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?

You can offer other incentives like paying a % of their fees, completing within x weeks, a flexible move date etc..

I'd find such a note very compelling. Particularly if it contained an offer at least £10K higher than the next highest bidder.

Anne - the market value has already been exceeded. This is about two buyers deciding to what ludicrous extremes they will go to beat the other buyer. And from a vendor's point of view, anyway, a family desperate to get things sorted in time for school places is a better bet than a buyer who has time on their hands to beat off another purchaser and then, when they have seen off the competiton, find some "issue" which they then argue justifies a last minute price reduction, back to the original asking price...

I don't think the post from AnneEyhtMeyer was offensive. I actually think it was quite clear she/he wasn't trying to be rude but was simply stating that the behaviour seemed a bit immature.

roundaboutthetown a property is only worth what someone is willing to pay. That limit hasn't been reached yet as the bidding is still ongoing.

I would probably ask for another viewing with the vendor present under the pretence of having some questions. I would then drop into conversation how lovely it would be to be so close to the rest of the family, how after years of moving around for various reasons you are looking forward to your DC being settled in a lovely family home etcetc

Worth saying you want kids to grow up where you did but not that you are 'good people ' 'helping others'.... I think saying what you want for the house is fine but saying about yourself is a bit OTT

Why isn't it going to sealed bids if there's such a fight over it - there'll never be an end unless you put full and final offers in.

We did sealed bids on a house I loved and lost out. We now live on the next street and I'm actually very glad we have our house and not that one - but at the time it seemed so perfect- so don't despair about not getting it

No no no. I'd think you were annoying whiney do-gooders. They will sell to whomever offers the most money anyway.

Find another house.

If I met you and it came out in conversation, then it might sway me. I wouldn't accept a lower offer, but all things being equal it might well sway me.

A note? Not at all. In fact probably the other way. Because I've seen too many sob stories in such things that maybe have a grain of truth, and my immediate reaction would be to wonder if the other family had a better reason.
I might even go to the estate agent and ask about the other people. And if they had any sign that your story was exaggerated would definitely send me towards the other one.

Getting a note like that through the door would make me a bit creeped out.

Wouldn't sway dh either way.

YABVU and I am cringing that people actually do things like this. You don't know their circumstances, for all you know they might really need the money and you have said that you can afford it, but would rather not pay it. Essentially your note is attempting to emotionally blackmail them into givibg you preferential treatment on their cost

It's how I got the house I now live in.

I'm in roi and I never hear people doing That. It's a sellers market at the moment here, house prices are going through the roof again, I don't think the note would be something to do.

I'm not keen on the idea but then we sold our last house to the second highest bidder as I wasn't keen on the highest bidder and liked the underdogs better (and they were less likely to do the dirty on us further into the process). There were no notes though, we built up a rapport when we showed them around the house at the viewing. Or rather I took a dislike to the highest bidder at his viewing as he found fake faults with things and wanted to move in six weeks despite the fact DD2 was due that week. The underdogs were first time buyers looking for a house in our street that could be extended and ours was one a of only a few that could be extended so they were keen and happy to wait for our timescale as it gave more time to save. The info we gained at the viewing helped us with our decisions though

I wouldn't mind this. Our house is our first home and where all 3 of our children have been raised so I'd like it to go to someone who loves it if we sold on. I don't think it's pushy if you word it right

A note like this would absolutely turn me off as a seller. It's smug, manipulative and rude.

If it came down to me as a seller having to make a decision because both buyers had reached their limit and it was exactly the same, I'd definitely go with the buyer without the note.

I've sold two houses. I refused to meet the buyer either time. I didn't/don't care what their story is. They came through with the highest price, met the terms of the (standard) contract, we moved on, end of story.

I did it and it worked!

Slightly different circumstances as we had already had an offer accepted but the vendor pulled out.

I sent them a letter just saying how much we loved the village and our kids were just about to start school and how the village school was perfect for us.

Two months later a torn up corner of an envelope was posted through our door just saying 'we want to sell you the house now, get in touch'

We said we were still interested - knocked a few thousand pound off our original offer and four months later we had our perfect home!

It would depend if they care a lot about the area/house.

Nothing to stop you doing it, but posting a note through their door, I wouldn't.
Why? How do they know you are genuine? It's the house buying equivalent of the lottery winner begging letters through the letterbox.
It's all emotional blackmail and fuck that.
Better to keep it above board, about the money and professional.

I'm with MrBurgess (love the name) and have never heard of such a tactic here in Ireland. You're also unlikely to get a viewing with the sellers, in my far too extensive experience of house viewings. The most solid offer you can make is what will swing it, prices are going up by the day (a neighbour of ours is selling and after a week on the market, the house is 50k over the asking, expected to go higher. Welcome home Celtic tiger )

I think it couldn't hurt...

Most people are sentimentally attached to their houses, they have made improvements, cared for it etc. To think it being sold to someone who also sees the best in it is comforting/appealing.

If the seller is property investor or not sentimental about the house (maybe it isn't their happy family home that they had hoped for), and they are only looking at the money side, and the note won't count against you - the highest bidder will win.

I would put in in letterbox rather than relying on an EA, who might not see it in their best interests to hand it on.

Smash the last house we sold had huge sentimental value to us and we still took the highest bidder.

It wouldn't sway me.

I couldn't care less about the character of the person I'm selling to. I want the best sale price. That's the whole point.

I don't think I'd like it, I think it would irritate me I'd still sell to you if you were the highest bidder though.

Worth a try if you've gone as high as you can, but be prepared for it to backfire. I'd word it very carefully in case you came across as too worthy and desperate.

I'd also suspect you weren't genuine if you laid it on too thick

I'd think you were a cheeky bastard and if both offers were more or less equal I'd sell to the other person. Agree with pp about emotional blackmail.