Over the weekend on of my listings got an offer on it. The home is near Hamline University but the seller lives in Ham Lake so yesterday I drove out to Ham Lake to get the agreement signed. Ham lake is only 32 miles away and it was a pleasure to be able to go over the contract with the seller in person, explain it and answer questions. I say that because lately I have been I have been on a run of working with clients who own property in Minnesota but who do not live here.
Three of my listings are owned by people who live out of state. They live in Texas, Georgia and Arizona. I have never met the owners of two of the condos I have on the market and probably never will. I don't have to meet a seller to sell their home and they don't need to meet me in person.
Technology has changed everything. Documents are emailed back and forth. Questions are answered by email or sometimes we turn on Skype and have a video conference. It is not unusual with people who are relocating because of a job change to leave the state before the home is sold and close from a distance. In that case I meet the seller in person but work with them long distance. It is only in the last four years that I have had sellers that I never meet but it is becoming more and more common and I have at least three or four absentee sellers every year.
It is not unheard of to work with buyers who are in other states. In most cases they look at the property before they buy it but surprisingly some don't see it in person first. Making an inspection contingent offer gives the buyer some protection. They can hire an inspector and have that person check out the home and they don't have to buy it if it is not up to their standards. We take plenty of photos and video. It is the only time I do close up shots of furnaces, water heaters and foundations.
Technology makes all sorts of things possible that would have been very difficult to do less than a decade ago.
Being in a destination market, many of my clients (both buyers and sellers) are not here. But with advances in technology, making deals go through efficiently has become much easier (thank you Docusign). Great post, it makes me appreciate my clients ever so more.
I appreciated your blog post and the comparisons to the “LDR” 🙂 I really enjoy Skype as well – it’s a great way to have a non-cell number, but without the expense of a landline!