Amid pandemic, more people buying houses sight unseen

trated in March, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and began to cripple every industry, some buyers had been able to see their new house in-person but rushed through the buying process, if they were already mid-transaction.

Low mortgage rates help home buyers as prices rise — if they can qualify. Now, in some markets, according to the survey, there has been competition among sight-unseen buyers for a house — so much so, in certain instances, that buyers are willing to forgo home inspections just to land the sale.

In June, Redfin said, 20% of successful offers waived an inspection in comparison to 13% at the same time last year.

Some principles of buying a home remain: Location is key.

“I always, always, always show them around the neighborhood,” said Redfin agent Lindsay Katz, who sells in Sherman Oaks, California, in the San Fernando Valley. “If there are issues with the inside of a house, they can get those fixed, but they can’t fix a neighborhood. I also like to turn off any lights so they can see the natural light, and let them listen so they can hear any street noise.”

To keep up with consumer curiosity about homes, real estate platforms from Redfin to Trulia to Zillow have offered extra high-resolution pictures and videos, as well as a growing number of virtual walk-through tours.

Some potential home buyers sold on those virtual tours alone have doggedly pursued properties.

A Redfin agent in a Seattle suburb said she frantically dispatched a friend of her clients at

1 a.m. to alert them that they were about to be outbid.

The clients, who then lived in Virginia, rushed to win the bidding war — and got the house that they had never seen in person, only over FaceTime.