Although the steps involved in selling a home are similar around the United States, South Carolina's real estate laws and practices are unique in some respects. Becoming familiar with them will help you avoid problems later. Here’s an overview of the basics—from working with a real estate agent to making legally required disclosures to closing the deal.
Working With a South Carolina Real Estate Agent
Most people selling their home in South Carolina work with a licensed real estate broker or agent. A good real estate agent will help prepare and price your house, market it to prospective buyers, review purchase offers, and negotiate with buyers through the closing.
Before signing up with any agent, get references from other home sellers and check customer reviews on sites such as Zillow and Realtor.com. While you're at it, make sure your prospects have valid licenses, through the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Signing a Listing Agreement in South Carolina
Once you find a real estate agent you want to work with, you’ll sign a “listing agreement,” giving the agent the right to market and handle the sale of your house. Most real estate agents use standard forms created by their state or local Realtor association, such as South Carolina REALTORS.
Listing agreements typically cover the following terms:
- Commission that you (the seller) will pay. This customarily ranges from 5-6% of the house sales price, to be split between your real estate agent and the buyer’s agent. There has been much public discussion of whether this will change based on recent litigation, but no major change has yet occurred.
- Type of listing. Most listing agents will want you to sign an exclusive right to sell listing, which obligates you to pay a commission to the agent regardless of who brings in the buyer. Other arrangements are possible, however, such as an open listing, in which you agree to pay a commission to whichever agent brings in a buyer, or an exclusive agency listing, in which you agree that your agent is the only agent authorized to sell your house, but that you will pay a commission only if the agent brings in the buyer (not, for example, if you do).
- Duration of listing. The listing agreement will cover a set amount of time, such as 90 days.
- List price. Your agent will recommend the appropriate selling price by comparing prices of similar homes (“comps”) that have sold in your immediate area and taking into account strategic considerations. To educate yourself as to what price will best bring in buyers and result in high offers, the National Association of Realtors’ website offers information on prices of houses currently on the market, and websites such as Zillow and Trulia provide data on actual sales prices.
- Items included (or not) in the sale. For example, you might plan to leave behind a built-in dishwasher (which becomes part of the property that the agent is contracted to sell). Or, you might exclude a clothes dryer that you plan to move to your new home (in which case the agent needs to know about and convey that information).
- Duties and obligations of seller and real estate agent. Your agreement will spell out how the real estate agent will list or market your house, what type of insurance you must maintain on the property, and what disclosures you must make.
Making Real Estate Disclosures in South Carolina
State law in South Carolina (2002 South Carolina Code § 27-50-40) requires that sellers fill out and provide buyers with a disclosure form describing the property's "characteristics and conditions," such as:
- issues with the roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, and other mechanical systems
- heating source and water supply
- pest or organism infestations (such as termites, carpenter ants, or dry rot)
- use as a rental or vacation rental, including any unpaid tenant obligations
- hazards, such as radon gas, methane, underground storage tanks, or asbestos, and
- restrictions mandated by a homeowners' or community association, if any.
Disclosures must be on a Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement form established by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission.
Certain types of sales (such as newly built homes or transfers in divorces or through an estate) are exempt from state disclosure rules.
In addition, if your house was built before 1978, you must comply with federal Title X disclosures regarding lead-based paint and hazards. See the lead disclosure section of the EPA’s website, for details.
South Carolina Purchase Agreements
A buyer who wants to purchase a particular South Carolina home will make the seller a written offer prepared by an attorney, specifying the price, proposed down payment, and other terms, such as any contingencies. (Contingencies are conditions that must be met before the sale can close, such as the buyer hiring an inspector and receiving an inspection report showing no unacceptable problems, or arranging loan financing, or selling their current house.)
You may reject an offer outright, accept it as, or (as is more typical) respond with a counteroffer. A counteroffer accepts some or most of the offer terms, but suggests changes to others, such as a higher price or a closing date that’s sooner than the buyer proposed.
A legally binding contract is formed when you accept the prospective buyer's most recent signed offer (agreeing to any changes from the original offer) and notify the buyer of its acceptance. The transaction then goes into “escrow.”
What Is Real Estate Escrow?
Escrow is the time period between signing the purchase agreement and closing on the house. Your closing attorney will serve as intermediary and supervise the process.
The buyer typically has a lot more to do during this time period than the seller. By the close of escrow, the buyer will need to finalize financing, remove all buyer's contingencies, have the house appraised (typically required by mortgage lenders), and get title insurance (with the help of the buyer's attorney). All this must happen within the deadlines set within the contract.
As the seller, you'll mostly need to cooperate with things like scheduling visits by the home inspector and appraiser. And if you added any contingencies to the contract, you'll need to work on meeting those, too.
Issues often come up during escrow that require negotiating, such as who will pay for repair problems identified in an inspection report. The buyer might insist that you pay to remedy a defect or lower the purchase price. If you cannot reach agreement, the buyer might have the right to back out of the deal.
What Happens at the Closing of Your South Carolina Home
By the close of escrow, you and the buyer should have fulfilled all the terms of your purchase agreement. At the closing itself (ordinarily a meeting of the parties and their lawyers, though it can be conducted in separate locations and even on separate days, and much can be done virtually), all final documents and funds will be exchanged between buyer and seller.
The buyer pays you the purchase price, and you give the buyer a deed and other transfer documents and clear title to the house or condo. You pay off any outstanding loans on your property and pay commissions to the real estate agents (per your listing agreement).
Then the attorney will record the new deed in the buyers' name at a local government office, and the home is officially the buyers'.
Working With a Lawyer
Unlike in many states, South Carolina requires a lawyer to be involved in the house-selling transaction and oversee real estate closings. The buyer will have hired an attorney at the outset, for help preparing the offer paperwork. You might wish to hire your own attorney, as well. (Talk this over with your agent.)