Step 1 to Purchasing a Home

I wrote up a guide for first time home buyers to guide them through the process of buying a home. We use this in our office for our first-time home-buyer class. There are 10 steps in all. You can find that document on my website, www.charlestonhoLmes.com. It's a very rough outline and the buyer is encouraged to ask questions of his realtor if he is unclear on any of the steps. I thought I would use the Blog to expand a little on the 10 steps.

The first step is to find a Qualified Buyer's Representative. In recent years, most states have changed their laws regarding agency and now allow the buyer to be fully represented by their agent even though the seller pays the commission. That agent is known as a Buyer's Agent. Before this change, a buyer's agent represented the seller and the buyer had no real legal representation during negotiations. Most states realized that this was unfair and we now have full representation for the buyer. All the buyer has to do to get this free representation is sign a document making one agent the exclusive agent for that buyer. This document can certainly have an expiration date on it. There is simply no good reason whatsoever for a buyer not to have his own Buyer's Agent. There is absolutely no downside to having a Buyer's Agent. And it's free service!! The Buyer's Agent gets paid from the seller's proceeds, but has a legal duty to protect the buyer during all negotiations.

So, don't call 15 different listing agents about their listings. Get yourself a Buyer's Agent and let them do all the work for you. They can set up searches in the MLS based on your criteria that will send you email notifications of properties that match your parameters. They can show you all the properties that you want to see. We have access to the entire MLS. They will write the contract for you with all sorts of special clauses designed to protect you more than the standard contract. They will negotiate with the listing agent on your behalf, help you find a lender, set up home inspections, handle all of the paperwork, set up closings, and make sure everything gets done. Remember, they are not trying to sell you a home like a listing agent; they are trying to help you buy your dream home.

Well that's step one of the 10 steps. Now a plug for myself. I have the ABR designation for realtors. This means that I'm an Accredited Buyer's Representative. That designation comes from REBAC, the Real Estate Buyers' Agent Council, a subsidary of the National Association of Realtors.