I certainly haven't done 1 out of 3 but, I've Face-timed with them and they have all loved the homes they bought sight-unseen - THANKFULLY!!

I did not read the study, but yes we have worked with buyers who have purchased homes sight unseen on a number of occassions.  We work with a lot of out of town relocating buyers as well as a few out of town investors. It's not my favorite thing to do but it can be done with lots of conversations & information gathering, extra video & photos and what not.  Turned out just fine, all happy buyers. Sometimes it is what the buyer wants and/or needs to do for their situation. Oh, and as others have said, 1/3 seems pretty high. -Kasey

Just closed  2 transactions for an investor from California who bought 2 townhomes to complete a 1031 exchange. All went well

I don't believe the overblown stats that 1 out of 3 buy sight unseen...maybe hardcore investors, but not the typical buyer.

I have sold dozens of properties to buyers sight unseen including one for $2M.  All happy buyers.

Yes, it is liability and you have to be at the top of your game to accomplish properly. I do go see the property and size it up.

It is not for the novice or for the "fake" buyers agent who thinks that researching, going on inspections and doing a walk thru is not their job.

Eve

The buyer didn't see it . . . and neither did their agent! LOL

I just recently had a buyer that placed an offer without seen the property and are currently pending closing 7/25/17 (All Cash).

In some markets, this is the only way to get the purchase.  We have people offering sight unseen, but there is a lot of hesitation on the listing side to accept these offers.

that's not a method anyone in my office, including my team, would consider doing.... we are listing agents and that type of representation leaves alot to be desired....

Jeff Dowler -  wrote the offer for sure - though the listing agent was kind enough to show the home before accepting the offer.

 Inman is garbage.  

I do it with investors all the time but it is based on ROI with historical data to dupport it.

Almost, bust it was a scam.

The closest I've come to that is the husband seeing the property on FaceTime, but the wife saw it in person.  The husband first saw the property in person after closing. 

I think this is fairly common with out of area investors.  I sold several that way.  1 out of 3 seems very high, though!  

I had one couple relocating to San Jose.  I met with the husband first when he flew out here. We saw many homes. Thereafter I previewed homes and took my own videos - photos for their review.  I wrote a few offers on homes site unseen by them ... but there were not accepted.  

Yes I have Jeff and they all have worked out fine. In fact I don't think some of the buyers have ever seen the condos or homes to this day!

Jeff,

It happened when we lived in Napa, there was a frenzy of buyers from Silicon Valley.  They relied on photos.  I have not seen it here.  A

Yes - we had one buyer who bought 12 of them!! (An investor).

I saw that article... and I've "purchased" at least three homes for buyers who never saw the house until they arrived for closing... all were very happy. But I've not had buyers make offers sight unseen without my input.

Sight-unseen offers tend to evolve into the buyer backing out. Therefore, when I sense that it is a sight-unseen offer on my listing I counsel my seller to counter that;

(1) the buyer has personally walked through the property

(2) the buyer is buying as-is

(3) the good faith deposit must be at least $5,000, and non-refundable

I sold one that neither I nor the buyer could get to because of heavy snow and it was in the mountains. The inspector could not get there either.  They were satisfied.

I sold another that the buyer never saw, but I did the leg work on it with videos.

Both were cash deals.  I don't recommend this but if they insist I will be there.

Well almost doing it right now. They are seeing it before closing.We did the contract all without them being in state and me showing it. Wife arrived 2 weeks ago and I showed the house, husband arrived last weekend and showed him on Monday. They close tomorrow. No hiccups.These are not first time buyers.

Had another situation that was an REO. Buyers were out of state and wanted to buy it. Sent contracts, they wired money and it closed. Never saw buyers even if they came to town. No cell phone or email type people. The place was a dump but they got it cheap.

No I have not, have dealt with renters who want to do this, and I seldom allow them to rent without seeing it.

1/3 seems very high! I agree with Mike & Eve Alexander ... maybe for expereinced investors but not someone with limited buying experience 

Redfin ... another real estate expert pulling their data out of their .... ?? hats shall we say? I have never done it yet but we are not really in that market.

Yes, almost annually, since moving to San Diego, my military clients are famous for it. EG. They know the building, say it's Renaissance Downtown San Diego, they know the units basically. I send them photos and video I shoot for them. Even do Skype or Facetime walk through and inspections.

The other example is my investors during 2006-2010 did this 9/10 times because it was their contractor that said yea or nae to me.

No, I have not Jeff Dowler but I have heard some do

I have submitted a couple offers within this past year sight unseen. However, we did include a home inspection contingency. In the market we are in where agents have the open house and have a Monday deadline for offers, sometimes you dont have  a choice if the buyer cannot make the open house.

Yes I have worked with a few buyers who didn't see the property before closing.  They have all been happy with their purchase.  Of course I send them video and lots of photos so they have a real sense of the property.

With pictures, Google Earth, Drones and who knows what else it can be done with fine tuning and someone to beat feet giving input & detail feedback

Not a typical situation. I have purchased many trustee sale properties before seeing them.

I have experienced that and it was more stressful for me than the buyers. I did do a Facetime with them, but it is no substitute for 'walking' the home.

I hate the idea. Did it once and the seller tried to pull a fast one. He lost big time!

I have and worked out just fine

I have, but it's rare and most of the time I discourage this.

no

Yes, several times and it worked out well; however, each time there was an extensive exchange of photos, video and information beforehand. 

Many out of state investors will often byu sight unseen.  Have never had a problem.

My parents recently bought their vacation home site unseen by them...  A trusted friend went to a showing.  Thankfully it all worked out.

First, i would never put any faith into a Redfin study. I have sold 2 homes as of late, buyer unseen, but their relatives did see, video and share it with the buyer. 1 loved it and 1 hated it. I can not say it is for every one,

Investors who do not live there will bid by looking at fotos.

First time home buyer, lookie, lookie, lookie, lookie, not buying.... All gone.

Indeed I have Jeff.  Several years ago, I had a relocation client moving his family to the area.  He was an air traffic contoller and needed a short commute to the airport.  I sent he and his wife several listings to review via email and they decided on one property at $550K by only looking at the photos and property description.  I previewed the property for them and was also their eyes and ears during the home inspection and transaction.  The first time they physically saw the house was during the final and only walk-through.  Needless to say, I was sweating bullets but all worked out just fine, as the house was everything they expected and hoped it to be.     

Cheers!

Wow I must be missing the boat on these buyers.

I have had a buyer buy site unseen, and also a buyer for one of my listings.  Neither were for a primary home though.

Investors, yes.  Regular people, no.  We don't trust offers that are sight unseen.  My investors won't even hear them (I'm directed to reject them automatically).

Yes two times nd it was seemless both times.

I work with them all the time  - in fact I've purchased 2 myself - no problems

Years ago,  when our market was appreciating 25%+ a year, YES, this happened with probably 1/3 of my transactions as we have a lot of military moving in and out of our area.  If they were stationed there for 2-3 years, they could buy, sell in 2-3 years and make money, so they often bought sight unseen.  Fast forward to today, and while it is not happening as regularly, it still happens, although now we Facetime...had a closing earlier this year where the buyers saw the house for the first time in person when they flew into town and saw it at the walk through. 

That seems to be a very high percentage to me.  Although I've read AR posts about it occurring, I have never been involved in a transaction where it has occurred.