Buying a Home in Another State Tips (How To Avoid Regret)

Recently we were traveling.

I was bringing the luggage in from the car back up to the room, walking through the lobby of the hotel and overheard the conversation with someone checking in at the front desk. The front desk person asked them, "Have you ever stayed with us here before?"

Pretty normal question.

walking through the lobby of the hotel, house hunting

The guest said, no, we've never, never been here. We've never been in the city before.

So the front desk person asked what brings them to the area? And the guests checking in, says, "Oh, we're going to be house hunting."

Buying a house from out of state

They're going to be house hunting. Never been there before. Let's talk about that.

Over the last 18 months or so a lot of people have been moving, relocating, buying homes in another state, sight unseen.

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

But let's talk about a little bit of the challenges, the problems of that and then I'll give you three steps, the things that I think you should do in order to minimize your chance of hating where you live, hating your home, and just hating the whole ordeal that you went through to get to that place.

The Story

I remember when I graduated after high school, I was packing some stuff up to just take off on this pretty extended road trip. And my dad asked me, Hey, what are, you know, what's your plan? Where are you up to? And it's like, I don't know. And he said something that stuck with me. He said, if you're taking off to go find something, that's great. But if you're taking off, because you're running from something, that's a problem. And you're always going to keep running from something.

a lot of people have been moving, relocating, buying homes, sight unseen

That stuck with me all these years, and I believe that it applies to relocation, to real estate, to home buying. If you're relocating somewhere because you're trying to get away from something instead of moving towards something that you want, you're probably not going to like the place that you end up at.

3 buying a home in another state tips

The first foundational piece you need to look at when relocating or moving, buying a home in another area that you're unfamiliar with is the People.

Things to consider when moving out of state

The people make up your community, your neighborhood, just the overall vibe of everything. when buying a home in another state the people matter

If you don't like the way that people handle parking at the local grocery store, or there's just not a good vibe going into the local coffee shop.

If you don't like the people in an area, you're not going to like your home. So I would discourage you from ever buying a home in a city that you have not spent any time in.

I was the real estate agent of that person relocating into the area that never been there before, but said they're house hunting. I would have suggested coming on a trip and just hanging out in the town for the weekend.

If that's all you can do, hang out in the town for two to three days. And then when is the next time you can come back and do some house hunting. But get a feel for what people like in the area before you ever decide, that's the place that I want to be.

Tips on buying home

Which then is step number two, the overall Place, the overall feel of the town, the city, the area. Are there things there that you like to do? If you like coffee or there coffee shops, are you a foodie? What kind of restaurants do they have? If you like hiking, what are the hiking trails?

If you're someone who loves the water and there's no lakes around or rivers or oceans, you're going to hate it. What does the place offer you for life outside of your home?

what does the place offer you for life outside of your home

Buying a home in a different state

And then finally, after you are cool with the people, you're cool with the place, now you can focus on the property. What is the Property that you're looking for in this new place now that you want to purchase it?

But when you cut straight to the chase and you go, I'm looking for just a property in a different location. I think you're going to end up in time being disappointed and frustrated.

Even if you have the perfect house, you're going to wish that you could put that house in a different place.