The largest and most elaborate of Charleston’s antebellum religious buildings was dedicated in 1907. Today the long awaited steeple was installed. Glenn Keyes architect…..absolutely beautiful! Great job and congratulations to everyone involved.

Catching Ann Pope just walking into work today – she stylishly shows off her latest fashion finds. Blouse, GAP; Pant, Banana Republic; Shoes, Christian Louboutin; Glasses, Michael Kors; Bag, Longchamp

As always we encourage everyone at Lane and Smythe and our clients to, “Live Your Style.”

Photo by Russ

Living it up at Lois’ during our Christmas PAR-tay!

Lois broke her toe.

She will be back in the full swing of things momentarily. Please send flowers and cards to 9 Broad.

Lois Lane is responsible for this beauty!

Our office manager, Christy Barnwell, turned 30 today on Friday, December 12, 2008. Last night we celebrated her birthday, but more so celebrating her last night of 29 years. Towards the end of the celebration a double rainbow was sited outside our office on 9 Broad. Happy 30th Birthday Christy!

I recently received my EcoBroker certification. The EcoBroker program is an international education and certification program for Real Estate professionals who care about the environment and want to promote energy-efficient and “green” features in home and buildings.

National Surveys show that 80% of consumers consider themselves “green-minded”. I am always looking for the best ways to offer my clients the best value. It is imperative that we begin thinking about changing the ways we impact our environment. The EcoBroker designation does not make me an energy or environmental expert but it allows me to understand the issues and convey this understanding to my buyers and sellers.

I recently attended the 2008 American Real Estate Society (ARES) Conference in Captiva Island, Florida.  ARES is a group aimed at bringing together real estate academics and practitioners from across the nation to share research ideas and, to a lesser extent, teaching strategies.  Obviously, discussion often turned to the subprime mortgage meltdown at the conference this year.  In addition, research papers were presented on a wide variety of real estate-related topics, including residential and commercial property valuation, REITs, and sustainable design, to name a few.

ARES publishes a number of journals that include studies on the types of topics mentioned above, among many others.  Information on the Journal of Real Estate Research, the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, the Journal of Housing Research, and the Journal of Real Estate Literature, along with information about ARES itself, can be found at the organization website.

The research paper that I presented at the conference was aimed at uncovering how neighborhood amenities impact residential valuation.  The amenities considered included pools, tennis courts, neighborhood clubhouses, golf courses, play parks, and boating facilities.  Preliminary results indicate that, for existing homes over the sample period studied, play parks, clubhouses, and boating facilities increase property values significantly.  However, for newly constructed homes, tennis courts, clubhouses, and boating facilities increase property values, while golf courses actually decrease property values.  The study also notes that there seem to be some amenity groupings that add more to residential property values than do others.

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Justin Benefield  is a Professor with the College of Charleston’s School of Business and Finance.  He holds a Ph.D. in Finance, and is a licensed agent through our office.

Come see us at 9 Broad Street!