By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer

Million-dollar homes, the grandest, most palatial of properties, are prized deals for the real estate agents who sell them.

As home prices increase, and with the demand for housing still strong, the opportunities for million-dollar sales, while still relatively few, are becoming more common.

Nationally, the number of homes valued at $1 million or more doubled from 0.5% to 1% between 2000 and 2003, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Here in the Charleston area, the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reports the number of million-dollar homes sold has increased dramatically in the past 10 years—from two in 1995 to 303 in 2004. As of May, 177 million-dollar homes had sold in 2005.

Homes with million-dollar price tags generate hefty commissions for the agents who hammer in the “sold” sign, but as those agents attest, handling a million-dollar deal, even if they are not the novelty they once were, is no quick or easy job.

Today’s $1 million

For a number of the Charleston area’s real estate agents, selling homes for $1 million is evidence of the incredible price appreciation the area has experienced since they began their careers.

Home prices in Charleston County appreciated 104.7% between 1995 and 2004, according to Prudential Carolina Real Estate, based on information from the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service.

In Berkeley County, prices appreciated 90.9% in the same period of time, and in Dorchester County, the appreciation rate was 73.8%.

Cheryl Hardy, broker associate at Prudential Carolina Real Estate’s Folly Road office, has sold Folly property for 23 years.

“I was selling properties back then for $50,000, and the same ones are selling now for $850,000,” she says. So far in 2005, Hardy has sold four million-dollar houses.

The time involved

As home prices climb, the pool of potential buyers for high-end properties gets smaller and smaller, so finding potential buyers is one of the most daunting tasks of a million-dollar sale.

“It’s like a pyramid, the closer you get to the top, the less customers there are,” says Lynn Carmody, broker associate at Prudential Carolina Real Estate, who has been in real estate for 25 years.

Since the buying pool gets smaller as the price increases, million-dollar homes follow their own timetables.

While homes in the Charleston area are selling after an average of 66 days on the market, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, sellers of million-dollar properties must be prepared for a months-long, if not years-long, process.

“It takes patience because it does take longer,” Hardy says. “I’ve looked somebody in the face and told them that based on the numbers, their home should sell in 30 days, but I’ve also said nine to 10 months.”

Getting clever

While selling a now run-of-the-mill $200,000 home entails the ubiquitous “for sale” sign, a posting on the Multiple Listing Service and ads in the local newspapers or real estate brochures, million-dollar homes require a more aggressive and creative marketing plan.

“Million-dollar clients are very sophisticated. You advertise in the Wall Street Journal. You have to have a very strong Internet presence,” Carmody says.

For prime properties, Hardy advertises in unusual publications—for instance, hunting or fishing magazines when selling a home in the country—and creates personalized brochures, which are sent to overseas locations, where buyers expect more in the way of presentation, she says.

“The international market is a different level. I work with a fellow from France, and the exposure gets bigger. Those folks are used to seeing a high-quality piece, and if not, they’re likely to move onto something else,” Hardy says.

Hardy also creates individual Web sites for properties with the priciest of prices.

Carl Caldeira, a real estate consultant with Century 21 Properties Plus, makes personal contact with hundreds of people at once who may be interested in a high-end home in the Lowcountry.

“I use university mailing lists, classmates,” he says. “You invest a lot more money to market the high-end homes”

The buyers and the sellers

Selling a million-dollar home versus selling one of more modest price proportions is like the difference between black and white, Carmody says.

Adding to that stark contrast is the expectations of both the buyers and the sellers.

“Sellers want me to be very customer savvy. They’re looking for a decorator wrapped up into a real estate agent,” Carmody says.

While one might presume that a home worth $1 million or more would be impeccably decorated and ready to show at a moment’s notice, Carmody says what she finds is often surprising.

“Particularly, if people live in it for any length of time, they forget to look at it with any critical eye, and I have to come in and say ‘we’re too congested in this room’ or ‘we need to rent furniture,’” Carmody says.

Those who put down the cash on a million-dollar home concentrate on details, particularly moldings, counters and appliances, Hardy says.

A housing bargain

While prices have appreciated significantly over time, Charleston is still a relative bargain.

The median home price was $207,000 in May, a 12.5% increase over the same period a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The West, including California and the Las Vegas metro region, experienced the largest increase at 19%. The South, however, experienced the smallest jump at 8%.

Such sizeable differences mean million-dollar properties in the Charleston area are becoming more accessible to those raising families and are increasingly being purchased as second homes.

“People come from different areas: California, Chicago, New York. A million dollars here is $5 million somewhere else. People still find a great deal of value here,” Carmody says.

An example of a second-home buyer who thought a $1 million price tag was reasonable: Phil Murphy, who recently purchased the home at 84 S. Battery St. for $1.375 million.

Murphy, a financial consultant who lives in Charlotte, N.C., plans to spend only summers and holidays at the circa-1920s property. Though he felt his home was reasonably priced, he says even those who drop $1 million or more must make compromises.

“The only bad thing is it’s a single lot, not a double lot,” he says, pointing to a neighboring property with a much larger yard.

Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.

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