My wife and I put in an offer to buy a house last night without ever seeing it in person or a having an inspection done.
If you had told me a few years ago that we would be doing this, I would have laughed. Honestly though, I felt comfortable with the decision for a couple of reasons.
First, we’re lucky to have a good agent and family in the area we are buying. Our realtor met my parents, sister and brother-in-law at the house and did a walkthrough with them.
My wife and I received pictures and a review from each of them — my dad spoke about the little details in the landscaping, the craftsmanship of the homemade shelving and workbench in the garage. My mom and sister mentioned the numerous small upgrades and details in the house. My brother-in-law summed it up:
He said that in his experience, someone who cares enough to improve the small details will also manage the large things well. His impression was that the sellers had done an excellent job tending to the home and that there was low likelihood of a major issue.
Found out this morning that our offer was beaten but came away with two reflections. First, decisions are made on the basis of trusted advisors. Second, big things are successful as the result of many small efforts.
To quote John Wooden:
“If you do enough small things right, big things can happen.”
