COLUMBIA SC...A BASEBALL TOWN

CAROLINA GAMECOCKS WIN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES AGAIN

The City of Columbia is pondering the sale of Capital City Stadium, Kahn Development considered incorporating a ball park in the Northeast at Sandhills, and the developer of the State Hospital grounds mulls the construction of a new stadium for a professional baseball team. These events speak to the love  people making their home in the Midlands have for the game, going back at least to 1892. With previous interruptions and absent from Columbia since 2004 when the Bombers departed for Greenville, professional baseball has been a part of living in Columbia for 69 of the last 119 years.

The 1892 Columbia Senators lasted only one season when the early version of the South Atlantic League folded. They came back in 1896 for another season. It was a shaky start, but in 1904, when the Columbia Skyscrapers became a charter franchise of the re-invented South Atlantic League, that the game began to be a part of the cities identity. The team name changed to the “Gamecocks” the next year and six years later, they were the Columbia Commies, followed by the Comers the next year. Under that name and with the help of legendary Goose Goslin, the Comers were contenders for the league title over the next 15 years. Several more name changes were to come…Sandlappers, Senators, Reds, Gems, Mets and Bombers, and through the years Columbia saw many of its players leave for the Majors, even in that first year.

Columbia is a baseball town. Irmo recently sent its Little League to the southeast regional tournament with hopes of getting to the next level in the World Series in Williamsport. Some of the best high school baseball is played in Forest Acres at Flora High School, a perennial state champion. The Columbia Blowfish of the Coastal Plain League gives unpaid college players a chance to refine their skill at Capital City Stadium. And, of course, there is the University of South Carolina, returning the Gamecocks to Omaha for its second national championship at the College World Series in 2010.

TRENHOLM LITTLE LEAGUE

                If you watched the recently televised Little League World Series, the elevation of the worlds largest organized youth sports organization to the world stage could not be missed. Carried by two major television networks, with a big hitter sports figure and well known broadcasters, Orel Hershiser and Brent Musberger, and multiple networks in other countries, you heard many times that Little League now extends to all 50 states and to 80 different countries. It began in Williamsport, PA in 1939 with one league and 30 ballplayers, and grew to 7123 leagues and 2,168,850 ballplayers in 2010. Somewhere in the middle of the 1900’s Trenholm Little League was formed, and in 1997 and for the next 14 seasons, Spring and Fall ball, my son and I were a part of something huge. It is the only youth baseball program In the world wherein your son or daughter can play for the opportunity to be a United States Champion and an International Champion.

Involved for that period of time, I came to realize that Trenholm , is a “farm team” for the local high schools, AC Flora, Richland Northeast, Dreher, Lower Richland, Cardinal Newman, CA Johnson, Eau Clair, and Heathwood Hall. None of these schools would have received their baseball successes without the fundamentals learned by their players coming up from Trenholm. Trenholm players have gone on to college and into professional baseball, including a Cy Young award winner in Lamar Hoyt.

            Located in Forest Acres, Trenholm League operates under an agreement with the Richland County, SC Recreation Department, maintaining two ball fields, a batting cage, and a concession stand. The league draws players from primarily from Forest Acres and Forest Lake, but also from Shandon and the Hampton neighborhoods. I live less than a mile from the park, close enough to hear family and friends roar when a child hits a long ball in a close game.

Some kids are born to play and others come along. A season that starts with a lot of questions, a player picking daisy’s in the outfield with his glove on his head, and gratefulness for the mercy rules, ends with watching a shortstop lay out for a line drive and a couple of nine year olds turning a double play. Over the season they learn. Baseball skills like all skills are learned and improved with practice. Outs come with team work to move the ball in front of the runners. Every player has a part in every defensive play. Weaknesses of the other team, like a catcher who struggles to make the throw to second or a third baseman unable to put the batter out at first, can be exploited. Baseball acumen is an understanding that translates well into the competitive world before them, and sometimes they can learn more from losing than from winning.

           
Seasons begin with celebration of the game and the kids, and they end with tournaments and more celebration. Each year 300 or more kids come through the program, new Dad’s step up to coach, and father/son relationships grow close with memories to last for the rest of their lives.

Introducing Stallings & Smith Online!

Stallings & Smith Real Estate Company in Columbia just became easier to connect with.  Stallings & Smith Online launched on August 29, 2011, and includes a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter Page, and Blog dedicated to Columbia properties, news, and advice.  They can be found at:

Facebook - Stallings & Smith Real Estate Experts - Columbia, SC
Twitter - StallingsSmith
Blog - http://stallingsandsmith.blogspot.com

Stallings & Smith are Columbia’s real estate experts.  The firm, which is associated with Russell and Jeffcoat Real Estate, is made up of four real estate agents - Tommy Stallings, Walt Smith, J.L. Boney, and Lee Mills. Together, they have decades of experience selling real estate in Columbia. They are a full-service firm with knowledge about everything from home builders to legal issues.  

The agents can be reached at www.stallingsandsmith.com.

Tommy Stallings - (803) 331-8062

Walt Smith - (803) 622-5210

106 BRANCH HILL LANE IN THE COMMONS OF ARCADIA

The Commons of Arcadia is a unique gated community of brick and wood homes with bay windows, many built around a small lake. Follow Arcadia Lakes Drive from Trenholm Road to enter “the Commons” and turn up Branch Hill to this lovely home in a cul de sac. Updated within the last two years, you will find hardwood, tiled and carpeted floors, granite countertops, new appliances, built in book cases, french doors and an owned security system.

The backyard is a summer party place. Take a break from the sun under the arbor covered deck, cool off in the in-ground pool, or join your neighbors at the community pool a short walk from the house. For more about this great house, call Tommy Stallings at 803 331 8062, and please visit us at www.stallingsandsmith.com or more about this house and other great properties.

Full Property Info

<>

 

<>

<>

<>

PropertyType	Single Family
MLS#	295470
Year Built	1986
Bedrooms	Three
Bathrooms	Two and 1/2
Square Feet	2966
Garage	Two Car Attached
Stories	Three

OLDE PARK IN FOREST ACRES

Upscale, gated and convenient to everything, Olde Park offers the best location in Forest Acres for the best price. Lots on Parrish Road are priced at $70,000 and lots behind the gated portion are priced at $80,000. Originally planned as a Richland County Park, it is now a 37 lot community with strict architectural guidelines calling for brick and hardiplank exteriors, and ten foot ceilings downstairs and nine foot ceilings up.

There is a pool and pool house for the community and it is zoned for award winning schools, Satchelford Elementary, Crayton Middle and AC Flora High Schools, with private school, Cardinal Newman, within walking distance. Choose from four groceries and four pharmacies, all within one mile of Olde Park. Be on Main Street of Columbia in ten minutes or on Interstates 20 or 77 within five minutes, Forest acres has a small town sense of community and civic pride, while being located within minutes of USC, the State House, Fort Jackson, and all of the sporting events, educational and cultural advantages of the Midlands. For more information, give us a call or send us an email, or visit us at www.stallingsandsmith.com

Tommy Stallings 803 331 3062
tommystallings@hotmail.com

Walt Smith 803 622 5210

whs@walterhsmith.com

Woodstone is Ready for Development

WOODSTONE

Located two miles west of Interstate 77 on US 21, Woodstone is fully engineered for 42 lots with 100 foot frontage, each lot  having a minimum of 12,500 square feet (0.29 acres), ranging up to 0.57 acres and the project is separated from adjoining tracts by reserved natural areas.

Total Project Acreage:                25.79
Acreage to be Developed:        17.74
Reserved Natural Area:               8.05

Proposed Water:                           City of Columbia      

Proposed Sewer:                           City of Columbia

Zoning:                                            PUD 1R

School Zoning: Richland County II

                   Bethel Hanberry Elementary      6.0 Miles

                   Blythewood Middle School         4.1 Miles

                   Blythewood High School             4.0 Miles

Shopping Proximities:

                   Walmart                                         3.0 Miles
                   Village at Sandhills                       6.2 Miles
                   Columbia Place Mall                   6.0 Miles
                   Columbiana Mall                          18 Miles
                   Downtown Columbia                  10.4 Miles
               

Golf          

                   Cobblestone Park Golf Club     4.7 Miles
                   Columbia Country Club             7.0 Miles
                   Oak Hills Golf Club                       8.2 Miles
                   Crickentree                                    .5 Miles

Airports

                   Columbia Metropolitan              21.7 Miles
                   Charlotte International               80.0 Miles

There are other prime locations ready for residential development in Columbia. Visit StallingsandSmith.com to see them.

Tommy Stallings 803 331 8062
Walt Smith 803 622 5210

FOREST ACRES, SC,THE BEGINNING

The founder of what is now Forest Acres was Virginia born Thomas Taylor, who was a Colonel in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, was wounded and captured at the Battle of Fishing Creek in the upstate, and escaped on his way to imprisonment in Camden. Following the war, he was a member of the convention that adopted the United States Constitution and served in the state legislature.

In 1785, the state offered to sell land for $10.00/one hundred acres, and in concert with other notable Midlands figures, Wade Hampton and Timothy Rives, purchased 18,500 acres on both sides of Gill Creek. As they divided the land, Taylor took the land now known as Forest Acres, which was later divided into Quinine Hill, Edgehill, Bethel Church, and Dents Pond, now known as Forest Lake. But this acquisition along Gill Creek was only part of the larger holdings of Taylor, who sold land back to the State for the planned capital city of Columbia. In 1791, Taylor escorted President Washinton from Columbia to Camden on Camden Road, a portion of which is now known as Forest Drive. Still to be seen near Old Mill Circle are an original mill stone and the ruins of a mill built by Taylor in 1796.

The area became a place of country homes and plantations for Columbia's wealthy and the streets pay homage to the early settlers of the area, but perhaps no more noteworthy character is associated with the beginnings of Forest Acres as John Hughs Cooper, born in 1885 to a family that had prospered before the American Civil War, but arrived difficult time for the pre-war aristocracy and landed gentry. Cooper studied law at the University of South Carolina and was admitted to the SC Bar in 1910, followed by post graduate studies at Columbia University. Gaining a reputation as a skilled lawyer, he set about education his siblings, he was one of eight, and their children, but not his own, as he never married. A testament to his commitment to education, which provided his way to prosperity where farming had failed, is the John Hughs Cooper Library. In 1920, he established the Forest Land Company, which still operates in Forest Acres today from offices adjacent to the library, and he purchased Lakeview, around the former Dent's Pond, now Forest Lake. As time went on, he purchased more land in the area that became Forest Acres. In the shade of old-growth pines and hardwoods, the City of Forest Acres was incorporated in 1935, and today still it conveys the feeling of a small town oasis in urban surroundings.

Beyond Forest Acres, the legacy of the Forest Land Company continued in the development of Spring Valley, Woodcreek Farms and other areas of the state. The Stallings & Smith Group at Russell and Jeffcoat Real Estate has had the privilege of working with the Forest Land Company in Rockbridge Village, and looks forward to future relationships. Please visit us at www.StallingsandSmithGroup.com and please share and forward  this post.

 

Tommy Stallings 803 331 3062
Walt Smith 803 622 5210

ROCKBRIDGE VILLAGE IN FOREST ACRES

A rare find in Forest Acres, this is a strategically located gated community of new home construction, finely crafted by Sovereign Homes. A fifteen minute drive to the State House, a two mile drive to the center of Forest Acres shopping, convenient to Interstates 77 and 20, zoned for award winning Richland County School District II Schools, this is where the intown buyer wants to live. Nestled between Forest Lake Presbyterian Church and Rockbridge Club, with its tennis courts, pool and club houses, Rockbridge Village is entered from Rockbridge Road. A boardwalk nature path leads to Spring Lake, where a large community dock is perfect for a late afternoon gathering of friends and neighbors.

Sovereign Homes is the upper end builder for Mungo Homes, a Columbia and Northeast builder with fifty-five years of stability, offering the best service after the sale in the Midlands.  In the sales office at 149 Mayhaw Drive, you will meet Tommy Stallings (803 331 8062 or Walt Smith (803 622 5210), who can carry you through the building plans that have been assembled toward a finished neighborhood of complimenting homes with stacked porches and selections of brick and mortar in a spectrum of color choices, stacked stone, and hardiplank. Inside the homes, buyers will be surprised by the standard features that are the extras of other builders...tray and boxed ceilings, nine foot ceilings upstairs and down, granite counters in the kitchen and master bathroom, double vanities, floors of hardwood, tile and carpet, energy saving features including a tankless water heater, and a screened porch.

For a virtual tour of the model, go to  http://tour.circlepix.com/home/UW65QT
Prices are in the $400's and great lots in a great location are still available. For more about this attractive home building opportunity, visit the model at 149 Mayhaw Drive in Rockbridge...turn onto Rockbridge Road from North Trenholm Road at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church and take your first left into Rockbridge Village or look at this and other listings at www.StallingsandSmithGroup.com. Please share this post and forward.

Tommy Stallings 803 331 3062
Walt Smith 803 622 5210

CAPE SUMMERSAIL ON LAKE MURRAY, SC

A steady wind from the west carried the Smiths on their sloop to Fourth of July festivities at the Columbia Sailing Club and evening thermals brought them home, just as the Boylestons pontoon boat arrived from dinner at the Rusty Anchor at Lighthouse Marina. Fiery sunset views were a prelude to the evening fireworks display over Bomb Island. Lake Murray plays host to big money fishing tournaments and regattas that draw competitors from as far away as Canada. It is a popular recreational venue year round, but cruising available lake properties is a favorite past time for many. Most recently, Cape Summersail at Tryst Point has captured the attention of people. A new paved road, public sewer, underground utilities and zoning for Blue Ribbon decorated schools, Lake Murray Elementary, Chapin Middle and Chapin High Schools in Lexington/Richland School District 5 are a huge draw for people wanting to build a new home on the lake, with their investment protected by reasonable covenants and restrictions. Comprised of eight remaining lots, three off water, 1.5 acre lots priced at $69,900, one lake view lot ($149,000), and four dockable waterfront lots,from $264,900 to $299,900, Cape Summersail will be a small community of new homes subject to architectural controls. Many have seen it from the water. Come walk your lot. From US 76, take Wessinger Road to a left on Old Lexington Hwy. Turn left onto Jake Metze Road to its end at Old Forge. Turn right and continue 50 yards past where the pavement currently ends and veer left onto Tryst Point. There you will see the available lots to your left and a sign showing the lot layout. Or, visit the property from the comfort of your home by a visit to www.CapeSummersail.com. To learn more about this property and other offerings, please visit www.StallingsandSmith.com, and please share and forward this information.

THE MARKET WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOUR HOME IS WORTH

Pricing is critical to selling anything. Simple, right? The market, the intersection of home buyers and sellers, is a reality check.  It considers a multitude of factors beyond the size, location, condition and age of the house to include local economic conditions, the price for which distressed properties are selling and the average value of seller concessions taking place.A lack of buyer traffic through your home may signal that regardless of what the assessor or a now dated appraisal say,  regardless of "special nails" or type of insulation, and regardless of the price for which a similar house across town sold, the value of your home is not what your asking. This is not July 2005, when the market peaked. We are in a buyers market, where interest rates are at a historic low and supply outweighs demand, and just as gravity is a law of physics, the laws of supply and demand will require that you lower your price if you really want to sell. Ask your agent to research the list price to closed sale ratio in your subdivision or within a reasonable radius over the past year and compare your house to those that sold by square footage, tax assessment, features and location. In the current market, correct pricing when the house is first listed is critical because your house will never recapture the attention it gets in the first thirty days on the market.The real estate agents with the Stallings and Smith Group at Russell & Jeffcoat employ the most current tools to correctly price your home and place their listings in view of prospective buyers through internet marketing and social media, as well as traditional signs and print media. We bring buyer and seller together. For more information about real estate in Columbia, Forest Acres, the Northeast and Lake Murray, visit www.stallingsandsmithgroup.com, and please share this post and forward.

CURB APPEAL. THINK OF IT AS OUTDOOR STAGING

You took great care of your house, performed all of the regular maintenance, updated the kitchen and bathrooms with granite and new hardware, refinished the hardwood floors, pulled down tired and dated wallpaper and painted throughout the interior in fresh designer recommended colors. You’ve been keeping up with the real estate market in Columbia, and Forest Acres is a preferred part of town, but, with your home on the market, you’re just not getting the traffic you expected through the house. Step one in preparing your house for sale, getting the Bill and Betty Buyer out of the car and in to the house. It’s called curb appeal. It is the Buyers first impression of your house. Stand out on the street. What do Bill and Betty see? What does the outside say about the inside?

Start with a plan to accent the landscaping and architectural details of your home and know what your budget and your body can handle. Accessorizing for curb appeal should be done as carefully as accessorizing your living room or that hot little cocktail dress.  Get some ideas. Buy a magazine. Home design software can help with planning and can be purchased inexpensively, allowing you to try several new looks for your yard. Simply take a digital picture of your yard, upload it to your computer and explore your options virtually and without the heavy lifting. Map it on paper, then, take a trip to the garden center. They receive shipments of plants according to the season and the climate of your area, and every season offers something with color. Think about window boxes or painting the shutters. Consider yard art, like a sundial, a bird bath, an urn, a chimnea, but don’t buy it if you don’t know where you will put it. The lady with two dozen gnomes in her yard has a dozen cats inside.

The objective is to draw Bill and Betty to the front door, which you may want to repaint, refinish or replace. An elevated mound of dirt, known as a berm, about a foot higher than the grass, filled with seasonal plants and bordered with stone, can be placed and shaped to lead them up the front steps. Borders of stone or other materials add definition to your yard. Berms also are useful in climates where it rains a lot, routing water to benefit other plants and the grass and to avoid drowning parts of the yard where it tends to puddle.

The Buyers may first see your house at night and decide to return during the day. Consider strategically placed lighting. Lighting the canopy of your trees adds intrigue and is simple to do. Walkway lighting can be hardwired or powered with solar panel lights that are much improved over the early models and can be simply stuck in the ground.

Creating curb appeal does not need to be complicated or expensive, and if it gets the Buyers through the front door it will be a sound investment. Now, just hope they can qualify for a mortgage.

Thanks for reading this. Please share and forward it, and visit us at www.StallingsandSmith.com.