Please help me write a letter to homeowners in my village...

[AugustaProdworthy]

We really need to move house and we want to stay in our village as our DCs are settled and we have some lovely friends here. However, there is nothing on the market that is suitable and hasn't been for some time.
I'm going to write personal, hand written letters to the owners of the houses that we really like in the hope that someone will think about selling to us.
I just don't know how to best word it. Can anyone please help me?
TIA

I wouldn't do handwritten letters personalised to each house, that sounds a bit stalkery to me.

We did do a letter to every house in a street we really wanted to buy from. I think we said something like:

"We are a young professional couple who have recently missed out on our dream family home nearby and would love to settle on XX road and put down roots for our future.
If you are considering selling at any point in the near future please contact us directly as we are chain-free buyers able to proceed at your convenience and without incurring estate agent fees"

Thank you,
I just thought printed ones might look like I wasn't making the effort!
We had a hand written ones years ago but it was written in felt tip pen and looked genuine but crackers so we never followed up.
If typed is going to be acceptable that makes it a lot easier to do!

• and would it be sensible to do this now or wait until the new year?

I would do typed, but on clearly non-company paper with hand signatures.

Incidentally we did have one couple call back and show us round their house, although it was out of our budget, and they later sold via estate agents.

I'd do it now - but maybe do a follow up in the new year. I guess lots of people might start thinking about it when they are all at home over Christmas but are unikely to want to move until the new year.

Brilliant - i was just about to post for the exact same thing! Thanks

Madinay- have you already written it? I'm going to draft one this afternoon.

its no good, I don't know how to start the letter and I'm stuck. I was going to use Twelve's last bit at the end of the note but I don't know how to start it.
Any ideas? Please?
Oh- and is email and mobile contact details OK or would you put your home address??

Definitely do it. Are you in a position to move now thought, ie with nothing to sell? If you have a property to sell I would start the ball rolling with that first.

However, in a letter, I'd say something along the lines of:

'I hope you don't mind me taking this direct approach of writing to you, but we are a local couple with young children who are very keen to buy a 3/4 bedroom house in the area.

We are first time buyers/in rented accommodation and would be looking to move as soon as possible, although we would also have the flexibility of working towards a time scale you might have.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are thinking of moving, or perhaps keep our details if you are considering moving in the near future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Yours faithfully

I would put a few personal details such as ages of children, if they go to the village school etc, to make you more memorable. A lot of people, elderly especially, like the idea of a family moving into their home to enjoy it (rather than a developer etc buying it)

Bowlers- you are lovely- genius- clear and succinct! Thank you!!

Hope it helps!

It is probably a long shot, but you never know, it might just be the right time for someone thinking of selling.

Good luck.

We did this and only had one reply - from a older couple. A quick look on Zoopla and local council website and it was clear that they wanted more than market value for their house (had tried to sell for ridiculous price a year before) and had built a porch that contravened the planning permission for their extension and would almost certainly have to come down. And we kept getting calls from them as they really wanted us to buy their house. Complete waste of time.

So just don't hold out too much hope!

I just did it for the second time for the 2 roads that I am targeting. First time few months ago - about 20-30 printed letters, each in nice envelopes, explaining that we are young family looking to relocate to the area and having SSTC house, solicitor and mortgage arranged. Have not received any responses. Later on some 3 houses came up on the market, 1 of them I defo left a letter, so it seems my letter did not work.

Just distributed 40 leaflets in the same 2 roads again, now in a different, more casual style, saying in the lines "I would love to buy a house like yours, if you are planning to sell in the nearest future please contact me". Simple half A4 sheet this time. I added a Christmas picture and wished Merry Christmas too :) Let's see if someone will responde...

I wouldn't even open an envelope that was obviously not a personal letter, all circulars go in the bin. But if it was a folded sheet I would open, read and then bin, so I would say no envelopes.

Also, although bowlers letter is lovely, for the same reason, it would be skim read, so needs to be very to the point, so they see what it is before they bin it. So crystal's is more likely to be read I think, you could always put a smaller paragraph at the bottom with more details

Yey, I let you guys know if it worked, though I am not holding much hope before Christmas.

steppemum I need to defend my short letter here!

It doesn't matter if people skim read it or not. Once they see the point (only three very short paragraphs) it will either be of interest to them in which case they'll then reread focussing on the few details, or more likely it won't be of interest to them and they'll bin it.

The OP needs to present herself in the best possibly light if she's going to make the effort of doing this in the first place.

If the targeted houses are thinking of selling a polite, precise, articulate note would be of interest. They may be more keen on thinking of liaiasing with someone who presents themselves well than someone who sticks a grubby badly worded note though the door. I know I would. If they aren't thinking of selling, it doesn't matter what they think of the note anyway.

I think Crystals idea of a subsequent follow up letter/note/leaflet is a good one, at some stage, if nothing is gained from the first letter drop.

The chances are it won't work. But as the op is only looking in a small area, I think the fact it might work is worth it, for what is a minimal amount of effort should it produce your dream house.

Some vendors wouldn't dream of selling in this way anyway, they like the security of using an Estate Agent.

Crystal - good luck. Why didn't you buy one of the three houses that subsequently came up for sale?

It has to be worth a go. And you putting a note through might be the encouragement people need to put their place on the market.

We bought 3 years ago and the EA recently rang to ask if we were thinking of selling as supply is an issue here.

Even though we aren't planning to move especially after our 7 month loft conversion trauma I did have a look on rightmove to see what we could possibly buy etc.

I'd also echo the comments about some people wanting to sell to "your family". Our sellers (older couple) chose us and wanted a personal relationship with us. We on the otherhand never met or spoke to our buyers!

Good luck!

We get quite a few of these types of letters where we live (popular urban area) and always assume they are some sort of scam...

Bowlersarm that is a good question. They were all 2 bed houses and I initially was looking for 3 bed.
Did not view the first one thinking it will be too small anyway.
Viewed the 2nd one just in case and fell in love, but missed out on the final and best offer day to a cash buyer.
Viewed the 3rd one which was worse than the 2nd one but wanted more money than the 2nd one, so I did not feel like overpaying for what was OK but I did not love.
Now even the 3rd house is SSTC and at the moment I am so desperate that I would pay way over the odds for what I like - but not sure if I am ready to pay over the odds for what is just average.

I bought a wrong house (for me) 4 years ago so dreading to make the same mistake again!

Definitely make it look person some how.
Agree no envelopes.
Handwriting somewhere so it doesn't just look like print out sent by Royal Mail,

hi. we sold our house to someone who put a note through our door, soz can’t remember wording. we had had our house valued recently but decided not to sell but that helped in knowing how to price the house plus i work in commercial property so i think that helped in negotiating. i can understand people ignoring a note and seeking reassurance from an estate agent.

I think they probably wrote the letter back in 2013 🙄