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Buying unseen, photos and virtual tours?
With Covid-19 changing our lives and ban restrictions still in place many of our clients have decided to entrust us in being their eyes, ears and... nose!
The thought to buy unseen can certainly be daunting but these are a few tips that have helped a dozen of our clients purchasing a property from us without personally seeing their future homes:
1. Google views and ‘walk’ around the area to start with. The Google images might not be recent but at least you can get a feeling of the location
2. View the plans to picture the layout in your head
3. View plenty of photos and by a pre-recorded video, we are also introducing for some properties high level virtual tours with options to measure rooms and these can certainly help but our preference has been to arrange a walk through with our clients being on the other side of the phone... Unless it is not possible to find a suitable hour for all parties involved because of time zones differences there are plenty of options now from Facetime to WhatsApp or even the old friend Skype!
4. With real time videos our clients have managed to view as much as possible while walking through the properties for them, checking the views from the windows, answering any curiosity about the properties that they could have checked if they were physically there. What is behind that door? What is that stain? And we certainly would not hide that a property was near a pig farm! And here our nose was certainly the protagonist... we would certainly not want to go ahead with a purchase and have unpleasant surprises for our buyers when they finally are able to enjoy their new home! Farm animal neighbours are not for all…
5. The viewing might be without you being personally there but all legal due diligence and a thorough home survey can ensure that everything else goes smoothly. Therefore checking that planning permission are in place, structural condition of the property etc. Definitely do not skip on this and invest time and money in carrying out the right due diligence. It is unlikely you will skip this if you buy your new home near you, why would you do it for a house bought from far?
Although we are looking forward to welcoming back buyers face-to-face this experience has driven us to provide this service on a different level, as it could well become the new normal.
Launching an app for those interested in buying auctioned properties from far and get deals, our new Property Auction Live app allow prospective buyers to review full home inspection reports, full legal due diligence, detailed photos and to view the property and ask questions during the live auction taking place directly at the property. The bids take place in real time while the auctioneer walks through the property and can be directed to any specific part of the house by the bidders. So, our experience has definitely been a positive one and here a few recommendation from clients who purchased unseen and virtually, that have shared their reviews:
Review by Sabuhi Maharramov
"We were really very glad to that we started working with Property Organisers when we were looking for holiday home in Calabria! Property Organiser team provided us with full set of services at highest possible quality. Despite the fact that everything was virtually, because of the travel restrictions, but they made our buying experience smooth and enjoyable. Impartial stand and representing us in Italy like we were ourselves there! Well done Property Organisers, Stefania and entire team are just great professionals!"
Review by Sabrina Toglia
"I came across Property Organizer as I was doing a search on the internet. I wrote to them not thinking too much about it. I received an email from an agent not too long after, and after a few phone calls, I began to think that this agency sounded professional. However, it didn't end there. With Covid hitting the world, plans to travel to Italy were canceled. My agent, Alessio, told me that it was possible to buy a property without actually seeing it physically. Although, this sounded odd, he explained that more people are actually buying this way. To make a long story short, that's exactly what I did. I bought a property with the help of Alessio who had so much patience with me. Throughout the process, he kept on reassuring me which really put my mind at ease. Sonja, my lawyer was wonderful as well. She explained with great care and detail on all the legalities that go into buying a property in Italy. This was so helpful because the rules and regulations in buying property in Italy are different from the US, and at times they can be daunting especially when you don't know how the system works. The whole experience was professional, and I really felt taken care of. I would recommend this company to anyone who lives abroad and who wants to buy in Italy. They make it easy, safe, and a pleasant experience! Many thanks to Stefania and her wonderful team!"
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