Every kind of home the Lowcountry builds

Detached single-family homes make up the majority of our assignments, from post-war ranches in West Ashley to new production homes in Cane Bay and custom builds on the islands. Even 'standard' homes here carry Lowcountry-specific factors — flood zones, elevation, crawlspace versus slab construction, and lot characteristics that change value street by street.

Condominium value is inseparable from the regime that governs it. Fees, reserves, insurance structure, rental policies and pending assessments all bear on what a unit is worth, alongside the usual questions of location, floor level and finish. Charleston's condo inventory spans historic downtown conversions, suburban garden regimes, and resort villas on the islands — each with different analytical demands.

Townhome ownership structures vary — some are fee-simple with small HOAs, others function like condominiums — and the distinction matters to value and financing. The product ranges from established communities in Mount Pleasant and James Island to the newer townhome construction expanding across Berkeley and Dorchester counties.

Charleston's historic housing is a category unto itself: single houses and mansions on the peninsula, Victorian homes in Summerville's historic district, early cottages in Mount Pleasant's Old Village. These properties demand an appraiser who can read renovation quality across centuries of building fabric, and who understands how Board of Architectural Review jurisdiction, preservation easements and historic designations affect what owners can do — and what buyers will pay.

'Waterfront' covers an enormous value range in the Lowcountry: true deep water with a private dock is a different world from tidal-creek access, marsh view or a beach walk. Dock permits, water depth at low tide, bridge height restrictions and the OCRM critical-line all determine what a waterfront property actually offers — and its value. We appraise water-oriented property across every river system and island in the tri-county area.

In the upper price brackets — downtown estates, oceanfront homes, gated island properties — comparable sales are scarce, buyer pools are regional or national, and standard adjustment techniques strain. Our luxury work rests on expanded research, careful support for quality and feature adjustments, and honest reconciliation of the wider ranges thin markets produce.

New-construction assignments run from as-completed valuations developed from plans and specifications to appraisals of just-finished homes in active master-planned communities. Builder incentives, upgrade pricing and phase-by-phase price movement all require careful handling to distinguish contract price from market value.

Renovation is a defining force in Charleston's older neighborhoods, and the value question is always the same: what does this particular scope of work return in this particular market? We distinguish cosmetic updating from genuine renovation — systems, envelope, layout — and support the spread between original and updated condition with market evidence rather than cost assumptions.

Some properties simply have no near neighbors in the data: a dome home, a converted church, a compound with multiple dwellings, acreage with development potential, or a property whose highest and best use is genuinely in question. These assignments are analytical problems to be solved, not forms to be filled — and they're work we actively seek out.

Two- to four-unit properties — common on the peninsula, in North Charleston and scattered through the older suburbs — are valued with attention to both the sales market and the income they produce. Rent schedules, unit mix, separate metering and owner-occupant versus investor buyer dynamics all enter the analysis.