virtual viewings and inspections. would you buy a house on a virtual viewing? (housing, condos)

[eliza61nyc]

So I was planning on downsizing this year but since covid all viewings have stopped. I just can't imagine buying a house without physically seeing the inside. LOL I'm 60 so this is all new to me.
How does one do a virtual "inspection". seems so risky.

thoughts?

[Go Blue 99]

We are house hunting right now. There is no way we would purchase without an in-person tour. There are certain things such as house odor that doesn't come through in virtual tours (no Smell-O-Vision).

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by eliza61nyc

So I was planning on downsizing this year but since covid all viewings have stopped. I just can't imagine buying a house without physically seeing the inside. LOL I'm 60 so this is all new to me.
How does one do a virtual "inspection". seems so risky.

thoughts?

Well... I haven't bought a house that way, but I have sold two houses that way, including one that just closed last week.

Both times they were for out of area buyers - one from across the country, one from across the state, and both times hubby and I walked through the house with the camera and talked about what we saw. We also drove the neighborhood filming, and had them look at it on google earth.

It's not ideal, but sometimes it's the best we can do. Sometimes clients can't get here to look, and this last time, we also had the COVID thing to deal with.

We did do a real inspection, and the home inspector, both times, did a video chat with the client afterward to discuss what he saw.

In one of the trips, a family member did come during that inspection, and walk through and report back on the place.... In this last one, they didn't have a local contact.

It's a little nervous for us until we can let them through the house ourselves.... I've looked at enough places that never seem to look like the pictures that it's hard to know what will show up in the right perspective and what won't. And you can't smell a place in pictures.

The reality is... it's still sometimes a leap and a risk, even when you can travel in person. I've done many property tours with out-of-towners, and we do the best we can to point out what we can about the house and the area, but I'm sure there's lots to look at and think about - maybe more than can be absorbed in one or two days looking.

The only time I KNOW a client has been unhappy (and she may chime in here)... the complaint was/is not so much about the house and property we found - but about the surrounding area and culture which evidently wasn't/isn't a good match. That's hard to predict, for both buyer and agent, though we try. Two clients have bought places coming in from out of town and later sold them, with us, because they weren't exactly right. It happens and it's not necessarily anyone's fault. One bought a smaller place, one bought a bigger one!

I'll be interested to read the discussion and hear what others report. I'm hoping it helps us in the future... People moving in to a new area is a pretty big part of the business, whether they look in person or "virtually". But we aren't omniscient, nor is the client. We may not always know what issues would be really important to the client, and they don't always know what to ask. No two clients or houses or experiences are the same.

I would say if you're not a pretty flexible person... it would be better to wait to buy until you can be there in person.

[jghorton]

In some cases, (ie; condos with the same floor plan, age, amenities; - remote buyers of vacation/rentals; or cases where the buyer has a trusted representative on sight), some people purchase based on a virtual viewing.

I can perhaps see making an offer on that basis (in a rapidly moving market), but, would be unlikely to close without first inspecting the property. For one thing, realtors and others play too many games with descriptions, wide-angle and telephoto lenses. For another, particularly with a SFH, the neighborhood/ neighbors and other location issues require personal inspection.

[BirdieBelle]

No, I would not.

Not everyone is as scrupulous as Diana above, and video just can't possibly catch everything you need to check when buying a house.

If I were in a desperate situation and HAD to move, I would get temporary housing until I could view in person.

[Hemlock140]

No. I would want to to search for defects/problems, since the seller/realtor has done the video, in fact smells and sounds like traffic noise will not be included. I would also want to drive around the neighborhood several times at different hours.

[nobodysbusiness]

I wouldn't prefer to do it that way, but if I was really motivated, I might view it remotely, then ask a friend or third party to do an in-person walk-through, then hire an inspector to inspect it - IF I was super hell-bent for some reason.

[emm74]

I would use virtual showings to narrow things down, but still go in person prior to making an offer on something. If it wasn't possible to do that but I still needed to move, as someone else said, I would look for a temporary option to rent before buying something

[2bindenver]

People have done it for decades, think new construction. If you can you should, and if you can't you wait.

[bande1102]

No, but not because of the house. As long as a house checks the boxes, I'm good. Quite frankly, I find houses interchangeable. It would be because of the location and/or neighborhood which you really can't get virtually.

For example, I was looking for a house, saw it online, had everything I wanted in a house, went out to see it and realized there weren't any sidewalks in the neighborhood. I walk all the time. This was a deal-breaker to me, but I'd completely forgotten to mention it until I ended up at that neighborhood.

I found another house. Again, loved it. This one had a noise issue from a busy highway that was on the other side of the trees. This was not visible from the pictures, online tour I saw.

Anyway, I'd have to visit in person before buying.