Choose your Charleston real estate team wisely
So you think you found the perfect home for sale in Charleston and now it's time to see it, confirm that you like it and buy it. It seems pretty simple ... but unfortunately it isn't. It's a very complicated transaction and most likely, the largest financial investment that you will make in your life (until you buy another home).
Picking the professionals that will help you is critical to successfully navigating the process from contract to closing. Of course, the first thing you have to decide on is a real estate professional and I don't have to tell you that the second cousin of your brother in law who just got his real estate license and has a full time job as a greeter at Wal Mart is probably not your best choice.
But let's say that you pick me or one of the many other fine real estate professionals in Charleston. That's a good start but it's only the beginning. You will need to have a mortgage lender, an attorney, insurance agent, home inspectors and others and choosing poorly here are where many transactions may begin to go downhill.
The biggest mistake that most Charleston home buyers make is choosing a lender. I've discussed using out of state lenders previously and online lenders generally fall into the same category. You really need to have a local loan officer who understands South Carolina real estate if you want to have a smooth real estate transaction and that doesn't just mean that the lender has to be headquartered in Charleston, many of the best local loan officers are affiliated with large national banks. Most excellent Charleston real estate professionals have excellent local partners who will treat you right and get the transaction closed. Unfortunately, there are too many bad lenders out there who are just interested in making money rather than helping you and if you are counting on the government's new good faith estimate to help you shop and compare lenders, mortgage rates, closing costs, etc., as they say in New Jersey, fuhgetttttttttaboutittttttttt.
As to your choice of attorneys, insurance agent, home inspectors and the other members of the team to help you, once again, your real estate agent knows good ones and bad ones and can help you by offering you your choice of several excellent professionals. Don't just pick the first one you see out of the phone book.
It's your choice, choose wisely.