What would you want a letter to say that was posted through your door to ask if you'd sell your house to us?!

[userblah]

Hi
The question pretty much speaks for itself
My dh and I are keen to move but live in a house that's far too small
We live in a lovely town but property here is too slow paced for my liking so we are now considering posting letters through about 20ish houses doors to ask if they would consider selling.....

Is this crazy?! What should it say without sounding desperado?!

X

Some people have a very low tolerance threshold! What do you do if someone breathes in your general vicinity Romany?

I sent the previous owners of my house a message through social media as I heard they were thinking of selling. They were very happy about it and told me that they bought the house by putting letters through the doors of houses they liked!

I'd be more ch happier to receive a letter personally from you than the millions of estate agent ones we get 🙄

We get these letters two or three times a year. I always reply. I'm not looking to sell atm, but I would certainly consider a serious buyer if I was. You have nothing to lose, so why not try it.

My friend loved a particular house by the ocean, one he remembered from his childhood. Was living O/S and wrote a letter to the owners saying how much he had always loved their house, how he would love to return to that town to raise his family etc etc and if they were interested in ever selling he would love to buy it. The elderly owners hadn’t really thought of selling but came to an agreement of a long settlement which worked perfectly for both. My friend has lived in the house for 20 yrs now, the elderly couple became good friends and they were delighted their house and garden were going to someone who adored it.
I live in a unique house and occasionally get a letter asking if I would consider selling. Doesn’t worry me in the least. Have also had requests by letter for holiday accommodation and a venue for wedding photos! Said no to the holiday people but yes to the wedding couple.

I'd want it to say that the writer had admired the house / street from afar for several years, and was now in a position to seek a larger property on X-street / X-area... that they were a family looking for a home they could could settle in for some years blah blah blah (flatter my good taste) - and also to explain their current position (property to sell / mortgage in principle etc).
Remember neighbours might share the letter with other neighbours - so no point in praising a specific house if you've leafletted the entire road.

Thanks!
I'll let you know if any success! X

We'd sold our house and hadn't found what we wanted when mil said one of their neighbours( was area we wanted!) was thinking of moving. Dh was sent to enquire, we agreed a price and bought privately. If it had gone on market it would have been snapped up as was a project in a sought after area. Good luck op

I'd call you and tell you to fuck off as i'd see you as a cf, my language would include cunt.

Romany are you quite well?

There is a guy who has twice asked if we are selling because he would be very interested if we were. We are not selling up but if we ever do after a valuation to make sure we are asking a sensible price he will be my first call. You have nothing to lose so I think you should try it. Not sure what the wording should be though.

I know someone who found a house this way but it fell through eventually as the vendors were time-wasters and changed their mind about moving.
It's a shame as I agree could be a great way to save money.
We have just put our house back on the market and have a viewing booked with a friend of a friend. Now if only they'd approached us directly before we re-marketed it could have saved a fortune.

I've received a couple of letters like this. I contacted them to say I wasn't selling at the time but would hold onto their details in case the situation changed and wished them well.

Romany your reaction is not only extreme but quite bizarre.

ha Ha, I know it's a bit bizarre and I'm not usually offended much, quite laid back etc.
it's just this, perhaps I shouldn't have said it as not very nice, but it's another opinion.
You might come across one OP, it's nothing personal, I don't know you.
It could be a reaction to home and it being taken away, I'm funny like this.
I have the red mist every time one comes through the door.

Romany, OP was thinking of handing over a large sum of money for her new house, not using a battering ram to take possession of it. Chill.

I would be ok with a note but not a knock on the door or any kind of follow up.

I'd be fine with a note but no follow up. I'm also aware some agents are using notes like this, posing as individuals, to get business.

I think you should add the price range you're looking at. We get a lot and I throw them away. Our house can't be seen from the road and so its difficult to know whether you're completely wasting your time. However if they said we are looking in the range x to y then it weeds out some of the more unrealistic approaches.

TheHollowLeggedGoat
I wrote upthread that we had found our home via a letter - said that we were looking for a longterm family home in the area.
Infact it was a house that as we drove by, DH had always said 'I'd love to live there'. This was another thing that made us think it was meant to be. Especially as our sale fell through shortly after we'd found it, but the vendors did a house swap with us. Even the ghost seemed happy when we moved in!

I've had a couple of these. I throw them in the bin. If I want to sell my house it would be for sale.

Surely it’s no different from any other leaflet/junk mail you get through your door. If you are not interested in the pizza delivery/cleaning service/gardener/catalogue/person looking for a house to buy, you put the item in the recycling.

I sort of bought our house like this.

I was viewing a property and googled the road it was on and found out that another property had been on the market a couple of years before but had not sold. (The property details were still floating around on the internet).

I contacted the estate agent who it had been on with at the time to see if they were interested in selling. They said maybe we viewed the house liked it and ended up buying it.

I built my house (well builders did with my management, so only way I’m leaving is in a box!) so I wouldn’t want to sell but you asking wouldn’t offend me or anything.

It’s nit being a shameless chancer, OP isn’t forcing anyone to sell and if they want to sell I would imagine she obviously expects to pay market value.

You’ve got nothing to lose, go for it....

I had someone do this to us once. We weren't interested in selling so I didn't bother responding

A couple of weeks later I got another note which berated me for not contacting them to discuss selling. I'd suggest not doing that!

If I were the OP I'd expect the price of the home to be sold massively above the going rate. As pp's have said, if someone actively wanted to sell their home, it would be on the market.