As a Realtor, I’m very fortunate for many reasons. I live in Upstate South Carolina which is enjoying tremendous growth as people are flocking to the market. With its geographic appeal, clean water, and fresh air, thirty minutes to the mountains, and three hours to amazing beaches, four seasons, world-class industry, revitalized downtowns, and excellent schools and universities,
Upstate South Carolina is truly a crown jewel. As a result of having a great job market, affordable cost-of-living, a fantastic culture, and diversity and now adding historically low-interest rates and tight real estate inventory, the Upstate has, and is experiencing a robust seller’s market.
While all of these very positive facets of the marketplace bode well for investing in homeownership, there are real liabilities for those seeking to purchase in a seller’s market. First, finding a home can be difficult with the limited inventory available. Second, once a home is located, being able to move quickly but thoroughly to the offer process should be handled by a rapid response Realtor. Just this past week I had several clients where the homes they wanted to buy were in multiple offers, meaning several if not many homebuyers were competing for the home for sale.
Home buying in Upstate South Carolina is becoming much like Wall Street trading where the rapid, real-time response from your Realtor or lack thereof will determine whether you win or lose the home you are hoping for. This type of customer service and client commitment isn’t for the weak at heart or for someone dabbling in real estate. I am on call 24/7/365 for my clients and I demand the same from my vendor team, i.e., mortgage underwriters, home inspectors, home repair crews, pest control companies, closing attorneys as well as my brokerage. I constantly communicate and respond to all of these critical partners in the home buying process to ensure there are no weak links that can cause a fumble that may jeopardize the deal for my client. Lack of timely response should never be the reason a client loses their dream home.
Speaking of critical players, let’s start at the genesis of the home buying process. It’s paramount that you have a pre-approved letter from a mortgage underwriter. Whether from a bank or an independent company, no Realtor is going to search for or much less show a customer a home without this document. Tom Eisenbraun from Rapid Mortgage Company shares this.
“For 15 years I’ve been in the mortgage industry helping clients because it is truly my passion! I love and enjoy what I do. For the past 10 of those years, we’ve been in the Upstate helping families with their mortgage needs. We offer exceptional customer service and are a fully operational mortgage lender with great service, rates, and closing costs. We’ve surrounded ourselves with the finest in the business to be sure our customers have the very best experience every time. Nowadays customers demand that their business processes be fast and accurate. At Rapid Mortgage we built our business model to accommodate these customer demands perfectly. We always keep the customer’s best interest in mind throughout the entire transaction.
The Pre-Approval link we provide www.rapidmortgagegreenville.com is user friendly by being extremely simple to navigate. Our entire staff is customer-focused and the owners of Rapid Mortgage Company are active loan officers as well. Realtors are our customers also. We provide exceptional customer service to our realtors. They love our service and it shows as we have grown year after year for 10 years and have made a lot of great friends along the way. I would like to touch on how important communication and service are.
We have to treat each and every client the way we want to be treated. Over the last 10 years in Greenville, we have made a lot of friends that are now great customers of ours. Our client’s friends and family are recommending us and we have even helped some of our client’s children as they have become young adults buying their first homes. We are staying busy with new purchases and past clients in this challenging new environment of COVID19. It’s a great feeling to have a great name and reputation and to know the phone is always ringing with new clients or refinancing needs for past friends and clients. We will continue to strive to meet the needs of all our clients and to make the mortgage process less stressful and a relationship-building process. We also give back to the community, presently we are working on some really cool things for first responders to be sure they know Tom Eisenbraun and Rapid Mortgage appreciates them and the sacrifices they make daily keeping us safe. We have plenty of room for new Realtors and clients buying or refinancing homes. Simply ask around, if they’ve dealt with Tom at Rapid Mortgage they’re extremely happy and would use Rapid Mortgage again. Simply put, we are honest, flexible, and on time every time. Closing dates are so important as we always close on time every time.”
Convenience is also a key factor in making the home buying process a more enjoyable process. One of the newest conveniences I’ve found is “At Home Closings”. Charlie Carpenter of “Forward Law” introduced me to this process and his firm specializes in this as well as other important client and socially responsible tenets. Here Mr. Carpenter shares some of the aspects of “Forward Law’s” forward-thinking when it comes to working with their clients.
Forward Law offers a modern and agile approach to real estate closings by merging advanced technology with personal service. Qualia is their secure, online title, escrow, and closing platform and is used by the top title and escrow companies in the country. It empowers Forward Law to provide clients with around the clock real-time updates on the closing process, communicate through a secure mobile app, and provide a document storage portal for clients to access and e-sign their documents on their own schedules. Clients can access their closing on the go with the mobile app for Android & IOS.
The majority of buyers and sellers say having a smooth, easy to understand process, and dealing with paperwork were the most important parts of the closing. Forward Law provides a bridge for all parties involved with the transaction to have more ownership with their closings. For example, clients can track their closings in real-time by checking the status bar to see where their file is in the closing process. Also, the realtors can log in to the secured portal and schedule their own closings by selecting a date, time, and location. These are two great examples of how it helps to avoid manual back and forth emails and phone calls that require a lot of wasted time because it allows the realtors 1-Click Schedule Confirmation and automatic progress updates on their file. Forward Law clients can track their home sale or purchase the same way they can track their packages through Amazon!
Instead of scanning buyer and seller info sheets back and forth through email for the parties to fill out, everything is confirmed in Qualia by 1-Click Confirmation such as personal information, inspections, earnest money, and commission amounts. Forward Law also uses another secured portal, the Earnest App for buyers to deliver their earnest money deposits. Clients can send their earnest money through the app by 1-Click Confirmation and synching their bank accounts. The realtors and buyers get an automatic confirmation the money was sent. Forward Law clients can send their earnest money deposit within seconds the same way they can send money through Venmo!
In 2019, the FBI reported Americans lost nearly $150 million to real estate fraud. With so many security risks in the industry today, Forward Law offers an encrypted portal to mitigate those threats – and help provide clients with peace of mind their sensitive information is protected. Through the secured portal, Forward Law clients will be able to easily communicate, share info and documents for the closing, and stay updated in real-time. You can even get quotes and place orders directly within the secured portal, saving you time, calls, and emails.
We also offer remote closings that can occur at the home, at the bank or at the Realtor offices, whichever is the most convenient for the client. You can reach the Forward Law office at (864) 335-9909.
And last but certainly not least is a brokerage firm that is ahead of the curve on creating an environment that excels in Realtor training, support, and lightning response to market trends and technology. After working with several large and reputable brokerage firms I found Exp Realty LLC. eXp Realty, LLC is one of the fastest-growing real estate brokerage firms in the world. With shares of the company traded on Nasdaq and their cutting edge VirBella virtual world model, I’m able to share insights and gain exclusive training from the country’s best real estate minds and mentors. The adroit nature of team building, stock ownership, multiple income streams, and an aggressive commission split and capping advantages create a true win-win for me which entices me to push harder for my clients.
I love my job and I love the Upstate so much that I’m known as “Upstate” Upton. I’d be proud and honored to assist you with any aspect of real estate. If you are looking to relocate to the Upstate, buy your first, second or last home or if you would like to learn more about please contact me by email or find me on Facebook & Instagram (@upstateupton), or visit our website at https://tonyaupton.exprealty.careers or text/call 864-417-1837
