To post a note through the door of the house we are trying to buy in the hope of persuading the vendor to sell it to us?

[feelinginthedark]

My sister and her husband did this when they were buying their house in London and I am tempted to try. Essentially we are in a bidding war; neck and neck with another party; we are both in equally good purchasing positions. We desperately want the house, and can afford to keep bidding, but the price is getting to the point where the house will no longer be good value (it needs work). The asking price has been well exceeded at this stage.

We feel that a note might make a difference to the vendor's decision because DH and I are essentially good people, from the area originally but have moved our family around annually internationally for years in order to train in our respective fields (in our work we both help people a LOT- don't want to say what we do as it's totally outing), and would love to give our two girls the chance to settle in a lovely house, down the road from their cousins and grandparents, before our eldest starts school in September.

Would that info in any way swing your decision if you were the vendor? Or is it borderline psychotic / unethical?

It would really pee me off. I understand why you want to do it but describing yourselves as good people is cringy. There must be other houses you can buy in the area.

I did similar and it worked for me. Good luck op!

Someone posted a note through my door after a viewing. They knew we had more viewings and really wanted it and said we're putting an offer in first thing on Monday and would we please not sell to anyone else. They offered what we wanted and I was happy to get a quick sale so we cancelled our other viewings and job done. Totally go for it, can't hurt.

I'm currently selling our house that I designed and built. Have had two potential buyers bidding over the last few days. I've decided to sell to a lovely young couple. They didn't put in the highest offer, but they loved the house. They are in a chain, but I felt they were the better buyer to go with. The other buyers are cash and no chain, so technically in a much better position. They could complete much quicker, but they had a poor attitude from the start and started off at a really low price. Essentially they peed me off no end and now I don't trust them. I don't think it would hurt at all to send a letter outlining your position and how much you love the house. However, I would also stick to facts such as your buying position and how quickly you can proceed. Some sellers (like me) will be persuaded to sell to someone who will love the house as much as they do, but it's a personal thing. Best of luck!!

It would put me off selling to you, as I wouldn't necessarily believe your story was true and I would find it intrusive.

We were very swayed by the back story of one family who made an offer on our last home. So much so, that we accepted their offer even though it was $15k less than the next one in line. Story was passed to us via agent, who was quite persuasive on their behalf. It felt right to select them, since it was first home for a young family with little kids, of an ethnicity ranked extremely low on the home ownership ladder in our area.

I wish I had not later learned the story was not quite as it had seemed, but oh well.

We did this - well didn't post a message through the door but sent an email to the agent with our final bid, saying we couldn't go any higher but had local links & wanted to make it a family home again. We ended up getting it over a higher bidder as the family (it was a probate sale) wanted it to stay a family home. The other bidder was a builder who would have probably divided it to flats. So always worth a try!

Totally go for it, can't hurt.

It really can. They might find it smug and infuriating, and so it predisposes them towards other buyers. It might also (more likely) make them think that this couple are likely to pay even further above asking price, as they're apparently so devoted to the house, and so instruct the EA to keep pushing. Those are some ways it could hurt.

I find the apparent assumption that everyone selling a house is in a mood to be just charmed by the new sellers a bit odd. The people we bought our house from were having to sell it because they were divorcing. I doubt they much wanted to hear about all the lovely family times we were going to have in it and what an awesome couple we were.

My friend bought a house through a silent bidding system. She out in a note about how she wanted to bring her children up in the house etc. They weren't the highest bidder but they got the house as the elderly lady that lived there loved the personal touch of the letter. Good luck!

I agree with MargaretCavendish and others!

It would put me off you, too. I have a natural aversion to pushy people .

We're up for sale at the mo and I'd sell to a family over and above property developer/buy to let-er. I'd think kindly of someone posting a note through my letterbox, specially as I've been here 15 happy years and would like to think that another family would enjoy it :-)

I did this. It didn't work - the vendors went with a higher bidder.

I lost out on my dream house a few weeks ago because the other party did exactly what you're suggesting and swayed the owners. I contemplated doing this but chickened out for fear of being pushy and now I so wish I had. We had the exact same offer and I even upped my offer but the other party won their hearts. Go for it you have nothing to lose!

why would someone selling a house give up potentially thousands of pounds for a complete stranger with a sob story to buy their house cheaper?

Muffin basket? Not the small one

I think you should go for it but maybe rave about the house & how much you love it then go into your family & connections. We bought a house s number of years ago. It was on at £249k the stamp duty barrier at the time so no one was going to pay more than that. To cut a long story short the agent did a dirty on us we saw it first & put in full asking price offer. After fobbing us off for a few days they came back & said somebody else had offered and were in a better position. We questioned them & they admitted the other buyer was not a cash buyer or anything like that. My husband went round to see the guy said we loved the house we wanted to start a family & he couldn't understand what had happened. Guy told him the agent had said our mortgage was not agreed (not true) my husband corrected him and made him a cash offer if £2k on completion. He rang the agents next day and told them he wanted to go with us

My DP did this years ago for his first flat and it worked. I think it's worth doing, the vendors would have to be pretty twisted and petty to decide not to sell it to you because of a note through the door. Good luck!

I wouldn't post it. When my Grandma died and my mum had to sell her house she had a lady who kept posting notes and also turned up at her house with a sob story. My mum sold it to her way under market value (I appreciate this isn't the case here) as she felt harrased and was grieving. The lady then went on to do the house up and sell it at a massive profit. I know this is a different situation, it just reminded me. I think it is unprofessional and if I was the seller it would annoy me!

No harm trying. It would sway me.

I'd find it annoying to be frank and it'd make me think you'd be pushy and irritating during the legal process. Less so if you did it through the EA, but still annoying. I'm selling a house to the highest bidder and to whom I think will be the easiest to deal with.

I think the more would be a lovely idea. I'd rather sell my house to someone I know would love it and take care of it. It woukd make me trust them more as buyers too. It's completely legal to approach a seller. Estate agents never encourage it though as it effectively excludes them and then they can't justify their extortionate fees! You can legally do your own conveyancing too but this can be a bit more tricky.
Write your letter and good luck!

I think you've been away from home for too long, it's not the done thing here. I imagine the sellers will find your note amusing. Best offer will win at the end of the day.

I did this and told them the highest price i was willing to pay ( it was over the asking price ) and it worked.

We live in the US and used to renovate derelict houses and sell them on and we have had this so many times. I've been baked cookies, had flowers delivered to my workplace, and given every sob story in the book.
It has always put me right off selling to the pushy chancer. As others have said, are people that entitled that they think its just them who go through a whole pile of bad stuff in life? Or do they think their bad stuff is more worthy?

Grrrr, it gives me the rage. We worked our areas off doing all of those houses up, and we did the vast majority of it ourselves without contractors. the money we made from each one was securing our future and our DS's financial future, there was not a snowball's chance I would let a sob story take precedence over that.