# How Do You Buy a House From Out of State? > How to buy a house in El Paso from out of state: video tours, remote closings, and the two things you should never do remotely. A step by step relocation guide. **Author:** Marina Ramirez **Published:** 2026-10-28 **Category:** Relocation Guide --- You can buy a house in El Paso from anywhere in the country, and thousands of people do it every year. The process runs on live video tours, electronic signatures, and a remote or mail away closing. What you should not do remotely is skip the inspection or the final walkthrough. Everything else works fine at a distance. Most of my out of state buyers are relocating for [Fort Bliss](/en/military), for a job, or to be near family. The ones who do it well all follow roughly the same sequence. ## Step 1: Get Pre Approved Before Anything Else Do this from wherever you are. It takes a few days and it defines everything that follows. A local El Paso lender is worth considering over a national one for a specific reason: they know our property tax rates. A national lender running a generic estimate will often understate your monthly payment by two or three hundred dollars because El Paso tax rates are well above the national average. That surprise usually surfaces late, when it is most disruptive. Ask specifically: what tax rate are you using, and is it based on the actual rate for the neighborhoods I am considering? ## Step 2: Pick an Agent Who Will Actually Do Video Not every agent is set up for this. Ask directly: - Will you do live video walkthroughs where I direct the camera, or just send recorded clips? - Will you drive the neighborhood and show me the surrounding streets, not just the house? - Will you attend the inspection and call me from the property? - Will you tell me when a house is wrong for me, even if it is the one I asked to see? Live is much better than recorded. In a live tour you can say "open that closet," "point the camera at the ceiling in the corner," and "go stand in the backyard and let me hear the street." A recorded video shows you what the agent chose to show you. ## Step 3: Do the Research You Can Do Remotely A surprising amount of this decision does not require standing in the house. **Neighborhoods and commute.** Use satellite view and street view, then have your agent confirm. Commute times matter enormously in El Paso because of how the mountain and the freeway shape traffic. The [best neighborhoods for families guide](/en/blog/best-el-paso-neighborhoods-for-families) breaks the areas down by tradeoff. **Schools.** Look up the exact campus assignment for a specific address on the district boundary tool. Do not rely on the listing. **Flood zone.** Free at msc.fema.gov, takes two minutes. See [do you need flood insurance in El Paso](/en/blog/do-you-need-flood-insurance-el-paso). **Total tax rate on the parcel.** Especially east of Loop 375, where special district assessments are common. Ask for the rate on the specific address. **Utility history.** Ask the seller for twelve months of electric bills. In El Paso this tells you a great deal about the house. See [the average electric bill post](/en/blog/average-electric-bill-el-paso). ## Step 4: Tour, Offer, and Negotiate Offers are signed electronically. Nothing about being out of state changes your negotiating position or the contract. Two things to build into your offer: **A longer option period.** Ten to fourteen days rather than seven. You may need extra time to review an inspection report and make a decision across time zones. **Seller concessions.** Same as any buyer. See [can the seller pay my closing costs](/en/blog/can-seller-pay-closing-costs-texas). ## Step 5: The Two Things Not to Skip **The inspection.** Never waive it buying remotely. Your agent should attend, and the inspector should walk you through the findings by phone with photos in front of you. Add a sewer scope on older homes, a foundation evaluation if there is any visible movement, and a roof inspection on flat roofs. **The final walkthrough.** Someone you trust must stand in the house before you sign. Ideally you fly in. If you cannot, send a family member or a friend, and have them on video with you while they walk it. This is your last chance to confirm the repairs were done and the house is empty. ## Step 6: Closing From a Distance Three options, and your title company will tell you which they support. **Mail away package.** They send documents, you sign before a notary locally and return them. Build in shipping time. **Remote online notarization.** Increasingly common in Texas. You sign by video with a commissioned online notary. **Power of attorney.** Someone local signs for you. Common for military buyers, and covered in [can you buy a house while deployed](/en/blog/can-you-buy-a-house-while-deployed). Whatever the method, verify wire instructions by calling the title company at a number you looked up yourself. Wire fraud targets remote buyers specifically because email is already the primary channel. ## Should You Rent First Instead? Honest answer: sometimes yes. **Buy now if** you have been to El Paso, your job or orders are firm, you are staying three or more years, and you know which part of town works for your commute. **Rent first if** you have never been here, your household is undecided about the move, or your timeline is under two years. Six months of renting is the cheapest possible education about a city, and El Paso is not a market that will run away from you while you learn it. There is no wrong answer, but there is a wrong reason: buying remotely because you feel rushed. Nothing about this market requires that. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can you buy a house without seeing it in person? Yes. Live video tours, electronic signatures, and remote closings make it routine. Keep the inspection and have someone you trust do the final walkthrough. ### Is it risky to buy a house sight unseen? Less than it used to be, provided you do not skip the inspection, you research the neighborhood and commute, and you work with an agent who will tell you when a house is wrong. ### How do I close on a house from another state? Through a mail away document package, remote online notarization, or a power of attorney. Ask your title company early which they support so you can plan timing. ### Should I use a local lender or a national one? A local El Paso lender is often better because they use accurate local property tax rates. National lenders frequently understate El Paso payments by using national tax averages. ### How long does an out of state purchase take? The same 30 to 45 days from contract to close, plus whatever time house hunting takes. See the [full timeline](/en/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-buy-house-el-paso). ### Should I fly in to see houses? If you can, one trip with five to eight showings scheduled in two days is extremely efficient. If you cannot, live video plus a thorough inspection is a workable substitute. ## The Bottom Line Buying from out of state works, and El Paso's pace makes it easier than it would be in a fast market. Get pre approved with a lender who uses real local tax rates, insist on live video, and never skip the inspection or the final walkthrough. If you are relocating and want to start with neighborhoods rather than listings, [tell me where you will be working](/en#contact). That one detail narrows the city faster than anything else. --- ## Contact Marina Ramirez, REALTOR® — Clear View Realty (El Paso, TX) - Phone: (915) 240-8340 - Email: info@marina-ramirez.com - Website: https://www.marina-ramirez.com/en Human-readable version of this page: https://www.marina-ramirez.com/en/blog/how-to-buy-a-house-from-out-of-state