1 Don’t Settle! Find THE BEST Home
You can’t find THE BEST POSSIBLE HOUSE for you and your family among thousands of new homes in hundreds of developments without the help of a good buyer’s agent, period! You just can’t (See below). Our market is too big and complicated. You can certainly find “a house,” but will it be the perfect one for you or just the best you happen to find without the assistance of your own new home buyer’s agent?
Many available new homes are “hidden inventory” - not in MLS. Also, my team is updated daily by agents at dozens of communities about builder incentives such as rate buydowns, closing cost credits, upgrades, and more. It’s not possible for a prospective home buyer to keep up with all of this for all these developments. No matter how much time you spend studying websites and driving around looking at models, you still won’t be able to match the intricate hyper-local knowledge, professional contacts and thousands of hours of experience of our buyer’s agents.
What about the on-site agents? Each is an expert on their community, but their job is to sell you a home in their community, not to assist you in finding your perfect fit from the full range of choices in our area. With our team, you will not lose the assistance of the on-site agent in the community you ultimately choose. You will just be gaining your own agent as well. You will also have the expertise and resources of RE/MAX Southern Shores, with over $1 billion in gross sales year after year.
2 Negotiating the Offer
Once you’ve decided on your perfect house, it’s time to negotiate your purchase offer. Price, closing cost incentives, lender rate buy-downs, upgrades, contingencies (home to sell, etc.), approximate closing date and more can all be addressed - although there may be less flexibility with new home builders than with individual sellers. Also, builder contracts are complex and contain stipulations not familiar to most buyers (escalation clauses for building costs, drainage or utility easements through part of your yard, etc.). For all these reasons, you need a professional negotiator on your side. Remember that the on-site agent owes their fiduciary duty to the builder.
3 Financing
A builder often has a preferred lender that the builder’s agent will encourage you to use. With incentives, this may be the best choice, but our agents can offer advice as to whether it’s right for your personal situation. We are experts on local lenders and special programs - recast options, reverse mortgages, first-time homebuyer loans and gift funds, VA loans, and FHA loans. See our Local Lender List.
4 Construction Progress Follow-up
Your buyer’s agent will represent YOU in case any problems or conflicts occur - throughout the construction process, closing, and beyond (into the warranty period). Although on-site agents want you to have a good buying experience, they represent the builder. Incidentally, we’ve found that most of the builders in our area will do their best to resolve issues in a timely manner if possible. Our agents maintain close communications with the builder’s agents and can ensure that your requests or concerns are conveyed to the right parties.
5 Choosing a Closing Attorney
You will need a South Carolina closing attorney (per state law). A builder often recommends a specific attorney and sometimes provides an incentive to use them. This may be the best choice for you but your buyer’s agent can provide you with alternatives.
6 Move-In Day!
When the big day arrives, your buyer’s agent will be there to assist with all the details and activities necessary to make this new house your home!
For your time, your money, and your happiness, hire a buyer’s agent to represent you on your new home purchase!
Tips and Comments:
Hire your buyer’s agent early in the process - before you start contacting builders or their agents or sales offices. Some builders might even refuse to pay your agent a commission to represent you if you don’t register the agent the first time you contact them. Ideally, it’s best for you to formally hire your buyer’s agent by signing a Buyer Agency Agreement to clarify to the builder that you are being represented. This also frees you up to contact and visit onsite offices on your own without losing your buyer’s agent’s representation. It’s still best to let the builder’s agent know you are working with an agent.
Builder’s agents in our area are typically skilled and knowledgeable about their communities and their assistance is invaluable to the purchase process. Most onsite agents are happy to work with cooperating brokers like ours as long as the buyer’s representation and clear channels of communication are established from the beginning. The members of my Beach Pro Team have built strong, respectful working relationships with agents in numerous developments and we utilize their services to the fullest to ensure smooth transactions.