selling a myrtle beach home | Myrtle Beach Homes

Dec 18 2019

3 Mistakes To Avoid In A Real Estate Transaction

Whether you are buying or selling a home in Myrtle Beach, there are some mistakes that you want to avoid during the transaction that can make the purchase or sale of a home more difficult. Check out this video below to watch quick video of what these three mistakes are:

Vacation

Everyone needs a vacation right? Yes, we all definitely need time away where we can simply relax unwind and disconnect. One of the best ways to do this is to take a cruise. Unfortunately taking a cruise on the week before buying or selling a home is not a good idea.

When buying a home, there are several times throughout the process the lender will need more documentation for the underwriters to clear the conditions placed on the loan. If you are unable to deliver these documents in a timely manner, it could make it impossible to close on time.

Or, say you are in the process of buying a home and the week before closing you are on a boat when the lender is trying to get in touch with you to review the closing disclosure and sign off. Due to the laws established by TRID in 2017, buyers must sign a disclosure and there must then be a 3 day waiting period before the loan can be funded and the sale recorded.

If you are out of the country on vacation or on a cruise ship without access to your email when the lender sends you the disclosure, you will not be closing the day after you return from your trip because the time period will prevent it.

Or, if you are selling a home in a gated community in Myrtle Beach like Waterbridge and you out of the country without any way to communicate with your REALTOR® for the weeks leading up to the sale of your home and a repair request comes in for the buyer. As I’ve shared in the past, one of the items your agent helps you negotiate after the contract is the home inspection repairs. If this communication does not happen, it could cost you the sale of your home.

So while you think a vacation is something you have to do right then, it can be a very bad idea to take during a real estate transaction.

Get The Right Attorney

To buy or sell a home in Myrtle Beach, you need to have an attorney to represent you in the process and to get the transaction recorded at the court house. So whether you love or hate attorneys, it is a necessity in order to do any type of real estate transaction here.

Too many times I run into clients who want to use a high school friend who is an attorney now to try & save a few dollars in the transaction. The issue is that normally this can end up causing more problems then the little amount of money you will save.

When buying a home in Myrtle Beach, the attorney is responsible for reviewing the chain of title on the property you are purchasing to make sure it is clear and that you are able to be issued a clear title on the property. While with some properties that isn’t that big of a deal, on others it can be much more work as they may have to go back through 30-40 years of research and look through a chain of ownership that could be very long.

Having an attorney that does this type of work every day is crucial to make sure you have no issues during the purchase or an issue come up when trying to sell. This past year I had issues come up more than once on transactions with title issues and all of them came from when the person purchased the home and used an attorney that doesn’t specialize in real estate.

In one situation, it was for a client of mine trying to purchase a house had a title issue that was found when the property was sold 2 owners prior and required weeks of work tracking down heirs of the previous owner to have them sign documents in order for my clients to be able to purchase a property with an insurable title. So when buying, always pick an attorney that handles real estate transactions on a regular basis.

Living Life

This one is kinda obvious, but if you were to pass away during the transaction, it will make it almost impossible to buying a property or sell one. Now, selling a home can still happen if one of the sellers passes away, but you would definitely want to have all the correct types of documents in place.

This includes owning the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship so that if one of the owners passes away their ownership rights automatically pass to other owners. This is the quickest way to keep the property transaction in place.

If you don’t own it with rights of survivorship, then it is really important to have some sort of will in place stating who inherits the property. I had a client who was trying to purchase a condo this year where the seller had passed away and it was an estate property.

The representative for the estate tried to probate the property, but there was no will in place so they had to get documents signed off by all the heirs of the deceased which are currently located all around the world and not local. So we have now been waiting over 6 months on these items to be completed so that my buyer can eventually purchase the home.

If there was a will in place that was properly executed in South Carolina, none of these issues would be present. The executor would have been able to take the notarized will to the court house, process the estate and we would have been able to do the transaction with no problems. But because this wasn’t in place, we unfortunately are now months into this with no idea when we will be able to actually purchase the condo.

Avoiding the Mistakes

So avoid these three mistakes when you are either buying or selling a property and the transaction will be able to happen much faster. In our market, the average days from contract to closing is around 30-45 days. But, if you make one of these mistakes, the transaction could take considerably longer if it is even able to be done.

Mar 02 2016

Selling a Myrtle Beach Home- Last Minute Showings

When selling a Myrtle Beach home, one of the common issues that can arise is when an agent calls at the last minute to show your home while in the neighborhood and seeing the yard sign. While the buyers may not have previewed your home on the MLS & said they wanted to see it, once they drove through the neighborhood & saw your awesome back yard & pool,, and think your home might be “the one.”

So what should you do when selling and these last minute calls come in? You haven’t had time to vacuum the carpets and the kids didn’t make their bed this morning before heading off to school! Should I cancel the showing because the home isn’t in perfect condition? NO! Don’t cancel! Here’s the thing I always tell to my clients when we have their home listed for sale:

[tweetthis]”Never cancel a last minute showing because the home isn’t in show perfect condition.”[/tweetthis]

People realize that you weren’t expecting a showing right this moment and they also know that you still have to live in your house each and every day. The new potential buyers can look past dishes in the sink or an unmade bed when you only have minutes to prepare for a showing.

What you don’t want to do is decline a potential showing of your home because it is last minute. Your home will never sell if it can’t be viewed by potential buyers.

[tweetthis]”Your home will never sell if it can’t be viewed by potential buyers”[/tweetthis]

So when those last minute calls come in requesting a showing, take a deep breath and say yes to the buyer’s agent. If you can get the dishes into the dishwasher or pull up the sheets, then do it, but don’t go crazy if it isn’t all perfect when your doorbell rings. Relax and know it will all be fine, the new homeowners could be entering into your home.

If you are considering selling your home, contact me to learn more about how my online marketing plan can get your home exposed to over 37,000 people in the first 24 hours of your home hitting the market.

Feb 17 2016

Selling a Myrtle Beach Home- The Closing Date

When selling a Myrtle Beach home, a typical issue that you can run into is the closing date being changed. While there are several things that can affect the date on which the property closes, some of the more common reasons can be that the lender needs to delay closing because they aren’t able to finish the loan on time.

Another thing that can slow down or change the closing date is the home inspection. Sometimes items come up in the home inspection that can slow down the closing date because of repairs needing to be completed. If it takes two extra weeks for a part to come in, the new buyers may not want to close until they know all the repairs have been completed.

A third reason the closing could be delayed is due to the attorney. Sometimes the attorneys have too many closings already scheduled for the day and don’t have a time slot available to close on the day originally scheduled, they may need to move it back a day or two.

The main thing to remember in these situations is although the closing date might sometimes get delayed, delay does not be denial. It simply means it might a day or two longer till the actual closing happens and you get your money from selling the home. So if you experience a delay for one of these reason, there no need to panic, closing will still happen.

To learn more on selling your Myrtle Beach home, contact me today and find out how my marketing plan can get your home exposed to over 37,000 people online in the first 24 hours of your home being listed for sale.

Feb 16 2016

Selling a Myrtle Beach Home- Unexpected Showings

So you have your home for sale in Myrtle Beach and your listing agent has just stuck the sign in the front yard. You have already painted all the walls & cleaned the house to perfection for the upcoming showings. But, what happens when someone shows up at the door wanting to see your home without an appointment. As crazy as this sounds, it is something that happens fairly often.

People are out driving the neighborhood and see a new sign in the yard. They quickly look up the property on their smartphone and the awesome photos your listing agent took make them have to see the property. They become so excited that this might be “the one” that they jump out of the car and rush to your door asking to view your home. When this happens, I would suggest you direct the person to contact your listing agent and not allow them access to the home. You never know if that person is legitimately interested in your home or if it someone who is going to rob you.

When you list your property, ask your agent for a stack of cards and keep them handy. Simply hand them a business card and let your agent handle the showing. Your safety isn’t worth a showing. They can schedule something for later that day or the next with your agent. Your agent has ways to verify that the person is serious about purchasing a home and knows the questions to ask to keep you and your home safe.

By having them schedule the showing through your listing agent, you can have a level of protection for you and your family. For more on the things I provide when selling a home in Myrtle Beach, contact me today! Let my marketing system that exposes your home to over 37,000 potential buyers in less than 24 hours work to help get your home SOLD today!

Feb 15 2016

Selling a Myrtle Beach Home- Leave During Showings

When selling your Myrtle Beach house, one of the biggest tips I can give to clients and to leave prior to the showing and leave the house vacant. The potential buyers want to have the ability to view the house freely without someone listening in or looming over their shoulder.

When the sellers are home, the potential buyers will not want to spend as much time viewing the home. Also, they will not speak freely as they don’t want to take a chance of offending the sellers. The best option is to leave the property and let the new buyers view the property with freedom with their agent.

If you have pets, I suggest taking the dog for a walk around the neighborhood, or loading them into the car and going for a drive. Also, there can be major liability to the potential sale of your property if you get into discussion with the buyers and their agent. While you think you might just be helping your cause by talking about how desperate you are to get this home sold because you have an offer on another property already, it can actually backfire on you.

The buyers & their agent will see that as someone desperate to get their home sold and they know you are on a tight timeline. They might offer you much less then because they know you are in need of a quick sale to keep from losing another home. If you are not present during the showing, then you won’t have anything to be concerned about with potential buyers or making them feel uncomfortable in your home.

If you are considering selling your home, contact me today to learn how my marketing plan can get your property exposed to over 37,000 people online within the first 24 hours of being placed on the market.