Buying the first property (out of state, unseen) - advice needed!

[Svetlana Kazantseva]

Hi BP community! I have gathered the courage to make on offer on my first investment property. The deal seems good:

Good B+ area in Columbia, SC suburb, great schools, 3 bed 2 bath, needs some cosmetic work (repaint interior, a few holes in the wall to fix, 1 broken window to replace, likely replace laminate flooring in 1 room, replace bathroom sealant)

ARV is around 220k, it's offered for 165k and already has a cash offer of 172k (I'll be financing). After cosmetic repairs it may rent for 1.7k

I believe it's a good deal and numbers seem to work. My realtor made a few videos for me and seems like no major work needs to be done. I have no idea of repair costs.

Any advice on making an offer considering I didn't see the property in person? Should I make a contingency of inspection offer? I don't want to loose a good deal but also to get trapped into a bad one. Thank you so much!

[Doug Spence]

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Quote from @Svetlana Kazantseva:

Hi BP community! I have gathered the courage to make on offer on my first investment property. The deal seems good:

Good B+ area in Columbia, SC suburb, great schools, 3 bed 2 bath, needs some cosmetic work (repaint interior, a few holes in the wall to fix, 1 broken window to replace, likely replace laminate flooring in 1 room, replace bathroom sealant)

ARV is around 220k, it's offered for 165k and already has a cash offer of 172k (I'll be financing). After cosmetic repairs it may rent for 1.7k

I believe it's a good deal and numbers seem to work. My realtor made a few videos for me and seems like no major work needs to be done. I have no idea of repair costs.

Any advice on making an offer considering I didn't see the property in person? Should I make a contingency of inspection offer? I don't want to loose a good deal but also to get trapped into a bad one. Thank you so much!

 Out of state rehab? This **** is tough. Contractors, ARVs, etc., all are a crock of ****. I recommend going turnkey out of state, unless you can get yourself to the site and be on top of it. Or know how to draft contracts for contractors to mitigated by their normal downfalls.

 What is the value of seeing the home in person if the prospective owner is not proficient at inspecting homes? I've purchased many properties out of state, and I haven't been inside a single one of them before closing. Some of them I've never even seen from the street in person.  Walking through the home is usually an emotional thing, not a logical thing, and when you're buying a property as an investment, emotions should be removed from the equation.

Its all about having people you trust there to look at it: a excellent investor friendly agent and a fantastic home inspector are all I need! 

Why is it that people are unwilling to buy a property they've never been to, but are totally cool with buying stock in a company they know almost nothing about?