Are you thinking about buying a house without seeing it first? In our latest post, we offer some questions to ask when buying a house sight unseen in Detroit.
Buying a house without seeing it first may sound completely crazy. However, there are definitely some great benefits so long as you are asking the right questions. For starters, you will be able to quickly lock down a house, while others are still making appointments for showings. Knowing how to buy a house without seeing it first, will allow you to invest anywhere in the country… or even the world! Asking the right questions will minimize your risk and give you the confidence to buy the house sight unseen! Below are a few tips and questions to ask when buying a house sight unseen in the Detroit area!
Choosing The Right Inspector
When you aren’t seeing the house personally, your decision to buy or not will likely be heavily influenced by what the inspection report tells you. It’s important to have an accurate and professional inspection done by an inspector you trust. Ask for references, experience, and training. Make sure you know what they are able to inspect and what things may require a specialist. You don’t want to find out down the road that a critical element of the property was never looked at.
Have Contingencies
When making an offer to buy a house sight unseen, it’s important to include an inspection clause in your offer. This will give you the ability to back out of the sale should the inspector’s report come back with many problems that will need to be addressed. You don’t want to find yourself committed to the purchase of a property that will ultimately cost you thousands more to fix up than you had originally expected.
Hire A Scout
Find someone in the area that you can trust. Someone you can hire to view the home and report back their findings. They’ll be able to tell you more about the home and the neighborhood than just relying on Google Maps and what the inspector has to say. Have your scout record videos and take photos of the house, the property, the street it’s on, and the local neighborhood. Make sure it is someone whose opinion you can trust but who won’t go out and try to buy the property out from underneath you.
Ask About Schools
Whether or not you have children going to school is the community, an area can often be judged by the quality of the school district it’s in. Look for highly rated, award-winning districts. These areas will have more interested tenants and buyers and will help to ensure your investment property is located in a good neighborhood. Great Schools is an excellent resource to check out the school rankings in the areas you wish to buy. You can get a quick and accurate snapshot of the quality of the schools in your area.
Ask About The Local Economy
Learn about the local job market and plans for growth in the area. It’s important to have a strong market if you want your tenants to be able to find gainful employment, allowing them to pay you rent each month! A community with a strong job market will attract more tenants and buyers, ultimately making it easier to rent out or sell the property when its time.
Ask For A Floorplan And Additional Photos
When choosing to buy a house sight unseen in Detroit, you’ll want to be sure you have a floorplan of the property that is to scale. You’ll want to be able to get the most accurate sense of the layout as possible in order to get a real idea of what the house is like. In addition, request additional photos of the property, not just pictures used in the listing. Listing photos can often be doctored making spaces appear larger than they actually are. In order to get a true sense of what you are buying, you’ll want some candid photos, covering multiple angles of a room.
Don’t Forget The Yard
Even if the house checks out ok, you’ll still want to know what you are working with in terms of the yard. Are there stumps to be removed? Foundations from old structures that need to be dealt with? Large tree roots that may lead to structural trouble with your house over time? There are a number of things within the yard that can affect the value of the home. When requesting photos and videos, don’t forget to see what’s outside. Knowing about the ground in which your property sits will allow you to get a better sense of the potential of the home.