A little over a year ago, I purchased an investment property in Kansas City, Missouri. I have never been to Kansas City, Missouri. I bought the property sight unseen. I live in New York City and can’t afford rental property in this area so I decided to invest out-of-state where the numbers make more sense. I am a risk averse person and buying something sight unseen sounded crazy. I just didn’t have to time to fly out there to see the property personally. However, ultimately, I determined that me physically going to the location wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. Was it really necessary to drive around the neighborhoods, look at houses, and speak to the staff of company I was looking to purchase my investment from? With the power of the internet, I can research the neighborhoods, look at pictures and videos of the houses, and speak to the staff of the real estate investment company over the phone. I know very little about housing construction and the extent of my home improvement skills is changing a light bulb and hammering a nail into the wall. Yes, it is pretty pathetic. I am much better off in leaving this to the experts.

Here is what I did instead:

First, when choosing someone to work with, I went to the forums of Biggerpockets. There are many people asking for references and a few names consistently came up as being trustworthy. I contacted the people who gave the good reviews and asked them more specific questions about how their investment was going. I googled those companies and checked if there were complaints on BBB. The most important thing when investing (and especially when investing out-of-state) is to trust the person you are working with. And even if you do trust the person, you must always make sure to the best of your ability that what they are saying is true. Trust, but verify!

After narrowing down the companies that had great reviews, I contacted them and asked them more specific questions regarding the investment. If the person I spoke to take forever to reply to e-mails or phone calls or if they sound shady or overly optimistic about their investment, sounding like they were making a sales pitch, I’d be less inclined to work with them. Sure, an in-person meeting may be slightly better way to determine whether one can be trusted, but I don’t think it was absolutely necessary.

Researching the neighborhood and property:

Zillow: This is one of the best tools giving you a good amount of information about the property and neighborhood. It will provide you with a “Zestimate” which is their estimate as to the approximate value of the property. They seem to do a pretty good job estimating how much the property is worth. You can also look at the comparable sales in the neighborhood. There are also ratings for the schools in the neighborhood. Another great tool that Zillow has is their rent zestimate which estimates the amount of rent you can probably get from that property. It is a pretty good estimation but also check out Rentometer, which also gives a rent estimate. Another thing you can do is to call up local property managers and ask them how much rent they think you can charge for that property.

Trulia: It provides similar information to Zillow, but I like using Zillow better. I do like Trulia’s Crime Map which shows the amount of reported crimes in that neighborhood. It also has information about demographics as well as average commute time and businesses in the neighborhood. For more information about crime, SpotCrime is also a good resource. Another great resource with a wealth of information about various neighborhoods is neighborhood scout. (You will have to pay for more advanced data)

The Biggerpockets forum is not just a great place to get recommendations on companies to work with, but it is also a great place to find which neighborhoods you should invest in. There are plenty of helpful people who will tell you what areas to avoid and which areas are a good investment. Also, check out the City Data forum where there are many locals who will provide information about the neighborhood you are looking into. The Biggerpockets forum is geared towards investors whereas the City Data forum seems to be people talking about their neighborhoods generally and helping those who plan on moving there with information. Another way to look at the neighborhood and house without traveling there is to use Google Street View. Of course, these pictures may not be up-to-date but it still gives you a feel for the neighborhood.

Seeing the property- the turnkey company, realtor or whoever it is you are working with will send you pictures and/or videos of the property. If you want to make sure these pictures are accurate, you can hire an independent third-party to take pictures of the property and send it to you. For $69, WeGoLook will send an agent to the property to take some pictures and verify the condition of the property.

Finally, after all this research, I think that an inspection and appraisal of the property adds an extra layer of security. If you are taking a mortgage on the property, the bank won’t want to take the risk of giving you mortgage with a property that is in horrible condition and about to fall apart. The home inspector has no incentive to lie about the condition of the property. Consider using a different home inspector than the one recommended by the turnkey company or realtor you’re working with to ensure there is no conflict of interest.

I’m not saying you should purchase real estate out-of-state without seeing it. If you are able to fly out to see the properties offered, check out the neighborhoods, and talk to the people you will be investing with, it’s a great idea. I’m just saying that it is doable even if you cannot personally go there. Just make sure you do your due diligence. Investing in real estate has risks and investing in a property out-of-state has increased risks, but they can be reduced.

Would you consider buying a property without seeing it? If you’ve done this before, are there any other resources you would recommend using?