Karen Begley left Wagga when she was 21-years-old and moved to the United States, north of San Francisco, where she lives with her son and has been working as a hairstylist for 23 years.

Now soon-to-be-50, Ms Begley has used the World Wide Web to purchase a property in Mount Austin, which she hopes to live in at a later date.

"Wagga is hometown to three generations; my grandparents, my mother and also my cousins," she said.

"I have just been hearing the calls to make advancements to come home when I get older.

"That was my focus, to really secure myself with an investment where my family are and where I want to be when I'm older."

The purchase was settled in early March, but Ms Begley did not physically see the home until more than a month later.

"This was the result of a year's worth of exploration and all my research was done from here," she said.

"I know Wagga really well, because as a kid my grandfather was an independent contractor and I would always beg him to take me with him.

"I feel like I know Wagga off the back of my head and it's been fun to explore all the new areas and through Google Earth, you can get up close and personal.

"The property I purchased is around the corner from my grandparents and there's a familiarity because I used to walked around these streets as a kid," Ms Begley said.

Ms Begley said she kept a watchful eye on the local market, but with banks tightening lending it meant her first attempt to purchase a home was denied.

"My first experience of trying to buy in Wagga was back in July 2018 and from that I established a professional relationship with a housing inspector and lawyer," she said.

"When I tried the second time, I already had these relationships established and therefore I was able to move faster through the process.

"I asked my housing inspector to look at the house as if I was his daughter and since then he has been lining me up with people to work on the house; my uncle John has been the man on the ground and my real estate agent guided me through a process I wasn't familiar with."

Ms Begley said through research, establishing formal relationships with those in the industry and tools such as the internet and Google Earth meant her second attempt was not as "nerve-racking".

"I arrived at the home on April 22 and it was night time, but my family had set up blow-up mattresses in the rooms for myself, my 18-year-old son and his son," she said.

"I walked into a home that my family had already given a lot of love to, but it was a fun mystery to wake up to the home's exterior and it was everything I hoped it would be.

"I love the feel of Wagga people and I feel most people are excited to live there."

The home was listed by Professionals Real Estate and managing director Paul Irvine said this is an example of Wagga's positive market.

"I think the best part of this story is that Karen chose Wagga when she could have bought anywhere in the world," Mr Irvine said.

"While she has a bit of family connection, it really shows Wagga's positive investment market and technology these days allows you to see everything, without the touch or feel of it.

"I've sold properties to investors in Melbourne and Sydney, but this is my first overseas unseen purchase."