Buying without seeing it- has anyone done it?

[Raj Kaushal]

Im looking to buy a property for short term rental in Kissimmee area. I was planning to fly in there soon, but due to covid my plans keep getting delayed. My realtor there told me some people out of country have bought a property without seeing it and are already making profit. I dont want to lose on good deals and wait for things to be absolutely normal. So, a open question there to see if someone on this platform has really done it or someone you know has done it?

[Ryan Moyer]

I think more people than not from here buy without seeing them in person.  You can do a virtual tour via video with your realtor.

I have yet to see a home we've made an offer on in person.

[Ujwal Velagapudi]

I've had my buyers do it, both out of country. I had built trust and rapport with one guy for over 1 year, and even then he went through his due diligence, my PM, inspectors, etc. Second guy had straight signed a purchase agreement, foregoing due diligence, within 10 hours of talking to me...turns out he was on a bind with time ticking on his 1031 date. 

If this is your first buy, I wouldn't do it. First purchases are tough as it is, and to do it sight unseen is a huge risk. Even if it is "turnkey". 

Also, don't ever, ever get tempted & wooed in by an agent. They will say anything to yield more interest and & get their listing sold. Play it smart, the world is not going to end and all the deals are not going to be gone if you don't invest in that one today. Take the time to visit, get familiar with the area, and then go forward with the purchase. 

If you have deep knowledge of the city in which you're looking, then it may be a different story, and you may not need to visit. Just really depends on your expertise and background with RE, the local market, and who you have vetting the opportunity for you locally (besides the agent).

[Sean T.]

Very rarely see SFRs I buy.  Not worth the expense when google maps and a strong local team can support the effort.

That said, know yourself.  If you need or want to, you should. What anyone else does is meaningless!

[Joey Morea]

@Raj Kaushal

I went under contract without seeing mine that I bought. Most of these houses are all the same in these resort communities. Find a floor plan and bedroom count you like and make sure the inspections come back on and you should be set. A lot of things you will still need to improve with theming to make sure it Preforms the best anyways. 80% of these homes are owned by Forign investors and some are willing to negotiate and some are not so make a bunch of offers till you find someone willing to play ball. That’s what I did. Let me know if you have any other questions about str in Orlando or need help on the mortgage side my phone # is in my description.

[Raj Kaushal]

Wow, that was surprising. Thanks folks. Technically its not my first purchase as i own a primary home 1bd 1ba condo in NYC area- which i bought after seeing it once during a weekend tour where i saw 10 other properties.

[Luke Carl]

@Raj Kaushal. Many times. I’ve got a new one up and running that I paid 600k for. I’ve never seen it and my calendar is packed. I have another one coming in that price range next month.

Hell one time I bought a duplex and forgot to get an inspection. Bought it without seeing it and without inspection. Whoops.

[Valentina Naumenko]

Greetings. We all do buy unseen often. Ask your Realtor to FaceTime while he/she is there. Your Realtor is actually right. I called today a listing agent of the pool home, which got into pending within 4 days. She said in this 4 days, they had 17! offers. 

[Christina Sieber]

Bought multiple SFR without seeing them in person. You can do a live video tour on FaceTime or similar. That allows you to ask questions and have the realtor check out areas of concern while still in the house. For recorded tours i.e. Marco Polo is a great app to use, YouTube uploades or something similar work as well. I would not recommend videos sent via text message.

If you opt for recording, let your realtor know what you're interested in to see, updates needed, smell, loose tile,  spongey floors,.... pictures are deceiving and expectation setting is extremely important to a successful partnership with your realtor and to secure a great deal. 

[Polo Vazquez]

It took me like two years for me to ever see my first property, my second property I have never seen the inside because its always rented out when I'm in town. There is nothing wrong with doing it if the numbers work and you are sure of these numbers. What you don't want to do is think you can rent the property fo $1200 when in reality is smaller or uglier than you think so it ends up renting for only $800. 

As far as problems with the property, the inspector will catch anything that is wrong with it.

You can probably pay someone to do a 3d scan of the property.

[Marco G.]

@Raj Kaushal

Bought multiple sight unseen. Gotta have boots on the ground and eyeballs you can trust. Agent takes hundreds of photos, gets me detailed inspections and I consult with multiple PM about area etc. if unfamiliar. Getting started (and not burned) is the hardest part.

[Theresa Harris]

Originally posted by @Ryan Moyer:

I think more people than not from here buy without seeing them in person.  You can do a virtual tour via video with your realtor.

 I doubt that.  Yes you can put in an offer sight unseen, but I would never buy a place without seeing it yourself or having someone you trust look at it in person.

[Tim Hall]

@Raj Kaushal when buying properties sight unseen you have to buy them as if everything needs to be fixed. Do not rely on your realtor because they’re not a contractor. As investors even when we see the properties we can’t see behind the walls, we can only guess. I’d get an inspection from an inspector with a good reputation as a hard *** and then go off that. Good luck

[Paul Sandhu]

We bought a property at the sheriffs delinquent property tax sale.  We could see the outside and look through the windows, but we could not go inside.  Turns out the front door was unlocked.  We could have gone in.  Paid $9500 for a 3BR.  It was the highest price house at the auction.

[Jon Kelly]

@Raj Kaushal Buying sight unseen is more common than you think. If I were you, I'd consider three things: 

1. 1. Have "boots on the ground" you trust go through the property. This can be an agent, contractor, etc. They will not be able to tell you everything, but at least they can give you a "sniff" test of the property 
2. 2. Money is made in real estate on the purchase. Your offer should factor in some degree of additional repairs you can't see based on pictures, videos or agent/contractor. If it ultimately doesn't need these additional repairs, then it's more money in your pocket
3. 3. Make offers contingent on inspections. After you agree on a purchase price, you can order an inspection. You can always back out if you don't like what you see in the inspection report

[Marcus Auerbach]

It's realtivley common and easy to buy an investment property remotely using a video call. You don't need to "love" your investment property, it is more a analytical inspection than an emotional one.

We do this also quite often with relocation clients who move to Milwaukee for primary residences and that takes a great deal of trust into the agent. There is a lot more at stake. 

We take a lot of time for the showing, use a wide angle camera and you need someone who actually knows how to move a camera around without the audience getting seasick. We typically cover the whoe interior and exterior twice in an overview and then zoom into details, in particular damaged or worn areas and really stress the negative things. That also includes sounds and smells.

I always ask clients afterwards if the home feels like they thought it would and I know they were nervous and put a lot of trust in me, fortunatly so far everyone said 100% and was very happy.

Of course covid has intensified this trend.

[John Morgan]

@Raj Kaushal

I did this two years ago and it worked out. It was a complete dump with a sec 8 tenant living there in filth. Cockroaches EVERYWHERE and rodents all over the place. It was absolutely disgusting. But glad I did it. Paid 48k for it sight unseen, with rent only $600/month. I dropped 50k on a nice rehab and it’s worth 155k. And rents for $1400/month. And I will do it again if the numbers work.

[Nate Sanow]

@Raj Kaushal

I just walked a property for a client the other day. Doing a virtual preview.

I was the first person allowed to see it. It had been on the mls just minutes before.

I was five minutes early to the scheduled time when showings were allowed.

At 4 minutes till, I got a text from the listing agent.

The property was already under contract! :/

I should've known better, after all it was listed on the mls for 65% of E-ARV.

The moral of the story is, me and my potential clients lost out on an opportunity because some big girl or big boy out there had the guts to pull a trigger sight unseen.

My suggestion is get your agent (if it's on market, if it's off do this yourself) to help you set up a strong offer with a reasonable but brief inspection period. Take the time to have her or him explain that you're willing to give a strong EMD and maybe consider going above asking if it's a good deal. This could help you both win the negotiation but also remain versatile enough to ensure when you get there, it's not a bad deal.

[Alice Horn]

I would say the vast majority of our investors buy their properties sight unseen, especially during the pandemic. A savvy realtor should be able to provide video walkthroughs and other tools to provide peace of mind. Once the property is under contract, needless to say you will need a detailed inspection by a licensed inspector. In addition to that, as property managers we use a detailed "ready to rent" checklist to evaluate the condition of furniture, paint, flooring, decor, appliances etc. This allows us to make recommendations on needed upgrades so your property will shine in photography and you will have happy guests who leave good reviews. All of these elements should give you the assurance that you are making a sound investment.

[Brian G.]

@Raj Kaushal yes, I went under contract on a property without a site visit based on photos, a video walkthrough provided by my realtor and her advice. Got the inspection and appraisal done, then walked the property one day prior to closing escrow. In a hot market you may need to offer without traveling to do a site visit to get a property under contract. Definitely visit at least once prior to closing on the property but imo that can be done any time during escrow, the key is getting a property under contract, ie controlling the deal.

[Luke Weber]

I do not recommend buying sight unseen for new investors (I've done over 500 deals and I still don't do a ton of it).  If you are going to trust someone else to give you an honest opinion, make sure they are not going to make money on that decision like a Realtor.  Lots of pics and videos and maybe a home inspection if you are newer.  Do your due diligence becuase once you have bought it, it's yours!  I've bought and flipped/rented in Florida while living in Nevada (among other states as well), and each location has its differences, not a lot of moisture in Nevada, but tons of it in FL as well as termites.  We had to replace an entire 2 story exterior wall of one property we flipped there (made over $50k on it).  Be cautious and don't get drawn into the hype and always keep emotion out of it.

[Rohin Dhar]

I found that if you're buying a home that has an existing Airbnb/Vrbo listing, you can learn more about the house from reading the reviews than touring it in person for 30 minutes. 

We recently bought a place that had over 200 reviews and a 4.98 average rating so felt like a safe bet! We ended up seeing it person right before close, but were prepared to buy it completely sight unseen based on the Airbnb reviews.

[Alexandre Marques dos Santos]

@Raj Kaushal

I did several times. I have a great relationship with my realtor, and she went there, called me on facetime and tried to give her impressions. In the end i closed the deal and never had any issue.

If any issue arise, its my responsibility, but she knows she will lose credit and potentially a great client ( so far i bought 4 houses with her).

[Jason Fitzwater]

@Raj Kaushal

We recently purchased our first two STRs and both have been without stepping foot in either property, so it can definitely be done.  And from the looks of this thread its more common than not in today's investing world.  

Get a local boots on the ground team... this is critical to making it work.  Interview and vet the local team.  Spend more time up front getting comfortable with the people you will be working with and you will have less issues down the road.

Also, when you are new working with one of your local team, have other members of the team checking behind each other to see if they are all telling you the same things.

Investing in the right market makes a huge difference too.  If you can cash flow right away then all the other problems are much easier to deal with.

[Kirsten M.]

I've bought a few homes without seeing them first. I live abroad and have a great realtor in the states. He does a walkthrough with me using FaceTime or something similar. While seeing the home in person is preferable, I don't pass up a good deal just because I can't see the home first.

[Ishviyan D.]

Built a portfolio of 16 properties out of state. Never saw a single one in person, and still haven’t. All were rehab deals. Key is to have someone trustworthy to provide you accurate information about the properties before pulling the trigger. For me, those were the wholesalers I bought from and my property managers . For others it may be an independent party (e.g., inspector, photographer) who can detail the condition of the properties.