The Dangers of Buying Property Sight Unseen

While searching online or in property magazines, you may have found yourself falling in love with a house that you’ve never actually seen. Dazzling photographs and clever wording can make houses appear flawless – if you find yourself tempted to buy a house sight unseen, give yourself a good shake!

If you are in the market in Tauranga, Rotorua or the wider Bay of Plenty, here are some things you could miss when buying a building, house or other property without inspecting it first:

Location

The house may look perfect, even in the flesh. It might have great features, big bedrooms and excellent indoor-outdoor flow. But something that gets overlooked when you don’t view a property in person is the location. A Google street view won’t cut it – get yourself to the house in question and check out the neighbourhood. Remember, real estate rule number one is location, location, location.

Land

Another issue often disguised when you don’t visit a house is the land. Sloping sections, retaining walls and small backyards can surprise you. If you don’t know what to look for with the land, our house inspection services can help. Alternatively, you could get in touch with a Tauranga land developer to assist.

Layout

The layout can make or break a property sale, but only if you take the time to see it for yourself. Do you care if the bedrooms are on different levels? If the kitchen is tucked away from the rest of the house? If you enter the house into a laundry room? All of these quirks can be a hard ‘no’ for some home owners, but they are only noticeable in person. Also, it's important to view the house to establish if the home owners have acquired the services of a home staging company prior to it going on the market.

Privacy

Houses in popular areas, new developments and on cross-leases are particularly vulnerable to a lack of privacy wherein you can see into your neighbour’s lounge while drinking your morning coffee. But you need to view the house in person to notice this lack of privacy.

Extras

Other aspects that only show up with an inspection of a house, building or property include natural light, ventilation, amount of storage space, internal access garage and other factors like the feel of the house.

Property Inspections

Consider yourself warned: don’t let your emotions get the better of you with flashy photos. And just as important as inspecting the house yourself, make sure to get a property inspector to look for other things you’d miss, like a leaky roof, poor insulation, faults or defects and the need for future inspections for things like plumbing, engineering and drainage.

Found a house you love? Cover your bases by talking to the professional building inspectors at Straight Up Inspections. We can provide you with a same day pre-purchase building report, or your money back.

‍