{"id":29346,"date":"2022-01-31T09:36:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T17:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=29346"},"modified":"2022-01-31T09:36:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T17:36:48","slug":"buyer-truths-about-shopping-online-for-a-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-truths-about-shopping-online-for-a-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Shopping for a Home Online? Here Are Tips on How to Do It From People Who Have Done It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though shopping for a home online has been a growing trend in recent years, mostly due to the advancing technology that has made it possible, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed shopping online from just a cool thing we could do to a necessity for many homebuyers.<\/p>\n

In a hot market, people have been quick to buy homes, with nearly two-thirds of homebuyers<\/a> in 2020 making offers on properties they had never seen in person. Virtual tours became the method of choice for buyers in a, dare we say it, unprecedented<\/i> market through 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

Because buying online has become so prevalent, we talked with Laurie Dau<\/a>, who works with 85% more single-family homes and sells properties 72% quicker than the average Doylestown<\/a>, Pennsylvania agent, about the truths of shopping online for a home.<\/p>\n

Dau says that prior to the pandemic, \u201cwe didn’t see it much at all before except for investors. They pretty much know the area they want to be in, and it’s something that they do over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n

But once the pandemic began \u201cbuyers were forced to take more risk in order to get the house that they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Houses<\/a>
Source: (Fab_ Fotos \/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A big move\u2026during a pandemic<\/h2>\n

Jody Ellis and her husband were living in Anchorage, Alaska, when they decided to move to Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas. Their kids were grown and out of the house, and they were ready for warmer weather.<\/p>\n

They started the process in 2019, but when their house didn\u2019t sell, they decided to wait until the spring of 2020. They had no idea what was about to happen.<\/p>\n

Once services shut down as a result of the growing pandemic, they considered waiting until the situation had settled down, but \u201cwe really wanted to move, so we decided to give it a shot. Surprisingly, our house sold on day one, which threw us into a bit of a panic since we didn\u2019t have anything lined up in Las Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because they needed to move quickly, they didn\u2019t have many options other than shopping for a house online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was April\/May of 2020, so a lot of things were shut down, travel was restricted.\u201d They had planned to drive from Alaska to Nevada, but Ellis remembers: \u201cCanada closed their borders! And most sellers were very hesitant to even allow people to tour their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter their real estate agent, who Ellis says \u201cwas willing to go the extra mile\u201d and did video walkthroughs of between 8 and 10 properties, with Ellis and her husband along for the ride from their home in Anchorage.<\/p>\n

To protect themselves, Ellis and her husband made sure the sale was contingent on a home inspection. Initially, \u201cwe found a property we liked, but the inspection revealed a lot<\/i> of issues, so we backed out. Because we didn\u2019t waive any contingencies at that time, we were able to get our full earnest money back.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they found their current home, they didn\u2019t see the property until after closing. They flew to Vegas the day before they were to close and weren\u2019t allowed into the property until after closing, meaning that they had to stay in a hotel with their \u201cvery shell-shocked two dogs and two cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

After closing on the property the next morning, they got to see the house for the first time in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, we were not very satisfied,\u201d Ellis explains. \u201cWhen the inspection came back, we had asked for a few repairs, and the seller flat-out refused.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had already offered $4,000 over the asking price and still didn\u2019t have the power to negotiate repairs because the seller had multiple offers. Ellis knew that if they didn\u2019t take the house, there were other people willing to scoop it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI now see how the pandemic has really changed the landscape of real estate and know we were lucky to get into our home at the very start of the ensuing chaos \u2014 and we didn\u2019t pay even more over asking!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, they love their home, and because of the way the market took off shortly after their purchase, they walked into the house with instant equity \u2014 even after paying over asking price.<\/p>\n

Ellis\u2019s biggest recommendation is to \u201cfind an agent who is knowledgeable about the area and understands the ins and outs of today\u2019s<\/i> market.\u201d Her agent was available day or night and helped to make what was an already stressful experience more manageable.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Source: (Anne Seubert \/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A possible investment property<\/h2>\n

One of my good friends, Brandi Berg, bought a house through Wisconsin Surplus Online Auctions. She found a good deal on the site and, after entering the highest bid, ended up with a 1,200-square foot property on 10 acres, settled on a river; she and her husband wanted to fix it up and use the home as an Airbnb.<\/p>\n

They knew that purchasing the house sight-unseen from the auction site meant there would be some issues they would have to address and \u201cwere willing to deal with anything, except<\/i> the squatters.\u201d<\/p>\n

When her dad and husband toured the property, the sewer cap was off, there was excrement in two 5-gallon buckets, and they found garbage spread one foot high throughout 6 of the 10 acres \u2014 which they could handle.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cthe fact that there were clearly multiple people living there just made for an uneasy project.\u201d Ultimately, \u201cthe unknown of who might show up, who may go in and ruin the work we put in, and what position they could be put in\u201d caused them to back out of the sale.<\/p>\n

Typically, if you cancel a sale on Wisconsin Surplus, they would charge the user $200 and freeze their purchase account for six months. But Berg contacted the county that sold the property. After explaining the situation, she says that \u201cthe county felt because the property photos had been misleading that it was not our fault,\u201d and they were able to back out of the sale without penalties, the county taking care of the situation on their end.<\/p>\n

Even though this particular purchase didn\u2019t work out, Berg says \u201cdon\u2019t be discouraged! Sometimes the risk of the unknown may be worth the reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

She does recommend buying a property that you can see within the first 72 hours and notes that it\u2019s important to know the penalties of backing out of a sale.<\/p>\n

So what did our shoppers learn from their online homebuying experience?<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: (Philipp Pistis \/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6 truths about shopping online for a home<\/h2>\n

1. Contingencies are critical<\/h3>\n

Dau says that the main consideration for buyers is to \u201cput as many contingencies in there as you can and still win the property. That includes your inspection contingency<\/a> or appraisal contingency<\/a>. If you can get a walkthrough contingency approved that\u2019s agreed upon by a seller, that\u2019s great!\u201d<\/p>\n

Including a walkthrough contingency gives you some extra insurance in case you don\u2019t like the home when you do a final walkthrough<\/a> or if something was misrepresented. If you\u2019re unable to do the final walkthrough in person, your agent can do it with you via video.<\/p>\n

2. You might not love it\u2026but also: You might love it<\/h3>\n

Ellis wasn\u2019t happy with her house right away, but it ended up being the right place, and today she loves it.<\/p>\n

Berg was excited about the deal she got and the prospect of acquiring an investment property, but it ended up not being what she expected.<\/p>\n

One of Dau\u2019s agents had a client who moved from California to Pennsylvania and ended up loving their online home purchase more than they thought they would.<\/p>\n

The moral of the story? No matter how much legwork you and your agent do, there may be something that comes up once you get into the house: a crack that no one noticed, a creaky floorboard, a broken light fixture. Something that might make you reconsider the process.<\/p>\n

Or, you could walk into the house and realize that it\u2019s more perfect than you dreamed it would be.<\/p>\n

Even in traditional home purchases, things come up that you didn\u2019t expect. And the same is to be expected when shopping online for a home.<\/p>\n

3. There are ways to get out of the purchase<\/h3>\n

As with Berg\u2019s case, if the property is misrepresented, there are ways for buyers to back out of the purchase. Given the nature of sight unseen purchases, Dau says the seller’s disclosure<\/a> (these aren\u2019t required in every state; check the laws in yours) is incredibly important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been schooling sellers to put everything on that, make sure [they] don\u2019t leave anything out, really think it through. Because if you do have a sight-unseen buyer and you forget to put something on there, then the seller is at risk of being sued.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s \u201ca burden on both sides for the buyer to learn as much as they can about the house and the seller to make sure they remember everything that’s gone on.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. It\u2019s ultimately up to the seller to accept a sight-unseen offer<\/h3>\n

Throughout the changing market, sellers have become wise to the risks of sight-unseen purchases. Dau has seen situations where a seller wouldn\u2019t accept the offer<\/a> no matter how much over the list price they were offered because they didn\u2019t want to risk having the buyer walk away.<\/p>\n

5. Have your finances in order<\/h3>\n

Houses have been selling quickly<\/a> in 2022, so having your finances in order is key to submitting a quick offer on a property.<\/p>\n

Dau says, \u201cif you have all your financial ducks in a row, and you\u2019re watching the internet for those houses to pop up \u2014 if you already know you\u2019re willing to take the risk of a sight-unseen offer \u2014 you could be the first offer in, and the highest offer, and win it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Have an agent do a market analysis to see how this house is priced. Is it already overpriced, and now you\u2019re going to pay above that?If you have an agent who sells a lot of homes, they\u2019re going to know the answers to those questions.<\/q>\n
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