The Reality of Real Estate: Decoding the True State of a Home While Conducting a Virtual House Hunt?

With spring and summer being some of the busiest homebuying periods of the year, now may be the time that you begin looking at homes on the market, weighing the pros and cons of neighborhoods, and meeting with lenders. In the current market, you’ll likely be doing a lot of the Reno home searching online but when you’re not able to visit the house in person, it’s important to know how to uncover the true condition. Check out the things we’ve learned about conducting a virtual house hunt.

Decode the Online Listings

Some real estate agents will be using words and photos to hide the true state of the home. You’ll want to look for things that could prove to be misleading, like:

• Are there only photos of the interior or the exterior? This could show that maybe the inside or the outside of the home needs work.
• Do the photos look stretched in any way? Some agents or sellers may be trying to make the spaces look larger than they are by stretching the photos of certain rooms in the home.
• Does the listing include references to a spacious backyard, extra bedrooms/bathrooms, or a dedicated home office that isn’t pictured? If not pictured, they may not be in great condition or could be small and show that the layout of the home isn’t functional.
• What kind of adjectives are used to describe the home/do they match the photos? For example, the term “cozy” could be used to mean small, or it could just mean that the space is a great family gathering area of the home.

Reach Out to Your REALTOR® About Virtual Tours

Many listings will include property videos or a virtual tour of some kind, but in order to make them useful, ask your REALTOR® if they can find you more footage of the home or walk you through the home via a video call. This way you can look at any blind spots that may not show up in the original video as well as see the little details that may be overlooked in a hype video but will matter when you’re living in the home.

Get a Better Picture of the Home

If the home has piqued your interest by the photos, description, and virtual tour, reach out about the seller’s disclosure. It gives a great outline of any problems the home may have, any improvements the home has had, and when the improvements/features were made. This can be a great way to help you decide to take the next step and make an offer on the home or rule it out.

 

Having a team on your side to show you the ins and outs of virtual househunting, especially as a first-time homebuyer, is crucial in these uncertain times. We’re more than happy to help, so give the David Morris Group a call at 775-828-3292.