Have you/ know someone who has bought a home sight unseen?

[Forevermarypoppins]

WOW, a friend of a friend did this and the situation ended up NOT GOOD

I simply can't write all the details but here's a short synopsis: Friend A moves back after 15+ to the town her kids grew up in ( 2 still live nearby) Friend A has a Friend (B) from previous city over 2000+away. Friend B visits friend A last year only 6 weeks after friend A gets settled( or should say, still settling in). Friend B wants to move. A year later Friend B has now bought a place near Friend A, sight unseen, quit her job and is here. Only 3 days before closing does she do a real walk thru and is horrified at the condition and wants OUT. Ends up closing because she is threatened with a lawsuit.

I know this trend real started up the last few years but I can't wrap my head around it: spending $$$$$$ on a major purchase and never seeing( in person) what you are buying.
Do you know someone who has done this and how did it end up?

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[Disneylover99]

My sister did this last year. She sold her house and bought a home in a different Province over 1000 miles away. It turned out great. She loves her new home.

 

[ronandannette]

No, I haven’t personally known anyone. We are in the process of house hunting though and the market we’re in is HOT for that particular price band. It’s a competition to even get a showing appointment and lots of the good places go to multiple offers. Our realtor says it is possible (and people are doing it) to make an offer immediately when something that looks suitable comes on the market, subject to viewing. We’re not ready to take such a drastic step.

Real estate laws here are a little different though. Conditional offers are time-specified and whatever the conditions are need to be formally “waived” for a deal to go firm. If viewing was a condition and the buyer didn’t like what they saw, they could just withdraw the offer and the deal would die.

ETA: now that we’ve looked at quite a few places, I would be even less inclined to offer on something I haven’t personally seen. Most are totally NOT like they look in the pictures. Those photographers are magicians.

 

[soccerdad72]

Nothing like that situation. One of our neighbors, years ago, bought the house down the street from us on spec, but it was because they needed to move their family of 5 out of their current house while it was being gutted and completely renovated due to mold. They knew it would be a couple years, at least, and they didn't want to rent something, so they bought the house without touring it. But it was a brand new build, so there shouldn't have been any issues with it.

 

[ronandannette]

My sister did this last year. She sold her house and bought a home in a different Province over 1000 miles away. It turned out great. She loves her new home.

I work for a new home builder. We actively market in southern Ontario (on-line and through local realtors there) and we’ve made dozens and dozens of sales, sight-unseen, in the past year or so.

 

[RuntheMouse]

We were the sellers. In 2009, during the hosing mess, the buyers of our house bought it sight unseen from 1000 miles away. Their walk through was an hour before we closed. Was shocking for us.

They were a military family so probably less attached to their house than most, but still!

 

[CoachBeard]

A friend did this when moving out of state 2 years ago now and luckily it worked out. Having moved out of state previously myself I tried to get them to go out for a visit at least but they were dead set on their decisions and that their Google/Maps research was plenty. They seem to be ok and enjoying it. I've been out to visit a couple of times and it was way too rural for me but, to each their own.

 

[White Cat]

We have. And in another county. Papers done on docu sign and wired the money. It was a new house. What could go wrong.

 

[abdmom]

I did this for my current home. It was a brand new build, 5000 miles away from where I was living. I had studied the available floor plans prior. My agent did a facetime walk through of the property with me. No regrets.

 

[_19disnA]

Don't know of anyone who bought a house without ever seeing it and would never do that myself. House is probably the largest purchase you will ever make and doesn't seem like something you should rush to do. Even looking at pictures doesn't give the same impression as seeing it in person and seeing the area where it is located. I am sure some people can site various reasons why some would do that, but not anything I would ever do. If you have to move on short notice for whatever reason, seems like renting would be a better option until you had more time to find the home that is right for you.

Isn't wise to buy a house without having a home inspection to identify any issues that could impact the selling price. Not sure if those buying without actually seeing the home had any type of inspection done.

 

[ronandannette]

We have. And in another county. Papers done on docu sign and wired the money. It was a new house. What could go wrong.

My company does a fair number like this now, right from scratch. The buyers make custom design changes and do all their interior selections completely on-line, as well as the entire legal and financial transaction. I wouldn’t say nothing ever goes wrong, at least from their perspective, but they do get exactly what they sign and pay for. Possession day gets a bit tricky sometimes because our contract insists that they (or a legal designate) physically attend to inspect and receive their keys.

 

[Praying Colonel]

In 1991 we were returning from overseas and my in-laws found a house they thought we'd like. Based on their recommendation we bought it sight unseen. It was a great house, but we were a little crazy to do it.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

This happened in my neighborhood last year. A family (original owners, house built 21 yrs ago) put their house on the market for $649K. Within 12 hours on MLS, they had 4 offers, one of which was house unseen, 15% over asking price, no inspection, no finance contingency. Of course they accepted that offer. Two weeks later, the purchasing family asked if they could do an inspection and of course the sellers said no as it was already under contract without contingencies. The purchasing family is now having to deal with carpet, hardwood floors and woodwork that had been trashed by the original owner's children and large dogs. The windows and roof are original so nearing replacement and or repair. The garage floor and driveway have cracks and sunken slabs. The house in general has had no updates in 21 years. We also know that the basement of this house has leaked during torrential rains in the past.

The original sales price of the home was too high already given the home's condition, floorplan, and lot characteristics. The fact that these people paid 15% over the already inflated price was stupid and they added insult to injury with no walk-thru and no contingencies in their purchase offer.

 

[peabody58]

We did, kinda. Retired to a 55+ Community in GA. We had already toured the models, did a 2 night Staycation and knew kinda what we were looking for. Saw a resale on-line and put in a low ball offer without even visiting the house (pictures only). A month later we had our future retirement home. No major issues, and we love our retirement home.

 

[White Cat]

My company does a fair number like this now, right from scratch. The buyers make custom design changes and do all their interior selections completely on-line, as well as the entire legal and financial transaction. I wouldn’t say nothing ever goes wrong, at least from their perspective, but they do get exactly what they sign and pay for. Possession day gets a bit tricky sometimes because our contract insists that they (or a legal designate) physically attend to inspect and receive their keys.

Our keys were left in a lock box lol.

 

[jen7233]

Buy no, but rent with a video tour, yes. We were moving across country. When we got to the rental, we saw the tenants were still in it the night before we were taking the key the next day. The video tour did not highlight the excessive mold, awfully squeaky floors, and windows that wouldn't open. Luckily we were just renting but still, it was a bad place.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

When we bought the house we're living in now, I only saw it on line. I was still living in California with my daughter until she finished up the school year. Husband moved to start new job. He did see the house in person. I just had pictures to go by. All in all, everything is fine. I do think that if I saw the house with him, I would of seen some things differently. Meaning, the amount of work to be done. New driveways, painting, AC units. To me, it's a bigger deal and always cost more and is more work than he thought it would be.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

My brother did this in 2020. He was moving to a new state and housing options were very limited. He had to trust the realtor. It worked out well.

He no longer lives in that house because he moved to another city (and is actually in the process of moving - again - this time to a different neighborhood in the same city. )

 

[HopperFan]

WOW, a friend of a friend did this and the situation ended up NOT GOOD

I simply can't write all the details but here's a short synopsis: Friend A moves back after 15+ to the town her kids grew up in ( 2 still live nearby) Friend A has a Friend (B) from previous city over 2000+away. Friend B visits friend A last year only 6 weeks after friend A gets settled( or should say, still settling in). Friend B wants to move. A year later Friend B has now bought a place near Friend A, sight unseen, quit her job and is here. Only 3 days before closing does she do a real walk thru and is horrified at the condition and wants OUT. Ends up closing because she is threatened with a lawsuit.

I know this trend real started up the last few years but I can't wrap my head around it: spending $$$$$$ on a major purchase and never seeing( in person) what you are buying.
Do you know someone who has done this and how did it end up?

===

Did Friend B have photos and video of the house in advance? Did house at closing look nothing like the photos and video, if they had. If it didn't then they should be the one threatening legal action for their deposit back.

Did Friend B have Friend A or realtor walk through before putting offer?

Did Friend B have a home inspection done beforehand?

I get the distance and taking a chance but NO WAY without photos, video, inspection and with a friend close by their walk through on facetime.

 

[gmi3804]

I've been on the REALTOR end of that. Out-of-town buyers couldn't find what they were looking for, and by that point I knew exactly what they would love. Something came on the market and I swooped in to preview it to confirm that this was The Place. They agreed, and placed an offer that night without having seen it. They saw it only after the offer was accepted, and the transaction ended happily for all involved.