Thank You, Columbia, SC!

Today marks the anniversary date when three big-eyed, somewhat uneasy REALTORS took a step out of their comfort zones a few years ago.

I can remember the Friday afternoon before the weekend started a few years ago. Amy had gone home for the weekend and I got on the phone with Jennifer. She asked, “well, babe. Did you drop the mic?” My response was, “I did.” Her immediate response was, “holy s%*#!”

That Sunday, Amy and I packed up our stuff from what had been our professional home for 10 years and hauled it all to my garage. Jen was not pleased, as much of it is still there today! :-O

The above graphic is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people including the ones who supported and/or simply believed in Elizabeth, Amy, and me. The positivity was not unanimous from some of my real estate colleagues in the Columbia market, and I had to hear some tough words regarding bringing this disruptive franchise to Downtown Columbia. That said, my heart is full and I love our story.

If you or anyone you know would like to discuss a career in real estate sales, please raise your hand! One of the most common phrases I run across in this industry is, “I wish I had started this sooner.” Well, me too! Call/text 803-447-8683 or email Franklin@TheNeighborhoodRE.com and we can talk about what we mean when we say, “changing lives through real estate.”

Thank you, Columbia, SC!

Franklin Jones

 

 

Forest Acres Home Hits Market!

Check out this newly renovated house on Lakeland Dr. in the popular City of Forest Acres!

This all-brick ranch is 2,050 sq.ft. 3BR – 2.5 baths.

Here’s the write-up:

Beautiful renovation in Forest Acres zoned for Satchelford, Crayton, and Flora. This 3 bed, 2.5 bath home has a fabulous decorator’s dream kitchen, new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, high-end bathrooms, and new hardwood floors throughout. Too many upgrades to list them all! Perfect floorplan for entertaining with a separate family room w/fireplace and a formal living room area just off the large, open kitchen and dining room. Escape to the huge master suite, big enough for a private sitting area, and enjoy the spa-like en suite bathroom with a connecting walk-in closet. With access to the back patio from the kitchen and master bedroom, you can easily pop outside for your morning coffee! It’s a rare find to have an oversized two-car garage and this house has that too. Come see for yourself and make this house your new home!

Lakeland Drive is only minutes away from bustling Forest Drive/Trenholm Plaza, anything Downtown Columbia, and I-77.

Call/text Meghan Hesley @ 803/665-8844 or email her @ Meghan@TheNeighborhoodRE.com and she will tell you what you need to know!

Also, there will be an Open House this Sunday from 2 – 4! Come see!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

 

 

Is Columbia, SC a Zoom Town?

Over the years we’ve all heard of the term BoomTown or BoomTowns, obviously referring to “a town undergoing rapid growth due to sudden prosperity.”

Now, we have Zoom Towns, and Columbia, SC is making lists as one of them.

When people ask me the question, “how’s the market?”, many times I’ll end my answer with, “you know, Columbia doesn’t really boom, but we don’t really bust, either,” and then I’ll go into how our job market is steadier than most. Many times I’ll also say, “Columbia isn’t really what many would call a destination city like say, Charleston or Savannah.” Well, the answer is starting to change, if even a little bit, as many cities in the Carolinas and the rest of the South have been discovered. During Covid, folks that were trapped in their apartments and flats by mayors and governors in giant colder climate cities got on the Internet and saw that they could buy a single-family house with a real yard for less money than they ever thought possible, keep their current job and salary, and be in their flip-flops most of the year.

Here’s how Louise Bolger who writes about real estate for Castles In The Sand explains it:

“They call them “Zoom Towns” because so many of the new residents are working remotely and have given up their city and suburban lifestyles for a more relaxed environment in smaller communities. It’s no secret that this massive lifestyle change evolved because of COVID-19, but even now, when the danger of serious infection is substantially reduced, Zoom Towns are still popular.

A recent National Association of Realtors survey reported that buyers who purchased homes in the year that ended in June moved a median of 50 miles from their previous residences. This is the highest distance on record, going back to 2005 when the median was a consistent 15 miles. This may not seem like a lot of mileage difference, but 15 miles from Boston, for instance, is still part of the city, but when you go 50 miles, you’re in real country. In New York City and other large metropolitan areas, however, you would need to go a little further than 50 miles to really be getting away from it all.

In the same survey, smaller communities were more popular, with buyers purchasing 48% of the homes. Again, this is a record and is up from 32% a year earlier. By comparison, traditional suburban home purchases dropped to 39% from 51% the previous year and only 10% of home purchases were in urban areas, down from 13% the year before. Naturally, the increased cost of homes and now the increased cost of financing has certainly influenced buyers.

Home buyers who are getting close to retirement are another influence on the popularity of small communities. Many who have the ability to work remotely chose to relocate now rather than after their retirement date. This gave them an edge before mortgage rates and prices went up further and set them up for easing into retirement.

Confirming further the demand for homes in smaller communities, The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Indexes came out at the end of October. It reports that the demand for homes in low-cost cities with strong local economies is, in their opinion, “robust.” This annual survey incorporates economic and lifestyle data, including real estate taxes, home appreciation, unemployment, wages and commute time in their 300 biggest metro area rankings.

This survey places the North Port, Sarasota and Bradenton region at number four in the top 10. Unfortunately, as we all know, North Port has taken a big hit from Hurricane Ian since this survey was completed, so in next year’s survey it will be interesting to see where that area is placed.

The other Emerging Housing Markets were in this order: Johnson City, Tennessee; Visalia-Porterville, California; Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbia, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Yuma, Arizona.

Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said, “These more affordable markets continue to offer some opportunity. It doesn’t mean that they’re not seeing a slowdown in their housing markets, but they’re better positioned generally.” In other words, they had faster home sales and lower unemployment rates than the market as a whole, which is attracting buyers in an otherwise difficult housing market. Further, according to an economist at Nationwide Insurance, the trend toward less expensive housing markets looks like it will continue even if home prices start trending down.”

There ya go!

Franklin Jones

“I’m a REALTOR Guy,” Andy Walker.

Thursday night, I attended the annual Central Carolina REALTOR Association Holiday Cocktail Party, which was held at the South Carolina State Museum.

We have a new Board of Directors for 2023, which includes Keller Williams Palmetto’s, Candy Limehouse. This is an honor, and I’m proud to be in business with her.

That said, this post is about my friend and colleague, Andy Walker. Andy was inducted into our Association’s Hall of Fame tonight.

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that Todd Beckstrom was also inducted last night. His pedigree of service and leadership is as impressive as anyone’s. That said, our paths don’t cross as regularly as Andy’s and mine, strictly because of geography. Further, I don’t have a cool picture of his wife and business partner. 🙂 The pic above is of Andy, his mentor and business partner, Laine Ligon, Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth. She started videoing when the person with the mic started to talk about Andy and his accolades.

Andy Walker is a REALTOR’S, REALTOR. I remember a speech he gave many years ago, I think when he was the president of our association, he said the words more than once, “I’m a REALTOR guy.” I can’t enunciate this properly through this keyword, but he was speaking to the fact that REALTORS have a standard, and stand up for property rights, along with a plethora of other causes we fight for in the layers of government and community. As a young up-and-comer, that struck me, as I agreed with him, wholeheartedly. I thought, “Damn, right,… Me, too!” I thought, “I don’t want to be a real estate agent, I want to be a REALTOR, and his speech solidified this for me.

Andy is a little older than me, but our stories are similar. As young men, we never saw ourselves as REALTORS but the industry changed both of our life’s trajectories, as it has for many others.

Andy has accumulated many awards and pedigrees along the way, including serving as our president. One of the most impressive to me is when the Great Recession hit and hundreds of REALTORS had to pull out of the association because they couldn’t pay their dues, the association had a giant budget shortcoming, among other issues and problems. The brass and board and association asked if he would consider serving again to lead us out of that storm. He did. That’s Andy.

I often say to others, that our mutual colleague and friend, George Walker, “…is the nicest person in real estate.” Tonight, I thought to myself, “Well damn, thinking back over the years…Andy may be right up there with George.”

Fun (not fun) fact: My wife has told friends and me many times that she and her friends would be at the pool at Lakeside CC in Clinton, SC and watch Andy while he played golf because he was so cute. She probably said hot, but I’m going with cute, damn’t.

Andy, I love your story, professionalism, and friendship. I, along with everyone in the room tonight, enjoyed your raw, open acceptance speech.

Thank you, Andy and Todd, for your service and leadership to and for the industry, and for making all of us better REALTORS.

Franklin Jones

Fun November Happenings, 2022!

It’s been a busy November @ KW Palmetto and The Neighborhood Company!

– First, we had our office Thanksgiving feast! As you can see from the photo above, the training room was slammed wall to wall and the entrance and open area in our office were the same. I was proud of the attendance and there was more food than I ever would have expected. Shout out to awesome REALTORS Eric Tucker, Penny Broach, Brittany McGougan, and their Social Committee for making it all happen.

The top image above is a pic of some members of various teams as well as some that work as individual REALTORS within the KW Palmetto brokerage.

To think, a few years ago, before we became our own franchised “Market Center,” we started with four REALTORS. Now, the KW Palmetto brokerage hovers around 160-175 salespeople. These scenes always do my heart good!

-Next, the team (The Neighborhood Company) met at 11:00 one day for a professional photo shoot. We got all dudded up and smiled for the camera, snacked on an awesome charcuterie board, and drank mimosas.

The reason I put a pic of the board above is that the photos of the team are not finished yet. Another reason is that I want to give The Gourmet Shop 5 Points a Shout-Out. Most of us know about the restaurant in 5-Points being a great place to dine. That said, if you’re in the market for a charcuterie board their product is awesome, reasonably priced and the turnaround time was amazing. I had the idea the afternoon before the shoot and it was ready that morning. Thank you, Gourmet Shop!

-Pie Day! Pie Day has become an annual event for the team. This year, we thought it would be a good idea to go to Citadel Park, which is in the Jackson Heights part of Forest Acres (better known as The College Streets). We ended up giving almost 150 pies in three hours to past, present, and future clients, as well as referral sources who registered to receive one for their Thanksgiving feast!

Pie Day turned into a little adventure as we were asked to leave the park. Luckily, Elizabeth Ross recently sold a house that is directly across the street so we moved our giant 15′ flag, sign, and all of the other stuff into their driveway.

Pro Tip: If you are a business entity of any kind, call the City of Forest Acres or visit their website to properly register for such things.

As you can see we’ve had a fun month!

Big thanks to everyone who participated and remember to get with us when you want to talk about your real estate plans for 2023!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones & The Neighborhood

New To Market @ Heathwood! 29205

1603 Tanglewood Road - Photo 1

Check out this opportunity to move into the immensely popular Heathwood Neighborhood!

1603 Tanglewood Rd. has 2,238 sq. ft. with 3 Bedrooms and 2 Baths.

Here are the MLS Remarks:

Come see this charming home in downtown Columbia. This estate, only owned by two families since 1946, has beautiful hardwoods, high ceilings and newer windows. This home is a rare opportunity to move into the much desired Heathwood neighborhood and renovate to make it your own. In addition to the formal living and dining rooms at the front of the home, there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor. Two of the bedrooms originally shared a jack and jill bathroom, but one of these bedrooms now has a wall where the bathroom doorway once was. It would be easy to open back up and make the 3rd bedroom have a shared bath once again. The upstairs, which was once an attic, was finished out and can either be an upstairs bedroom or bonus room. The upstairs bonus area has central heating and air and new carpet as well. Come see this house and dream about how to make it your future home as well.

As most of you know Heathwood is minutes to anything Downtown Columbia, Forest Acres, and I-77. The neighborhood also is zoned for popular Satchel Ford, Crayton, and A.C. Flora.

If you have any questions or would like a tour of Tanglewood, please call/text Meghan at 803-665-8844 or email her @ Meghan@TheNeighborhoodRE.com.

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

Carolina Girl Is New Mrs. American!

Check out my buddy, Krisdee! Krisdee was just awarded the national crown of Mrs. American, 2022!

As you can see, she’s striking. Well, that ain’t all…she’s also amazing.

As many of you know, I know breast cancer well, as we lost my late wife, Kinsey Black Jones, over 2o years ago. Also, one of my awesome partners, Elizabeth Woodring Ross, and I have a special relationship as she was forced to make her tough decision which she wrote about, courageously.

To let you know about her bigger story, I found this bio from my friend and colleague, Nathan Ballentine’s, blog:

Krisdee grew up in Lexington Richland District 5 attending Harbison West Elementary, Irmo Middle School, Irmo High School and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in the number one ranked Sport and Entertainment Management college at USC. She has 2 children, Annabelle and Knox, and she and her husband Josh live on Lake Murray in Chapin. She is the Director of Corporate Affairs for Agape Care Group, the largest hospice in South Carolina and now moving into Georgia. Krisdee is a recent breast cancer survivor and is thrilled to bring her platform of breast cancer awareness and how women can thrive and feel beautiful after life’s storms to the state and hopefully national stage. “Sometimes God will put a Goliath in our lives for you to be able to find the David within you. It is so important that women know they can go through storms in their lives like breast cancer and come out the other side beautiful and with a greater purpose than they could have ever imagined. We should all be looking not to just survive the storm but to thrive after.” During her journey with breast cancer and having a bi-lateral mastectomy, 4 rounds of chemotherapy, and 25 rounds of radiation she began the blog The Blonde Bombshell (www.theblondebombshell.net) to help women find everyday answers in their journey with this same disease. “One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. I found that I was able to get medical information and high-level ideas of what I would be going through but I was desperately searching for real women with real answers that had walked this walk before me. The Blonde Bombshell blog is not only my personal journey but is my way of helping the women that come after me to understand this journey from someone who has lived it and to give hope that life on the other side, though different, can be wonderful again.” NathansNews.com

Congratulations, Krisdee Clark! You are talented, gorgeous, and a lighthouse to a lot of people.

Love you!

Franklin Jones

A.C. Flora’s #1 Took On Nation’s #1.

Last week I attended my second or third A.C. Flora girl’s tennis match. It was the 2nd or 3rd round of the tournament, and a rematch of the 2021 SC State Championship match vs Lucy Beckham from Charleston, SC, which my girls and I attended last year.

Why did I attend? First – My oldest is 13 and all three of our girls have started on their tennis journey, so it’s fun to be around and learn about the culture and vibe. Second – The #1 U16 player in the nation (according to this article), Piper Charney, was on the other team and I wanted to see what she could do, again.

She is amazing, BTW. Piper is #1 in the USA for her age group and in the Top 20 or so U18. Piper recently made it to the US Open doubles quarterfinals, and won some big dog national tournament, respectfully.

That said, the reason for this post isn’t about Piper. It’s about her opponent, Frances Smith.

The score may not reflect it, but Flora’s Frances went into the cage, AGAIN, and was charged with a phenomenal ask. That said, Frances returned serves that Piper is able to put 6 feet up into the chained link fence behind her opponent. She rallied with the best in the nation and had to deal with the best, featheriest, drop shop these eyes have ever seen.

I saw or heard somewhere that Piper doesn’t play all of the school’s matches. Good on them, and her. Flora won courts 4,5 and the doubles court which had the battle tied 3-3 until the decider, whereby Piper was forced to play again. What I’m getting at is, Lucy Beckham HS had to ship their all-time ringer in to beat Flora.

Why did we meet Lucy Beckham in the early rounds instead of the State Championships like last year, you ask? Answer – Apparently, Flora was flipped this year to compete as a Lower State School this year as opposed to the Upper State.

Well done, Flora tennis! Y’all are top of the class and we are super proud of you!

Further still, Frances, you’re are awesome. Your opponent brought our country’s #1 player in to get a win.

Who knows where time takes us, but if Piper makes professional waves and starts playing the likes of Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu on the WTA circuit, Frances Smith will have a helluva story to tell her kids.

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

 

 

 

“Keller WHO?” Not Anymore!!!!

When the brass at The Central Carolina’s REALTOR Association reached out a few weeks ago and asked, “Franklin, where are y’all?” I answered, “What do you mean?” Her response, “If we don’t get two more bowling teams committed by Friday night, we’re going to have to cancel the first round next Tuesday, altogether.”

So, I quickly became the franchise owner of two amateur sports franchises – 1) Keller Williams Palmetto “Big Rocks,” and 2) Keller Williams Palmetto “Lead Dominos.”

What do the team names mean, you may wonder? Big Rocks, as in, “big balls?” Lead Dominos, as in, “falling pins?”

No.

BIG ROCKS – Keller Williams is a training company at its core, and “Big Rocks” refers to a time blocking facet whereby we are trained to write our “Big Rocks” on our calendar. I don’t mean that they focus on training how to sell more houses, which is certainly a part of it, but, to me, it’s more of a life growth company. That said, think of the Big Rocks as boulders in a stream that all of the water in the stream (everything else that life brings) must maneuver and flow around. The boulders are Big Rocks, such as family vacation, investing in your family/career through national training events, or sports tournaments and/or games you’re not going to miss coaching or watching your little girl or little boy participate.

Once you get it, it’s a life-changing mind flip and can make you more productive and open more opportunities for you and others than you thought could happen.

LEAD DOMINOS – Do you know of the Domino effect? Do you understand that success is linear? Do you know your BIG WHY? Do you know your spouse’s Big Why or your co-workers? Do you know where you are in business and/or life, and do you know where you want to be? Pick a Lead Domino for five things: Spiritual, Family, Health, Personal Relationships, Job, & Business. If you don’t know what you want, how could you know how to get there? Do you know The ONE Thing that such by doing it would make everything easier or unnecessary?

What is your lead Domino? Go crazy small with your answer, but think of big results of what that easy domino will create.

If you’ve read this and paid attention, you get what I’m talking about and why I named the teams the way I did.

Now to a bigger story and what makes my heart full. It wasn’t long ago, when across America, any REALTOR that heard the words, Keller Williams, responded, “Keller Who?”

Locally, this mantra was the same until about five years ago. Fast forward to 2022 and we have hundreds of REALTORS in the Midlands with three franchises selling hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate volume and we’re just getting started. That said, we just took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place among all brokerages at bowling, of all things. #SeeThreeTrophies #TotalSweep

Congrats to our brothers and sisters at KW Columbia, SC for taking first place and our KW Palmetto “Big Rocks,” & KW Palmetto “Lead Dominos” for placing 2nd & 3rd, respectively.

Big SHOUT OUT to CCRA and all of the other brokerages and teams that raised over $30,000 for RPAC over the last few weeks, and THANK YOU to the bowlers (and Candy Limehouse – #IfYouKnowYouKnow!!) for bringing home those trophies!

IT WAS FUN!

Franklin Jones

 

 

My Heart Is So Full. #REDDay2022!

What an amazing day!

Thursday was Keller William’s national, “RED Day!”

What is RED Day, you ask? “Introduced in 2009, RED Day, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate, is Keller Williams Realty’s annual day of service. Each year on the second Thursday of May, associates celebrate Mo Anderson’s birthday by spending the day away from their businesses serving worthy organizations and causes in their communities. RED Day is just another example of our commitment to each other and to the cities and towns where we live and work. Join us!”

Mo Anderson is one of the Grand-Poobahs of Keller Williams Realty International. While her official title is Vice-Chairman of the Board, her aka is the “Velvet Hammer.” I’ve seen her in action at various events, and the name fits. She’s also the author of,  A Joy Filled Life: Lessons From A Tenant Farmer’s DaughterShe’s also hilarious. Oh yeah, and she doesn’t like cussing. :-O

I’m proud to be associated with Keller Williams Realty. The Realtors, leadership staff, and vendor partners work hours accomplishing various projects each year. The year, Keller Williams Palmetto turned out a big showing at Epworth Children’s Home @ Downtown Columbia, SC!

I want to recognize the hard work of this awesome KW office. I love this company and all of what Mo Anderson helped create.

The photo above is of the after-party, hosted by @Za’s Brick Oven Pizza on Devine St.

More pics OTW, for sure!

Special shout out to Penny Broach and Eric Tucker for leading KWPalmetto to an awesome and impactful KW RED Day!

This is an amazing company and organization.

Thank you!!!
Franklin Jones