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I recommend interviewing highly competent and experienced realtors about where they specialize. No one will know more about the culture and identity of a town than the folks responsible for buying and selling it! BiggerPockets.com is focused on real estate investing, but it’s a great resource to find and chat with real estate professionals across the country.
I have purchased two homes long-distance and finding a great realtor was step #1. They would listen to my criteria, send me ideas, go tour and take videos of the properties I liked, and give unbiased opinions for pros and cons of the property and location. Check if any realtor websites or BiggerPockets profiles mention “out of state” buyers - it helps if they have had success with others like you!
Subject Expert
Great tips! Another option is to find a realtor who sold a home recently in the area you’re looking for and talk to them about what a competitive offer looks like in that area. The selling realtor will be listed on the listing.
You could also use YouTube to look for tourism videos or vlogs for specific areas you might be interested in. NeighborhoodScout.com is another helpful site that gives neighborhood rankings and stats like schools, demographics, transportation, crime, etc. You need to purchase reports, but sounds like it might be well worth it.
Coach
Why aren’t you going there to visit at least to know what you’re getting into?
I'm in a weird place in my life. I can't be away from my family for anything longer than a day or two.
I'm willing to take on some risk to make a jump and move in one leap. I have good safety nets (stable high paying job, cash and investment reserves).
In Houston (and Austin) we see so many professionals buy from other states site unseen and move for a job here. We also know immigrants often move without ever having been there before.
I'm just wondering if there are ways to get more information than real estate sites to do research. I would prefer to buy instead of rent. I have an emotionally delicate dependent family and a dog. Moving into a house that we own is preferred to a rented house.
Subject Expert
Facebook groups have been quite valuable for me to get a sense of what’s happening in a remote market.
If you’re buying to rent it out, I use apartments.con for long term or AirDNA for short term for rental comp.
Subject Expert
There’s a “groups” section, then search there.
There’s often groups for regions where neighbors can talk about what’s happening. There may also be some landlord or investor groups for the region if it’s a vacation area.
My personal preference is Facebook Groups. You can search the groups section for a specific area and sometimes even a neighborhood that you’re looking to join. I lend in all 50 states and have cousins that live in NC, the don’t live near the beach they’re closer to Charlotte. I helped them move that way. Call me and we can talk about your move. 954-805-2418