Virtual Showings
Relocating home buyers who are unable to travel have been faced with some difficult choices during COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully we have technology available to help make this easier. Your Buyer’s Agent should be able to provide a video-conference walkthrough of most properties on the market. The (sometimes) $1,00,000 question is:
Would you purchase a home that you have not been inside?
And if so, what can you do as a buyer to improve your chances a home seller will accept your offer knowing you have not been in the home during this competitive market?
Before beginning Virtual Showings with your agent, let’s talk about what is involved:
1. Sight Unseen - Your agent may ask you to sign a “Sight Unseen Waiver” that acknowledges that you have not been inside the property and it is your responsibility to verify the property meets your requirements and this is not the responsibility of your agent or brokerage.
2. Your Responsibilities and Priorities - The more your agent knows about what you are and not looking for in a home, the more smoothly the tours will go. Take the extra time to talk with your agent about your new home. Ask for a home buying checklist to help focus your wants, wishes and needs. As your partner in the process your agent wants to help you avoid surprises down the road.
Also discuss with your agent in advance whether you will plan to be at the home inspection in person or virtually. Depending on your situation, is walking through the home in-person a requirement that will be spelled out as an offer contingency?
Before virtually seeing the home, ask your agent to request a floor plan or seller’s disclosure if available. This can make your evaluation of the home easier in advance.
3. While Virtually Inside the Home - Take the time to really see the home - if possible view the home on the largest screen possible. Can you cast or project to your TV or an external monitor? Ask your agent to zoom in to see important details of the home. Ask your agent for photos if video is insufficient.
Ideally your agent should have audio via a headset so neither the list agent or homeowner can hear your feedback or questions. This should be the case even if the home is vacant - we never really know if a seller could be secretly (and illegally) recording showings. Ask your agent about sounds, sights and even smells since those cannot be conveyed via video. Keep detailed notes during the virtual showing about things you want to discuss later with your agent.
Also, depending on the home’s location, there might be insufficient cellular coverage for an effective video conference. Or parts of the home (such as the basement) may have cellular service dead zones. As with all parts of the home buying process, being flexible and keeping your sense of humor is key.
4. Outside and Around the home - Your agent should try to give you a view of the home’s exterior from every possible angle. Ask what they can see around the property that might be important to you.
Your doing research of the area in advance will help. Does Google Maps or Streetview give you a sense of traffic, about the neighbor’s properties so you can ask your agent to provide a view of them? Between satellite photos and public record, are you able to determine what is behind or around the property? What do you or your agent hear while outside? Birds, traffic, construction?
5. Debrief - Once away from the property, discuss the property with your agent. If the property is a potential match, your agent can ask the list agent for more details,
Your agent is not a home inspector and as such cannot say if something is structurally sound or in good working order (unless disclosed by seller). These items are best answered by your home inspector.
6. Making the Offer - Understanding market conditions is most important here. Because virtual showings should be disclosed in advance to the list agent, the seller most likely knows you have not yet been in the home. If your offer will be competing with others who have seen the home in-person, could the seller be predisposed to accept an offer from a buyer who has been in the home or is this strictly business in their eyes? Work with your agent on ways to strengthen your offer in the seller’s eyes.
All in all it is a tremendous benefit that technology allows for good quality and easy virtual showings. Have questions on how to make virtual showings work for you? Give me a call!
