Who would do such a thing... buy a house without seeing it? Well, I have three stories for you about people who did exactly that.
A few years ago, one of my Crofton MD seller-clients was retiring and investing her nest egg in a home thousands of miles away in Canada - without seeing it, unless the magazine ad counts. That was before the Internet, and she relied on phone conversations with and photos from the seller. I thought she was very naive, and her family thought she must have lost her marbles, but that's what she did. I never heard if her dreams were fulfilled or it turned out poorly.
More recently, a Crofton MD attorney contacted me to list a property for one of his clients in nearby Prince George's County. He was very adamant that a quick sale would be much more important to his client than top dollar, so I recommended pricing the property $100,000 lower than others in the area. That was a significant difference, making the property about 30-35% below others in the area. (No, that photo is not the actual house! It wasn't quite that bad.)
But the condition was horrible, cosmetically and structurally, with a homeless man occupying the storage shed. It was unlikely a homebuyer would purchase this property with all its problems at any price, in spite of the fact it was a sellers' market at the time. I felt we had to appeal to investors, with a property like this.
The strategy worked, because we had a full-price cash non-contingent contract in hand from a real estate broker and experienced investor within an hour of the property going in the MLS. I presented the contract to the attorney and seller immediately, and it was ratified within hours before a lockbox even went on the property. I do know the ending in this case: it was a win-win situation for the seller, whose problem was quickly solved, and the buyer who flipped the property at top dollar a few months later, after it was completely renovated.
Then there is the recent story about a fellow in New Jersey who bought a home for $2.6 million without first seeing it. Apparently he lived next door to this property, and bought it at a foreclosure sale without bothering to take a look inside. It turns out that his neighbors were not very good housekeepers, and they had a lot of animals. While the buyer was on vacation, authorities entered the property on a tip from a delivery truck driver who noticed a strange smell at the house. They found 23 dead animals, other starving animals, and... Well, you can use your imagination or read the story in its entirety.
The buyer must have paid cash, because I doubt he could have gotten a loan if anyone had appraised the property. I'm guessing this fifteen minutes of fame is not something the buyer expected when he made this real estate investment! What do you think?
There could be a lot of good blog material in this last story, so you might want to bookmark it for future reference:
- Why you should always hire a home inspector,
- An appraiser can protect you from making a big mistake,
- There's a buyer for every property,
- You may not know the neighbors as well as you think you do,
- Don't overpay for a home
Have a good weekend, and sell a house! (But be sure to show it to the buyers first.) 'Hope you enjoyed these stories.
Copyright 2007. Margaret Woda. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2006-12. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: Information contained in this post is deemed reliable on the date of publication, but it is not guaranteed and it is subject to change without notice.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Margaret Woda, REALTOR and Associate Broker
Direct: (301)346-2923 or click on EMAIL
FREE home search online (No registration required)
FREE home search APP for your iPhone/iPad (demo)
Check my references on Zillow
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., 2191 Defense Hwy., Crofton, MD 21114 (410) 721-1500
Those are some interesting stories. I had one client that wanted to buy a home in New Hampshire site unseen -- It is a long story -- perhaps a blog, but to make a long story short -- she ended up in JAIL in New Hampshire.
I wonder if that neighbor used a "discount" broker? hehehe :-)
-Keith
RE/MAX Olympic, Manassas VA
www.MyRealtorKeith.com
Margaret,
I'm wondering if an agent wouldn't be welcoming future 'legal exposure' if they didn't push pretty hard for the buyer to see the property if at all possible. Circumstances should be very extenuating NOT to show the property to any prospects. Thanks, Fran
Jeff - Did you read that story (link provided) - Please tell us more, if you had an experience like this.
Nora - Good point! Or how many home exteriors were deceptive, and the inside seemed like it couldn't have the same owner as the outside!
Joan - Do blog about that... and let me know when you post it, so I don't miss it!
David and Kristin - Great analogy! Yea, a LOT of money.
Keith - You are too funny! (I bet we're going to hear from some offended discount brokers now)
Fran - I agree! In story #2, the buyer was a licensed real estate broker and experienced investor, so the seller's attorney and I felt that it was his call to make. As a buyer's agent, I would never write on something that I hadn't see, let alone the buyer.
Yuk!!
I used to live in NJ and that is just disgusting. Your cute little shack on the beach here in Hawaii would be $2.6 million in your "As Is" condition. ;)
Aloha, Dan
Hi Margaret,
I LIVED in Crofton prior to moving to Hawaii 3 years ago and I still have fond memories of the place.
But more to the point on your blog, I wanted to add that I bought 2 Hawaii homes sight unseen when I was still living in Maryland. Clearly it's a long trip from Maryland so I relied on photos and inputs from my Realtor (I was an engineer at the time). I must say that all worked out well and both have been financially rewarding. As a Realtor in Hawaii, I have worked with several clients who bought sight unseen and it's really not that uncommon here.
Nice to see your post and a big aloha to Crofton! I especially miss jogging around Crofton Parway in the mornings.
I didn't sell any sight unseen until my own townhouse.
Dan, I'll bet that's true!
Richard, Nice to hear from you! I'll bet you have a MUCH prettier place to jog in Hawaii! I'm jealous.
Leigh, Glad to hear about your successes. I actually sold two other homes, sight unseen, that turned out just fine. They were buyers familiar with Crofton, who lived out of state and trusted me to choose a home for them. Again - pre-Internet, pre-fax, no time for sending photos. They just trusted me and gave me their Power of Attorney.
Candy, I agree. I always recommend that.
Jim, I would trust you to find a house for me. And digital photography/websites would be a big help. It sounds like this fella in NJ didn't have anyone look at the house.
Mike, You would think he could go next door and check it out, wouldn't you. I believe the article said he naturally assumed it was habitable, since he saw the previous occupants going in and out of the house. That would probably be a reasonable assumption.
Katerina and Nestor, your market is so different from ours! In our world (lots of government officials and consultants), the culture is to require an investigation or study for everything!
Sally, sounds like there's a blog brewing in those words - or did you already do one, and I missed it?
Kathy, 'hadn't thought about photoshop... 'guess pictures CAN lie these days!
Last year a Fl. couple saw my lisitng online and wanted to buy this old country school house I had listed, sight on seen. I asked them to sign a waiver of liability or fly up to see it. They flew up and declined to buy it... We did sell it but not to them.
Margaret- You are right. Isn't it interesting how things can be so different in all the different parts of our country? People from South America are very trusting and expect that they are being told the truth. As we all know the retired people move here a lot and it is our duty to protect their rights in buying property with full disclosure. Unfortunately they are the victims of scams down here a lot! That is why so much swamp land can be sold sight unseen! Oh, I have a post forming in my head about one of our sellers! Katerina
Bridget - Now that sounds like a good blog topic, when she arrives to see it in person - will she, or will she not like it...
Mary - Good idea on the waiver of liability. Did they buy anything else?
Katerina - I'll bet these properties, their buyers and their sellers, have a lot of stories to tell.
Vicki - Sounds like they have a great agent in you! Nowadays, with digital photography, you can post them online with an hour. I didn't have that good fortune, even with the one that sold to an investor last year - he bought it before I took the first photo.
Margaret, we haven't had sight unseen buyers up here since the dot com bust. It's always a very scary thing and we won't do it. At least not without every appropriate disclaimer.
Also want to thank you for taking your time to comment on the crest nonsense we did earlier this week. It was most appreciated.
To answer the question you asked, both of us have the same sense of humor, so what comes out of us is more collective than individual. It's always been that way... with our music, business and other adventures.
Cheers
Good point, David! By the way, did you get my text msg to call me when you get a chance? My office laptop is caught somewhere between slow motion and frozen.
Richard - While I have repreented two b.uyers in buying a home "sight seen", I did build in a 48 hour contingency for them to fly here and see the property. They just didn't want to make the trip, if they were going to lose out to someone else. But yes, SCARY is a good word. I enjoyed your little pie on your outside blog today, too, but I didn't feel like logging in to comment. Sorry, it's late
Paula - it's probably just as well if you haven't done so. Lots of risks. 'Think I'm going to quit while I'm ahead!
Donna - Ain't digital photography great!?!