A house can be bought within a short time frame
Q: I’m being relocated to the area and have a very short time frame in which to buy a house. I’m considering buying “sight unseen” but am worried I won’t be able to get out of the contract if I don’t like the house. How should I go about this?
A: I’ve sold a number of houses this way and certainly have helped out-of-town buyers narrow down their search before arrival. There’s definitely some risk to the process but there are steps you should take to make sure you’re protected and ensure the process goes well.
First, you have to pick a house. Without seeing the houses in person you’ll need to be very clear with your Realtor about what’s important to you. Once you pick your favorites, ask your Realtor to go see them for you. I usually take additional photos and video to fill in any missing information from the listing and to give the buyer a sense of the space, which is hard to get from photos. Once you review this information you should be able to pick your favorite and then a runner up in case the first one doesn’t work out.
Next, you’ll write an offer. You can approach this two ways: include a contingency for seeing the property before inspections are done; or rely on the inspection contingency as your “way out” if you end up hating the house. The former gives you the opportunity to see the house without spending any money besides travel expenses. If you walk into the house and decide you hate it, you can terminate the listing without any risk to your earnest money. You might even get away with not depositing earnest money until you’ve seen the house in person. You’d have to write that detail into the contract and, be warned, a seller might not be crazy about that idea. Once you decide you want to move forward, you’ll deposit earnest money and get the inspections done as soon as possible. I’d recommend having the inspections scheduled and then you could cancel them if you decide not to move forward.
If you just rely on the inspection contingency, you’ll have a certain amount of time (often 10-12 days) to get inspections done, including your own visual inspection. In this case, you’ll set up your inspections for the same time as your visit. Remember, you’ll need a written inspection report to which you will object if you decide you don’t like the house. This is the downside not having the more formal contingency above. With this scenario, you (or the seller) will have to spend money on inspections whether you like the house or not. This could be a good way to go to accommodate your tight timeline but only if you feel incredibly confident about the house. Then you’ll see the house for the first time at the same time as (or very close to) inspections.
Either way, you must have a good relationship with your Realtor and collect as much info on the house as you can so you can make an informed decision.
Good luck with your home search!
Talia Freedman is a Realtor with Signature Southwest Properties.