The Town of Irmo is known for the OKRA Strutt in fall where you can eat Okra in many different ways, it is close to Lake Murray, and for its award winning schools among many things.
District Five (Lex/Rich #5, formerly known as Lex#5) and Irmo's very convenient location to downtown and Lake Murray make it a thought after area to live. Minutes to everything including Columbiana Mall. Bower Parkway an Outdoor Shopping Mall and Movie Theater. There is another Movie Theater across from Columbiana Mall. From here you can be just about anywhere in Columbia fairly quickly.
There are neighborhoods with custom built homes, brick construction is popular (we have Brick Factories in Columbia), some feature community pools, tennis courts and sidewalks.
Columbiana Mall and Bower Parkway are a newer and larger shopping mall indoor and outdoor with fine restaurants and 3 movie theaters. Everything you need in 1 location, including SAMS, Target, Walmart, Sears, Penney, Dillard, Belks and more. There are many ways in and out of this area.
Not every real estate market is the same. All real estate markets are unique and influenced by local demand, local land-use and building rules, and a host of other factors one cannot see from the generalized scope of national news coverage. Please contact us for more details.
It is a great time to purchase a home with the interest still low but slowly on the rise over the last few weeks. We have lender and all contact needed for a smooth closing.
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National Recognitions
South Carolina is frequently recognized by publications and organizations as one of the most business-friendly states. See What People Are Saying About The Palmetto State:
Area Development: Named South Carolina a 2011 Gold Shovel Award winner in recognition of economic development projects undertaken in 2010. The award is based on the number of high-value added jobs per capita, amount of investment, number of new facilities and industry diversity. South Carolina was also a Silver Shovel Award recipient in 2009 and 2010.
Area Development: Named South Carolina 4th in the nation as a place to do business based on 12 key site selection criteria in three general categories - business environment, infrastructure and labor climate. The magazine surveyed a select group of national site consultants to identify the 10 most attractive states for business. South Carolina was the consultants' 2nd choice for overall business climate, coming in 2nd on all factors comprising the category - corporate tax environment, incentive programs, overall cost of doing business and business friendliness. In the infrastructure category, South Carolina placed 2nd for certified sites and a shovel-ready site system and 4th for competitive utility rates. Under labor climate, South Carolina came in 3rd for labor costs and 5th for workplace development programs.
Business Facilities: The South Carolina Department of Commerce received 2010 honorable mention honors from Business Facilities magazine for First Quality Tissue's decision to locate a new $1-billion plant and create 1,000 new jobs in Anderson County. In 2009, South Carolina received the magazine's Deal of the Year Gold Award for the selection of North Charleston for the site of The Boeing Company's second final assembly plant for the 787 Dreamliner commercial airplane.
Business Facilities: South Carolina did exceptionally well on the latest 2011 State Rankings Report from Business Facilities magazine, placing in five categories. South Carolina ranked 3rd for Economic Growth Potential, 2nd in Automotive Manufacturing Strength, 5th for Best Business Climate, 8th for Workforce Training Leader and 8th for Lowest Cost of Labor.
Chief Executive: South Carolina came in as one of the ten best states for business on the magazine's annual poll of CEOs, ranking 8th. About 550 CEOs rated states on taxation and regulation, workforce quality and quality of life.
Forbes: Ranks South Carolina 5th best in 2011 for its pro-business regulatory environment. Forbes considered the state's regulatory and tort climate, incentives, transportation and bond ratings.
IBM: South Carolina made a strong showing on IBM's 2009 Global Location Trends Annual Report, coming in 4th among North American states and provinces based on number of jobs from 2008 investment activity.
Pollina Corporate Real Estate: Ranks South Carolina as the 9th most Pro-Business State for 2011. South Carolina has ranked in the top ten for eight consecutive years. The state was No. 1 in both 2005 and 2006.
Site Selection: South Carolina consistently ranks high on the magazine's "Top State Business Climates" and in 2011 took the 5th spot overall and placed 7th in the magazine's survey of corporate real estate executives. South Carolina also held 5th place overall in 2010, and corporate executives have ranked South Carolina in the top 10 for the past eight years. The magazine's New Plant Database showed that South Carolina had the most new projects per capita during 2010.
Site Selection: Recognized South Carolina as a Top Competitive State of 2010, placing South Carolina in the 5th spot. The magazine determined competitiveness on the basis of new and expanded facilities and new jobs in 2010 plus other factors, including state gross domestic product per capita and unemployment rate.
Site Selection: The magazine chose the First Quality Tissue project as one of its Top Deals of 2010. The winners were chosen based on capital investment and job creation, creative negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition for the project and speed to market. Proterra's electric bus operation in Greenville received honorable mention.
Southern Business & Development: Six South Carolina projects earned Excellence in Manufacturing Recruitment Awards from Southern Business & Development magazine. The magazine recognized these high-profile projects: The Boeing Co., N. Charleston, 787 Dreamliner jet; First Quality Tissue, Anderson, paper products; IMO Group USA, Summerville, wind energy components; MTU Detroit Diesel Inc., Graniteville, heavy-duty diesel engines; Proterra Inc., Greenville, battery-electric buses; and ZF Group, Laurens County, fuel-efficient transmissions. South Carolina received the most awards of any state in the magazine's reporting region.
Southern Business & Development: The Boeing Company's announcement that it would bring a 787 Dreamliner final assembly plant to North Charleston earned 2009 Deal of the Year status from the magazine.
Trade & Industry Development: The leading national magazine dedicated to site selection, announced that two projects recruited by the South Carolina Department of Commerce in conjunction with local economic development allies were among the magazine's 2011 Corporate Investment & Community Impact (CiCi) Award winners. ZF Group is among 15 projects that received a Corporate Investment Award, and IMO USA Corporation was among 15 honored with a Community Impact Award. This is the sixth consecutive year that South Carolina has been recognized with a CiCi award.
• Agency Leadership
• Division Directors
• International Offices
• SC Coordinating Council for Economic Development
• National Recognitions
• Recycling Market Development
The State Paper reported 9/30/09 that US News puts Columbia in the 10 most affordable places to retire to. 11/30/09: Forbes says SC metro areas among fastest recovering MSAs, Columbia is ranked #35. Click this link to see the article www.Columbiabusinessreport.com/news/31890/print
Thank you for taking the time to read our news letter. We hope that you found it helpful and informative. Our newsletter gets updated monthly. We hope that you enjoyed it. Feel free to share it with someone. We welcome your questions. We look forward to hear from you now or in the future and possibly to assist you with the sale and purchase of your property.
Thank you,
Rosemarie & Kirstin
ZIP Code: 29063
Approximate Location Boundaries: Lake Murray, Dutch Square & Broad River, Chapin (north shore of lake Murray)
Location Characteristics: Per Daily Report dated Jan 3, 2012 Columbia ranks 3rd as top destination to relocate
http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/42177-s-c-ranks-no-3-among-top-magnet-states
IRMO is a small town west of Columbia and very close to Lake Murray. Some neighborhoods have a Columbia as address 29212 Zip Code and that may be confusing to a new person when you first arrive here. You live in the Irmo area and have Irmo Schools (Lexington District Five which has been know always for it's excellence in education) but for some residents it will say Columbia as city and not Irmo.
Irmo is small enough that people may greet you by your name if they get to know you. Irmo-Lake Murray-Chapin are known for a more rural lifestyle. The locals and people that have moved here like this natural setting. You will find a field with cows or goats, even horses here or there. Hardwood trees mixed with some pines and clay soil give the area a very different appearance than NE Cola or Lexington. You'll find mostly sandy soil and the vegetation is different too.
Irmo celebrates the OKRA Strutt in October, a fest with crafts, a parade, street dancing and a lot of fun. Irmo is attractive to many buyers for the Award Winning Lex/Rich #5 School District, ranked among the best in the state and Columbia for many, many years. We moved here 1991 and it was this way before we moved here and still is. Most of the area is in Lexington County, but Richland County lines are within the area too. Some may think it is confusing since Richland county is mostly downtown, in the SE and NE. There is no real downtown shopping area in Irmo but there is a Shoppers Walk, Columbiana Mall and the Murraywood Shopping center are along St Andrews Rd and the train tracks. Most businesses and professional businesses are to both sides of that. There is a Lexington Hospital linked Urgent Care, Palmetto Health Parkridge linked to Richland Palmetto Health Hospital, and several professioanl buildings. You can see that the gound breaking for a new hospital has taken place.
Irmo has a pretty town hall and police department, a small park that features a few concerts in summer. Harbison State Forest, Saluda Shoals Park (has canoe rentals, walking and biking trails, river access park, guided canoe trips and more) will have lights during Halloween and Christmas. Columbiana Center within minutes to many sub divisions for fine shopping and dining, entertainment, 2 movie theaters, and I-26 if you want to go downtown. Irmo is growing at a steady pace commercial amd residential. Railroad tracks run through the town (*and all of Columbia) and you can hear occasionally trains go trough Irmo from time to time. (By the way that train runs through all of Columbia, downtown, NE etc) Minutes to Lake Murray for year- round recreation, boating, fishing, a public beach near the Dam. Since the dam has been completed there is a walking path and a bicycle path open to the public across the dam. Frankie's Fun Park, Super Wal-Mart, Sam's, Home Depot and Lowe's and much more for all your needs.
Driving around you will find some large vegetable gardens and also small farms with goats, cows, horses and more. You can see wildlife if you take a close look from a fox, to deer, wild turkey, blue herons around the lake and perhaps a Bald Eagle too. Many beautiful butterflies and birds. It is a nature lovers paradise.
US News reported recently (per The State Paper 9/30/09) that Columbia is in the 10 best affordable places to retire to. They said that "Retirees want a more diverse set of opportunities and they can find that in a university town".
US News said it "thought out places with low cost of living and reasonable housing prices that still offered access to the services and amenities that people should look for in an ideal retirement spot"
Columbia Regional Business Report dated July 2, 2011 reports that Columbia is ranked #73 on FORBES magazine's annual list of the Best Places for Business and Careers, released Wednesday.
Columbia Regional Business Report 7/18/2011:
Sales were down in all of the state's 15 real estate markets except Sumter-Clarendon, which reported an 8.5% increase for June compared with the same month in 2010.
According to the report, real estate agents in that market sold 127 homes in June, 10 more than in June 2010. The area's median price was up 17.4% to $138,500 in June, compared with $118,000 a year ago.
Realtors in the area said home sales were brisk because of the recent move to Shaw Air Force Base of more than 1,000 soldiers assigned to the 3rd Army headquarters.
Meanwhile, home sales across the state dropped 19.7% last month compared with June 2010, according to the data. The median price ticked upward by 1.6%.
Columbia real estate agents reported 672 houses, condos and villas were sold in June, compared with 977 in June 2010. The median price was up 0.8%, to $146,130 from $145,000 in June last year.
The drop in home sales in Columbia also was reflected in the number of days a unit remained on the market. According to the data, homes were on the market an average of 117 days in June, compared with 98 in 2010, a 19.9% increase.
Statewide, nearly 1,200 fewer homes were sold last month compared with June 2010, and the number of days that residential property remained on the market jumped 13.6% to 142 days from 125 in June 2010.
But the median price for South Carolina edged up in June by $3,000, to $155,000 from $152,500 a year ago, according to the data.
Not every real estate Market is the same. Every market is DIFFERENT!
If you are interested in buying and or selling please call us and we gladly show you what our market is like. We look forward to hear from you and to assist you now or in the future.
For More Information:
View Market Conditions of other areas served by Rosemarie Averhoff, CRS &Kirstin Averhoff-Gilbert, CRS
Navigate: Top > South Carolina > Irmo
About Rosemarie Averhoff, CRS &Kirstin Averhoff-Gilbert, CRS:
Whether you move down the block, across the country, the city, or to anther continent...
Please give us a call. We can assist with all your real estate needs now or in the future.
Our business is built on referrals and repeat business. We have sold around $100 million in Real Estate since 1993. My daughter and partner Kirstin since 1996. We are both Certified Residential Specialists CRS, Certified New Home Specialists CSP, e-PRO Certified and ABR's Accredited Buyer Representatives
We are relocation specialists and like to represent you with a NEW home or existing home purchase. We have access to any listing.
We look forward to assist you now or in the future.
These reports reflect the views and opinions of their authors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of Realty Times.
