Ron Bridges

New Listing:

4985 Ridge Street, Dalzell SC 29040

Listed at $103,000

3 Bedroom/2 Bath home.  Needs a little TLC to be a great home.  Located in Dalzell Acres Subdivision in rural Sumter County.  A short easy drive to Shaw AFB and Sumter, SC.

Contact Lynn Bridges at 803-316-4473 or Ron Bridges at 803-316-4480 or email at ron.bridges@era.com for more information.

Fall is coming, school is back in session, football season has started, and baseball is winding up.  It is time for the Sumter County Fair.  This year the fair opens on September 29, 2009 and runs until midnight on October 3 at the Sumter County Fairgrounds on Liberty Street.

The fair first opened in 1933 and has been going ever since.  Fair week has been a time for local people, young and old, to share their hard work growing that perfect corn, the award winning rabbit, making the soft, warm quilt, or that great jar of pickles.  Toss in the carnival rides, cotton candy, smoked sausage, or lately, anything that can be fried (remember the fried twinkies?), stage acts, and numerous displays, and you have the setting for the fall event called the Sumter County Fair.

Final plans are being made and the work to bring this event another year has already started.  Make your plans now so you will not be surprised, when the "fair is in town".

For futher information visit the website for the Sumter County Fair at http://www.sumterfair.com

This 3 bedroom/2 bath home is located in the Hideaway Subdivision set in a rural environment. Hideaway Subdivision is located about 10 miles from Shaw AFB and about 7 miles from Sumter.

This home features:
Large, fenced yard
Back patio
Underground sprinkler
2 car garage.

This is a must see home and is listed for $126,900.

This 3 bedroom/2 bath home in Pioneer Point Subdivision allows you to live in a rural setting while being between Shaw AFB and Sumter, SC. With only short trips from this quiet subdivision, you can reach Shaw AFB to the west and Sumter shopping and events to the east.

Listed for $134,500.

Other features:
Large level lot
Security system
2 car garage
Hardwood floors
Skylights
Fireplace
Large family room.

Charlene Baxley was the focus of The Item's Saturday Snapshot today.

Charlene has been working for Ward's BBQ in Sumter, SC for over 30 years and congratulations on that accomplishment.  I have been to the East Liberty Wards and her smile always greets you and she works to get you the best service she can.  Thanks Charlene for the service and smiles you spread at Ward's.

Congratulations on 30 years Charlene.

 

Congratulations to the SC Trucker of the Year, Robert Galloway.  Robert has been driving for Sumter Transport for 52 years and has been recognized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and named the South Carolina Trucker's Association's Truck Driver of the Year for 2008.  Robert has had an accident free career and has logged over 4 million miles driving logging trucks.

Congratulations from Sumter Home Source.

Finally some numbers to go with all the news.  USA Today ran a story called "Foreclosures on the Rise"  that shows foreclosure information provided by RealtyTrac.  They show each state's 2008 foreclosure rate, comparing that rate to the 2007 rates.  The US had a 1.8% foreclosure rate with an 81% change from 2007.

I was surprised to see SC not on top of a "bad" list for a change.  That honor went to Nevada with a 7.3% rate and a 125.7% increase from 2007 to 2008 with 77,693 foreclosure filings.  The next on the list is Arizona and Florida with a 4.5% rate, California is at 4% and Colorado 2.5%.  Vermont is at the other end of the list with a 0% foreclosure rate and had 137 filings in 2008 for a 372.4% increase over 2007.

South Carolina is ranked as 28th with a .8% foreclosure rate, a 253.1% increase over 2007 with 14,995 filings in 2008.  SC is followed by Oklahoma #29, Wisconsin #30, and North Carolina #31 all with .8% rate.  North Carolina had 33,819 filings for a 16.2% increase over 2007.

The national news organizations make it sound like foreclosures are terrible all over.  Even though every foreclosure is bad, we can see where the worse problems are and where most of the foreclosure bail out money is needed and will be used.  We can only hope this will plug up the foreclosure holes and will allow the housing market to rebound sooner than later.

Thanks to Mirela Monte from Myrtle Beach for supplying the link to this USA Today story.  

 

The ERA Wilder Business Conference was today in Columbia.  Fourteen members of your ERA Wilder Realty Sumter Team attended the conference and learned many things that will help with home sales in the Sumter area.

Team ERA Sumter was presented with several awards including the Eagle Award for being the top Cartus RELO office for our size.  This award can only be accomplished as a team and Team ERA Sumter worked hard to receive this award.

Team ERA always looks to learn better ways to market homes and find buyers and this conference gave us a better understanding of some of the tools.  Today we learned of better ways to promote the Gold Star Home, TextERA, as well as many other advertising and marketing strategies.

Gold Star Homes are given this designation if they are move in ready, have a pre-inspection, and pass a home evaluation.  The Gold Star Home has special signs and are advertised as a Gold Star Home.  The buyer then can look at the Gold Star Home as one that is ready to move into and any problems have been identified and the seller has had the opportunity to correct problems.

TextERA, a sign is placed on the ERA sign that has the text number and Express ERA number.  Buyers can text the express number to TextERA and information will be sent directly back to the cell phone.  This way a buyer can get information on the home without waiting and in most cases will have the info before driving away from the home.

There are still many things we learned and will be putting many of those things into practice in the near future.  You can always count on Team ERA to strive to give the best service possible to each and every buyer and seller.

ERA Wilder Realty was named to the Gold Club, which is comprised of top performing members of the Cartus Broker Network who have met standards for service, referral delivery and closings, and business management.  

"The Gold Club is a new honor this year, and the Network is excited to be able to honor the brokers who have achieved this distinction," said Deborah Williams, senior vice president of Cartus Broker Services. "Network members have met a specific set of criteria to earn a spot in the Gold Club, and I congratulate ERA Wilder Realty for taking a spot amongst a group of high-quality performers."

"It is great to be one of the first members of the Gold Club," said Debbie Bowen, Broker In Charge of the Sumter Office. "The trophy we have received for achieving Gold Club status is important to us because our agents and staff take pride in delivering value to our customers and the Cartus Broker Network." 

The above exerpts were taken from a press release by ERA Wilder Realty.  You may view the entire release at http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200903/1237320039.html.

 

Today my wife Lynn and myself decided to try out lunch at a new restaurant in Sumter.  The name of the restaurant is The Hamptons and is located on East Hampton across from the Toumey Hospital parking garage.  I have been told the food and the service were outstanding and we would not be disappointed.

We entered the Hamptons and was greeted by a very cheerful greeter who took us directly to our table.  The atmosphere was elegant but inviting and felt very friendly with other diners having a good time but not loud and annoying.  The service was very quick and the food was very lite but filling.  The owner, Danielle Thompson was out chatting with patrons and recommending items to try.  Quite refreshing to have an atomsphere where the owner is not battling "fires" but actually spending time talking to the patrons.

The roasted chicken salad was made with fresh items and honey malt vinaigrette.  The vinaigrette was flavorful but did not mask the flavors of the salad.  The restaurant bakes it's own bread and desserts and I could have made a meal off the bread alone with the fresh butter that was served with it.

The prices of the food at this restaurant are more than you would pay at a family restaurant but for the quality of the food, service, and atmosphere the cost is reasonable.

Next time we are going to visit during the dinner meal and we anticipate that we will have an outstanding dining experience as well.

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone that is wanting to get away from the heavy foods served at chain restaurants and would like to enjoy a good meal in a elegant, inviting atmosphere. 

Their website has contact information and their address:   http://www.hamptonsfoods.net/

For a fine dining experience, try out the Hamptons.