Updated: February 21, 2024 
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9 min
Buying a House Sight Unseen: Your Complete Guide
Homebuyers needing to make a long distance move want to know can you buy a house sight unseen. The answer is yes, you can make a sight unseen offer. If you are facing a job relocation, need to get near family, or are looking for a chance this post will help you understand more about buying a house without seeing it in person. We’ll start by looking at what making an offer without seeing the property means.
Purchasing A Home ‘Sight Unseen’ Meaning
Buying a home sight unseen means you are putting an offer on a house without seeing it and intend to purchase the home. A sight unseen offer and purchase means you are buying the home without physically viewing the home in person.
Sight unseen purchases are common when the homebuyer is unable to view the property in person. The most typical reason is the inability to travel to see the home in time to make an offer. A fast moving real estate market has a higher occurrence of sight unseen purchases.
Pros Of A Sight Unseen Offer
The ability to make a sight unseen offer is beneficial to some homebuyers. The benefits of buying a house unseen include:
- Helpful for long distance or out of state moves
- Keeps you from missing out homes in fast moving market
- If your dream home hits the market you can get it even if you are not in the area
- Helps those homebuyers with a busy schedule
Work with a real estate agent experienced in helping people purchase homes sight unseen. The Quadwalls Real Estate Team of Northwest Indiana has helped many long distance buyers purchase a home sight unseen. We set up a live tour of the home using mobile video conferencing.
Cons Of A Sight Unseen Offer
Buying a house unseen is not the preferred method of doing things. It may sound easy but can actually lead to some negative outcomes. Buying a house unseen should only be out of necessity due to the consequences of buying a house unseen:
- What you see on the screen may not be the reality – Your interpretation of photos or a video may stray away from accurately determining whether or not the home’s layout and room sizes works for you.
- Some sellers do not like a sight unseen offer – The fear is you may try to establish a narrative on the basis you did not see the home in person to support your desire to terminate.
- Too many unanswered questions – A video and photographic experience is limited to what you see in those images. You can not feel the house. You can’t detect smells or hear sounds. Also, you will not have a feel for the neighborhood.
8 Steps For Buying A House Without Seeing It In Person
If you have no choice but to buy a house sight unseen there are ways to navigate the process. Use these tips for a better homebuying experience when buying a house without viewing the home first.
#1 Find A Good Real Estate Agent
First, find a great real estate agent in the area where you will be purchasing a home. If you are buying a home in Northwest Indiana you can contact us. We like to think we’re amongst the best real estate agents in Northwest Indiana.
But, if you are looking elsewhere here are some tips to find a great real estate agent.
- Sight Unseen Experience – Any real estate agent you are intending to hire should have past experience helping homebuyers buy a home sight unseen. Ask about the agent’s related past experience and get details.
- Reviews & Past Clients – Ask the real estate agent where you can read his or her reviews. If you see a bad review, ask the agent about it. The agent may be willing to give you contact information from past clients, too. Contact those contacts.
- Communication Skills – Buying a home from far away means you will be doing a lot from far away. Searching for homes, viewing homes, making an offer, inspections, appraisal, on and on. You need to have a real estate agent who understands you are relying on him or her more and need solid communication. Ask what you should expect from the real estate agent regarding communication.
- Overall experience – Selling homes isn’t that difficult, but problems do arise. Experienced agents know how to be proactive to avoid problems. Additionally, they know how to resolve problems that do occur. I would encourage homebuyers making a long distance, sight unseen home purchase work with an experienced real estate agent. Experienced, at least 100 transactions based on an average of 25 transactions annually.
- Compassion, Listening Skills, & Questions – You want a real estate agent who is interested in you. You are relying on the agent to help you find the right home, with the right space, in the right neighborhood, with the right vibe. Knowing this requires an agent willing to get to know you even if you are far away.
#2 Get Pre Approved Where You Will Be Buying
Take local lender recommendations from the real estate agent you hired to help you find and buy a home. In a long distance home purchase it is unlikely a seller where you want to be has heard of your banker where you are.
Your offers will be more competitive and stronger when using a lender local to the area where you are buying a home. Ask the real estate agent you hired to help your for recommendations of mortgage lenders in the area with the highest quality reputations amongst the local real estate community.
#3 Take A Virtual Tour
Your real estate agent should be able to schedule a showing to view the home. Choose a time when you can join a video conference call. This gets you a live tour of the home. You can improve the experience by doing the following:
- Be in a quiet place where you can focus.
- Try to be in a place with a very good internet connection. Your agent will be on his or her cell network. Things will be better if you can be on your home or office network.
- Make a list of what is the most important to you. As you read off your list your agent can check each of those things and show those to you over the video conference call.
#4 Send A Trusted Representative
You can have someone you know and trust help you buy a home sight unseen. If you will be buying a house sight unseen in an area where you have family, friends, or some other person you trust, this person can meet your real estate agent to tour the home.
Your friends and family know you and will look out for your best interests. This is a great way to help you pick the right home when buying a house sight unseen.
#5 Make A Sight Unseen Offer
When buying a house sight unseen you will make your offer by working with your real estate agent over the phone and through email. Your real estate agent should be able to email you comparable, recently sold properties to help you choose the right offer price.
The offer documents can be completed over the phone. Your real estate agent can then email you the documents for signature. The document package will include the offer, any addenda, and required disclosures.
#6 Protect Yourself With Contingencies
Homebuyers buying a house sight unseen should be reluctant about waiving too many contingencies. I know in a hot housing market waiving contingencies will help you win. However, buying a house sight unseen has already heightened your risk profile. Keep risks in check by keeping many of the traditional contingencies. This is especially true with the inspection contingency.
#7 Get A Home Inspection
Always get a home inspection when buying a house sight unseen. A home inspection is typically completed once your offer has been accepted. A home inspection includes hiring a professional to diligently look through the entirety of the home.
The result is a report which will help you understand the current quality of the home. Also, the inspection report will include any defects discovered by the home inspector.
The best thing you can do to protect yourself when buying a house sight unseen is to get a home inspection. This prevents you from buying a house without knowing how much risk you are assuming.
#8 Attend E-Closing
You can close on a property even before ever seeing the house in person. Some states have come a long way with e-closings. In other that require in-person closing a remote closer can come to you where you. This may sound daunting but really isn’t. I, myself, was surprised how many remote closings occur in real estate transactions.
The Bottom Line
Buying a house sight unseen is not too different from any other home purchase. There is just one part missing, you seeing the home. Working with a great real estate agent will do a lot to make the experience a good one.
If you are relocating to Northwest Indiana the Quadwalls Real Estate Team can help you. We have homebuyers coming to Northwest Indiana from all over the U.S. Take the first step by letting us know what you are looking for. You can do this by completing the Quadwalls HomeFinder Assistant today or downloading the Quadwalls application!
