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How to Buy a House Sight Unseen | BEST REALTOR TIPS - YouTube
Channel: Melanie Loves Tampa Bay
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it's hard to imagine buying a house
without
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ever seeing it in person but it's
happening now
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more than ever stay tuned and i'll tell
you how to successfully buy a house
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without ever stepping foot in it
it seems like everything has gone
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virtual in 2020 and buying houses
is one of them seems crazy though right
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how can you
really tell if you want to live
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somewhere without ever being in the
space
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now i don't think people necessarily
want to buy houses this way but because
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of everything that's happened this year
it's become more and more of a common
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practice
for most of 2020 we've had travel
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restrictions so people that had to move
say in the summer of 2020
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couldn't come down to do their normal
house hunting trips also with home
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selling as fast as they have been if you
wait to fly down to see a house
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it might be gone so buying sight unseen
has now become a common practice
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so how can you do it successfully and
what are the risks to start there are
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two different types of site unseen
buyers
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the first are buyers who already know
the areas
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they have already explored neighborhoods
and cities in person
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and know where they want to live and
this happens a lot with buyers who come
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down for house hunting trips
and just don't happen to find the house
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that they're looking for while they're
down
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but do find the neighborhood that they
want to live in so buying a house
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sight unseen for these types of buyers
is simply that they're buying the house
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site unseen
but they know the neighborhood which is
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half the battle
because when you're buying a house
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you're not just buying a house
you're buying the location and all the
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good and bad that comes with that
location
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so if you're one of those site unseen
buyers who already knows where you want
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to live
you're a little bit more prepared than
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the second type of site unseen buyer
and that is the buyer who hasn't seen
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the areas the neighborhoods or the homes
in person
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now this scenario is more challenging
but it can absolutely be done as long as
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you're using the resources that we're
going to go over
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so what are the best tools to use when
you're trying to buy sight unseen
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first and most obviously are online
resources
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since you are most likely watching this
on youtube i will assume that you've
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already started this process
there are a million online resources but
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which ones are going to be the most
useful for you
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that depends on what is most important
to you
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the first thing you need to do is figure
out your must-haves and start your
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online research
there so say for example you have
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children and school zones are really
really important top of your list then
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that's where you should start
looking first researching school zones
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would be super important and then that
will help you narrow down your search
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if a short commute is one of your
must-haves then you need to start by
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researching drive times
one of my favorite tools for this is
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actually following social media accounts
for local news stations
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they often have drive time information
in the mornings and if you watch it for
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a couple weeks
then that will show you some trends of
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trouble spots that you want to avoid
if the house itself is the most
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important thing to you then start by
using the websites where you can search
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for homes with your specific criteria
and so on and so forth you get what i'm
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saying start the search by the most
important criteria and narrow down from
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there
the second tool that you're going to
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need if you're trying to buy sight
unseen
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is a great real estate agent obviously
i'm a real estate agent so i'm going to
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recommend that you have a real estate
agent but there is
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very good reasons why you should have
one when you're buying site unseen
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they have to be your eyes your ears your
nose your hands in that house
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because you're not there to see it
yourself you really need to trust your
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agent so i recommend that you get an
experienced and knowledgeable real
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estate agent
i recommend that you talk to a few
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agents before you settle on one to make
sure that they have the right tools to
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navigate you through this process
do they have the technology to do
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virtual tours with you if they're not
familiar
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with facetime skype or zoom then you're
gonna have troubles right from the
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beginning
you also want someone that's going to be
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descriptive yet neutral
as you walk back here you can see this
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the floor changes to a wood floor
we have the pool bath here on the left
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hand side
so this is a full bathroom when i
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virtually tour houses
for clients i try to remember that
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they're seeing the house
on a tiny screen either their computer
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or their phone
they're not taking in the entire picture
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that i'm seeing so i have to
really try to describe what that house
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is like from my vantage point
and my number one recommendation for
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buyers
is make sure you're asking a lot of
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questions of your agent while they're
walking through the house
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anything that's important to you ask the
question so you're getting that
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description
so one note about this there are a lot
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of virtual tours that are attached to
the online listings
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these are a great tool whenever you
start looking for a house
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go through them a lot of them have 3d
walking tours that you can do
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those are fantastic tools but you still
really need your agent to set foot in
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that house
and for you to tour with the agent they
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will give you a different perspective
and it will also give you the current
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condition of the home
if you are a sight unseen buyer who has
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not been to the area
make sure you ask your agent to
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virtually tour the neighborhood
in the areas as well as the houses
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google street view is a start to this
but your agent should be
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able to safely drive or walk around the
neighborhood to give you more up-to-date
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info
on the surrounding areas and what the
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neighborhood really looks like today
the next tool that you can use are your
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neighbors friends
and family so how to use neighbors if
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you don't live there yet
easy a lot of neighborhoods have
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facebook accounts or you can check
nextdoor.com or other social media
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outlets
if those accounts aren't private then
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scroll through look at what people are
talking about
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and even ask questions if they allow you
to so what is even better is if you
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happen to have a friend or a family
member that's close by
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that could actually go and tour the
house with your agent so you have
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another perspective
and if you don't have anybody close by
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that can physically look at a house
check your social media see if you have
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any friends even if you haven't talked
to them in a very long time
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see if you have any friends that live in
the area send them a private message or
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a dm
and ask them what they think about
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certain neighborhoods areas and houses
most people love to talk about their
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city and it may be a really great way to
reconnect with that person
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okay so let's say you have found the
neighborhood that you love and you have
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found the house that you love
you've put in an offer and you now have
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an executed contract
now it's time for the inspection period
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and that brings me to tool number four
your home inspector if it is at all
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possible for you to come down during
your home inspection
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please make every effort to do so it
makes everybody feel better
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the buyer the seller the agents the
inspector everybody
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now that wouldn't be a truly site unseen
purchase but it is a good tip and i have
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had a lot of buyers do that
i realize that a lot of you won't be
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able to do that so you really have to
trust your home inspector
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make sure they are licensed and insured
and highly recommended
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just like finding a real estate agent
interview a couple home inspectors
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to make sure you're going to hire the
one that's going to represent you best
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and if possible ask that home inspector
to video chat with you
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when he or she is done with the
inspection so if there's anything in
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particular that you need to see
they can show it to you with video
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sometimes when you read the home
inspection reports
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it's really hard to understand that
issue because it's not in the context of
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the home itself
and also don't hesitate to call your
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home inspector once you get that report
if you have questions it's a really
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important part of the process
if everything goes well with the home
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inspection and your loan is moving along
then you are well on your way to buying
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a house sight unseen
it's time to prepare your expectations
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for actually seeing that house
the hope is that you will love that
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house even more than you did in pictures
and video and in my experience that is
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normally what happens
as long as buyers are using all the
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tools to find their house
however the biggest risk in buying a
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house site unseen
is that you might be disappointed and
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you might not like it
but keep in mind disappointment is
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actually a risk for
all buyers even ones that have seen the
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house several times before they close
i address this topic in a video called
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reality check what new homeowners should
know
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check that one out if you do find that
you're disappointed give the house and
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give the neighborhood some time
a lot of times houses don't feel like
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homes
for a while do your best to problem
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solve the things that you don't like
about the house and see if your mind
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changes over time
and if you just can't make that house a
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home
then you might take a significant
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financial hit if you decide to sell too
quickly
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your closing costs as both a buyer and a
seller can add up quickly and it's hard
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to cover those
costs with an increase in equity over a
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short period of time
another risk that i'm seeing more and
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more is the risk that your offer will be
overlooked by the sellers because you
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are a site unseen buyer
in a multiple offer situation a seller
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might view a site unseen buyer
as a riskier one than someone who has
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actually seen the house
and they might choose that offer over
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yours even if it happens to be for a
lower price
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so why would they do that sight unseen
buyers make sellers nervous especially
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when you have certain
parts of your contract like the as is
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contract in the state of florida
where buyers have an easy out during
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their inspection period
i have seen it happen all summer here in
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florida a site unseen buyer will put in
a great offer
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and then they cancel it during the
inspection period sellers assume that
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someone who has seen the house will
probably not change their mind as easily
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as someone who hasn't seen the house
so they take that less risky option if
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you are a sight unseen buyer please talk
to your agent about how to make your
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offer attractive if you happen to get
into a multiple offer situation
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for all of you out there looking to buy
a house site unseen good luck to you
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it is doable i promise ask a lot of
questions and use a lot of resources
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if you're looking for something else to
watch on this channel check out a video
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i did a long time ago about six
practical features you should look for
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when buying a home remember if you're
looking to buy or sell in the tampa bay
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area give me a call or send me a text
i'm happy to help
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thank you so much for watching with love
Melanie
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