welcome

I would like to welcome you to my website.  My name is Scott Baskin and I am a SC licensed real estate broker and a Realtor.  I work with Clement, Crawford, & Thornhill, Inc., now formally known as CC&T Real Estate Services.  We are a local, full service real estate firm with deep Charleston roots.  For more information on CC&T please visit www.cctre.com.

 

Please feel free to explore my site and make comments as you please.  I hope that you find it informative and easy to use.  I have included a news feed to keep you up to date on current events in the business world.  I also have a BLOG that I will do my best to keep up with on a regular basis. 

 

One of the most important features, however, is the ability for anyone to search the MLS from my  site.  You can search through all properties that are listed on the Charleston MLS.  This includes commercial and residential, both  for sale and for lease.  If you are looking for any type of property, or know someone that is, please start the search here with me.  If you see something you like, or have any questions along the way, please feel free to email me or call me.  I look forward to hearing from you.  Thanks again for visiting my site. 

  

 


testimonials

testimonials iconIt was a stroke of luck that brought Scott Baskin to list two pieces of commercial property for us.  I knew things would be fine when he managed to photograph the properties, place For Sale signs, and create a listing, all before we had returned home from signing the paperwork to sell.  But that isn't where the efficiency ended.  It only got better from that point.  Scott is intelligent, energetic, detail-oriented, and remarkably industrious.  He worked tirelessly through a quick sale and a very long interval between contract and closing.  I can't say enough positive things about our experience, but if the need ever again rises, we want Scott Baskin on our team!     - Bill and Kathy Flippo

 

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  • Industrial Trends Report-3rd Q '09
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    While last quarter saw a slight improvement in the overall occupancy rate in Charleston, This quarter saw the market give back its modest gains. Nevertheless, good news is coming. TBC Corp announced that it had chosen Berkeley County for a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center, which could have a dramatic positive impact on the local industrial market.

     

    Several other large regional firms have been rumored to be considering Charleston as their home for their east coast facilities. Boeing Corporation already has one company-run assembly plant in Charleston which manufactures fuselage for the new 737 Dream Liner. A second facility is controlled by one of its suppliers. The plant recently voted to go non-union. This was seen as another contributing factor to Boeing hopefully opening a second company-operated plant here in the Low Country.

     

    Also making head lines is that the 560,000-sqaure-foot former Mikasa regional headquarters building is under contract to a user. This deal would be another huge coup for the region. The transaction is scheduled to close before the end of the year.

     

    While these headlines are most welcome, the industrial market still has a great deal of inventory to absorb. Lease terms still remain short, and rental rate growth is non existent, this is directly attributable to the ever increasing amount of sublease space hitting the market. Much of this space is being offered at a rate 40 percent below the market highs in 2007. While sales transactions remain thin, signs of banks forcing sales of property, which will be the beginning of the bottom in this market.

     

    Forecast

     

    n Reduced rental rates will remain flat.

     

    n Sales activity will remain slow until credit markets loosen.

     

    n The spillover effects of these larger deals should ripple throughout the market, helping to increase demand for space in the coming quarters.

     

     

     

     

    SOURCE:  Grubb & Ellis / WRS  Realty

     

  • Some property remains hard to acquire
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    The weakening economy slowed the flow of commercial real estate transactions nationwide to a trickle last year.

    Only $17 billion of major apartment, industrial, office and retail properties changed hands during the fourth quarter last year, amounting to an 80 percent drop from fourth quarter 2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

    Commercial property sales volume for the whole year was down 69 percent, according to the MBA.

    Commercial real estate sales in Greenville County dropped 36.5 percent in 2008, according to Greenville Property Pulse.

    The local firm said 743 commercial properties were sold in Greenville County last year, compared with 1,168 properties in 2007.

    The National Association of Realtors said in its latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook it expects commercial real estate activity to weaken further over the coming months.

    Michael Dodds, owner of Greenville Property Pulse, said much of the decline in transactions is attributable to two things "sellers aren't reducing on their asking price and buyers are expecting to acquire at a 30 percent discount. The wide bid-ask gap sort of creates a stalemate."

    Dodds said the reduced number of sales in Greenville County "makes it tough for brokers and appraisers to estimate the value of a property."

    Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial/multifamily research, said during 2006 and 2007, there was just an extraordinary volume of property transactions.

    "Given the capital markets at the time, given what was going on in the property markets, what was going on with property prices, there was a lot of incentive for sellers to sell and a lot of great market conditions for buyers to buy," he said. "We've seen a lot of those conditions shift pretty dramatically."

    Woodwell said all sectors of commercial real estate were impacted, though for some the effects of the recession were more immediate.

    "Certainly, stress in the retail sector has funneled through to retail properties. Likewise apartments, because they have generally short-term year-to-year leases, can feel the effects of the recession more quickly," he said.

    Office properties tend to have longer leases and as a result both growth and slowdowns in the economy tend to be a little bit more muted in the sector, Woodwell said.

    Apartment building sales had the largest decline of all commercial sectors between 2007 and 2008 with a 57.6 percent drop, according to Greenville Property Pulse. Sales in office buildings followed with a 44.3 percent decline between 2007 and 2008.

     

    By  Angelia Davis • BUSINESS WRITER • April 3, 2009   The Greenville News

  • 6 reasons it's still a good time to buy a house
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    The housing market is looking healthier. Here are six reasons why now is the time to jump into the market.

    1. Uncle Sam is willing to help. First-time buyers (defined as anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years) are entitled to a maximum $8,000 tax credit; interest rates are at record lows; and the Federal Reserve is doing its best to make mortgage loans available. (Sign up for a Webinar to learn more about the home buyer tax credit)

    2. People have to live somewhere. About 800,000 new households are formed each year in this country, ensuring that the housing market will tighten, even if the economy doesn’t soar.

    3. Borrowers leverage their investment. If you put $10,000 into the stock market and it earns 10 percent, you’ve earned $1,000. If you put $10,000 down on a home and its values increases 10 percent, you’ve made $10,000.

    4. When prices come back up, you’ll have instant equity. In parts of the country where foreclosures have driven down prices, better times will mean the price of the home you buy will rise rapidly.

    5. Mortgage costs stay the same. If you get a fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly payment stays the same – while everything else, including rent, goes upward.

    6. You own it. There is something comforting in the notion that your home is your own. You can paint it any color you want, let the dog run in the back yard and hang a swing for the kids in the front.

    Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (03/27/2009)
  • Hot Deals
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    Today is Friday, March 6, 2009.  March has been off to a pretty busy start for me.  While the big commercial deals aren't getting done right now, there are things that are selling.  The primary business that is keeping me afloat is commercial leasing and representing home buyers.  Anyone that has a decent income, pretty good credit, and is thinking about buying a house, THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT.  I talk to real estate professionals all the time that have been in the business for many, many years, and most of them will agree that there has not been a better time to buy.  The interest rates are around 5% on a 30 yr fixed, the prices are down to record levels, etc.  All of the factors are there to make for some great deals.

     

     Of my last 5-10 transactions closed, most of them have been representing residential buyers.  These are not high dollar or waterfront properties, etc. by any means, but mostly first time homebuyers in the $200K range.  These are the houses that are selling and where there are some great deals to be found.  I constantly check the new inventory everyday to find the best deals on the market.  I've got mortgage brokers that I deal with that can get some very good financing packages right now as well.  Of my last 4-5 houses sold, we are getting an average of at least 10% off of the lowest asking price, and sellers paying closing costs and other concessions!!  I am getting my buyers excellent deals.  It is a great time to buy real estate.  Buy Low, Sell High.  If you or anyone you know is looking for a good buy on a house, contact me today.  

     

     Thanks again for checking out my website.

     

    Scott 

  • Strategy for a "down" market
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        Despite the media "hype" and the ever-growing pessimism throughout the country about the real estate market and the economy in general, there are ways to benefit in this market.  The one thing that you can do in a "cooled off" market, which is actually just an adjusting market, is to buy real estate.  Everyone has heard that it's a Buyer's Market, but what does that mean. 

        I speak in general terms, but I am mostly referring to the Charleston, SC market.  This is my home town and my place of business.  This is the place that I live, read about, talk about, and am a part of everyday.  This is the market that I study day in and day out.  Some of my comments may pertain to the national scene, but I am basing them on the market that I know.

        A Buyer's Market means that there are some great advantages out there right now for someone looking to Buy real estate.  The housing market has definitely taken a big hit as lenders are pulling out, home builders are pulling out, and homeowners that purchases homes with "funny money" in recent years are realizing that they got in over their heads and they need to sell.  This leaves a lot of inventory out there and people that are deperate to get rid of it.  In turn, there are a lot of great deals for buyers.

        I am mainly referring to the residential market, but there are a lot of good deals in the commercial arena as well.  Everyday I keep up with new properties on the market, properties that have lowered prices, and properties that have sold.  I think that there are so many good deals for both investors and personal residences.  There are also small commercial properties that developers want to get rid of, and there is certainly land that homebuilders need to sell.  Some of these publicly-traded homebuilding companies are under a lot of pressure to fix their bottom lines, so they are dumping off land that they purchased over the last few years to build spec homes.  Some of these builders are selling their land at a greatly discounted price.

        The main idea here is that there is a winning Strategy for a "down" market.  It may not be the best time to sell, but it is the time to BUY, BUY, BUY.  If you, or anyone you know has some money to invest or is thinking of buying a home, now is the time to do it, while the market is cool. 

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