Open letter to properties on a road we want to live on.

ElKavo

Hoping for a bit of advice on wording an open letter to owners on a road we would like to live. Has anyone had any success by doing this in securing a property off the market? If anyone has had such success by doing this I would greatly appreciate to know what sort of letter, wording you used to open a dialogue with home owners.

Currently I have

"Let me begin by apologizing for the unsolicited letter, if you have no interest please disregard and accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Let me introduce myself, my Name is x, my family is actively looking for a property on your terrace and are currently checking with all homes on the terrace if an owner is looking and or willing to make an off the market sale.

We are a family of 5 and the house will remain a family home. We intend to fully renovate the property and inhabit it for a long time.

If this sounds like something you could be interested in please let us know by reply via text, email or by post at the details above and we can begin talks.

Warm regards,"

Any thoughts are welcome

MillyD123

Hi ElKavo, I think its a great idea. I am currently on the fence about selling our current home and would be happy to see something like this coming through the letterbox. Best of luck with it!

QueenMTBee

I saw this once but the person looking to buy (i.e. you) got a local solicitor to send the letters on their behalf and it just said that a "client" was looking. That way you get to protect your identity until the point when someone is interested in selling. I'd be hesitant about putting so much personal detail into a letter that could end up anywhere.

arctictree

ElKavo wrote: »

Hoping for a bit of advice on wording an open letter to owners on a road we would like to live. Has anyone had any success by doing this in securing a property off the market? If anyone has had such success by doing this I would greatly appreciate to know what sort of letter, wording you used to open a dialogue with home owners.

Currently I have

"Let me begin by apologizing for the unsolicited letter, if you have no interest please disregard and accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Let me introduce myself, my Name is x, my family is actively looking for a property on your terrace and are currently checking with all homes on the terrace if an owner is looking and or willing to make an off the market sale.

We are a family of 5 and the house will remain a family home. We intend to fully renovate the property and inhabit it for a long time.

If this sounds like something you could be interested in please let us know by reply via text, email or by post at the details above and we can begin talks.

Warm regards,"

Any thoughts are welcome

We did this, and recommended them to get an EA to value it. To cut a long story short, the EA persuaded them to put it on the open market and accept an offer that was less than ours.

Baybay

No idea what condition the houses you’re looking at are in but while I might have an interest in selling, would I be a bit sniffy at your assumption that my house would need to be “fully renovated”?

Ghekko

Baybay wrote: »

No idea what condition the houses you’re looking at are in but while I might have an interest in selling, would I be a bit sniffy at your assumption that my house would need to be “fully renovated”?

I agree and wouldn't be inclined to mention anything about plans for your future home.

Wabbit Ears

Baybay wrote:

No idea what condition the houses you’re looking at are in but while I might have an interest in selling, would I be a bit sniffy at your assumption that my house would need to be “fully renovated�

Indeed, odd to throw an insult in there like that. Hey random person. I wanna buy your kip of a gaff.

ElKavo

Baybay wrote: »

No idea what condition the houses you’re looking at are in but while I might have an interest in selling, would I be a bit sniffy at your assumption that my house would need to be “fully renovated”?

All the houses are period properties, they all need to be renovated tbh. But I take your point, that is why I wanted a sounding board.

ElKavo

Ghekko wrote: »

I agree and wouldn't be inclined to mention anything about plans for your future home.

Great thanks. I suppose it could be seen as an emotional attachment too so they (the vendor) could feel that they could ask a higher price etc.

ElKavo

arctictree wrote: »

We did this, and recommended them to get an EA to value it. To cut a long story short, the EA persuaded them to put it on the open market and accept an offer that was less than ours.

That well and truly sucks! Sorry to hear that. I am hoping that this wont materialize. There is one house for sale on the terrace at present but the agent has valued it at over €100K more than another house sold for on the terrace within the last few months. I really dont know where they pull the prices from TBH. And no, the house is no different than the one that sold still needs work done, ie new pluming, Boiler, window sand heating. Just different agents.

tvjunki

My neighbour did this.

All he put on the flyer was "we are interested in buying a house on this street. If you are interested in selling and not including an estate agent then get in touch. Telephone number""

He bought a pay as you go phone and put that number on it with no name. He did the flyers twice in 6months and got a call on the second round. The house was valued by a local estate agent before the person contacted him.

ElKavo

tvjunki wrote: »

My neighbour did this.

All he put on the flyer was "we are interested in buying a house on this street. If you are interested in selling and not including an estate agent then get in touch. Telephone number""

He bought a pay as you go phone and put that number on it with no name. He did the flyers twice in 6months and got a call on the second round. The house was valued by a local estate agent before the person contacted him.

Great Idea with the PAYG number too. Thanks

StupidLikeAFox

Its worth a shot but if I was thinking of selling I don't know why I would do a private deal with somebody I don't know. Surely I would want the highest price the market is willing to pay, especially in this climate

arctictree wrote: »

We did this, and recommended them to get an EA to value it. To cut a long story short, the EA persuaded them to put it on the open market and accept an offer that was less than ours.

Did you not put a bid in?

.......

Its definitely worth a shot but I would not mention anything about plans for the property and I would provide a throwaway email address and a PAYG phone number.

arctictree

arctictree wrote: »

We did this, and recommended them to get an EA to value it. To cut a long story short, the EA persuaded them to put it on the open market and accept an offer that was less than ours.

Why didn't you bid whatever you initially were going to offer for it?

arctictree

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Its worth a shot but if I was thinking of selling I don't know why I would do a private deal with somebody I don't know. Surely I would want the highest price the market is willing to pay, especially in this climate



Did you not put a bid in?

EA asked for final offers. We put our bid in and the EA recommended that the vendor take a lower bid than ours.

arctictree

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Why didn't you bid whatever you initially were going to offer for it?

See post above.

HeidiHeidi

ElKavo wrote: »

That well and truly sucks! Sorry to hear that. I am hoping that this wont materialize. There is one house for sale on the terrace at present but the agent has valued it at over €100K more than another house sold for on the terrace within the last few months. I really dont know where they pull the prices from TBH. And no, the house is no different than the one that sold still needs work done, ie new pluming, Boiler, window sand heating. Just different agents.

Are you bidding on this one?


If the price is wildly out of kilter with reality, you might get it with a lower bid. If it gets the asking, or near it - well, a new benchmark will have been set.


I'd be pursuing that one before doing leaflet drops, tbh!

Sleeper12

It's worth a try. You might just hit a house where they are plan to sell.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

Indeed, odd to throw an insult in there like that. Hey random person. I wanna buy your kip of a gaff.

I had one of these years ago. Something along the lines of "this property appears to be derelict, our family would like to buy it". I was living there, just hadn't gotten around to doing up all the rooms. The shame...

Sleeper12

....... wrote:

Its definitely worth a shot but I would not mention anything about plans for the property and I would provide a throwaway email address and a PAYG phone number.

I wouldn't respond to the letter if it didn't have a full name and address. I'd just bin the letter. Without a full name and address it looks like spam or a scam. I don't use websites without a full postal address. Someone hiding who they are is suspicious.

Remember you are trying to get someone to trust you. They can sell to whoever they want.

the_syco

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Its worth a shot but if I was thinking of selling I don't know why I would do a private deal with somebody I don't know. Surely I would want the highest price the market is willing to pay, especially in this climate

If you had in the past, but got no bites, you may have taken it off the market.

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Did you not put a bid in?

I wonder if the EA knew the buyer?

prinzeugen

Estate agents did something similar on my street a few years back. The letters were printed on mass but made to look like they were written with a Biro pen to get people to read them.

Any hand written notes through the door get binned now. Same may happen with you.

Still worth a shot though.. Nothing ventured and all that!

the_syco

ElKavo wrote: »

Hoping for a bit of advice on wording an open letter to owners on a road we would like to live.

Check if any of them are rented. Then seek the landlord, and see if they want out of the market.

ElKavo

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Are you bidding on this one?


If the price is wildly out of kilter with reality, you might get it with a lower bid. If it gets the asking, or near it - well, a new benchmark will have been set.


I'd be pursuing that one before doing leaflet drops, tbh!

Not as yet, the property was on the market for 3 years, magically the week we booked to view an offer of 45k under asking appeared, which the EA said the vendor turned down out of hand. Almost every house we have gone to look at has had the same thing happen. I don't believe the EA's at all. I had a chat with a couple of the neighbours who said that no one had been to look at the house in fact no one had been to the property in months.

El Tarangu

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Its worth a shot but if I was thinking of selling I don't know why I would do a private deal with somebody I don't know. Surely I would want the highest price the market is willing to pay, especially in this climate

If it was the case that the lower bid was from a cash buyer, whereas the higher bid was dependent on getting a mortgage, that could make the difference from the seller's point of view.

Dick Pickle

arctictree wrote: »

We did this, and recommended them to get an EA to value it. To cut a long story short, the EA persuaded them to put it on the open market and accept an offer that was less than ours.

Why didn’t you bid when it was on the open market ?

Lumen

Dick Pickle wrote: »

Why didn’t you bid when it was on the open market ?

It helps if you read the thread.

arctictree

Dick Pickle wrote: »

Why didn’t you bid when it was on the open market ?

As stated above, we put a bid in but the EA persuaded the vendor to go with a buyer that they 'found', even though this other buyer had a lower bid then us. We were even a cash buyer.

the_syco

the_syco wrote: »

Check if any of them are rented. Then seek the landlord, and see if they want out of the market.

A lot of landlords want out of the market, but its more difficult to find one who isnt in negative equity or facing a big CGT bill if they sell.

catrionanic

I would .mention that you're mortgage approved and that you are employed. If it's a well-regarded role, I would throw that in too.

LolaJJ

My parents live on a really nice road and have received close to a hundred of these letters over the years (as have their neighbours)

For them it makes the home feel more sought after and gives them more of a desire to hold on to it!

One thing I would say is that the letters I have seen have come from solicitors and estate agents on behalf of individuals. Never from the individual themselves.

I'd be cautious about that

HeidiHeidi

prinzeugen wrote: »

Estate agents did something similar on my street a few years back. The letters were printed on mass but made to look like they were written with a Biro pen to get people to read them.

Any hand written notes through the door get binned now. Same may happen with you.

Still worth a shot though.. Nothing ventured and all that!

I get these in my letterbox at least once every six months. Do the estate agents think they're actually fooling anyone


Straight to the recycling bin with all the other spam trash.


I did buy my first house (in pre-digital-everything days) through placing a wanted ad in the Buy And Sell magazine specifying the areas I was interested in - a lady contacted me saying she was toying with the idea of selling a house she was renting out and the ad had nudged her into action, a deal was done and bingo, I had my first home.


So it is doable.

davo10

I doorstepped the guy who owned the field my house is now built on, I was contacted a month ago by a stranger about another property I own and which I had no intention of selling, we are now negotiating a fee. So go for it, it works.