If you did the leaflet approach to finding a new house, what did the leaflet say?

[thegraduand]

Increasingly fed up with the lack of houses and sellers who don't seem to serious about selling. I'm considering leafleting a couple of different areas to say we are house hunting and get in touch if interested. I'm just not sure how to word it, I don't want to guarantee we will buy it in case the house is not right for us or they ask a stupid amount of money, but I want to show we are serious.

Any ideas where to start?

We did this and were successful ( need to change user name). We had an incredibly small search area (basically a few roads). It was a personal note which we signed and addressed ourselves We were clear that we had the money and wanted to stay in the area area to be near our DC1 nursery but had outgrown our current house. We were also flexible about when we would move ( eg if you are thinking about moving in the next year or so..) We even mentioned friends we had in.the road we wanted most ( and ended up buying in). We got three responses and a good luck message. We viewed the property and they got three valuations that were around the stamp duty .threshold so we agreed a price just below the threshold. The vendors then went to look for a property for their family which was quick.but then the chain was a living nightmare as the vendor of that house refused to move until two weeks before my due date and home birth with DC2 ( I wasnt preg when we made the offer)..Still, it was just bad luck and nothing to do with.the private element of the sale and our vendors were as frustrated as us. It is the best photocopying I have ever done. We love our house.and being close to.our friends. Our second daughter was born in.the dining room.two weeks after moving in... Good luck x

Apols for punctuation. New phone rubbish

How did you phrase "we are really interested and serious, but can't promise we'll definitely buy it as it might be over budget and or too small"

Hehe, I wouldn't put it quite like that!
I replied to another thread on this, saying that my brother and his family tried this and almost bought the resulting house, but it fell through due to reluctant vendor - the main issue with finding houses this way.

As for the wording, something like:

We are a young growing family/family of X number/some sort of friendly descriptor
And we would love to have our next family home in your area. We ideally need X bedrooms (and list any other non negotiables for your search) and really liked the look of your house.

Are you thinking of selling? If so, please contact us and we can discuss it further.
Best wishes,
The X Family

Mention budget if you like, but I wouldn't - but do make sure you've done your homework and you're only leafleting roads/properties which you think you would be able to afford (unless they look like a project).

Good luck!

Thanks, wasn't going to word it exactly like i suggested I know the roads generally we can afford, the problem is they all have been extended in different ways, some have sold off gardens etc, so I don't know exactly what each one is like

We said that we were serious buyers and had mortgage in place etc but obviously no one expects you to agree to purchase until you have seen property and know expected price. Think you might be worrying about that a bit too much . Agree with pp about reluctance to sell as one of our replies has still bot put house on market even though she said she was keen to sell. However this has happened a number of times to friends through normal.estate agent route so it is luck of draw

I did this in late May. Have had 3 viewings from 130 letters. I didn't state a budget but said want 4 bedrooms. I talked about wanting family home for kids of 1 & 4, to make it personal (hope they take pity!) also that we are chain free and can move in a timescale to suit. Also that they can save on fees and inconvenience of viewings. Sign by hand. It is hard to gauge value from outside but I avoided anything that looked massively over budget. Like the pp says they won't be offended if its too expensive as you haven't got X-ray vision! The ones who responded to me had clear view of value. You def have nothing to lose by trying this.