We signed a lease for an apartment on the other side of the country, sight unseen. It worked, but we learned some lessons the hard way.

We moved to an apartment across the country without ever seeing it in person.

Julia DeBari

• My husband and I moved to a new apartment across the country without visiting first.
• Luckily, the apartment looked like the listing photos, and we're happy on the East Coast.
• However, there were a few unexpected drawbacks that we only discovered after moving.

I'm a planner by nature, so it's ironic that my husband and I moved from Portland, Oregon, to the Boston area without ever visiting the town we would live in.