before starting the "look" phase of buying a house in Sumter.  There are maps showing which schools your children will be attending, local parks and nearby points of interest.  I have even produced an 8 minute video of this neighborhood.