Real estate is local and sometimes Charleston real estate business customs are local too
I read a couple of threads on Facebook this weekend having to do with local real estate business customs.
One questioned why Charleston real estate buyers would use an out of town lender which of course is never a good idea if you want to have a smooth real estate transaction. Over the years, I have had several buyers who insisted on using a lender from "back home" and they just don't understand that all 50 states have different real estate laws and ways of doing business. One Texas lender even thought that their attorney should prepare the closing paperwork and deed and of course, that generally won't work because the Texas attorney is not licensed to practice law in South Carolina.
But even more interesting although less critical to buying a home in Charleston had to do with whether buyers rode in the same car as their real estate agent or whether the agent and buyers drove from home to home in their respective cars.
It seems that in the North, that is how they do things but for the most part in Charleston, as an agent, I meet the buyers at either my office or at a Starbucks, McDonalds or their hotel and drive around showing homes. The biggest benefit is that we get to have a conversation and I get to learn more about them and what they like, don't like and what their wants and needs are.
Once in a while the buyers might have several small children and their car is full of child seats and other paraphernalia so it isn't always possible and I even remember that a couple of buyers didn't like the idea of getting in my car but preferred to follow me.
They must have been Yankees. Welcome to Charleston! 