Buying Sight Unseen
I built an empire off of real estate I’ve never seen. Holy cow, that's crazy talk!!! Was that our intention? Not in 1000 years.
But is it our reality? It appears to be. How did this all happen? Well, when we finally committed to short term rentals as our bridge we knew our local market was not the spot to start investing. We settled on our target location which was over 2100 miles away - how convenient for two full-time working parents with two young kids and 4 animals who can hop on an airplane at the drop of a hat - NOT. However, we knew it was the right market. The numbers made sense and it was the right place. So, with some blind faith we started offering on properties. Now, let me take it back a second. Before offering I had a come to Jesus meeting with our realtor. I let him know that since we were over 2000 miles away I would be relying heavily on him for feedback regarding the property, meaning its location, surroundings, feel, smells, etc.
So you’re telling me you put your blind faith in this realtor you’ve never yet? YES! But, with some serious vetting first. Talking to your team (agents, contractors, lenders, etc) is all about getting to know each other. With my agent I focused on him first. Does he own anything in the area? How long has he lived there? Is he an investor also? What’s his goals? By focusing on him I learned what matters to him and was easily able to convey similar goals. It helped us connect and I clearly laid out our expectations of what I need from him to make these goals a reality.
Did the first one go as planned? Of course not! The videos from the realtor weren’t the way we wanted and I still had unanswered questions. But we worked through those growing pains. And you know what? By the time #2 rolled around he knew EXACTLY what we needed and could deliver with minimal instructions and reminders.
Why would this realtor go above and beyond for us? Because he knew we were serious buyers! I made it very clear from day one that we were not those kiddos who sit on the sideline and never jump in. We knew what we wanted and how we needed to get there - CASH FLOW. So, after speaking with him we started offering… a lot. I mean 3-5 offers a day sometimes. If one didn’t get accepted we moved on immediately. It took us over 100 offers to get our first cabin. But… we did it! And with each offer we grew closer with our realtor, he gave us strategies for our next offer, etc. And he knew, very clearly, what our expectations were and why we offered a certain way, too (more on that at another time).
The key here is it is 100% possible to buy remotely as long as you have your team in place, set expectations, and have open communication. It’s your mindset that will limit you to what really is possible.
