Nearly 2/3 of buyers made offers on homes sight-unseen in 2020.
After being encouraged to tour homes by video last spring because of COVID, buyers embraced the virtual tour, with 1 in 10 tours happening virtually.
Although most areas no longer require virtual tours, digital home shopping is now here to stay as a primary means of viewing properties.
Both buyers and sellers are becoming more comfortable with the new home-buying technologies. In years past, when buyers made sight-unseen offers, sellers often required non-refundable earnest money in order to go under contract. Sellers today are likely to take sight-unseen offers as seriously as they take in-person offers, without additional contractual commitments.
Through video, agents offer buyers close-ups on both the unseen opportunities and the challenges of properties. 3-D tours also allow buyers to scrutinize properties. As migration continues in 2021, we expect these technologies to become even more commonplace and accepted by both buyers and sellers.
