The Charleston Blog, by Jim & Maria

I just saw an article on RIS Media about trends in real estate.  The author surveyed 886 real estate agents in all fifty states to discover what things were no longer working for sellers and what things buyers were now looking for.  The article sums up what things are out, and what we can look forward to seeing more focus on in the future.

Here's what things are OUT:

• Unrealistic home sellers
• Living rooms
• Vacant homes for sale
• Exponential appreciation
• HUGE homes
• Obese ceiling heights
• Balconies
• Option ARMs
• Pre-construction pricing on new construction

And here's what things are IN:

• Destination bathrooms
• Pet showers
• Short sales
• Home elevators
• Outdoor living spaces that look interior
• Down payments
• Eco-friendly
• Concealed appliances
• Monitoring and controlling with hand-held devices
• Non-smoking HOAs
• Hybrid home energy

The article goes into more detail about each one of these points.  I think it's pretty interesting that the shift in the overall market has led to a few of these trends, both in and out.