Virtual tours and showings are a great way to speed up home viewing, but because you are not physically in the space, there are a lot of negatives. A virtual tour guides you through the best features of a home that has been properly staged with touched-up photos. This makes it look good, but doesn’t show how it actually looks. Camera angles and zoom levels can avoid defects or distort room sizes. The tour may even completely ignore some walls, rooms, or the ceiling or floors.
Find out exactly what you are seeing and what is not being shown. If something is missing from a virtual tour, it may be because it doesn’t look good, or the tour wasn’t done very professionally and might misrepresent the home. Virtual tours don’t always include the basement, so be sure to check if there is one and what its condition is like. Even if you use virtual showings as a preliminary screening, you should also check out the home in person before purchasing. If you can’t view the home in person for whatever reason, have your agent be your eyes in your absence by checking for any defects, such as wall cracks, evidence of past water issues and any other flaws.
Photo by Nicolas Solerieu on Unsplash