Buying a home from across the country takes trust. Plenty of buyers relocating from California, New York or Chicago can't fly in for a weekend of showings.
A video tour shows you the countertops and the floor plan. It can't show you how the lot falls away, what the road sounds like at rush hour or the addition that never got a permit.
That matters more here because of the Due Diligence Fee. It goes directly to the seller and is generally non-refundable, so the checking has to start before you sign. Here's how I'd approach it.
What I check before we write an offer
I'm a member of both Doorify MLS and Canopy MLS, so I can pull the listing history in either market, along with the county tax record and the GIS parcel map.
Then I'd go see the property and look for what the camera leaves out:
- Road and air traffic. Going by at rush hour tells you more than photos. It's also worth knowing if the home sits under a flight path into RDU or CLT, or backs up to a busy road.
- How the lot slopes. Piedmont land rolls. A yard that looks flat in a wide-angle photo can drop toward a creek, which can mean drainage problems or less room for a pool.
- Permits and zoning. If there's a finished basement or a newer deck, I'd check county records to see whether permits were pulled and closed, and what the land next door is zoned for. Unpermitted work can become your problem after closing.
Building in time to see it
For a sight-unseen purchase, we'd set the due diligence period long enough for you to fly in for a walk-through before it ends. If the house isn't what you expected, you can terminate before the deadline. You'd lose the Due Diligence Fee, and your earnest money would come back to you.
Losing the fee hurts. Closing on the wrong house costs far more.
Q: How do you protect a Due Diligence fee when buying a house sight-unseen in North Carolina?
A: Because the Due Diligence Fee is generally non-refundable, the checking has to start before you sign. Have a local agent look at how the lot slopes, the road noise, the zoning next door and the permit history first, and set the Due Diligence Period long enough for you to fly in before it ends.