Good news from Congress this morning!  It seems that Congress may extend the first-time home buyer tax credit until the end of April and, best of all, allow folks that have been in their homes for at least 5 years to take a advantage of a $6,500 tax credit.

This is not a done deal yet but the vote should come soon.  If you are on the fence about making a move in the near future it might be worth your time to give your congressman a call or send an email.

Click here for a site where you can find contact info on your representatives in Congress.

I know this is going to get some of you off of the fence on whether or not to buy now.  Interest rates are still extremely favorable and home prices are extremely low.  Many of our homes are priced at 2003 levels.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to give us a call.  When you’re ready to visit make sure you take advantage of our discovery package.

Have a great day everyone!  Ya’ll be nice to one another.

If you haven’t visited Wyboo Plantation in a while you’ve likely missed some pretty big changes in Downtown Manning.  Manning’s downtown is an excellent example of a turn of the century small town commercial district.  Although it survived the Wal-Mart invasion better then most downtowns it has definitely suffered from a lack of local investment and interest over the past 25 years.  Over the past 2-3 years that trend has started to reverse itself.

Downtown Manning at Christmas

The City of Manning has led the way by seeking grant money and putting up its own money to beautify the streets downtown.  So far the City of Manning has spent over $2 million on downtown beautification projects.  They have moved overhead powerlines off many of the downtown streets, added brickwork to sidewalks, added new landscaping, and replaced the old stop lights hanging from the powerlines with new mast arms.  This is all in addition to the work they do during the Holiday Season to make downtown Manning so pretty.  They have shown the business leaders in Manning that the City is willing to invest in downtown if they are and the business leaders have followed suit.

The last few years have seen major renovations on every block of downtown.  I’m not going to run down the whole list but I’ll hit the high points that are of the most interest to potential new residents.

Studio 1916 is one of the largest downtown renovations in many years.  This converted furniture store now houses Beautiful Images (a medical spa, pictured), Jessica’s (a boutique), Cissy’s (a gift shop), and a gourmet shop.  They also have the occasional antique consignment.  This property owner is also responsible for the 1st Edward Jones office on the corner.  This site has been the anchor for much of the work done downtown.  You can easily kill a morning on this block.

Johnson & Robinson is a law firm that has long been located downtown but within the last 2 years has renovated the most visible corner in downtown Manning.  This renovation has just recently awarded the best renovation by the Mainstreet Manning Association.  Just next door is The Manning Times (our local weekly paper) who lovingly renovated the old Central Coffee Shop building into their new offices.  Just behind Johnson & Robinson is the new Clarendon Grill (we’ll get back to this one).  We are well on the way to having this entire block renovated.

What good would a nice downtown be if there wasn’t a place to eat, drink, and be merry.  With that in mind I’ll mention just two more downtown establishments.  The first is Clarendon Grill.  It is the newest addition and is the first restaurant to bring fine dining and a place to enjoy a glass of wine to our downtown atmosphere.  The second is French Hens.  They got their start as a gift shop that served a light lunch.  Now they are known for their lunches and they sell a few gifts on the side.

This is by no means a comprehensive list.  Downtown Manning is seeing new businesses open every day.  The only way to see them all is to do it in person.  There is nothing quite like spending a leisurely afternoon in a small town’s vibrant downtown.  Give us a call and we’ll be happy to put you up while you take a couple of days to look around.

Residents of the lowcountry can add another activity to their list of things to do. Starting next May, the Carnival Cruise ship ‘Fantasy’ will begin sailing year round from the port in Charleston. Carnival has operated a few winter cruises in the past, but this is the first time they will have year round cruises.

The Fantasy, which seats 2,056 passengers, will make five, six and seven-day voyages to Key West and the Bahamas. The cruises will take off once every week, and sometimes more often than that.

Republican Senator Larry Grooms was excited for the announcement. “It is a wonderful day in South Carolina. It is a wonderful day in the Lowcountry, it’s like a fantasy has come true.”

The cruise line is expected to bring as much as $70 million annually for Charleston and the South Carolina economy. A study done last year said that the average ship that leaves a Charleston port would spend around $2.5 million in local supplies.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said, “People come here to take a cruise, and they haven’t been to Charleston before, they say one thing: We’re coming back.”

South Carolina has become one of the top states to retire in because of its beautiful lakes and oceans, plentiful golf courses and year round enjoyable weather. A new report by MSN illustrates the total tax burden for a hypothetical retired couple and ranks South Carolina as the 4^th lowest state by overall cost.

The article takes into account income, property and sales taxes. Florida, a retirement hot spot that has no income tax ranks in the middle of the pack, and New Jersey and Pennsylvania rank as the most tax-heavy states.

One of the biggest financial burdens to retirement-aged people is property tax, and that is the area that South Carolina separates itself from other states. Tax heavy states such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey charge nearly 11 times more annually for property tax.

“I think they should definitely look at the property-tax situation. While many states might exclude some or all of your pension from income taxes, property taxes go on — and often up — year after year,” Robert Barbetti, senior manager of JP Morgan Private Bank’s advice labs said in the article.

Read the full article here.

Americans will be firing up the grill this weekend as we celebrate Labor Day. The seasons are beginning to change and for many of us, this is the last real chance to grill out. There is nothing that goes better on the grill this weekend than hamburgers and hotdogs. I have compiled a list of some of the better burger recipes out there, and have listed some of my favorites.

–The Best Hamburger Ever

–Bacon Double Cheese Stuffed Burger

–The Cajun Burger

–The Pizza Burger

–The Best Hamburger With Least Amount of Work

–Best Hamburger Recipe

And last but not least:

–Best Hamburger Recipe In The Whole Wide World

For those who prefer hot dogs, a history of the stable of any Labor Day Barbeque:

–The History of the Hot Dog

Have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend and get those grills going!

A fisherman’s paradise is hard to find but Lake Marion and Lake Arbu give Wyboo Plantation residents 100,000 acres of enjoyment. The lakes do not ice over, and weather permitting, fishing is a year round activity.

Fishing tournaments are held throughout the year, and there are abundant species of largemouth bass and other fish including crappie, catfish, stripers and panfish. Part of the Santee-Cooper lake system, the lake provides the only native population of striped bass in the world.

These lakes boast world record fish including a 58 lb. Channel Catfish, a 16+ lb Largemouth Bass and an Arkansas Blue that weighed nearly 110 lbs. A 55 lb striped bass did hold the world record for some time.

For the end of August and into September, some anglers are reporting good luck catching blue catfish in 20-25 feet of water while others are finding 40 feet and deeper the ideal depth. Catfish do come into shallow water to feed at night, and cut bait is still your best option.

Although the summer heat slows down crappie and largemouth bass fishing, they are still active in about 20 feet of water.

Just a quick post for all of you planning on visiting us in the coming months.  Our two night Discovery Packages are booking up pretty quickly for the months of September and October.  If you are planning on visiting us during that time frame you should probably plan on booking sooner rather than later.

For the uninitiated, our Discovery Package includes the following:

• 2 nights in our 2bdr/2ba guest house
• golf for you and your spouse on each of our courses (The Players Course at Wyboo and Wyboo Golf Club)
• Breakfast for 2 in our Wyboo Meeting Center each morning

Of course somewhere in all of that we will take some time to look at Wyboo Plantation.  If you have already received information from us then you will have an information package with one of our agents cards in it.  Just give that agent a call and he or she can arrange everything from accommodations to tee times.

If you have not yet received information then just give us a call at (800) 951-2605 and we’ll be happy to fix you up.  We look forward to seeing you soon.