Bud the Wiser

Would you buy a house sight unseen, subject to survey and inspection? The reason I ask is, we know the area where we want to retire to, and we have visited and looked at other houses in the area. A new one has come on the market that ticks a lot of boxes and is much better value than what we've viewed in the past. Problem is, we are still here in the states and not planning to visit until June. The gut feeling is that it will be snapped up before then. Dilemma!!

durham_lad

We have three times in our life rented a house sight unseen, but I don’t think we could bring ourselves to buy a house without seeing it.

Bud the Wiser

I've been talked out of it. May be able to view early June if it's still on the market. Temptation got the better of me.

spouse of scouse

I think it'd only work if you had someone who knew you really well, and whom you trusted, to go and inspect the property on your behalf. It's amazing how some properties look immaculate in the marketing photos, but fall well short on personal inspection! I hope it's still there in June, as I know how difficult it is to see a property that looks like it would be perfect but you're unable to view it. I'm having the same trouble with my property search in Oz.

Benson55

WOW no way.
How will you know you like the area, the people, the layout, the traffic, the distance to shops.....No.

Bud the Wiser

Know all those to a certain degree,as we have decided on the area. We're on several agents list and have viewed properties in the area. At present we're back in the USA and, fingers crossed, about to close on a business sale. This property was listed today and by far ticks more boxes and value of what we have viewed previously.

Sorely tempted, but common sense rules, we need to view and get a 'feel' for the house to see if it's for us. Hopefully it's still available when we visit in June.

Thanks for the reply.

Helen1964

I’m in the process of buying a house sight unseen.
I know the area and it fits almost all my criteria - flat site, 10 minute level walk to train station, close to the coastal path, private, south-facing garden with no possibility of anybody building at the rear, etc.
Finding a good surveyor is very important. I’d had an offer for another house accepted in January but pulled out when the survey showed it had a serious damp problem. Actually, the survey report itself was so littered with disclaimers as to be virtually useless but the surveyor I use likes to talk to the client on the phone as well and that’s how I discovered the full extent of the damp problem.
I also have a brother who lives locally and was able to visit the house for me.
Most importantly, though, I’m not that bothered what the house looks like. That can always be changed.
In fact, it’s quite hideous. But the location and position are excellent and it’s priced low enough - £235,000 - to allow scope for major improvements.

lansbury

Twigstar

Helen1964

BristolUK

When we were looking to buy here, in readiness for the house hunt trip we had a spreadsheet including pics, details, price, location of the places we were interested in. We kept in touch with our chosen realtor, over about 4 months, with him giving opinions and obviously we took some off as they sold and added others as they became available.

We had a clear favourite which we gave a nickname too. It was terrible.

From those we'd seen we narrowed it down to two (so far) on our second day and as we were leaving the second, there was a for sale notice on the other side of the street. A house not yet listed.
That was the one we bought a few hours later.

scot47

I think this is a symptom of the Anglo-american obsession with property ownership !

Benson55

you could be right there, do you favour renting instead?

UkWinds5353

How much does the property cost? May I ask if the place is in the north or south of the UK?

scot47

I rent and see no sense in owning