http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/paulbianchina/10-home-maintenance-tips-spring

Check out these two new listings! One is on a private Pete Dye Developed Golf Course and the other is a Beautiful Brick home in an amenity community with a deeded boat slip on Lake Keowee.  Give me a call with any questions.

High schools in South Carolina are bidding to make fishing an official high school sport, with teams, leagues and varsity letters. And with pro tournaments and television shows about fishing making it more popular than ever, some say it’s time for schools to recognize the activity as a full-fledged sport.

“They want their picture on the wall just like the football team and the volleyball and basketball and other state champion teams from Camden,” said Daniel Sisk, the fishing club coach at Camden High School in Columbia.

Camden is just one school among many around the Palmetto State that is working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to make fishing a competitive sport.

“If it was recognized as a varsity sport, then your benefits would be you can letter in it, you can get scholarships,” said Camden Fishing Club member Catie Charles, a freshman. “But right now you don’t. You just go out there for fun and nobody really notices.”

No one is claiming fishing is as demanding as that other sport that counts ‘tackle’ in its lexicon, but the anglers say there’s more to fishing than sitting back and watching for a bobber to dart underwater.

“Fishing is a very demanding sport, both physically and mentally,” said Sisk “It’s very tough. “We aren’t going out and doing two-a-days as far as practice goes, but it’s eight-hour days.

“I heard that throwing 150 casts is equivalent to throwing 100 pitches in a game,” said Fishing Club member Carson Morgan. And, according to their coach, serious anglers often make 500 casts in a day.

For now, the students fish for fun on the weekends, joining the enthusiasts who pump an estimated $215 million per year into the state economy. But Camden students and their counterparts from 13 other schools have signed a petition asking the South Carolina High School League, which regulates school athletics in the state, to sanction the activity as a sport. They’re looking for at least two more schools to sign on before they submit it.

They have a key ally in the state Department of Natural Resources.

“I want to get as many clubs as possible so that the impact is like ‘Hey look! This really is something that a lot of kids can be involved in,’” said South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Director Lorianne Riggins. “There is a lot of interest here.”

In the meantime, the students will fish and hope that the state takes the bait.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/22/friday-night-bites-south-carolina-high-schools-angling-to-make-bass-fishing/#ixzz1prSmjKde

Perfect for people who love the great outdoors, Lake Keowee South Carolina is a picturesque mountain lake with majestic views and only minutes away from Clemson University and Greenville, South Carolina.  Lake Keowee offers a variety of neighborhood styles with large wooded home sites both on and off the water.  Choose from small scale communities with only a handful of spectacular homes and home sites to larger neighborhoods with amenities like swim and tennis clubs, waterfront parks and meandering Leisure trails.

Come to Lake Keowee, South Carolina and experience why the locals call this home.

I can be reached at Phil@DiscoverLakeKeowee.com or (864) 710-5884 and would love to speak with you about our beautiful area!

Let’s face facts: There is no way to know for sure what the future holds. But a few important patterns emerged in 2011 that could clue us in. Key leading indicators are setting the stage for better times ahead and we are encouraged by these emerging patterns. There is a sense of momentum in the right direction. Falling supply and rising demand suggest im-proving fundamentals. Distressed properties made up a sizable share of that demand, which prevented price gains. Al-though foreclosures continued to hinder a full-on housing recovery in 2011, many of them were sold, bringing supply of this price drag to a much lower level than in recent years. The path of least resistance is higher prices.

And remember that 2010 tax credit for first-time home buyers? Hindsight indicates that Washington was trying to catch a falling knife. The credit temporarily reversed the market’s natural tide, causing forecasters to prematurely declare that we’d hit bottom.

Make no mistake, the economy is on the mend. Layoffs have slowed, hiring has accelerated, fewer homes in financial dis-tress are entering the market. It’s good to see that time still has a way of healing most wounds.

Housing demand has stabilized and a steadily expanding construction sector is generating the jobs needed to invigorate recovery. New jobs will drive housing demand and activate the widely-coveted “positive feedback loop.” Housing helps jobs which helps housing which helps jobs. You get the idea.

Additional labor market growth combined with record-low mortgage rates have bolstered purchase demand. Armed with cheap money, buyers took to the streets in 2011 and are expected to continue forging new households at a reason-able clip.

Listings Seller activity slowed during the year, both for traditional sellers as well as for banks. The net result was a sig-nificant reduction in the supply of homes compared to 2010.

Sales Housing recovery won’t occur without consumer participation. In 2011, housing demand held relatively steady, in-dependent of government incentives. Closed sales were down 1.7 percent to 46,762 for the year.

Inventory No matter your personal beliefs or favorite type of Angry Bird, there’s no denying the fact that buyers have fewer choices from which to pick and sellers are facing less competition.

Prices Home prices in the state during 2011 ticked downward by 1.0 percent to $148,500. That’s down roughly 10 per-cent from their bubbly apex in 2007, but that’s a much smaller drop than many other parts of the country have experi-enced.

Higher. Increase. Positive. These are words we expect to use more of in 2012. The major factor constraining market recov-ery will not be with us forever. Lender-mediated inventory is a tar pit in the near-term, but it will soon be absorbed, re-moving the downward pressure on overall prices.

At the same time, housing doesn’t live in a vacuum. A number of local, national and global changes must take place to re-store stability and confidence in the marketplace. For one, credit-worthy home buyers need access to mortgage capital. And although past policies temporarily dampened the natural ebb and flow of the market, a comprehensive housing pol-icy framework is necessary to guide sustained recovery.

For Full 9 page report, call or email and we will get a copy to you

24 Marina Village Way Salem, SC 29676

Situated on a gentle point lot, this pristine home offers two master suites on the main level both overlooking beautiful Lake Keowee. The Chefs Kitchen has been completely renovated with Oak Cabinetry, and all new top of the line Stainless Electrolux appliances. Downstairs offers another full suite with two offices and a Den with plenty of room available to have another Full bedroom if desired. The Grounds have been kept natural with very little maintenance necessary and the Dock is brand new floating in over 20 feet of water! Come out and enjoy all the amenities Keowee Key has to offer.

2012 Slogan =  Maintaining an attitude of Gratitude!

(2011 Stats are through 12-19-2011)

2010 Waterfront Home Sales

2011 Waterfront Home Sales

2010 Interior Home Sales

2011 Interior Home Sales

2010 Lake Keowee Waterfront Lot Sales

2011 Lake Keowee Waterfront Lot Sales