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Original poster

Can you give me some feedback on this mail shot/letter drop

18 replies

Levantine · 26/01/2012 16:42

Rather than hijack someone else's thread

                            Can you help us? 
                     Are you thinking of moving?

We are looking for a new home in xxxx for our family of four.

Our flat is under offer and our buyers are ready to exchange contracts.
If you are thinking of selling and would like to avoid estate agent's fees, please do contact us on .....

Yours
Jack and Jill Levantine

What do you think? Do we need more detail, or a line on how much we love the area or something?

OP posts:
minipie · 26/01/2012 17:09

We did a letter drop like this a couple of years ago.

I wrote it more as a normal letter (and hand wrote it) rather than starting with "Are you thinking of moving?" as that seems a bit more estateagent-flyer-ish to me.

Ours said something like:

Hello

We are a looking to buy a family home. We would love to buy a house in this [area/street] but there is nothing on the market at the moment.

Perhaps you are thinking of moving [this year] and might be interested in selling to us?

We are [chain free, flexible on timing, etc] and would be happy to buy privately to save you agency fees, or through an agent if you prefer.

If you might be interested, we would love to hear from you - please contact us on [ ]. If not, sorry to have bothered you.

Yours

[first names]

We then wrote "Number 12" "Number 16" etc on the outside of the letter so it looked less like a flyer!

DorisVinyard · 26/01/2012 17:12

We did similar to minipie - ours said:

Dear Homeowner,

We are a local family looking to buy a house in this area and due to the low housing stock on estate agent?s books have decided to take the proactive stance by mailshotting roads that we like.

We are in an excellent position financially and are chain free (currently living in rental accommodation). (Change as appropriate of course)

If you have been considering a move recently and are interested in our proposal, please contact us on * or email TheVinyards.com

Regards,

Mr & Mrs Vinyard

DorisVinyard · 26/01/2012 17:13

Forgot to say - we had a few responses.

minipie · 26/01/2012 17:25

we had one response, and then they didn't want to sell after all

but it was useful anyway - we felt more comfortable in compromising on location, because we were more sure that there was nothing about to come up for sale in our preferred roads.

Original poster
Levantine · 26/01/2012 17:28

Oh fantastic, very helpful thank you so much

OP posts:
narmada · 26/01/2012 22:36

Our letter was nearly exactly the same as minipie's. We did get a fair few responses - at least 5 or 6, and we ended up buying one of the houses. Very happy, so pleased we did the mail shot. Good luck with yours!

oreocrumbs · 26/01/2012 22:46

I would stay away from heading it with 'Are you thinking of moving' or similar, only because those companies who buy any house put that on their leaflets and I think most people would just see that and presume thats what it is.

I would include an over view of you position, mortgage arranged, no chain that type of thing so people can see how compatable your situations are.

Sinkingfeeling · 26/01/2012 23:59

This is what Phil and Kirstie say in their book about writing directly to homeowners:

Keep it short and sweet
Don't mention money
Don't put it in an envelope addressed to 'The Householder' - it will go in the bin
Print your note on good quality paper to make it stand out from junk mail
Hand-deliver your note at the weekend - you might bump into residents out and about and gain some useful local knowledge from them

mousymouseprice · 28/01/2012 17:07

may I highjack a little?
would you put your own mobile no on this note or would you get a sim card just for this purpose?

oreocrumbs · 28/01/2012 19:11

I would put my mobile number on. I'm a landlord and when I have a house to rent I put my mobile in the window, I've never had a prank call or anything else I worried about.

The road to madness lies in over complicating things and sim cards get lost etc. Much easier all round to stick to your number. If you do get a prank caller you can easily bar the number.

BoomOoYattaTaTa · 07/03/2012 22:06

Can I please revive this January thread? How did you get on Levantine?

This is exactly what I am considering doing, although I must admit I do feel quite nervous about it. It seems a bit..well, pushy and pushy I'm not as a rule, so it doesn't feel right.

I don't mind the note going in the bin, but I have visions of people ringing me up and shouting down the phone about bothering them Blush. Has anyone had any problems doing this? I'm only considering it because:

We are becoming very disheartened about what's on offer in our area.
We are in a very strong position to move which might appeal.
We have had three near buys over recent months which have ended fruitlessly and we're feeling extremely hacked off with estate agents and their ilkHmm.

Any more advice before I take the plunge? Anyone bought their dream home this way?

oreocrumbs · 08/03/2012 00:11

I really can't see anyone being the slightest bit annoyed Boom. If they are not interested then they will just bin it. You won't be taking any more of their time than every other leaflet/mailshot that comes through the door.

There was another thread on here around the same time as this one and there were some posters who said they had made a sale this way IIRC.

Try it, you have nothing to loose, and they won't know who you are if you walk down the street past them so no need to feel embarassed.

Its not pushy, its pro active Smile

pootlebug · 08/03/2012 08:17

We've had a couple of these through the door. We're not looking to sell at all, but they certainly don't annoy me. If I was thinking of selling I would be grateful to avoid the EA fees.

Ragwort · 08/03/2012 08:22

I have two lots of friends who bought their 'dream home' this way recently, it does work Smile.

BoomOoYattaTaTa · 08/03/2012 08:47

Thank you SO much for your encouraging repliesSmile, I really appreciate it. Dh is a bit Hmm about it but it's quite true, there's nothing to lose. And men never like to look like they're asking for anything do they?

I know I wouldn't be annoyed if I received such a note. Right, well I'll get some decent paper and my quill out then..Smile

Original poster
Levantine · 08/03/2012 10:32

Definitely do it. I have friends for whom it worked.

We pretty much copied minipie and Dorisvinyards letters

Only one person rang, but the house that we are buying is one that we leafleted and it worked in our favour as the buyer remembered the letter and was impressed that we were so desperate committed.

OP posts:
BoomOoYattaTaTa · 08/03/2012 10:38

Oh thanks for coming back LevantineSmile. I'm feeling a bit more empowered. At least I'll feel I'm doing more that checking Rightmove 10 times a day or jumping whenever an estate agent phones up.

God this moving business (or not in our caseHmm) is draining.

Original poster
Levantine · 08/03/2012 11:03

Yes, it was the same for us, and as someone upthread or elsewhere said, it did mean that we were happy to move on from that area as we thought nothing was coming up there - although that wasn't the case in the end

Anyway, it really can't do any harm at all

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