Real Estate Information Archive

In a recent Bloomberg Businessweek report, Greenville, SC has yet again made the top five, this time for being one of America's most fun, affordable cities. The information was taken from which cities offer affordable housing combined with a great nightlife.

According to the article, Greenville has 196 bars and restaurants and offers a medium home price of $134,875. After the downtown area, Haywood Road area is listed as the area that has the most restaurant activity and generates the most retail sales in the city. 

The top five most fun and affordable cities were: 1) Ocean City, Maryland, 2) Ala Moana-Kakaako, Honolulu, Hawaii, 3) Tempe, Arizona, 4) Scottsdale, Arizona, and 5) Greenville, South Carolina. To round out the top 25, South Carolina had 3 other cities make the list; Florence came in at 13, Myrtle Beach was 15th, and North Carleston was 23rd.

Why do you think Greenville is great?

Greenville makes another top ten list on RelocateAmerica’s Top 100 Places to Live in 2011. According to the 14^th annual list, Greenville ranks #6 as the best place to live.

In consideration for the 2011, the RelocateAmerica team found the best communities that are well position for economic recovery, already experiencing strong economic recovery or have proven overall economic stability. Factors such as employment, education, community leadership and overall quality of life are strongly considered and examined.

Here’s your top ten best places to live:

1. Austin, Texas
2. Grand Rapids, Michigan
3. Boulder, Colorado
4. Raleigh, North Carolina
5. Dallas, Texas
6. Greenville, South Carolina
7. Augusta, Georgia
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Omaha, Nebraska
10. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Why do you think Greenville is a great place to live? 

Kohl's is opening a new store in Easley come September and that means 130 jobs will be available. The large department store retailer will be hiring register operators, department associates, customer service, freight unloaders and ad set associates.

A job fair will be held for positions August 7-11 at the Hilton Greenville, 45 W. Orchard Park. The schedule for the job fair is below:

• Sunday, Aug. 7
• 10:45 a.m.-6:15 p.m.
• Monday, Aug. 8
• 10:45 a.m. – 6:15 p.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 9
• 12:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Aug. 10
• 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Aug. 11
• 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

If interested, you can call 1-877-639-5645 to schedule an interview or visit Kohl's Careers for more information.

If you have your house on the market this summer here are a few tips to help give your house that extra bit of care to perhaps get it sold quicker. 

1. Mow the lawn twice a week. Every other time you cut the lawn, try mowing on a diagonal to add some dimension.
2. Decorate with summer influenced accents. White and blue are summer colors and have a calming effect.
3. Bring the light inside. Remove those old, heavy, worn out drapes and consider replacing them with shears or lighter fabrics.
4. Go with the flow of summer. With daylight savings in most places around the country, twilight hours now offer a nice time for people to come and tour your home.
5. Move the home outside. Create a warm, inviting outdoor space with furniture and color.
6. Deliver the sparkle. Old school decorating rules don’t apply any more, gold, silver, brass, or pewter, mix them up. Mix and match items to give more depth to your home décor.
7. Supply summer treats and drinks. Every part of the country is known for its flavor of food. Leave out chilled bottled water or freshly baked cookies for your guests.
8. Utilize natural scent sparingly. Don’t get too carried away with the Febreze, try something a little more subtle to freshen up your house.
9. Control the air temperature. There is nothing worse than a stuffy room with no air flow. Make sure to turn on your ceiling fans to keep the air circulating. Bump down your thermostat a degree or two while your house is being shown.

With summer almost officially here that air conditioning unit is probably running full blast to keep you cool in the 90 degree weather we’ve been having lately.

I came across a website that offered helpful tips to reduce your energy bill, not just over the summer, but year around as well. 

• Your dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes by hand. Let the dishes air-dry to save even more!
• Having lots of food in your friends keeps it from warming up too fast when the door is open; so your fridge doesn’t have to work as hard to stay cool.
• You will 1-3% per degree for each degree the thermostat is set above 72 degrees
• Avoid running your appliances during peak hours, from 4PM to 6PM.
• Install window shading – patio covers, awnings or solar window screens to shade your home from the sun; you could save up to 5%
• Refrigerators with a top or bottom freezer design can save you an additional 2-3% on your bill compared to a side-by-side design.
• Purchase ENERGY STAR appliances for your home.
• Install a whole house fan to draw cool air into your home through the windows while forcing hot air out through your attic vents. Best to use this one at night or early morning.
• Install an ENGERY STAR programmable thermostat.
• Change your filters at least once a month.
• Install ceiling fans to help reduce your need to use the air conditioner.
• Take down the old storm windows, if you live in an area where you need them, and put up screens in their place.