Searching for a house locally is not without its difficulties. Add hundreds or even thousands of miles to the equation, and it becomes infinitely more complicated. Although long-distance house hunting has its unique challenges, it’s not impossible. In fact, with the right agent and the convenience of modern technology, it’s never been easier to buy a house remotely. Here, Trulia.com offers a few critical factors to keep in mind when you find yourself in a home search from afar.
Do your homework
When it comes to long-distance home shopping, the Internet is your friend. Although nothing can substitute checking out the neighborhood in person, you still can look up commute times to work, crime rates in the area, and most importantly, how the schools rank. Even if you don’t have children or don’t plan to have children, it’s still good to know the quality of the schools for resale purposes. One of the biggest pieces of the long-distance house-hunting puzzle, however, is to make sure you’re researching who the best local real estate agents are. It’s always crucial to hire an agent you trust, but with a long-distance search the agent can make or break the experience. You want someone who is extremely familiar with the city, neighborhood and prices. Also get a feel for how that person operates. Are they available to talk with you? You will have more questions than you realize, and your agent should be there to answer them.
Have a travel budget
You’ve looked at listings online and gotten in touch with a real estate agent, and now you need to pick an upcoming weekend to house hunt in person. Then, say for example, you look at multiple houses but nothing is quite right. So, you decide to build a new home. Your agent can be instrumental in guiding you on your short house-hunting weekend, finding a builder, answering questions and even taking you to look at model homes in the area where you’ve decided to build.
However, unexpected appointments could come up during the building process that require you to be present—such as picking out the flooring and carpet. It’s smart to prepare and plan ahead, especially for last-minute travel. Make sure you have a few thousand dollars in reserve that you can spend on plane tickets and a hotel in case you have to go back and forth. You also might want to plan an initial house-hunting trip that’s at least four to five days long, so you’re not looking at tons of showings that you won’t remember at the end of the day.
Know what you want
When you’re in the market for a home, you always should have a running list of features you want, but it’s especially crucial when you’re buying from a distance. Knowing exactly what you want out of a house and location allows your agent to help you narrow down neighborhoods and homes more easily, and assist you in making an offer quickly, which is especially important in a fast-moving market.
Overcome remote home-buying jitters
For buyers who are nervous about making an offer sight unseen, there could be the possibility of adding a clause in the contract that the sale is contingent on the buyer seeing it. Of course, there also is the option of renting first before taking the plunge.