LONG DISTANCE VACATION PROPERTY SALE

By Ron Spanton

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Real Estate Associates

December 18, 2008 01:10 PM

I just completed my first long distance sight-unseen sale and although I was very nervous it went through just fine.

The Buyer was here from out of state and I showed him a few properties. He made an offer on one but the Seller countered. We raised our offer but the Seller went up on his price! But that's a subject for another article. Understandably dissatisfied, my Buyer went home.

I sent him new listings by email over the next several weeks which led to previewing a couple for him. I took pictures and emailed them to him but nothing really caught his eye.

The third one led to writing an offer which I emailed to him, he printed it, signed it and faxed it back to my fax-to-email account. I then printed it and delivered it to the listing agent "contingent on his approval in person". It was accepted by the Seller.

The Buyer arrived the day before the scheduled closing (now I'm really getting nervous) and approved the purchase. He had the funds wired to the closing attorney and we closed the next day.

My how technology has changed the way we do business! A warning though, a sight unseen offer that goes until the day before closing can lead to ulcers!

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Sharon Alters

ONE Sotheby's International Realty 904-673-2308 - Jacksonville, FL

Realtor - Homes for Sale Fleming Island FL

Ron - we have had a few of these. Since you had looked at other properties with him, you had an advantage because you knew what he liked. Also, you had gained his trust so he felt confident making an offer on a property you sent to him. Congratulations!

Dec 18, 2008 01:21 PM

Bob & Carolin Benjamin

Benjamin Realty LLC - Gold Canyon, AZ

East Phoenix Arizona Homes

We have known of people buy and close and never see the place - never used to would have happened that way .

Dec 18, 2008 03:39 PM

Tammy Lankford,

Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA

Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

WOW, that would give me ulcers. Had a different strange case in office a couple years ago. An agent showed property to nephew of couple... couple made offer signature via fax. Agent met couple on the day of closing to do a walk through prior... there were no contingencies. There nephew had driven them back over to property one day and our seller had let them in and the agent never actually communicated with the buyers except by phone until the day of closing. Weird world in real estate.

Dec 19, 2008 12:45 AM

Regina P. Brown

MBA Broker Consultants - Carlsbad, CA

M.B.A., Broker, Instructor

Ron, I also had a similar transaction some years ago. We made several offers while the husband was here in town, none flew. After he left, he found a listing on our MLS and made an offer. It was neighborhood we had already looked it, so he was familiar with the area. The offer was accepted. Then he came to inspect, took digital photos which he emailed to his wife. They closed escrow and loved the house!

Join my NEW group for professionals who work from their home office at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Dec 26, 2008 04:53 AM

Ron Spanton

RE/MAX Real Estate Associates - Gilbertsville, KY

Kentucky Lake Area

Regina, thanks for the affirmation and I'm glad it worked out for both of us. And as I work from home I have joined your group. Thanks for the invite!

Dec 26, 2008 05:57 AM

Erby Crofutt

B4 U Close Home Inspections&Radon Testing (www.b4uclose.com) - Lexington, KY

The Central Kentucky Home Inspector, Lexington KY

Isn't technology wonderful. I love that e-mail to fax and fax to e-mail stuff. Send most of my out of town inspection agreements that way.

Who do you use. I use TrustFax.com.

Jan 04, 2009 10:16 AM

Erby, I use MyFax. I got the tip from e-PRO. There are many out there but for me this one works just great for my needs right now. $10/mo. I have a number of out of town buyers as you do and I email the docs to them to print and sign and fax back to me at my toll free number. They usually don't have the ability to scan and email back so this works really well for me.

Jan 04, 2009 12:52 PM

When people attend the inspection with me, I have them sign the inspection agreement on my tablet PC. Every now and then I get an old curmudgeon who looks at me funny and says "Don't you have a piece of paper I can sign?" I carry paper copies just for those types (or computer failure) but doing it on the tablet PC saves me a bunch of time in scanning and converting to PDF. I very seldom use paper in the course of an inspection. It has helped cut costs and time quite a bit by utilizing electronic delivery of reports.

Jan 04, 2009 08:44 PM

Erby, I have a convertable tablet but I ran into a problem with customers having a difficult time signing the computer. Heck, it is even difficult for me so I've given up on it for now. I would like to think it's the computer but maybe it's just me.

Jan 05, 2009 02:25 AM

Nah, couldn't be you, could it. It has to be that dang computer screwing up again. At least that's what I tell myself.

Jan 05, 2009 09:44 PM

LONG DISTANCE VACATION PROPERTY SALE

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