Real estate investing has changed a lot over the years. It used to be virtually unthinkable to buy a home without a walking tour and home inspection. Technology and market conditions have conspired to make buying a home sight unseen reasonable in certain circumstances.
Here are a few reasons why people may want to buy a property without seeing it first.
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Location, Location, Location
If you’ve been scouring the market for months and a home in the right location finally comes available, you might want to scoop it up before someone else does. This is especially true if you have the money to knock it down and build a brand-new home — you don’t need to care about the quality of the home’s bones if you’re tearing it all down.
Tech Makes it Easy
With the new real estate technology coming to the forefront, buying properties sight unseen is that much easier. Take for example Nobul, the real estate tech platform created by digital innovator Regan McGee that streamlines the homebuying process and even saves homebuyers money. McGee summed up the crux of the app thusly: “People think buying and selling real estate is complicated, but that’s a way for agents to justify their fees.”
Homebuyers can compare the offers and transparent agent profiles displaying key stats and pick who they like most. Nobul doesn’t let agents pay to get listed or ranked, so the information and user reviews are reliable.
They also take user privacy seriously, as they never share contact information with the agents. Instead, all communication takes place within the app itself.
The Market
Sometimes in a red-hot market, homes of a certain style in the right neighbourhood are such dependable assets that you know they’ll only rise in value. Maybe it’s a fixer-upper in an up-and-coming neighbourhood or a legacy home in an affluent suburb.
Whether you want to flip the home in the next few years or live there for decades, you’ll realize the gains eventually. There are no guarantees in the housing market — things seem destined to go up forever until suddenly, they don’t.
But even with the slower growth Ontario has experienced recently, homes here are worth significantly more than they were this time last year, never mind a few years ago.
You’re Far Away
Some buyers are in another city or country and want to make the purchase without spending the time or money to see the property in person. Zoom home tours make buying homes without seeing them first possible, as a digital walk-through provides a much better idea of the home than a blueprint or pictures would. You should also get a home inspection, too.
This approach is ideal when other market factors and aspects of the physical home itself line up as well. You can still obtain considerable data about the home remotely, so it’s not like you’re going in blind.
Real estate is expensive today because, amid growing populations, the land is the one thing they can’t make more of. There’s only so much to go around, so its value tends only to grow. If you keep the above factors in mind and do your due diligence when buying a home, whether in person or remotely, you’re sure to make a great purchase.