Test your cell signal during a showing. Walk through every room and check call quality and data speeds. If your carrier has weak signal, check friends' phones on other carriers. Dead zones in remote or rural areas can affect your daily life more than you expect.
How to Test Reception During a Showing
Pull out your phone and run a speed test in different rooms. Make a test call and walk from room to room to see if the call drops. Check signal strength bars. If possible, have a friend with a different carrier come along and test theirs too. Rural Hill Country homes, metal roofs, and basement-level rooms tend to have weaker signals.
What to Do If Reception Is Poor
If the home is in a dead zone, there are solutions. Cell signal boosters capture outside signal and amplify it indoors. Wi-Fi calling works if you have internet service. Some carriers offer femtocells (small devices that create a personal cell tower over your internet connection). Ask the seller what they use. If the neighborhood has generally poor coverage from all carriers, reconsider the location.