A TREND is emerging in the Bathurst property market and, to many, it would seem pretty risky.
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Buyers from outside of Bathurst, those from Sydney in particular, are purchasing homes without ever having seen them in person.
Century 21 Bathurst director Troy Kearney said his agency is seeing more instances of unsighted buyers snapping up properties in Bathurst.
“We’ve sold two in the last fortnight, one for $30,000 over the asking price,” he said.
The fact that these buyers are confident in forgoing a physical inspection speaks volumes about the confidence in the market.
Mr Kearney said it is all a result of “affordability and buyer confidence”, and a reaction to the tough Sydney market.
Century 21 is keeping the unsighted buyer in mind now when they advertise properties, using Matterport 3D tours with their listings where possible, so people can “walk through” a home without leaving theirs.
“Throughout the cooler months in Bathurst when the roads are closed a lot we use Matterport with all our listings and send those out to our Sydney buyers,” Mr Kearney said.
He expects the unsighted buyer trend will only get stronger as time goes by.
“I think while the Bathurst market is so strong we are are going to see this continue through 2018 without a doubt,” he said.
It is a statement that First National Bathurst principal Jacinta Purvis can agree with, saying that Bathurst presents a great opportunity for these types of buyers.
“I think we are in a growing market where we have a fantastic regional city that is becoming more and more recognised and, while we do have great employment industries like health and education, we are not driven by only one industry,” she said.
She said her agency has a lot of rentals on its books that are there as a result of unsighted purchases.
“I have had a landlord not sight the property until about 12 months after the purchase,” Ms Purvis said.
Although, these buyers are not going in completely blind.
Ms Purvis said that in these cases she will work closely with the prospective buyer, providing them with additional photos of the property and being completely transparent about it and the area it is in.
The buyer also does research on their own using tools such as Google Earth and RP Data.
Mr Kearney said houses priced between $300,000 and $500,000 are most attractive to unsighted buyers, while Ms Purvis said her unsighted buyers have purchased houses under $400,000.