Buying a Home From Out of State: A Practical Guide

Buying a home from out of state means making a large decision with less time on the ground. You may see a house on a screen long before you see it in person. That can work, but only if you set up the process carefully.

Here is how I would break it down: financing first, then virtual tours, then local verification, then closing and the move.

Get the financing settled before you shop

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Before you spend hours on listings, find out what you can borrow. A pre-qualification is a quick estimate based on what you tell a lender. A pre-approval goes further. The lender reviews your documents and credit before issuing a letter.

Even a pre-approval letter is not a final loan commitment. Final approval depends on the appraisal, underwriting and your finances staying the same until closing. If you are relocating, that means no new credit, no financed furniture and no job change from application through closing, unless your lender tells you otherwise.

Rates matter to the monthly payment. Freddie Mac reported a 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 7.28% for the week of 2026-10-01 (Freddie Mac via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Rates change weekly, so use the mortgage calculator to test a few scenarios.

You choose your own lender. The CFPB encourages borrowers to get Loan Estimates from more than one lender, because rates and fees can differ. The Loan Estimate is a standard three-page form, so you can compare offers side by side. Several mortgage inquiries made within a short period are generally treated as a single inquiry by credit-scoring models, but ask each lender how it works for you. The CFPB Owning a Home guides walk through these forms.

If price is a concern, ask lenders whether they take part in programs from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

Make virtual tours do more work

A video walkthrough shows you a lot, but only what the camera points at. Ask for a live video tour so you can direct it. Some things to request:

• The inside of cabinets, closets and the water heater area
• Ceilings and corners where stains or cracks tend to show
• The roof, gutters and the ground around the foundation
• The street and the view from each window
• The yard from the back fence toward the house

Ask for the seller’s property condition disclosure (or the exemption) early. In Tennessee, sellers complete that disclosure, and the lead-based paint disclosure applies to homes built before 1978. Read both before you get attached to a house.

If you can, plan one short trip to see your top choices in person. If you cannot, a second live tour at a different time of day tells you more than a first one.

Verify what a tour cannot show

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School assignment and property taxes depend on the exact address. Do not rely on a listing page or a general area description. Check the address with Williamson County Schools or the district that serves it, and look up the parcel through the Williamson County property search.

County lines matter here too. Spring Hill includes parts of both Williamson and Maury counties, so services, schools and taxes can differ from one address to the next. Murfreesboro is in Rutherford County and Columbia is in Maury County. Neither is in Williamson County. If you are comparing towns, the Spring Hill area guide is one place to start.

Also check the commute and utilities for the specific address, not the town in general.

Hire local eyes: inspections

When you cannot walk the property yourself, the inspection does a lot of the work. A standard home inspection is the base. Common add-ons include radon testing, a sewer scope and a termite inspection. Termite and wood-destroying organism (WDO) inspections are commonly requested by buyers and lenders in Tennessee. The EPA radon information explains what the test measures.

Ask to attend the inspection by video, and read the full written report afterward. Your agent can share how the process works, but you choose and hire the inspector. You can check an agent’s or broker’s license with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.

Know the market you are buying into

Markets in Middle Tennessee differ by city, so a national headline will not tell you much. Here are a few recent numbers, from Redfin data:

• Franklin, as of 2026-08-31: median sale price $863,000, up 12.8% from a year earlier, with 3.4 months of supply (Redfin, rolling 3 months).
• Spring Hill, as of 2026-08-31: median sale price $509,000, down 4.0% from a year earlier, with 3.9 months of supply (Redfin, rolling 3 months).
• Nashville metro, 4 weeks ending 2026-09-27: median sale price $462,241, median days on market 68, and 5.5 months of supply (Redfin).

Months of supply is how long it would take to sell every active listing at the current pace of sales. Under 4 months favors sellers, 4 to 6 months is balanced, and over 6 months favors buyers. These figures describe the past, not what will happen next, and a single home can behave very differently from its town’s average. You can see more on the market data page.

Plan the closing and the move

Closing costs typically run 2 to 4 percent of the purchase price, plus earnest money and moving costs. Budget for all three.

Your lender must send the Closing Disclosure at least 3 business days before closing. Compare it with your Loan Estimate and ask about any differences. Ask your title company how signing will work if you are not in town.

Wire fraud is real. Verify wire instructions by phone using a number you already trust, and never rely on emailed instructions.

For the move, request quotes from at least 3 licensed moving companies and book early for month-end dates. If you are selling a home elsewhere, cancel its homeowner’s insurance only after closing is confirmed. Our moving checklists can help you keep the dates straight.

Next step

If you are planning a move to Middle Tennessee, tell me where you are in the process. Fill out the Get Matched form and I will schedule a call, and we will be talking within the next 48 hours. You can also reach me through the contact page with questions first.

— Scott Davis, REALTOR®, Hive Nashville