Posted by Suzanne on May 26, 2000 at 13:03:40:
for buying houses I had not seen. I have purchased two houses through Marshall Reddick, and my sister bought one. Marshall makes it very easy to buy V.A. properties out-of-state that cash flow, and even has property managers in place to manage the properties for you.
Has anyone did the unthinkable and bought a house without first hand seeing it? - Posted by Donna
Posted by Donna on May 25, 2000 at 18:44:12:
I heard of one person who bought an airplane for like 20 million sight unseen in person via the net…but with a clause based on in person viewing inspection.
I DID hear of one who used a realtor to find what he wanted (AFTER having spent some time in that area with him first and showing him what he likes, and doesn’t like and so on), and based on pictures faxed to him or emailed to him (I forget), he bought it. (I’m sure he had a structural done too though…I HOPE he did, lol.)
Brave I might add.
Any one else do anything as brave as that in the real estate world?
Donna
Re: Has anyone did the unthinkable and bought a house without first hand seeing it? - Posted by DT (NY)
Posted by DT (NY) on May 27, 2000 at 04:44:36:
I, like everyone else have purchased properties unseen the best one was a 2 family property that I bought from Delta Funding for 100.00 that was resold for 16,000 the way it sat…I have also submitted many Purchase Offers without seeing the property , I add to the contract this offer is contingent to my approving the interior of the property. I usually do this when a property is listed and the agent cant contact the owner or get me in for whatever the reason, Sometimes its a tenant not wanting to allow the realtor to show the property because he doesnt want to help out at all or there is a nasty dispute with the seller and tenant so there are a handful of reasons this is important to make offers like that…I wouldnt want to loose the deal because I couldnt get into the property…
Re: Has anyone did the unthinkable and bought a house without first hand seeing it? - Posted by The Baze - Jax, Fl
Posted by The Baze - Jax, Fl on May 26, 2000 at 15:49:56:
I’ve made many offers on houses w/out seeing them, but I never actually buy one w/out checking it out. If my offer is accepted, then I go take a look. Why bother to look at something until I know if I’ve got a deal?
Tom Bazley
Re: Has anyone did the unthinkable and bought a house without first hand seeing it? - Posted by BD(Ca)
Posted by BD(Ca) on May 26, 2000 at 03:42:57:
This is what Marshall Reddick is teaching his students. I’ve talked to several of them and they bought multiple properties sight unseen in other states like Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Georgia, etc… Personally, I’m kinda skeptical. Anybody heard of him?
I have! - Posted by Paul_NY
Posted by Paul_NY on May 26, 2000 at 01:45:20:
The first two buildings that I bought at a sealed bid tax auction were site unseen. One was a comm/res property and the other was a single family house. Both were dumps. But, for one hundred and seventeen dollars each, I felt I could afford the risk. I ended up letting the comm/res building go back to the county for non-payment of property taxes, and the single family house is where I learned how to do carpentry, electrical, plumbing etc.
The most recent purchase, site unseen, was a vacant parcel of land near Albany NY. It is a 40x100 lot in a subdivision. It has a view of a lake. Haven’t really checked for the boundaries or for water and sewer etc. yet, but for ten bucks, we’ll get to it later.
Every day - thats how I get a lot of my deals !!! - Posted by JohnG
Posted by JohnG on May 25, 2000 at 21:38:02:
I do all the time.
Thats why I get so many offers accepted so quickly. The property comes out on the MLS at 9am and by 9:01 I have an unconditional cash offer on the fax.
Its not nearly as risky as you might think. In fact its not risky at all.
The fact is that I have bought a lot of houses in this particular area and even factoring in the worst as far as reno goes - I know where I have to be in order to be safe.
I am just closing on a 33 unit townhouse project that was bought sight unseen in a foreclosure.(Its 2000 miles away from me) Now, that might take a little courage. But again, I know the area, I know these units (I did see them 3 years ago - they were in bad shape then and they have only gotten worse in the last 3 years) and now I am buying them for 50% of what they were appraised for 3 years ago.
What happened ? Mismanagement; loss of major employer in the town; more mismanagement and voila - 50 cents on the dollar. I know my rehab costs and even with holes in the walls, doors missing, 12 tenants out of 33 units and with only a portion of them current with their rents - its still a deal for me. All the things that are wrong are “fixable” and thats what I look for. I have just created another “job” for the next 6-9 months !!!
We do!! - Posted by Soraya
Posted by Soraya on May 25, 2000 at 20:54:25:
We live in San Diego.
We bought 9 houses and 6 strip shopping centers (via a real estate agent) and never even saw a picture of the properties before purchasing. We never did see the houses but we eventually did see the shopping centers.
If it makes sense financially we buy it.
Soraya
Re: Has anyone did the unthinkable and bought a house without first hand seeing it? - Posted by Bob Hanson
Posted by Bob Hanson on May 25, 2000 at 20:11:36:
Well Sort of …
The broker that I have my license with had a friend that had deal fall thru and the guy was in a pinch and needed to dump a 3 family house quick, so I took the deal sight unseen based on his say so. Of course I had a weasel clause in the PO. It wound up being as great a deal as he said and I successfully closed on it in a WIN-WIN-WIN situation.
Not recommended without a great deal of trust in the person that is describing the deal to you.
Good Luck,
Bob Hanson (sometimes “nuts” in Hyde Park, NY)