Making offers on out-of-state properties

[Naga A.]

This is probably a stupid question. But, if you are an out-of-state investor and do not have yet a chance to actually look at a property, how do you go about making an offer on an out-of-state property?

I am an out-of-state investor, investing in the Metro Atlanta market. I plan to be in town at the end of this month and start making a list of properties I am interested in buying. Among these properties, I find a couple of properties I really like and would like to lock them down before they are sold to somebody else. However, before actually seeing them, it is hard for me to sign a contract. I fully intend to purchase them. But, who knows what happens when I actually see them? Actual properties may not be as nice as pictures, or neighborhood may not be as nice as expected, etc.

So, my question is whether there is any way for me to have an agent hold properties for me without my legally committing to purchase them by signing a contract. Should I make offers subject to my inspection of properties when I am in town in three weeks? In that case, should I give up EMD if I back out of the deal for no good reason? I am thinking of paying an agent a couple of hundred bucks to hold properties for me. Has anyone done such arrangements?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,