Charleston Real Estate Blog

When a Charleston real estate agent shows homes to their clients, they are asked to provide feedback in order to help the seller understand what buyers like and don't like about their home. It's basically an automated process with an email automatically sent an hour after the appointment to view the property. So far, so good. Now ...

... and not a lead. I get these kind of emails all the time (edited for anonymity) offering to sell me names of buyers who are supposedly interested in buying or selling a home in the Charleston real estate market. First of all, I don't know why any real estate agent would want to deal with any of the many companies offering to sell leads ...

Buyers and sellers of Charleston real estate pick their agents in any number of ways and it's pretty understandable considering that you can't turn over a rock and not find a real estate agent. There's always friends and family, neighbors and co-workers. Surely someone in your family has a real estate license, perhaps your Aunt ...

Jim Duncan at RealCentralVA once said in a post, "When I advise my clients to use a lender whom I know and trust, it's not that I have any special ties, receive kickbacks, or anything else underhanded or shady. It's because I am looking out for the best interests of my clients." (emphasis added) I couldn't agree more. And ...

I'm not sure that many real estate consumers understand what real estate agents do to earn a commission and I'm not sure that many care if an agent gets paid, I think the only thing buyers really care about is buying a house. First of all, a real estate agent only gets paid if and when the sale closes. They aren't salaried, they ...

... and a tale of 2 buyers. UPDATE: by the time I finish writing, it will be 4 buyers.  I've been very fortunate to work with many wonderful buyers (and sellers) during my career as a Charleston real estate agent. Of course, real estate agents work in order to earn money since the profession has not yet become a charitable ...

Charleston real estate consumers generally seem to choose their real estate agent in one of three ways.  Friend, neighbor or relative - just about everyone has a friend in real estate, lives in the same neighborhood as a real estate agent or is related to a real estate agent. That does not necessarily make them the best choice but many ...

Out in San Diego, Vern and Marty Ummel sued their real estate agent because they felt they overpaid for their home a couple of years ago. They said that "similar" homes sold for less and their agent withheld the information from them. The jury took only 2 hours to hand down a unanimous decision against the couple and for the real ...

Fiduciary duty is more than just a fancy word for loyalty and care. A real estate agent owes the following fiduciary duties to a client:LoyaltyObedienceDisclosureConfidentialityReasonable care and diligenceAccountingBut according to Wikipedia, "A fiduciary's duty must not conflict with another fiduciary duty. Conflicts between one ...

... or do you want to use an agent. There are a lot of do it yourself buyers out there today and some buyers may think with the proliferation of information available on the Internet, they can successfully buy a home without an agent. Of course, they need an agent to get the lockbox open but once they are able to see the house in person, maybe ...