How to buy a home for sale in Charleston
Happy New Year!
Since we're just days away from the rush of Charleston home buyers seriously beginning their search for homes for sale in Charleston immediately after the first of the year, here is a brief recap of the process that home buyers should follow for a great buying experience.
Are you currently working with a real estate agent.
This is a question I ask of anyone who contacts me and some buyers might wonder why it matters. Well, first of all, if you have a real estate agent, you should be asking him/her questions, not me. If you trust your agent, (and you should or why would you have chosen them in the first place), don't second guess their advice.
When you search the Charleston MLS on my website (or any other Charleston real estate agent's website), all of the listings that you can view are not my or their personal listings. That doesn't mean that we can't help you, we can as a buyers agent. But you don't need to contact 9 different agents to see 10 different homes. Use your agent to make appointments to see homes you want to see.
Are you preapproved for a mortgage with a lender.
If you aren't qualified to buy a home or aren't qualified to spend as much as some homes you are looking at, you're not only wasting your time but you might not like the homes in your price range as much if you compare them to more expensive homes that you might have seen. Don't expect to pay list price in all cases but be realistic in terms of how much below list you can buy a home for.
A preapproval letter is necessary for your offer to be taken seriously by most sellers and in many cases, is required to accompany any offer to even be considered.
How do you choose an agent.
Well, start by choosing me and you'll be happy you did.
OK, just kidding. 
There are a lot of Charleston real estate agents out there. Some are very good, others not as good. So ask yourself what are you looking for in an agent, experience, knowledge, expertise, local area familiarity, availability, compatibility, etc., or do you just want to hook up with the first one you stumble across.
Just like sellers who generally interview several agents before selecting one to list their home for sale, a buyer should do the same thing when hiring an agent to represent their interests in a real estate transaction. Just because the seller pays the commission doesn't mean that real estate services are free to a buyer because the seller is paying the commission from the proceeds of the sale which the buyer brings to the closing in the form of their down payment and mortgage. Choose wisely.
How to search and find a home.
There are as many ways to search for homes for sale as there are available homes for sale in the Charleston real estate market. Use a Charleston real estate agent's MLS search instead of some of the syndicated sites and real estate advertising sites whose information is often not accurate. Don't become a lead to be peddled and sold to a real estate agent who will buy you and the right to be your agent.
Aside from searching for homes in your price range, I find the three most important considerations that a buyer should take into account all revolve around location: the commute to where you will be working, school information if you have school age children and what you like to do in your free time. There are very nice homes that you'll be happy with once you determine the area of Charleston that you would like to live.
OK, that wraps it up.
You can search the Charleston MLS with no registration required and use either basic search, advanced search or map search technology. Happy house hunting!
And one more little reminder, for a great experience when buying a home, choose me as your agent.