Homes for Sale With No Showings Allowed

In real estate, you typically are able to access homes that are listed for sale. That's not always the case, however.

There are 4 types of homes where a buyer wouldn't be able to perform a showing prior to an offer on a regular basis:

Buyer Unavailable Before Offer Deadline

Homes where the offer deadline (actual deadline present or likely timing of when the seller will respond if no formal deadline is present) is before the buyer, the buyer's agent, & everyone else that might be able to fill in for a showing are unavailable prior to that time or where the home's showings have filled up until that time and no dual showings are allowed.

Related: Expeditious Showings

Buyer Unavailable Within Narrow Timeframe

Homes that only allow showings during a very narrow timeframe. For instance, a for sale by owner who states that he's "overwhelmed" by all the showing requests in a hot market on an underpriced home and who decides after a brief period to only allow access during a single open house prior to accepting an offer soon after and later allowing that buyer to come back in for home inspection, other inspections if applicable, and walk through inspection prior to closing.

Agent Unavailable for Showing

This category is multi-faceted, but includes:

1. When a buyer's agent is unable to show their buyer a home as well as being unwilling or unable to provide another agent to fill in for them, and when the listing agent is unwilling or unable to show it to that same buyer, and when the buyer is under an exclusive right to represent buyer agreement or informally wouldn't consider seeing property with another buyer's agent even if they have no written or oral agreement in place

2. When a listing agent is required to be present at all showings (whether by their own policy or due to seller preferences), it increases the probability that buyers won't be able to see a property before the home goes under contract.

Showings Only After Contract Ratification

Some homes only allow showings after contract ratification by the buyer under contract and those associated with him, such as inspectors and his agent.

Showings Only After Closing

Some homes only allow the buyer, the buyer's agent, and any inspectors access to the property after the buyer has closed. (hint, most buyers should skip these)

What to do when a home won't allow showings or when a showing is unfeasible:

The answer to this question depends highly on the scenario (i.e. 1-4 above) and the buyer.

Determine if there's any option for showing.

Determine if there's any option for showing even if there doesn't seem to be if there were options but you're seemingly too late. Sometimes a home that seemingly can't be shown actually can be. For instance, I've been told before that a home doesn't have any more showing availability prior to offer deadline, requested to be allowed to tag along to someone else's showing, and been able to show before. To avoid getting into that scenario to begin with, buyers should see the Expeditious Showings section of my MLS Search Basics for Buyers document. If a buyer can't be there during a narrow time frame, what about a video showing? If a buyer's agent can't be there during a narrow time frame, what about an associate of that agent to fill in for them?

Determine your risk tolerance.

If the home can't be shown at all prior to closing except from the street & online, determine your risk tolerance. If you were to find out that the home is a tear down only after closing, if that would be "devastating" to you financially, you shouldn't consider it. Keep in mind that you can do dozens of hours of online and exterior research, but still find out after closing that a problem not visible from the exterior or online research at all makes a home a tear down (i.e. extensive defective drywall or a long time former meth lab in a home with a large operation).

I typically don't recommend these unless you already have substantial capital to afford to take a big hit if it goes south without taking out a loan to cover the loss of 10's of thousands. 10's of thousands of dollars in loss may be below the actual loss in some cases. It could be hundreds of thousands or millions in loss. In some cases, properties can literally have no value, and even negative value. If a home is a tear down (especially if hazardous materials like asbestos are involved that increases the cost of tear down) on a cheap lot, it could be more viable for prospective purchasers to purchase an empty lot than to incur the cost of tearing down a home even if the sellers were willing to give it away.

In one example I encountered, the family of an auctioned home contacted me before the sale. The family member thought it may be a tear down due to extensive mold damage. I told them that I suspected it would go above value considering the condition they shared with me about. The home was sold for over 1 million dollars, when the land value was a fraction of that. That purchase may have been the worst financial investment that purchaser ever made. A buyer purchasing dozens of homes that can afford a tear-down can also afford to take bigger risks than a buyer purchasing a single owner occupant home with a mortgage.

Can you get an appraisal?

If you're using a mortgage on a property where no showings, assessments, or inspections are allowed, check with your lender to see if a purchase wouldn't even be possible without an appraisal. The answer is typically going to be "no", but there are some exceptions, especially if putting down a >25% down payment on a conventional loan with certain lenders. According to the CFPB, "If you are buying a home with a mortgage, you do not have a right to cancel the loan once the closing documents are signed."

Further assessments

If you are allowed to see the property and perform an inspection on the property prior to closing, assess if it's worth it to you from the pictures/online to be put out of buying if you're only buying 1 home at a time for a bit and assess if the costs of inspections are worth it to you with such high volatility & risk that it won't work out. Keep in mind that if other buyers have seen the home, your offer will likely need to be better than theirs by a higher than-typical margin because you didn't see the home at all, especially if no video was involved for you to see & the listing doesn't provide a video tour or virtual tour.

Perform heavy online research

Perform heavy online research prior to moving forward, as you can find out many things about a home online.

• In many states, there are inspection requirements prior to sale, but that's not the case in buyer beware states like Virginia.

• Be sure to check Zillow for internal pictures from previous listings. If nothing is on Zillow from previous listings, or if you want to see if there are more pictures than what's on Zillow send a text to your buyer's agent so that they can check MLS to see if there are any old listings that they can pull up.

• Keep in mind that a home can be torn up in <1 year and that sometimes vandalism happens to foreclosures (i.e. pouring cement down a toilet). I have seen vandalism so bad that a home was condemned (needed to be torn down) exclusively due to the vandalism where it was beyond repair.

• Use satellite imagery, i.e. via Google Earth &/or Google maps 3D aerial mode. One benefit of Google earth is that it includes historical imagery, which is particularly helpful if the latest view covers a lot with trees that are not evergreen. Consider as well buying satellite imagery, i.e. via SpyMeSat, with prices starting at $19.99 as of 10/14/25. While you're at it, be sure to check for encroachment & adverse possession.

Related:

Home Elements to View Online Prior to a Showing Request

Master Spreadsheet for Prospective Home Purchase Considerations

Use a buyer's agent with gadgets for imagery, especially a drone.

It's a good idea to know what gadgets your buyer's agent has available. Here are mine.

1. I have a drone (DJI Mavic Air 2 as of 10/25/23). Even if the backyard can’t be seen from the road, my drone can in some cases make it visible.

2. I also have a 30' telescopic pole that I can put my camera phone (the latest Samsung at the time of this writing) at the end of with my Ipad Pro connected to the pole. Sometimes this setup can be superior to a drone for certain angles, in part due to the lack of noise caused and the better options for zoom present on the latest camera phone vs the latest drones when comparing devices of similar prices.

3. Binoculars can be helpful if no interior access is allowed, especially if you'll be coming in person, & I have a few. I have a Bushnell 7-21x40.

4. I have a Pankoo 12x50 monocular w/ a smart phone adapter

5. I have the latest Samsung Ultra 5G, and have purchased the latest Samsung for the past 3 years as of 10/25/23. The latest Samsung's Zoom is typically better than the latest Iphone's Zoom, which is one of the top reasons why I use Samsung Galaxies despite being higher priced typically than the latest Iphone.

6. I have a Flir One Pro thermal camera.

Know the state law on right of rescission period.

In many states, Virginia included (link to law), there are at least certain homes with rights of recission periods after signing the contract of purchase, but even when there are, beware of exclusions. As of 10/12/22, the online version of Virginia Law on the government page includes, "(1) Except as provided in subsection (5), in addition to any right otherwise to revoke an offer, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase which complies with § 59.1-21.4."

Where do you find homes that don't allow showings?

1. Some Multiple Listing Services (MLS) have rules about that where an inaccessible home isn't allowed to be listed on their MLS, such as the main MLS in Hampton Roads. Sometimes homes are listed that break the rules of access of their MLS. They could get fined for that, but they still are in MLS. The MLS gets fed to buyers through the buyer's agents that typically set up searches for them with MLS, and MLS typically auto-feeds to hundreds of other real estate-related websites, sometimes by default and sometimes through paid 3rd party programs.

2. In other cases, those avoiding showings get around that by not listing on MLS, despite the fact that the marketing is significantly negatively impacted by not listing on at least the primary MLS of a city.

   1. Many auctions, where no showings allowed is much more common than on MLS

   2. Tax Liens are another route to find homes with no showings allowed.