I moved from Phoenix to Houston and bought a house sight unseen. I'm loving where I'm at now.

• Rashaun Jett is a veteran who moved from Arizona to Texas and recently bought a house.
• He FaceTimed with his realtor and did video walk-throughs of homes before buying.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rashaun Jett, a veteran and homeowner in Texas. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm proud to say I bought my first house in Kansas City, Missouri, when I was only 19 years old — a single-family home for my mother and brothers and me to live in. It was a good investment and I eventually sold it.

I'm equally proud of having bought my second house 15 years later at age 34. I purchased the home sight unseen during the pandemic, closing this past November.

I'd been living in a condo in Phoenix, Arizona, where I work for Best Western Hotels & Resorts as a senior lead technician, when I decided to explore home ownership. I worked closely with a realtor I found on Zillow.

I homed in on buying a single-family house in Texas because of the amazing benefits the state offers to veterans, particularly disabled vets like me

I served in Iraq and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Texas has been rated one of the best states for military veterans in the country, according to my research. The state waives up to $12,000 in property taxes for disabled veterans, among many other benefits.

I also used a Veterans United home loan to buy my new home — another perk of having served my country.

I decided to look in Houston. My goal was to find a house in good condition, and my search took place entirely on the internet.

I FaceTimed with my realtor and did video walk-throughs

I saw at least eight houses that way, and I didn't see my new home in person until after I closed digitally — a surprisingly easy process.

The houses I saw over FaceTime were all in my price range, and I picked one that was built in the 1980s because it met my requirements — it has an inground pool, a Jacuzzi, a fire pit, an outdoor kitchen, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. It's also in a good school district and a safe, quiet neighborhood.

My property includes a lot of indoor living space as well — about 2,632 square feet, not including a detached garage — but there's no basement. The house gets lots of light.

Because I bought the house sight unseen, I did my homework before making the purchase

A friend who lives nearby checked out the house for me before I put in my offer. I also hired a good inspector who mailed me the report, and I felt comfortable buying based on his knowledge.

A notary came to my house in Phoenix for me to sign the paperwork. I offered $2,000 above the asking price because I felt I had to be competitive in such a hot housing market, and my realtor agreed.

I'm a single guy right now and am enjoying all the space, which I've filled with furniture, but I hope to have a family one day

The neighborhood offers diversity, parks, and a relaxed feeling. There are good restaurants, local markets with specialty foods, small businesses, churches, a library, and more. It has a suburban-urban vibe that I like.

My house is part of an HOA, so I've met some of my neighbors around the community pool and at meetings. I like the security of being in an HOA and having a choice of two pools. People are friendly and welcoming, and I look forward to living here for many years to come.

The house is everything I thought it would be, except for a few cosmetic issues like wall color, which are easily fixable.

Buying sight-unseen has worked for me, as it has for plenty of homeowners during the current housing crunch. I have room to work from home, and as for homeownership: I recommend it.