You’ve just decided to buy a second (or third) home in Park City. Congratulations! This is an exciting time. 

When purchasing a second home, many people turn to secondary markets. They want to diversify their holdings and invest someplace removed from their current location. 

Buying a vacation home in Park City is also a no-brainer, thanks to all the amazing reasons why Park City is the best mountain town around. (You can read more about that right here.) 

If you want to buy a second home in Park City, but you don’t have the time for a house-hunting trip here in person. Is it possible to buy a home in Park City remotely? 

Let’s take a closer look. 

Learn As Much As You Can About the Area

If you’re unfamiliar with the area you wish to buy into, your first step should be to research, research, and research some more. 

In today’s digital world, we’re lucky to have endless information right at our fingertips. You should use as much of that as possible to learn everything about the area of interest. 

For example, what’s the overall vibe like? Who lives there? What are the popular restaurants, events, stores, etc.? What kinds of activities can you do there? 

If you’re buying a second home in Park City, you likely already have some insights. After all, we are a world-class destination for skiing and outdoor activities. 

Google is your friend here, and no question is too obscure or random for search engines. Peruse different maps and get to know the area as best you can. 

YouTube is also a great resource for finding out the overall ambiance of a city. Look for videos about local events, news footage, and even influencer-style neighborhood guides or ‘day-in-the-life’ style posts. You can glean a lot from this type of content! 

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Did you know that CMFH has an abundance of resources for new residents? Check out some of our resources right here:

• Explore Park City Neighborhoods
• Request a Copy of Our Local Guide
• Why You’ll Love It Here

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Find a Trustworthy Park City Real Estate Team 

This step is absolutely essential. Without trustworthy boots on the ground, you might miss out on a fantastic opportunity. Sure, you can browse Zillow from your home on the other side of the country, but Zillow can’t show exclusive listings, or off-market listings, or give you the full 411 on all the details of any given property. 

When buying a home in Park City remotely, you will want to work with a real estate team you can trust with all aspects of the transaction. They will be your eyes and ears from start to finish. 

Here are a few considerations to make when choosing a real estate team to help you buy when you can’t be there in person: 

• Are you dealing with a single agent or is it a team of agents working together on your behalf? 
• Do they listen intently to your wants and needs, asking plenty of follow-up questions? 
• Are they aligned with your vision and understand exactly what you’re looking for? 
• Do they have a track record of helping relocators and investors from out of state? 
• Do they have processes in place to help make the transaction as efficient as possible? 

When you work with an agent who truly understands what you’re looking for, they can ‘vet’ properties before showing them to you. You won’t waste your time looking at homes that don’t fit the bill or are miles away from what you want. 

Wondering what it’s like to buy a home with CMFH? Take a look at some of our client reviews right here. 

How to Handle Home Showings When You Can’t Be There

While visiting a home in person should be the gold standard for assessing potential homes for purchase, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. If you can’t visit a property in person, there are numerous other ways you can see the home and decide if you’re interested in submitting an offer. 

Here are a few creative and innovative solutions to view a property remotely: 

• The first step for any listing should be high-resolution, top-quality images. If the property has been listed with blurry cell phone shots, beware!
• Back in the day, 3D floorplans and virtual tours were highly futuristic and and often reserved for extravagant homes. Today, these features are almost the standard. By taking in the floorplans and virtual tours, you can get a good feel for the space.
• Facetime is your friend! Once you’ve looked at the images, property video, 3D floorplans, and virtual tours, it’s time to take a tour with your agent. Today’s smartphones can allow us to walk you through the property in real time over a video call. Like a guided virtual tour. 

As with any buying experience, your agent should also be available to talk through the property after you view it. They should advocate for you and use their eagle-eyes to make sure no detail is left unnoticed. 

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Looking for more reasons to buy a home in Park City? Read these posts next:

• Is It Better to Buy or Rent in Park City?
• Benefits of Owning a Vacation Home in Park City
• Why Buy a Luxury Condo in Park City

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Get Techy

Gone are the days when business was conducted over a landline or with a fax machine. Buying a home is an extremely ‘online’ experience even if you are buying a home in your hometown.

Buying a home remotely requires a certain amount of tech-savvy. 

For example, you’ll likely need to email your agent back and forth. You’ll need to coordinate meetings with your calendar, perhaps even accounting for time changes depending on where you are located. You also may need to use tools like Docusign or Proposify, which are apps designed for signing and negotiating contracts and proposals. 

If you don’t consider yourself to be a ‘techy’ person, make sure you are upfront with your real estate agent so they can help accommodate your needs. 

Ask For Help 

Buying a first, second, or third home is not just a one-and-done situation. You can expect at least a few subsequent tasks on your to-do list. Which is why it’s essential that you feel comfortable asking for help. 

This goes back to our previous point of working with a trusted real estate team who can commit the time and resources needed to make your transaction successful. When you work with a trusted local team, you can also lean on them to help you find other respected professionals to help with other aspects of the transaction. 

For example:

• Are you in need of a local real estate lawyer? 
• Do you need movers?
• Looking for recommendations for the best local stores and boutiques to furnish or decorate your new home? 
• Are you in need of a handyman or a trusted home inspector? 

When you choose the best local Park City real estate team to help you buy remotely, you can rest assured that they have all these numbers and more in their Rolodex (digital Rolodex, that is, we’re techy, remember!)  and they are ready to help you in all aspects of your purchase, from the moment your offer is submitted until the day you get the keys. 

At the End of the Day, In-Person Showing is the Gold Standard

Buying a home remotely in Park City is completely feasible for busy relocators who don’t necessarily have the time for a house-hunting trip. However, the gold standard should always be viewing it in person.

There’s no better way to truly appreciate and understand the unique value proposition and ambiance of the property than seeing it in real life. Seeing it in person is not always a requirement, but in general, it’s a good idea.

Your agent can help facilitate every aspect of your transaction, but you should still plan to visit the home in person prior to any earnest, nonrefundable funds being exchanged.

Looking for help buying or selling a home in Park City? Get in touch with CMFH by calling 435-647-8035 or emailing us directly at info@CFHparkcity.com today!