Note through the door approach to buying a house?

[pinkflamingo86]

Hi everyone

I've never posted in this section before. I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on this approach to finding a house to buy.

Basically we have sold our house (in Feb) and my estate agent says we are almost at the point where we are going to agree a date to exchange/complete. Only problem is we haven't found a new home. We've offered 4 times on one house and 2 on another but we lost out to higher bidders both times. There's nothing much other than these two available at the moment.

We are quite prepared to rent and know we would be in a good position but I am keen to pop a friendly note through some doors on in the area we ideally want to be in ( we like 3 medium sized estates in a small town). My husband thinks it's a bad idea but I think we have nothing to lose! If we found something we could move in with my parents in the interim but not indefinitely (which is why we would have to rent if we don't find a house)

What would you write in a note of this description?

Has anyone had experience of this on either side ? Positive or negative.

Thanks all...

[nomdeguerrrr]

I did this a while ago and got a number of positive responses back. We offered on two houses who came back to us but ended up buying a house we had leafletted but who hadn't responded marketed through an Estate Agent.

There is nothing to lose. Some people will throw your note in the bin. At worst it may be a source of mild irritation but most people won't mind. But there is a chance it will spur a person into action.

There are previous posts on what to include in a note. For me, keep it simple. Explain your position in terms of being sold subject to contract etc. Explain what you are looking for in terms of bedrooms etc in a house. Don't sound too desparate. Don't include too much biographical detail.

[Fanthorpe]

Yes, I had relatives who had an unusual property and they got notes through the door from time to time. They were fine with it.
You just don’t know though, I understand your husbands caution, but your wish to explore all avenues.

[Shhhhh223]

I personally would not mind receiving a note of that nature because at the end of the day if I don’t wish to sell my house I simply ignore it. However if I was toying with the idea of selling it might just turn out a perfect situation for both of us, so I would agree nothing to lose

[OneMoreLight]

I'd look at the note then throw it away, we bought our house to live in forever. We get leaflets from estate agents, they usually say that we're in a popular area of town and they'd be happy to market the house if we were looking to sell.

There maybe some people who have been thinking about moving but are putting it off, especially at the moment. You have nothing to lose, putting a friendly note through doors.

[Skyliner001]

Why not! Hood luck 😊

[SeagoingSexpot]

Some of the usual insane frothers will probably arrive shortly to say a note would be akin to a HOME INVASION, but they are mental. Anyone sane would just throw it away if they weren't interested. Go for it - as PP say, be factual, not too pushy or needy and see what happens. Worth a try - I've had success leafleting the local area for a different issue.

[pinkflamingo86]

Thanks so much for your replies! I definitely don't want to annoy anyone and, of course,a lot of people living in these areas will have bought their homes for forever.
I suppose it's just the off chance that someone is looking to move but is being understandably cautious of the current circumstances.
I'll have a look at the other threads to see what people who have tried this have written. I'll let you know how it goes! Xx

[ShyTown]

My parents sold their old house to someone that dropped a note through the door. They were toying with selling but hadn’t got as far as speaking to an estate agent yet. It’s worth a shot, worse case scenario everyone throws the note away and you don’t get any responses!

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

Definitely do it. Short and sweet, something like:-

I hope you don’t mind us approaching you in this direct way; we are a family of four looking to move to this specific area and hoping you might be thinking of selling. We have recently put offers in on houses in x and x roads and unfortunately narrowly missed out on both.

Our own house is currently under offer with a completed chain, and our mortgage is arranged in principle. We would be happy to move within a time frame to suit you.

If you are thinking of putting your house on the market, we would love to hear from you. If you are not, we are sorry to have troubled you.

Our contact details are as follows:-

[R2519]

I get estate agent material posted through and it drives me potty. I dont even look past the name of the estate agent. It goes straight in the bin! That said if i did get a letter / note through my door from someone looking for a house on my road i would be far more inclined to read it. Im not planning on selling so wouldnt do anything about it but i would read it and i wouldnt be annoyed by it either.

My advise is make the letter generic.....something simple and a phone number or email address.

[R2519]

To clarify.....by generic i mean simple and not personal to a particular property. If i had a note saying 'i am in love with your house i want it' i would probably beef up security.......something like @ThroughThickAndThin01 has written would be perfect!

[OlaEliza]

Make a new email address specifically for this. You don't know what nutters are out there.

[MrsWooster]

We did this and it worked.

[pinkflamingo86]

@ThroughThickAndThin01

Definitely do it. Short and sweet, something like:-

I hope you don’t mind us approaching you in this direct way; we are a family of four looking to move to this specific area and hoping you might be thinking of selling. We have recently put offers in on houses in x and x roads and unfortunately narrowly missed out on both.

Our own house is currently under offer with a completed chain, and our mortgage is arranged in principle. We would be happy to move within a time frame to suit you.

If you are thinking of putting your house on the market, we would love to hear from you. If you are not, we are sorry to have troubled you.

Our contact details are as follows:-

Such good points I hadn't even thought about! Thanks for this I'm definitely going to take inspiration from it and hopefully don't cause anyone to beef up security

You've all motivated me. I'll set up a new email address for this too.

My husband's reasoning for it being a bad idea is 'it's cringey '

Nothing to lose and I certainly won't be offended by no replies. Xx

[pinkflamingo86]

@MrsWooster

We did this and it worked.

Would you mind me asking you how you agreed a price?

Obviously we haven't even got as far as putting a note through but this is one of my worries about the process.

[IndieRo]

Yes I would definately pop a letter in. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Good luck.

[nomdeguerrrr]

Sometimes doing cringey stuff gets things done. If you do it at least you know you have done everything you can. It can be frustrating passively waiting for the right house to appear on rightmove.

There are more embarrassing things than putting notes through people's doors. Ask my children.

I'm terms of price, I would be pi$sed if I responded to a leaflet and the negotiation started way below fair market value. Internet shows previous sale prices. Get EA valuations if necessary. Like anything, if you can't agree a price you don't buy it

[Tallace]

We did something a bit similar. We had arranged to view a house in a village we liked. I googled the road to do a bit of research and noticed there was an identical house on the road that had been for sale a couple of years earlier. It hadn't seemed to have sold so i contacted the estate agents it had been on with to see if they were interested in selling, they gave a tentative yes, we viewed both properties and ended up buying the one that hadn't been for sale.

[lakeswimmer]

Ignore your husband! My Dsis sold her house to a friend of their neighbours who asked her to let them know if she was thinking of selling. They saved money on estate agents fees so it was worth it.

I also know someone who had a house finding business for people who were re-locating. If they had a client who wanted to live in a specific location they would put letters through doors saying they had a client who was ready to buy in their street and it often helped identify someone who wanted to sell. As others have said - it's not cringey - it's perfectly reasonable!

[MrsIronfoundersson]

We've had notes through the door here ... we're not looking to move but don't mind a note. Nothing to lose OP!

[pinkflamingo86]

@Tallace

We did something a bit similar. We had arranged to view a house in a village we liked. I googled the road to do a bit of research and noticed there was an identical house on the road that had been for sale a couple of years earlier. It hadn't seemed to have sold so i contacted the estate agents it had been on with to see if they were interested in selling, they gave a tentative yes, we viewed both properties and ended up buying the one that hadn't been for sale.

That's a really good idea ! I'm going to get on that tonight. I've already seen a couple like this that seem not to have sold in the last few years.

Great to know it worked for you! Thanks for sharing

[new2move]

We got one recently. And although we are renting, didn't bother us a bit. I think you should definitely do it. Few people might be sitting on the fence with the entire Covid situation and this might just get them to action.
All the best.

[Davodia]

It’s worth a try. You will pay over the odds though - they know you’re desperate for a house in that area. If I received that sort of note it might encourage me to move because I’d be rubbing my greedy hands thinking how much I could overcharge.

[CMOTDibbler]

I'm currently selling my parents house to someone who directly approached me through the people next door incredibly politely after mum and dad died. I am happy the house is going to someone who really wants to live there, and started the process of selling to them weeks earlier than we would have with an estate agent.
So why not try? I know my purchasers were embarrassed to do the approach in the circumstances, but its worked out really well for them

[MrsMcTats]

Kirsty & Phil always recommend leafleting and social media! We've had several posts from people on our village Facebook page, saying 'We'd love to live in your beautiful village, please DM me if you are thinking of selling - we're cash buyers and our budget is X.' Doesn't bother me at all, seems very sensible.