How to shop for a home long-distance

If you are one of the many entering the home buying market this spring, you know as well as anyone the time and dedication it takes to find a new home. If you add on hundreds of thousands of miles into the picture, your home search may have just gotten that much harder! Weston Dean Custom Homes, a premier New Braunfels custom homebuilder, shares tips on how to score the perfect home if you’re shopping long distance. Long-distance house hunting may come with its own set of struggles, but if you put the right components in place you can come out on the winning side of a great new home. Having the right agent and the beauty of modern technology, can really give you a greater insight on a home when having to view it remotely. Here are the most important factors you will need to keep in mind if you plan to shop for a long-distance home. First, be sure and do your homework and then do your homework some more. Thing about your current home and living situation. What is important to you? Do you like to be close to your work? Do you need to have good schools close for kids, or kids to come? Is it important to be close to shopping, the airport for travel, downtown and so on? The beautiful thing the internet allows us to do is to find and out and research all of these things from afar. However, you have to do your own due diligence to make sure that all of the things that are important to you, apart from the home, fit the criteria of the homes you are looking at. The worst mistake you can make is to pick out a home by the home itself, and not be educated on the area and areas surrounding the home. Next, be sure to find the right agent. You need to find someone who is up on all of the modern technology, and ideally has helped sell a home to a remote buyer before. They will be able to be your eyes on the ground. They can Facetime or video chat with you and virtually walk you through the home, why you are on the phone with them. You need to be able to reach them and trust they will do some of the dirty work for you when it comes to the home. Third, you need to have a travel budget and timeline. It is best to take a four to five day trip to the place you are going to move. Trying to cram everything into a weekend, typically doesn’t work out well for the agent or the buyer and you end up having to book another trip to look again on another weekend. So, spare yourself the headache and plan for several days in your new location so you can look at homes, check out the area and make some real decisions without having to be rushed with travel plans back home the next day. Fourth, do everyone a favor (both yourself and your agent) and know what you want. The best thing you can do is pick your “top five.” These are your most important, non-negotiable things you need in a home. This will help you narrow down homes quicker, and your agent be very selective in the homes they offer to show you. Lastly, overcome your jitters when it comes to being a remote buyer. If you find yourself very uncomfortable with buying a home remotely, you may want to consider renting before you buy. If you find a home you really think is the one, take all the necessary precautions, have your agent video chat you from inside and outside the home as well as the neighborhood and if your gut tells  you it is a great home, make an offer and have confidence all your homework paid off!     Weston Dean Homes is a San Antonio area custom home builder.  For more information call (210) 408-9107.