S.C., Myrtle Beach Gas Prices Remain Among Nation’s Cheapest

The latest survey released by a national market research firm shows that South Carolina maintains the cheapest gas prices in the country.

At a statewide average of $2.83 per gallon, South Carolina sits 22 cents per gallon below the current national average of $3.05, and a whopping 50 cents below the highest-priced state (Nebraska, at $3.33), according to survey results just released by national market research analyst Lundberg Survey, Incorporated (LSI).

Locally, the Myrtle Beach market average is $2.89 – up 9 cents from a year ago, but reflecting the same year-to-date difference in the national average.

The short-term trend calls for gradual price declines boosted by increased imports and domestic refining capacity, Lundberg noted in this June 26 report.

As you lay out your own short- and long-term travel and fuel budget needs, AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report remains the most frequently updated resource available to assess both national and local market figures. LSI, an independent market research company specialized in the U.S. petroleum marketing and related industries, regularly updates its news page with reports that include general price forecasts.

Is Myrtle Beach “Raining Men” – or Women?

Not quite sure which magazines sit atop the reading lists of most single men and women, but I wouldn’t think National Geographic would be among them.

Makes it a bit curious, then, that the publication would release this “Singles Map,” which illustrates which metropolitan areas around the country have populations with more single men than women, and vice versa. Myrtle Beach, you’ll see, shows a few more available men than women – in an eastern half of the U.S. that, with my apologies to the Weather Girls, appears to be “raining women.”

Of course, this doesn’t account for the millions each year who descend upon the Grand Strand to visit. If you’re a regular on the Myrtle Beach club scene, I’ll leave it to you to tell me how the ratio stands!

World Amateur Boasts Strongest Ever Course Field

Representatives from the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship recently announced the 55 Grand Strand area golf courses that will host rounds during the 24th annual PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, August 27-31, 2007.

Of the announced venues, a staggering seven come from Golf Digest’s list of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” for 2007-2008. They include:

• The Dunes Golf and Beach Club (#38)
• Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation (#41)
• Rivers Edge Golf Club (#62)
• Tiger’s Eye Golf Links (#73)
• King’s North at Myrtle Beach National (#76)
• Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (#86)
• True Blue Plantation (#87)

Tidewater is also one of seven new course additions to the 2007 field. Joining them as first-time participants are Barefoot Resort & Golf (Dye Club and Norman Course), Legends Golf Club (Heathland and Moorlands courses), Leopard’s Chase Golf Club and Thistle Club. The complete listing of participating courses can be found at the tournament site.

The “World’s Largest Amateur Golf Tournament” expects more than 4,000 participants, including players from all 50 states and more than 23 foreign countries. Other competitions as part of the tournament include the International Pairs Championship and inaugural Cory Lemke Parent-Child Championship, which can include any combination of parent and child participating in the World Amateur.

For more information, visit the World Am Web site or call 1-800-833-8798.

Source: World Amateur Handicap Championship Web site

Are Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments Right for You?

Let’s see. You own a house, condo or piece of property, but aren’t thrilled about your current 30-year mortgage arrangement. You want to pay it off sooner, but the monthly payments on a 15-year loan are just too rich for your current tastes.

Have you considered a bi-weekly payment plan?

If you realize that it could shave six years and tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments off your 30-year mortgage, it might behoove you.

The basic math on the following example spells it out more clearly: a bi-weekly mortgage payment process on a $200,000, 30-year fixed loan at 7 percent can pay it off in about 24 years – about 75 months sooner than a standard payment plan, with a total of $68,925 in interest savings.

The premise is simple. Instead of making your full payment each month, you make half that payment every two weeks. Of course, on a 52-week schedule, by the end of each year you end up making the equivalent of one additional full monthly payment.

Of course, every lender has its own set of rules and payment options, so the first thing you need to do is check with your lender to find out how they would treat this type of arrangement. In the meantime, Mortgage-X offers more detailed information here, along with several calculator functions that let you plug in your own numbers and compare the options that best fit your specific scenario.

And there are some basic pros and cons to going this route, as Kara McGuire points out in today’s edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Among the caution flags are those for young people who need to maintain financial flexibility and don’t plan on owning the same piece of property forever; and reduced tax benefits that result from paying less in interest payments, which are tax deductible.

If you’ve gone this route, let us know with your comments. What’s worked best for you?

“Today on NBC” Spotlights Myrtle Beach

A little sand goes a long way.

Well, a LOT of sand, actually — and it made its way about 750 miles north to New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza, where this morning “Today on NBC” gave Myrtle Beach a nationwide audience in featuring the recently successful efforts of “Team SandTastic” to make the Grand Strand the proud owners of the “World’s Largest Sandcastle.”

Check out the video here.

The two-minute segment gave Myrtle Beach millions of dollars worth of free publicity — making the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce beam with pride, and allowing them to reach cross-country markets like the Midwest and West Coast where Myrtle Beach is not yet a household name.

“We couldn’t buy that kind of advertising,” said Chamber spokeswoman Nicole Aiello in Sunday’s edition of The Sun News, “and that’s a literal statement.”

$10-Million Recreation Facilities Upgrade Now On Tap for Former Air Force Base

The reincarnation of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base took a new turn this week, as the authority overseeing its redevelopment announced it is now allocating nearly $10 million toward the creation and refurbishment of recreational facilities.

The majority of those funds ($6 million) will go toward the creation of a new sports complex – complete with new baseball/softball fields, youth fields, and multi-purpose fields for soccer and other sports; and the addition of a basketball court, hockey rinks, skating rink, horseshoe pits and a bike path. The athletics fields plan will make more efficient use of the land in question, thus allowing for these additions.

In this article in today’s edition of The Sun News, planners note that a new sports complex will ease the heightened, ongoing demand for athletics field access for local recreational leagues. Area transplants will welcome the addition of facilities that will also cater to traditionally cold-weather sports and activities like ice skating and hockey.

And for future residents of the Withers Preserve development at the Air Force Base, it joins the Market Common development as a welcome addition that will enhance their growing area’s overall quality of life. Withers Preserve has already gained national attention from such publications as Business Week, which highlights Withers’ commitment to General Electric’s “Ecomagination Homebuilder Program.”

Pavilion Nostalgia Park Set to Open Next Week

As reported in today’s edition of The Sun News, the Pavilion Nostalgia Park at Broadway at the Beach is on target to open to the public in time for next week’s July 4th holiday – the busiest time of year on the Grand Strand.

The new section of Broadway will feature 10 attractions from the former seaside amusement park, which celebrated its last season of entertaining Ocean Boulevard revelers in 2006. Rides will include the Tea Cup, Motorcycle, Dune Buggy and Pirate Ship Kiddie rides; the Boat, Caterpillar, Pirate Ship and Wave Swinger rides for the bigger kids; and the classic Herschell-Spillman Carousel that dates back 95 years. Another Pavilion mainstay, the century-old German Baden Band Organ, will also be on prominent display – still running on the same hand-fed cardboard sheet music as it did back at the turn of the 19th Century.

Admission to the Pavilion Nostalgia Park will be free, with ride tickets starting at $3 each and discounts for bulk ticket purchases (9 tickets for $20; 25 tickets for $50). All rides will require one ticket; all tickets purchased are also redeemable at NASCAR SpeedPark, Carousel Rides or Dragons Lair.

No Cheap Flights to Myrtle Beach? Says Who?

There are cheap flights in and out of Myrtle Beach, there are rock-bottom specials …

And then there’s Spirit Airlines.

You have many options for flying in and out of Myrtle Beach International Airport, but no other airline seems to offer more choices of super-cheap flights that serve this market. A few cases in point:

Even without the steep discounts, my round-trip flights in and out of New York City (LaGuardia) rarely exceed $160.

Need a gaming fix beyond the Little River casino boats? Quick junkets to Atlantic City booked a few weeks in advance typically go for the same amount. Vegas trips this time of year will set you back about $100 more. Either way, you can make that money back in a heartbeat with a good run at the blackjack tables.

But get this: my sister-in-law’s family is flying back to Long Island next month for their annual 10 to 12-day trip to catch up with relatives and friends. Total cost: $344 round trip. For FIVE TICKETS. Think they still want to get in the minivan for the 12-hour drive and $3-a-gallon gas prices along the way?

Keeping up with Spirit’s outrageous fare specials is easy: just visit their Web site, and sign up for their e-mail specials through the link off the home page. You’ll get the messages multiple times a week, but unlike with spam (and even if you have no immediate air travel needs), it’s still fun to keep tabs on just how low they will go on their variety of specials.

Summer Newsletter

My Summer 2007 Newsletter profiles the many advantages the Hard Rock Theme Park will offer Myrtle Beach-area condo owners and investors.

Also in this issue:

• Myrtle Beach Ranked First in Yahoo!’s “World’s Best Beaches”
• Broadway at the Beach Prepares Pavilion Nostalgia Mini-Park
• Project News
• … and more

Check it out today!

Reform Act Easing S.C. Coastal Insurance Woes

With the Omnibus Coastal Property Insurance Reform Act of 2007 being signed into law Monday by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, it now offers grants and tax credits to state homeowners who are proactive in making their homes more wind resistant.

More details on the bill and the grant application process are highlighted in this June 12 article in The Sun News. In summary, the bill:

• Offers homeowners tax credits of up to $1,000 for the cost of making their home more wind resistant.
• Offers tax credits of up to $1,250 for low income property owners who pay more than 5 percent of their income toward insurance premiums.
• Reduces sales tax by 3 percent for building supplies used to make homes more wind resistant.
• Requires insurers to give consumers a list of all discounts they can get for retrofitting their property and requires them to offer such discounts.
• Requires insurers to give 90 days notice for cancellation in hurricane season, and 60 days notice for the rest of the year.
• Provides matching grants for single family, modular or manufactured homeowners to retrofit their properties. Homes must be owner occupied and be valued at $300,000 or less, and have undergone a wind certification and hurricane mitigation inspection.