Archive for March, 2008
On Hilton Head Island, the Spa on Port Royal Sound Has Economical Second Homes and Good Amenities.
Many buyers want to have a second home on Hilton Head Island but not at high prices. The Spa on Port Royal Sound has two-bedroom villas from $79,900 and with beautiful grounds and excellent recreational amenities. These include walking paths beside lagoons, two outdoor swimming pools, one indoor heated pool, spa, sauna, three tennis courts and the Port Royal Sound beach that was re-nourished in 2006. The Town’s bike path system includes Beach City Road where the Spa is located and it connects the Spa to all other Island locations. Many restaurants and shopping areas, the hospital, library and airport are all within a ten minute drive. 
While economical, the Spa has never done well in the Hilton Head Island vacation rental marketplace because it has a somewhat remote location and is not on the ocean. The Sound beach is beautiful and great for walking, sunning, breezes - but not for swimming. Spa owners mostly purchase to use their villas as second homes without rental to others. Some owners rent to vacationers on their own and some owners rent to tenants.
The Spa has 268 one and two bedroom villas; All flats located on the first, second and third floors. There are no elevators at the Spa, therefore owners often prefer the lower floors. Buyers like the two-bedroom villas located anywhere within the Spa and the Sound-front one-bedroom villas for their outstanding views of the beach and Port Royal Sound. The two bedroom villas are about 917 SF in area. They have full kitchens and piggy-back clothes washers and dryers. The monthly regime fee is $467 and this includes insurance for hurricane/fire/flood, water and sewer, basic cable TV, buildings and grounds maintenance, trash pick-up, pest control and 24-hour manned security gate. The annual property tax is approximately $820. The Spa is well managed by the Board of Directors and a full-time Regime Manager. .jpg)
Go Gated Realty ® just listed #2201, the lowest price two-bedroom villa in the first phase closest to the Sound for just $94,900, furnished. The owners of this villa have just repainted the interior and installed new tile floors in the kitchen and the bathrooms. This villa is on the second floor and has a balcony with a view of the grounds. The balcony can be enclosed to become a screened porch. This villa is ready to go and a buyer can move right into this villa at closing.
Please come and see the Spa on Port Royal Sound for yourself and take advantage of some low pricing today. To learn more about any vacation, investment or residential villas or homes on Hilton Head Island or nearby, contact the Gated Communities Specialist ®.
![]() |
Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@rkrealty.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories |
Hilton Head's St. Patrick's Day Parade
The weather was perfect for the 25th annual Hilton Head Island St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday, March 16. Marching bands from the area’s high schools, many local businesses, civic groups, classic cars and the Charleston Police Pipes and Drums Corp were represented and entertained thousands of people, young and old.
25 years ago the first Hilton Head Island St. Patrick’s Day parade finished when the Budweiser Clydesdales pulled the iconic shiny red beer wagon along Pope Avenue to the Sea Pines Circle with the Dalmatian right up on top with the driver- it was perfect. This 25th parade highlighted our Military. At 3:30 p.m. an Army helicopter flew over the parade route and then Army Humvees led the way down Pope Avenue to an appreciative audience.
(1).jpg)
.jpg)
The parade route began at Coligny Circle in Forest Beach and continued along Pope Avenue toward the Sea Pines Circle, turned left on College Center Drive and ended in Park Plaza - about two miles. It lasted about an hour and a half. Off the parade route, the Beaufort County Police did an excellent job of keeping traffic moving along the the west side of Pope Avenue so that nobody was inconvenienced by the parade.
Hilton Head’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is just one of many community events on Hilton Head Island throughout the year.
![]() ![]() |
![]() |
Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@rkrealty.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories |
Jumbo Loans in the Hilton Head Mortgage Market Today
Hilton Head and Bluffton real estate borrowers often request loans of more than $417,000. These loans are called jumbos. Jumbo rates are higher than the rates of lower, conforming mortgages. I want to explain just what has happened to jumbos recently and offer our best guess of what will happen for the near term.
![]() |
|
Source: Bankrate.com |
First of all, all mortgage lenders ideally prefer to sell the mortgage loans they make to others rather than hold them on their own balance sheet. In a “normal” mortgage environment, loans can be bundled into mortgage backed securities and sold to investors. However, with the current state of affairs in the mortgage industry, investors for jumbo loans have become scarce to totally non-existent. When the lender makes a conforming loan, a loan in the amount of $417,000 or below, it can still be sold to either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Both of these agencies are backed by the federal government. Because these loans can be sold, the rates on the conforming loan products have remained fairly low. However, when a loan amount exceeds the conforming loan limit and without investor to buy the loan, the lender must hold the loan in their portfolio. When a lender makes a residential real estate loan that they cannot sell, they are required by law to set aside three times the loan amount in reserve. That is money that cannot be touched until the corresponding loan has been paid in full. For example, if we at Wachovia make a loan of $1 million to a buyer of a Hilton Head villa, we have to set aside $3 million in reserve. Because of this reserve requirement, the lender is forced to require a higher rate of return on the loan, thus the jumbo rates continue to climb.
![]() |
|
Source: Bankrate.com |
Recently Congress passed and the White House approved a new economic stimulus bill, a portion of which provided an increase of the conforming loan limit to $729,750. As it turns out, the increase was only for designated “high cost” areas of the country, the majority of which are in Florida, California, New York, and Washington. DC – not Beaufort County. As it appears at the present time, Beaufort County, SC will not see a direct benefit from this package with regard to the loan limit increase. However, the stimulus bill should allow some owners in New York who want to move to Hilton Head or Bluffton sell their homes and relocate here.
Going forward we do not look for any major change in the jumbo mortgage market for the near term. Until all of the uncertainty has been worked out of the housing markets, investors for jumbo loans will continue to sit on the sidelines, leaving rates higher than all of us would like to see them. It is important to remember, however, that if you are considering the purchase of a property that would require you to take out a jumbo loan, the current rate environment should not hold you back. Based on where rates are at the present time, the monthly payment difference between a conforming and jumbo 30 year fixed rate loan is only $40 per $100,000 loan amount. Also, it is very important to remember that this mortgage and housing environment will improve at some point in the future. Nobody can tell you when it will occur, but when it does you will be able to refinance your loan to a better rate. You won’t be able to go back and buy property at these low prices. So, do not let today’s jumbo rates prevent you from taking advantage of a great deal on a home, villa, or lot.
Should you have questions about jumbo loans or any other types of mortgage loans, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at pat.child@wachovia.com.

Patrick S. Child
Vice President
Residential Lending, Wachovia Mortgage, FSB
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
(843) 686-9342
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
The Dolphin Head Golf Club Celebrates its 25th Anniversary with $25 Memberships!
The Dolphin Head Golf Club in Hilton Head Plantation is celebrating its Silver Anniversary by offering 25 memberships at $25 each! You do not have to be a Hilton Head Plantation property owner to have a membership. Individuals, families, residents and non-residents of Hilton Head Island may purchase these Silver Anniversary non-equity memberships and enjoy the Club’s private golf and entire guest and social privileges. This is a significant savings on the usual cost of membership (also available) of $3,000 application fee plus $2,500 for an equity certificate.
The Dolphin Head course was designed by Gary Player and Ron Kirby. The course opened in 1975 and was the first in Hilton Head Plantation. The members purchased the club in 1983, built the clubhouse in 1986 and expanded it in 1998. In recent years the course has
received renovations to over 50 sand bunkers and to four putting greens under the supervision of golf architect Clyde Johnson. The clubhouse has a pro shop, men’s and women’s locker rooms, dining room and the Manager’s office. The dining room is open for lunch daily for dinner five evenings per month. Social events are held throughout the year.
The course has six tees ranging from 2,180 to 3,307 yards with ratings and slopes of red 71.7/122, white 70.5/125 and blue 71.6/134. The course covers some beautiful real estate near Port Royal Sound where majestic trees and area birds are abundant. The mounds that surround the slightly elevated greens are a Dolphin Head ’trademark’. There are water hazards on thirteen holes and the course has some of the longest par three holes in the area.
There is a full golf program of competitive and social events as well as golf instruction for men, women and juniors. These include both a nine and eighteen hole women’s leagues and weekly men’s day. There is a variety of stoke, team and match play competitions, a flighted club championship, married couples championship and an annual two-day member-guest tournament.
Dolphin Head Golf Club has 310 total memberships. A $25 membership fee for private golf is a great way to celebrate a Silver Anniversary. For more details, contact Kirsty Kumm, Dolphin Head Golf Club Manager at 843-681-5550, X222.
![]() |
Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@rkrealty.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories |
"I really like the ocean view", she said with enthusiasm.
I thoroughly enjoyed a sales appointment with these buyers from Atlanta a few days ago. Before they visited, I corresponded with the husband by e-mail for several weeks and we spoke several times on the telephone. He wanted a two-bedroom villa with vacation rental potential. The focus would be on the Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort and Fiddler’s Cove
It’s great when buyers know what they want and are clear about it. I can take that information and find the best few properties from what’s available. When they arrived to see properties, the keys were in my pocket.
I had not met the wife before that morning but she called twice from the road to report on their travel progress. They arrived and we had only seen two villas when she asked, "What does it cost for an ocean view?" I explained that ocean view two bedrooms were more than they wanted to spend but that ocean view one bedrooms were in their price range. To satisfy her curiosity, we saw one. "I really like the ocean view", she said enthusiastically. We met the next day and saw the best ocean view villas in their price range. They really got excited about two villas that had very good prices and very good ocean views. They have gone back to to Atlanta to think it over. I have sent the rental histories of each villa as they requested.
This is a ‘first phase’ sales story. The process often begins on the Internet with a dialog about the buyer’s expectations. This is followed by a meeting to see the best properties door to door and compare them. Even with extensive planning, more than one meeting is usually required. This process has endless variations because everybody is different and there are many different kinds of properties.
The first phase is often followed by a second and third. These consist of the offer, negotiation, inspection, renegotiation, loan application, selection of the attorney, closing and post-closing. Each part of the process is important and has its own opportunities and challenges. I work for clients to get them best price and terms possible t takes skill, good communication and some luck. It’s always a learning experience. Things usually go well and when they do, it’s fun too.
![]() |
Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@rkrealty.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories |

(2).jpg)
(1).jpg)

