Charles Sampson Real Estate Group

The 17th Annual Rib Burnoff and Barbecue Fest at The Coastal Discovery Museum

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:35:05 +0000

The Kiwanis Club of Hilton Head Island and The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn will host the 17th Annual Rib Burnoff and Barbecue Fest, from noon to 4 p.m., May 18, rain or shine. The annual barbecue is known as Hilton Head’s premier BBQ event, drawing crowds to its aromas of hickory stoked fires, slow roasted ribs and pulled pork. Cooking starts the night before. Around 20 professional and amateur chefs battle it out for both certified judging for trophies and bragging rights as well as the popular vote with all net proceeds benefitting local children’s charities.

The Chilly Willy Band will be the featured entertainment singing blues, swing and dance tunes during the family friendly event. Kids activities will be in a confined area and will include a water slide, if weather permits, and inflatable castles. Kids also enjoy the freedom of running through the open fields at Honey Horn. Ticket prices are the same as last year: $12 advance and $15 at the door. Children under 12 get to enjoy the afternoon for free. Each ticket entitles you to sample seven samples of barbecue or ribs. Join the down home fun and some of the South’s best barbecue.

If you are looking for direct ocean front properties for rental or personal use, properties with a golf course view, properties on one of our Lowcountry marshes or rivers, second homes, villas, first time homes, or just a property in this little piece of paradise called Hilton Head Island, we can assist you with your real estate needs. To see just how great the real estate market deals are, contact Charles Sampson, or visit our website to Search Hilton Head Real Estate.

Hilton Head Island InWater Boat Show at Windmill Harbour

admin — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:35:34 +0000

See boats where they are meant to be seen—in the water—from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 during the 9th Hilton Head Island InWater Boat Show at Windmill Harbour. Over 30 boat dealers will have tents set up with sail and power boats docked at the South Carolina Yacht Club’s 250-slip marina, rain or shine. It’s just not the avid boater who takes in the two-day show, those who love the waterfront who just want the rare opportunity to check out the view from the yacht club lens also get a chance to see the beautiful boats and Intracoastal waterway views. Windmill Harbour is only one of three harbours with a lock system on the Eastern seaboard.

There will be a beer and wine cash bar and delicious food created by the South Carolina Yacht Club’s award-winning Executive Chef Kevin Cavanaugh. Daily $10 tickets are available on a cash only basis each day of the show.

Windmill Harbour is a 172-acre, private residential community of around 500 homes fronting the Intercoastal Waterway and home to the Windmill Harbour sports center and the South Carolina Yacht Club. Jogging and bike trails throughout the community offer spectacular views of the channel and the Harbour’s bordering saltwater marshes. It’s a great place to check out the boat show and maybe your next home! Click to view available properties in Windmill Harbour.

Highlights of last year’s InWater Boat Show at Windmill Harbour
If you are looking for direct ocean front properties for rental or personal use, properties with a golf course view, properties on one of our Lowcountry marshes or rivers, second homes, villas, first time homes, or just a property in this little piece of paradise called Hilton Head Island, we can assist you with your real estate needs. To see just how great the real estate market deals are, contact Charles Sampson, or visit our website to Search Hilton Head Real Estate.

5th Annual Marsh Tacky Beach Race

admin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:13:05 +0000

Tomorrow the lowcountry celebrates the spirit of the Marsh Tacky with 5th Annual Marsh Tacky Beach Race. Originally slated to run its annual race on Coligny Beach at Hilton Head Island, a January change of venue moved the race to noon, Saturday, April 27, at the beach and the grounds of nearby Daufuskie Island’s Melrose on the Beach resort. In a sense, the Marsh Tacky is coming “home” to Daufuskie Island, as many of the 1,200 lb. horses foundational genetics descended from there. The horses with the long, flowing manes will arrive by barge the morning of the race

The rare Colonial horse breed likely descended from the region’s Spanish settlers around the 1500s. The Iberian descendents became abundant after being abandoned by their owners rendering them “common” and “cheap” or as the English put it—“tacky.” Although a small horse, they were powerful, able to plow fields and provide transportation, critical to Gullah culture. Today, less than 300 purebred Marsh Tackies remain.

The Marsh Tacky is South Carolina’s State Heritage Horse and is protected by the non-profit Carolina Marsh Tacky Association. Their history is long and storied and worth the trip to take part in this lowcountry celebration on Daufuskie Island.

Photo source: marshtacky.org

5 Weekend Projects to Spruce Up Your Yard

Charles Sampson — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:47:20 +0000

Along with fabulous golf courses, renowned tennis facilities, restaurants that offer a variety of mouth-watering cuisine, endless community events and festivals, a vibrant art and cultural environment, and of course, miles and miles of beautiful pristine beaches, on Hilton Head Island residents also enjoy excellent weather. The almost year-round mild, temperate climate means residents and visitors spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors. While most homeowners want a beautiful yard, many think that updating their yard will be an expensive and time consuming endeavor. Whether you’re a homeowner looking to pump up your home’s curb appeal in preparation for a sale, or you’re just looking to get the most out of your yard for relaxation and entertainment, here are 5 budget friendly projects to bring your yard up to a “10″, and better still, each can be done over a weekend!

1.Lighting- Installing exterior lighting to your outdoor spaces adds a security feature as well as making it possible to enjoy more time outside and are a perfect way to create mood and ambiance. Consider going green with solar lights, they are affordable, require no wiring, and are eco-friendly.

2.Lawn- By fertilizing and seeding the lawn you can create lush, durable greenery. Eco-grass seed requires less watering and is over all lower maintenance. Apply the seed to the areas needing grass then use a spreader to fertilize the whole yard.

3.Patio- Find an area in the yard to create a small area specifically designed for entertaining and relaxing. Brick or flagstone can help define the space and give you an area suitable for a table, chairs, and grill – what a great spot to spend some relaxing time!

4.Garden- A gardener with a black thumb? Worried about the upkeep required for beautiful plantings? No worries, plant a xeriscaped garden. These gardens are full of plants that require little maintenance and are drought resistant! Consider using such colorful plants as lavender, Russian sage, yarrow, sedum and salvia, all of which thrive in dry conditions.

5. Water- Adding a water feature to your yard provides an attractive focal point as well as a pleasurable background sound element to your outdoor space. The addition of a simple fountain or small pond will also give birds a reason to visit, adding more sounds and beauty to your yard!

Photo source: hgtv.com

It’s Becoming A Seller’s Market – Is Your Home Ready?

admin — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:07:11 +0000

If you are considering putting your Hilton Head home on the market, now may be the time. The National Association of Realtors reports that nationally the number of homes listed for sale in January fell by 4.9%, leaving the lowest number of properties on the market since December of 1999. We are also beginning to see potential buyers who have stayed on the sidelines getting off the fence and back into the market as their financial ability and confidence grows. This combination of an increase in buyers and a shrinking supply of homes indicates that the housing market is moving into a seller’s market. If you are thinking that now is the time to prepare your Hilton Head home for sale, presenting an organized and functional space is an essential step in your preparation to ensure that your home makes a great first impression to home buyers. Although the undertaking may seem daunting, it is doable. Use some of these tips to make the task at hand more manageable.

Look at individual rooms with a critical eye. What types of activities take place in this room? Is the function of each area of the room clearly defined?

In keeping with the function you’ve identified for the room, decide which items need to stay, what needs to be moved to a more appropriate area, and what things just simply need to go, so that potential buyers can easily see how this space is used.

How is storage currently used to maximize the function of your space? It is often necessary to get creative with how to arrange and organize things, however, every storage space needs a designated purpose. There are a lot of choices available for furniture that can double as a way to store items and storing things on the wall can save lots of valuable floor space.

Read: Green Features Can Help Sell Your Home

Bookshelves that are stacked and overflowing; surfaces and counters covered with things; cluttered and busy closets; all give the impression that you don’t have enough space or storage. In this case, less really is more. Keep bookshelves approximately 1/3 full, horizontal surface should have only three to four items on them, and closets should be cleared of unneccesary or unused items.

Determine which are the most essential pieces of furniture in the room. Perhaps some pieces will work better in another area of the house or some may need to be put into storage. Consider rearranging the furniture to open up the space and create an inviting flow in and around the room.

Fishing In Hilton Head Island

admin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:46:25 +0000

While plenty of vacationers come to Hilton Head Island each year to bathe in the sun or to take advantage of the island’s tennis and golf courses, many others are passionate about the extensive Hilton Head fishing scene which presents more options than the average fishing excursion - whether you prefer saltwater fishing, flyfishing, deep-sea fishing, or casting from a bridge or pier. The island enjoys the best of all worlds, with fishing venues ranging from the deep sea to estuaries, lagoons, and even freshwater lakes. There are also many charter fishing boats available that offer excursion for inshore, offshore or charters out to the Gulf Stream, which is about 70 miles from the island shore.

Read: Hilton Head Island Ranked In Top 10 Beaches In US

The winter months are one of the best times of the year to target Redfish, while Cobia is one of the most exciting catches in the spring months. The waters around Hilton Head Island also include King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Shark, Wahoo, Red Drum and Sea Trout.

Hilton Head Island offers amazing fishing locales for informal fishers and angling fans alike.

Click here to find out more about Fishing and other water-related activities available in and around Hilton Head.

Hilton Head Island History Tidbit and Ohio Connection

Charles Sampson — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:09:54 +0000

As stated before, Hilton Head Island and the South Carolina Lowcountry is much more than just great golf like the RBC Heritage Tournament and private courses like Long Cove, Colleton River, and the over 20 other area courses. Since building the first course in 1961, Hilton Head Island has been named the No. 10 World Best Golf Resort by Golf Digest. Hilton Head Island has 12 miles of white sandy beaches, has a Silver Bicycle Friendly Community rating, and has world class dining and shopping, and a vast history.

Hilton Head Island Ranked In Top 10 Beaches In US

In previous blogs we wrote about the relationship of Kumbaya and Hilton Head Island. That story will have a new chapter added in February by the HHSO. The other day the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra’s Maestro, John Morris Russell, provided another history fact about Hilton Head Island and our longtime relationship with folks from Ohio and in particular Cincinnati. Morris Russell was the one who made me aware that Kumbaya may have been written on Hilton Head Island. Now Russell talked about Civil War General Ormsby M. Mitchel. Prior to the war Mitchel was a professor at Cincinnati College (today’s University of Cincinnati). Mitchel was also an astronomer who has had a mountain and a crater on Mars named after him. Fort Mitchell in Kentucky, the site of a Civil War fortification and built for the defense of Cincinnati, was named after Mitchel. Mitchell, Indiana was also named after Mitchel. You may be asking yourself just what was Mitchel’s relationship to Hilton Head Island. During the Civil War, Hilton Head Island had between 20,000 and 30,000 Union troops stationed here. These Hilton Head Island visitors surely did not come to the Island for the golf since it was 110 years later before the first Ocean Course was built. In September of 1862, General Ormsby Mitchel assumed command of the X Corps and the Union Department of the South on Hilton Head. Unfortunately he died shortly thereafter in Beaufort. Mitchel’s history carried on with Mitchelville. Mitchelville was a town built during the Civil War. Mitchelville was the First Freedman’s town in America, a town where Africans who were just out of slavery and not yet citizens gathered together to begin governing themselves. “Where Freedom Began” is the slogan of today’s historic Mitchelville Freedom Park Preservation. For more information on Mitchelville click Mitchelvillepreservationproject.org.

Hilton Head and South Carolina Sea Island History

As you can see for over 150 years, folks from Ohio have been visiting Hilton Head Island. Today things turn out a little better for the visitors from Cincinnati than they did for General Mitchel. In fact many of these visitors elect to purchase real estate on Hilton Head Island and even move and live here! Another Hilton Head / Cincinnati connection is Maestro John Morris Russell, who is the conductor for both the Cincinnati Pops and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. It appears John Morris Russell is a true lover of local Hilton Head Island and Lowcountry history. For additional information on the HHSO, click HHSO.org, to be able to join the folks who have elected to begin living the Hilton Head Island Lifestyle, and for information and facts about the Hilton Head Island area real estate, please go to CharlesSampson.com. We at the Charles Sampson Real Estate Group would love to help you pick up some Hilton Head Island and South Carolina Lowcountry real estate so you can begin to live today’s Hilton Head Island Lifestyle which is a lot different than what General Ormsby M. Mitchel and his Union troops experienced 150 years ago.

Hilton Head Island Spotlight: Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra

Green Features Can Help Sell Your Home

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:13:51 +0000

Hilton Head Island is a community focused on being environmentally conscious in an effort to preserve its natural beauty, maintain its unique ecosystem and wildlife, and remain a vibrant community in which to live and visit. In fact,”Living in harmony with nature, protecting the natural beauty, and creating a unique sense of place” is the Town Council of Hilton Head Island’s first Guiding Principal, which also has a goal to “Re-establish Pre-eminence for Environmental Stewardship”.

“Going green” is a part of the Hilton Head Island lifestyle, and as it continues to become increasingly popular in our day-to-day lives, green features in a home are something that home buyers are looking for and home sellers should be thinking about. Homes that are green sell quicker, and for more money, than a house that lacks environmentally friendly accommodations so it pays to identify your home’s green features, or consider adding more, to improve your competitiveness in the market.

•High efficiency toilets, faucets, and shower heads are a great way to reduce water usage while also lowering costly water bills.

•If possible, invest in new energy-efficient windows. Potenial buyers will see themselves saving on heating and cooling costs.

•Insulation is a worthwhile, budget-friendly project and a well-insulated home also keeps heating and cooling costs down.

•Lights can be a great green asset. Swap traditional incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and install dimmer switches to control your energy usage.

•Appliances bearing the energy star tag can be a major selling point to potential buyers.

If your home has any of these green energy-saving features be sure to highlight them, don’t wait for potential buyers to notice them on their own – playing up a home’s green features can make all the difference when it comes to making a sale.

Mistakes To Avoid When Remodeling Your Kitchen

Charles Sampson — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:27:11 +0000

Thinking of updating your kitchen? The kitchen is one of the most utilized and functional rooms of the house. Here, meals are prepared and served, homework is done, lunches are packed, joy is celebrated and hearts are healed. There are so many directions in which a kitchen design and remodel can be taken. Avoiding these mistakes can ensure that you are happy with the finished product for years to come.

1) Designing your kitchen around form and not function. It may be true that you just found the sweetest deal on that beautiful new refrigerator, or saw some counters or cabinet fixtures that you simply must have, but stop! First consider your current lifestyle, and determine how the kitchen is or will play into your day to day living. If you have children, or are too busy to maintain certain style elements, then avoid them. Determine how you live and then get the design elements that complement that style.

2) Going with the trend. Trendy colors and shapes can often date a kitchen as it would any room. Be wary of colors, styles, and trends that are so out there that they are gone even before you’ve finished paying for them. Those brightly colored appliances may look great now, but years from now, you may find yourself wondering how you ever got talked into purchasing them. Stick with sleeker, more modern-but-neutral tones and accessorize!

3) Letting someone else choose your scheme. How your room looks and feels when it is finished is important… but just as important is making sure your kitchen reflects who you are! No matter how overwhelmed you might feel, don’t simply hand the project off to the contractor or the designers… their version of your vision may not meet your expectations or your budget… and that’s never a good thing. To ensure the needs of your family are met in your kitchen, stay involved in all levels of the project.

4) Embarking on a DIY journey. Unless you are an experienced professional, it is never a good idea to try to do the work of your own remodel. Skilled, licensed, and insured professionals are a must! You need to hire multiple experts to complete the tasks: kitchen designers, contractors, and architects can’t be expected to fulfill each other’s roles. To make the most informed and cost effective decisions and for the most efficient and satisfying outcome, hire a team to work on your remodeling job, and save yourself the disappointment of trying to complete your vision with Google and HGTV help books.

If you are looking for direct ocean front properties for rental or personal use, properties with a golf course view, properties on one of our Lowcountry marshes or rivers, second homes, villas, first time homes, or just a property in this little piece a paradise, we can assist you with your real estate needs. To see just how great the real estate market deals are, contact Charles Sampson, or visit our website to Search Hilton Head Real Estate.

Hilton Head Island Holiday Concert Performances

Charles Sampson — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:25:00 +0000

In addition to a sleigh-full of holiday events happening around Hilton Head, be sure to catch one of the holiday concert performances taking place this season. The coming weeks provide a festive blend of old fashioned traditions and joyful celebrations for all holiday revelers!

Holiday Horns
Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s Brass Quintet
Bluffton United Methodist Church, 101 Calhoun Street, Bluffton
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 – 7:00 pm
The sounds of the CSO Brass Quintet are sure to make your holidays swing with traditional holiday tunes!

‘Tis the Season
Beaufort Symphony Orchestra
University of South Carolina Beaufort Center for the Arts, 801 Carteret St., Beaufort
Thursday, December 13, 2012 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 16, 2012 – 3:00 pm
Enjoy an array of classical pieces along with plenty of up-tempo holiday music. This concert features Vocalist Roger Moss.

The Sounds of Christmas – Joyeux Noel
Hilton Head Choral Society
First Presbyterian Church, 540 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island
Friday, December 14, 2012 – 8:00 pm
Enjoy the Christmas Oratorio of Camille Saint-Saens, as well as traditional carols, holiday tunes, and a carol sing along.

2nd Annual Holiday Sing-Along
Hilton Head Library, 11 Beach City Road, Hilton Head Island
Saturday, December 15, 2012 – 11:00 am
Bring the family and join with friends and neighbors for a community sing-along of your Holiday favorites.

If you are looking for direct ocean front properties for rental or personal use, properties with a golf course view, properties on one of our Lowcountry marshes or rivers, second homes, villas, first time homes, or just a property in this little piece a paradise, we can assist you with your real estate needs. To see just how great the real estate market deals are, contact Charles Sampson, or visit our website to Search Hilton Head Real Estate.