Charleston SC Military Relocation - Charleston South Carolina

So, you’ve received orders for Charleston South Carolina? What’s next? You get your current house on the market, get it sold and move into temporary housing and live in a suitcase until your next home in Charleston SC is all yours to move into.

Charleston's Finest Guide offers you several opportunities to make your move easier. You can order a online guide that you can print out immediately at your computer and a print copy of the relocation guide mailed to you at no charge. We also offer a relocation packet that includes a apartment guide, a real estate book about homes for sale, a map of the city, a visitors guide for $15.00.
You’ll want to know how much house you’ll be getting for your money, and we have three steps here to help you.

1.Get pre-approved so you know how much house you can afford. This doesn’t obligate you to a particular lender, but it’s a very necessary step.

2.Get an overall idea of the market clicking here will link you to a Sales Activity Chart showing you days on the market, average sales price, and the sales price/list price ratio of 11 distinct geographic areas around Charleston and the area as a whole.

3.Access the Best MLS Search Tool Available clicking here will take you to Charleston's Finest Real Estate where you’ll have access to the most advanced search capability available to the public.

4.Find a Realtor We have a list of local Realtors from which to choose. It’s definitely a good idea to pick someone before you start getting serious as opposed to calling or emailing on individual listings separately. There are Realtors that work with military families all the time, and understand the issues you deal with in finding the right home in Charleston.

5.Pick Your Lender You want to pick a lender with an office in South Carolina, and it’s good to go with one that knows your Realtor. It’s OK to ask if the Realtor getting any back-end money or kick-backs. Most of them don’t, but some of them do. Whatever you do, absolutely do not try to get a mortgage on a home in South Carolina with a company that does not have an office in SC. They will tell you they are capable of doing a loan in any state, and that is true. What they don’t tell you is that there are about 50 details they’re going to try to take care of the day before closing, and if they are only slightly unfamiliar with how thing are done in SC, your closing can very easily be delayed.

6.Find a community Looking at homes on the MLS on the computer can be a little deceiving, because you don’t know what’s next door or even inside the neighborhood. Read about the Top Ten Neighborhoods for Charleston Air Force Base in Dorchester Road Corridor. Start building a relationship with your Realtor early enough in the process so you feel like you’re dealing with someone that’s going to steer you straight…someone that listens and asks questions instead of trying to impress you with their knowledge. There are plenty of nice communities less than ten minutes from the Air Base with Dorchester II schools. Visit myscschools.com to check your facts.

7.Finding your home should take only two to three days with the right Realtor and if you use a lender with an office in South Carolina, you should be able to close in two to three weeks, depending on how quickly you get them all the information they need. If they already have all your documentation, they all you have to do is get your insurance written, transfer your utilities, and show up on closing day with a check and ID. In South Carolina, when you go to closing, the seller gets their check, the buyer gets the keys, and you can go home and start unpacking that day.

8.Renting vs. Buying The appreciation rate is pretty healthy in Charleston, so the bottom line is, if you can buy, you should. Talk to the person that does your taxes about the tax advantages of home ownership.

Congratulations on your upcoming move to Charleston. If you haven’t been stationed here before, you’re in for a real treat. If you have, then we don’t have to tell you how great it is to live in Charleston SC.