Get ready for the Christmas season and enjoy beautiful Myrtle Beach during a quieter, more unhurried time of year during November!  There are quite a few interesting things to do this month along the Grand Strand.

Performances
The Carolina Opry’s Christmas Special lasts all November and December. This holiday show features music, comedy, and dance all themed around Christmas and the holiday season. Another winter classic, The Twelve Irish Tenors, will be performing at the Palace Theatre this winter as well.

Concerts
Myrtle Beach is lucky to have a professional orchestra, The Long Bay Symphony Orchestra. They will be performing their concert series this month on November 8 at Myrtle Beach High School. And don’t miss the Youth Orchestra’s fall concert on November 19th, also at Myrtle Beach High School.

Christmas
It’s never too early to start enjoying Christmas at Myrtle Beach! Broadway at the Beach holds its Christmas tree lighting on November 7th, while Market Common will have its own tree lighting on November 27, along with free carriage rides starting November 28 every Saturday until Christmas. Little River will be holding a Christmas Market with a parade on November 28th.

And don’t forget, we offer plenty of Myrtle Beach winter rentals for those who want to beat the rush and get a great deal!

There are several ways to cut down the expense of insuring your vacation home in Myrtle Beach. Here are some great tips from our local  insurance agent, Scott Todd of Todd Insurance Agency, Inc.

1. Get a longterm customer discount – If you’ve had homeowner’s insurance with the same company for years, think twice before moving to a new carrier. You may be getting discounts for having that policy for a long time. Do the math and see if moving to a new company will save you money. (Many companies grant the same discount if you’ve been with a prior company for a long time)

2. Combine your vehicle, boat or motorcycle, and homeowners insurance policies and keep them with the same company. This is one of the biggest discounts you can have.

3. Try to purchase your home nearby to a “paid” or city fire station. Volunteer fire stations will help, but your best discount is being near a city organization. Try to make sure you have a fire hydrant within a mile of the house for even more of a discount.

4. Add a security system to your home. Make sure you keep well-maintained fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, carbon dioxide detectors, even an alarm for radon gas. Don’t forget to notify the agent when you’ve done this. Neighborhood Watch communities can help, too.

5. Don’t own a typically vicious dog or dangerous animal. Any type of dog like a doberman, rottweiler, or pit bull can increase your homeowner’s liability insurance. Resist the impulse to get that new “wild” cross-bred cat, too.

6. Keep pools, hottubs, or trampolines behind a locked fence, and maintain guard rails on any outside stairs. Many times these fall under city ordinances as well.

7. When figuring your appraised value, deduct the amount that would cover land only. You want to insure only the home or structure, not the rocks and grass!

8. If purchasing, choose a newer home. Most insurance companies charge more for older homes due to repair rates.

9. Stick to a well-known national insurance company and choose a higher deductible. You may find a lower rate with a fly-by-night company, but if you have to make a claim, they may have flown!

10. Keep a high credit score, or choose one of the insurance companies that don’t count your credit rating in your premium charges. If you’ve got excellent credit, find a company that rewards it. Taking the time to do a little homework can help your insurance expenses whether it comes to SC homeowners insurance or cheap car insurance in Myrtle Beach.

Also, if you’re in another state and have your car insurance with a company, you can insure your condo in Myrtle Beach with the same company and get the same multi-policy discount. Todd Insurance Agency, Inc is fully licensed for any city in the states of North and South Carolina. Todd Insurance can protect your car, home, motorcycle, boat, provide renters insurance, and much more..

Contact them for details!

Todd Insurance Agency, Inc.
1515 Hwy 17 South
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
(888) 288-8713 (Toll Free)

www.carolinapolicies.com

October is a busy month for events on the Grand Strand! Oktoberfest, Taste of the Town, and Halloween will give you plenty to do this month.

Oktoberfest
Germany’s Oktoberfest, started in 1810, is known as the largest public fair and has become so popular that Oktoberfest celebrations are held around the world. There are many different places around Myrtle Beach hotels to enjoy the festivities. Market Common will be holding its festival on October 3rd with German food, beer and wine, and children’s activities. The City of Myrtle Beach will also be celebrating Oktoberfest on October 3rd along downtown Ocean Boulevard, with food vendors, a biergarten, a bratwurst eating contest, an alcohol-free kids zone with inflatables, and live music featuring Edwin McCain. The town of Surfside Beach will also be holding a Family Festival on the same day with food booths, live entertainment, and children’s events. Broadway at the Beach celebrates Oktoberfest and its Fall Festival October 9th-11th with a German-inspired menu at Liberty Steakhouse, musical and dance performances, and pumpkin painting and fireworks on Saturday.

Taste of the Town
Taste of the Town is the talk of the town! This event, now in its 25th year, is the Grand Strand’s biggest culinary and social event. Over fifty of the finest restaurants in Myrtle Beach will offer samples of their delicious dishes and desserts. Don’t miss out on this chance to mingle and try some of the best food around. Taste of the Town 2009 takes place October 27th from 4PM to 10PM at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Halloween
There are Halloween events for both kids and adults in Myrtle Beach this year. Head over to Broadway at the Beach for trick-or-treating, Booville at Pavilion Nostalgia Park, and a Halloween costume party and contest for adults. There will also be Halloween trick-or-treating at the shops at Market Common.

Have fun on your Myrtle Beach vacation with these great events! You can view the entire calendar of events on our Myrtle Beach Condos website.

As many of you know, North Myrtle Beach used to be comprised of four separate cities, Crescent Beach, Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive and Windy Hill. When North Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1968, the names still stuck with us. And now, in an effort to distinguish NMB from MB, each street sign along Hwy 17  is in the process of being color-coded with the name of the beach below the street name.

The are many North Myrtle Beach condos and hotels that still describe their location using these markers. “It’s located in the Ocean Drive section,” they say.  So this addition will help tourists familiarize themselves with the sections of North Myrtle Beach.

According to the story on WMBF News, Cherry Grove signs are red, Crescent Beach is taupe, Ocean Drive is blue, and Windy Hill, well, we don’t know quite yet.

Although receiving unfavorable comments from locals on the story, the Sun News (Myrtle Beach’s leading newspaper) reported that the area had a 97 percent occupancy rate for the Fourth of July weekend, a number not reached since 2005. Furthermore, according to reps from the Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism at Coastal Carolina University, the Myrtle Beach area should have about a 90 percent occupancy rate for the rest of July.

Good news? Yes and no.  While there may be more people actually HERE in Myrtle Beach, because of the tremendous discounts offered by the hotels, condos and other lodging businesses, the profit margins are very thin. According to the article, the Myrtle Beach Chamber even spent more money this year in advertising, using money from the 1 percent tax increase.

It’s not just the accommodations industry though, but people are simply watching their money in general, which is why the promotion for the Freestyle Music Park on July 4 went over so well and lots of people are taking advantage of our Myrtle Beach condo deals at CondoLux.

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On another note, if you happen to be interested in real estate deals, we just updated the Myrtle Beach oceanfront condo foreclosures list.  We try to keep this list updated as much as possible so that you can take advantage of the changing real estate market.  Bookmark the page and check back!