Buying a Las Vegas Home While You Still Live in California
Video tours, one planned weekend, inspections you can watch, remote closing.
You can buy a Las Vegas home without living here first. We tour homes with you on live video, plan one well-used trip when you’re ready to see the finalists, let you watch the inspection remotely, and arrange closing through a mobile notary near you or, where the title company offers it, a Nevada online notary. A typical escrow here runs about 21 to 45 days from signed contract to recording.
Here’s how a purchase from a distance actually goes, step by step.
Step 1: A phone call before any house
We start with the boring questions, because they decide everything else. Where do you live now, and what does your commute look like here? What do you want your monthly payment to be once HOA and taxes are in it? Do you need a single-story? How do you feel about an HOA?
Then we’ll tell you what your budget buys in the neighborhoods that fit, and send our guides on moving to Las Vegas from California and the Las Vegas communities we work in. Selling a California house first? Read our selling in California, buying in Las Vegas guide.
Get a lender’s pre-approval early. Sellers here expect it with your offer.
Step 2: Video tours that show what photos skip
Listing photos are taken with a wide lens on the best day of the year. On a live video tour, one of us walks the house while you’re on the call (FaceTime, Zoom, whatever you use), and you tell us where to point the camera.
We’ll show you the things you’d check yourself:
- The water heater, the HVAC unit and the electrical panel, with the age label if we can read it.
- The roof and the stucco from the street, and the block wall out back.
- What’s over the back wall: another yard, a park, or a four-lane road.
- Which way the backyard faces. A west-facing yard in July is a real conversation.
We’ll also tell you what we smelled and heard, since your phone can’t.
Step 3: One trip that counts
Wanting to see a house in person before you buy it is smart. If you’re going to make the trip, we’ll help you make it worth the drive.
When you’ve narrowed it to a handful of homes, we plan the visit around them: showings grouped by area, a drive of the neighborhoods at different times of day, and a look at the grocery store and the route you’d take to work. Matt’s one piece of advice that really does need you here in person: drive the street at 10 o’clock at night. You learn more about a block after dark than from any listing.
Step 4: Writing the offer and sending earnest money
Offers in Las Vegas are usually written on the Las Vegas Realtors Residential Purchase Agreement, and you sign it electronically from wherever you are. On the current form (revised October 2024), earnest money is due within one business day after the seller accepts. Local title companies say typical deposits here run about $2,000 to $10,000 on a standard purchase (Platinum Title & Escrow, 2026).
The same form gives you a due diligence period, with the number of days filled in by the buyer and seller, plus separate deadlines for the appraisal and the loan. We’ll set those around the fact that you’re not local.
Wire fraud: read this twice
Earnest money and your down payment usually move by wire, and wire fraud is how people lose a house fund in an afternoon. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center counted $275 million in real estate fraud losses in 2025, up from $173 million in 2024 (reported by the National Association of Realtors, April 2026).
The scam: an email that looks like it’s from us or escrow, with “updated” wiring instructions.
- Treat any email with wiring instructions, or a change to them, as a scam until you’ve confirmed it by phone.
- Before you wire anything, call the title company at a number you looked up yourself, not one from the email, and confirm the account.
- Call us too if anything about the instructions looks different: Matt at 702-324-8685, Christina at 702-827-6146.
- If you think you’ve been hit, call your bank right away and file a report at ic3.gov.
Step 5: The inspection, on your screen
You hire the inspector, and you can join from California. Many local inspectors will walk you through their findings on a video call and send a report with photos. We’ll point you to inspectors who work that way.
In Nevada, the seller also gives you a Seller’s Real Property Disclosure. On the LVR form it’s due within five calendar days of acceptance. If the home is in an HOA, you’ll get a resale package with the budget, fees and rules, and Nevada generally gives you five days after you receive it to cancel (Nevada Real Estate Division). Read it. It tells you whether your neighbors are allowed to paint their houses purple.
Step 6: Appraisal, loan and the final walkthrough
Your lender orders the appraisal and handles underwriting, mostly by e-signature. The final walkthrough can happen on video, or you can time a trip for it.
Step 7: Closing without a plane ticket
The documents that need a notary can be signed in a few ways, depending on your lender and title company:
- A mobile notary comes to you in California. Local title companies offer signings at a location you choose.
- Remote online notarization. Nevada has allowed electronic notaries to notarize over live audio-video since December 2018, with the rules made permanent in 2019. The notary has to be physically in Nevada. You can be anywhere. Your identity is checked by ID review, credential analysis and a knowledge-based quiz (NRS 240.1997; National Notary Association). Not every lender accepts it, so ask early.
- Sign in person at the title office if you’re already in town.
After signing, the lender funds and the deed records with the Clark County Recorder. Keys are released after both, usually one to two days after you sign.
Typical timeline
| Stage | About how long |
|---|---|
| Offer accepted to earnest money | 1 business day (LVR form) |
| Seller’s disclosure delivered | Within 5 calendar days of acceptance |
| HOA resale package review | Generally 5 days after you receive it |
| Inspections, appraisal, loan approval | Roughly days 7 to 21 |
| Accepted offer to recording | About 21 to 45 days financed; cash can be 10 to 14 |
Sources: LVR Residential Purchase Agreement (rev. 10/24); Platinum Title & Escrow, Nevada escrow guide (2026); Nevada Real Estate Division. Your contract’s dates control.
Frequently asked questions about buying from California
Can I buy a house in Las Vegas without seeing it in person?
Yes. You can tour on live video, sign the offer electronically, join the inspection remotely and close through a mobile notary or a Nevada online notary. If you can make one trip, we’d want you to see the street, ideally at night.
Does Nevada allow remote online notarization for a home closing?
Yes. Nevada electronic notaries have been able to notarize over live audio-video since December 2018. The notary must be in Nevada, and you can sign from anywhere. Whether your closing can use it depends on your lender and title company, so we ask about it when the offer is accepted.
How long does it take to close on a house in Las Vegas?
Usually about 21 to 45 days from signed contract to recording for a financed purchase, according to local title companies. Cash purchases can close in 10 to 14 days. Keys are released after the loan funds and the deed records.
How much earnest money do I need in Las Vegas?
Local title companies put typical deposits at about $2,000 to $10,000 on a standard purchase. On the Las Vegas Realtors purchase agreement, it’s due within one business day after acceptance. Always confirm wiring instructions by phone with the title company first.
Do I need a Nevada agent if I’m buying from California?
You need an agent licensed in Nevada to represent you here. A California agent can refer you, but can’t show homes or negotiate a Nevada purchase. We’re both licensed in Nevada: Matt Doolin, S.0059007, and Christina Towle, S.188246.
Start from where you are
Tell us your city, your price range and when you’d like to move. We’ll send you the neighborhoods that fit and set up the first video tour. More about us is on our About page.
Matt: 702-324-8685 · Christina: 702-827-6146 · Send us a note
General information, not legal advice. Your purchase agreement and your title company’s instructions control.