If the opportunity comes up for you to be able to move to a new state, whether that’s for a new job or the chance to retire in another house, you should look at buying a property before you get there. It’s a daunting process to buy a home in a state sight unseen, but it can and it does happen, and it’s pretty common.

Some people choose to rent an Airbnb or a hotel for a few weeks while they house hunt, but if you don’t have the luxury of time or your budget is constrained to just being able to buy a house, then you might want to look at how you can buy a home online. Real estate agents are well versed in virtual home staging, which means that the houses that you will virtually tour would look just as they would if you were there in person. There are plenty of ways that you can buy a house in another state, so let’s take a look at what to do to put through that sale.

• List both your wants and your needs. If you are purchasing a house next door, you would sort out the things that you need from a home and sort out the things that you like. For example, you may need to have more than one bathroom, but you may like to have an open plan kitchen area. You may need to have proper security gates, but you may like to have a really nice deck. Looking for the properties that you want that have the same things that you need is important for your real estate agent. You want to be able to hone down the right houses so that you’re not wasting your time virtually touring ones that you are not interested in.
• Improve your knowledge base. If you have time, learn as much as you can about moving home from another state. You need to look at how much it’s going to cost you, the type of environment and the area that you’re looking into, what schools are on offer, whether there are any good safety facilities, what the cost of living comparison may be. There is a lot to research before you move to any state, never mind buying from miles away.
• Find a great real estate agent. You want to work with somebody who is as much a local market expert as well as a lifestyle consultant. You need a real estate agent who’s going to focus on the things that you like and your interests as much as they will focus on what square footage you want in a home. If you’re getting someone to help you to buy in another state that you may not have even visited before, then you need somebody knowledgeable on what the state has to offer too.
• Always get the virtual tour. We mentioned virtual home staging earlier on and it’s for a good reason. It’s nice to buy a house based on pictures that you’ve seen, but at the same time you want one where you can ask them to show you the different areas of the home for safety checks. You can ask them to show you things behind the doors or to zoom in on any particular cracks or crevices. Is it paint staining or is it mold? These are questions you can ask during a virtual tour.