Buying Brisbane sight unseen - WWJD?

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Tulamalula

Have found quite a few places in Brisbane one in particular with dev potential, close to city in mid-500s. If i were in brisbane I would be there to inspect as quick as anything.

As I am in Perth, with two small children, the practicalities of me is getting on a plane with the toddlers, renting somewhere and dragging to the kids to look at properties, doesn't really appeal to me. I am also not prepared to spend the money on a buyer's agent as I know the Brisbane market pretty well.

Is it madness to buy sight unseen? Provided there is a clause in the contract for building and pest, at least a builder has gone through the place and will tell you if it's sound or not.

thoughts?
 
No, too costly. Just want to make sure the street is relatively quiet and there are no shabby properties with car bodies on them nearby.
 
I buy sight unseen all the time, but I think it also depends on the type of properties that you buy. Eg. an apartment/villa is easier to assess than a house with development potential.

Street view, google earth, local managin agents etc are good resources to use as well.
 
Tulamalula said:
Have found quite a few places in Brisbane one in particular with dev potential, close to city in mid-500s. If i were in brisbane I would be there to inspect as quick as anything.

As I am in Perth, with two small children, the practicalities of me is getting on a plane with the toddlers, renting somewhere and dragging to the kids to look at properties, doesn't really appeal to me. I am also not prepared to spend the money on a buyer's agent as I know the Brisbane market pretty well.

Is it madness to buy sight unseen? Provided there is a clause in the contract for building and pest, at least a builder has gone through the place and will tell you if it's sound or not.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

A very simple way would be have all your question in line on the interested property,ring up the "BCC" and ask the question at least you know where you stand and a point of reference,btw anything in Sunnybank is selling like hotcakes ,and it's over 80% Asian..imho..
 
I have bought over ten properties sight unseen, mostly in markets and states I have no idea of -- I did this in my early 20s.
I believe in RE you never lose (well maybe you break even but you learn a lot in the process). I never have.

Yes you can do due diligence from a distance - I spent a lot of time poring over maps (this was well before google streetview) - and finding out council plans, development issues, schools/hospital and demo trends, big names in the area eg Bunnings, transport futures etc etc.

I still buy properties sight unseen, often in my own city, with 2 kids under 2 :)

PS - you can put an ad on airtasker to have someone driveby/take pix of street etc - anything you cant do yourself in person you can ask someone to do -- ideally the RE agent will help you out if you ask nicely then add on your own sourced info
 
Last edited:
economist99 said:
I have bought over ten properties sight unseen, mostly in markets and states I have no idea of -- I did this in my early 20s.
I believe in RE you never lose (well maybe you break even but you learn a lot in the process). I never have.

Yes you can do due diligence from a distance - I spent a lot of time poring over maps (this was well before google streetview) - and finding out council plans, development issues, schools/hospital and demo trends, big names in the area eg Bunnings, transport futures etc etc.

I still buy properties sight unseen, often in my own city, with 2 kids under 2 :)

PS - you can put an ad on airtasker to have someone driveby/take pix of street etc - anything you cant do yourself in person you can ask someone to do -- ideally the RE agent will help you out if you ask nicely then add on your own sourced info
Click to expand...

I bought my last one sight unseen and will do the same for the next few. I prefer due diligence from afar. I can only imagine what it would have been like before the internet, and especially for interstate.
 
I'd buy sight unseen. Depends on the type of property you're looking at though. You can do majority of the necessary checks remotely. What do you actually need to see?
 
If u plan on getting a building/pest report u can ask them to give their opinion etc on the street etc.....they are there anyway and fee is relatively inexpensive.
 
Tulamalula said:
No, too costly. Just want to make sure the street is relatively quiet and there are no shabby properties with car bodies on them nearby.
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I think Rolf means just paying a BA or someone similar to inspect the property you have your eyes on. $200 for a BA to pop out and see the site would be worth it if your serious about the property
 
I'm in Brisbane. Depending where the property is I'd be happy to drive past and send you some photos.

Don't be afraid I'll steal the property from under your nose. We are about to build a PPR so have no intention of buying another investment :D

Edited to add send me a PM with details if you are interested in my offer. :)
 
Aww thanks!!! Just spoke with the agent, vendor has already accepted an offer, he talked about me making a back up offer. You have to be quick. So does anyone know how a back up offer works? If the first contract falls over you get the property?
 
Or could he be telling me porkies to get my heart racing and force an offer? There is a home open on Saturday, surely they would have cancelled that if there is an accepted offer on the property??? I'd be pretty annoyed rocking up to a home open and being told the vendor has already accepted an offer, but I can make a back up offer.
 
Tulamalula said:
Or could he be telling me porkies to get my heart racing and force an offer? There is a home open on Saturday, surely they would have cancelled that if there is an accepted offer on the property??? I'd be pretty annoyed rocking up to a home open and being told the vendor has already accepted an offer, but I can make a back up offer.
Click to expand...

Could be porkies, but I will follow his game. Submit offer and prepare room for negotiation. Eg. Put offer 475, but prepare to go max 500k.

Anyway back to your original issue, last year I asked my friends to do facetime via ipad. I request him to go left or right and explore street, bus, train station, etc. Not sure if this applicable, but that's help me last time.
 
Tulamalula said:
Are RE agents allowed to tell porkies?
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images
 
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