Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Leaflet droping asking to buy house

18 replies

1sttimemummyedinburgh · 09/09/2015 13:00

We have sold our house and are currently renting from family at the moment as the right house hasnt come up for sale as yet in the area we want to buy. I have heard some sucess stories from leaflet dropping and wanted some advice on my letter/leaflet. Also if anyone has done this what worked or didnt work for you? Thanks!

Name
Phone
Email
Date

For the Attention of the Homeowner,

I am contacting you with a view to enquiring about buying your house.

We as a family are looking to buy in the area as this is where we would like to bring up our young son and any future children as my partner Keith was brought up in the area. We have not seen anything suitable on the market at the moment and have decided to post leaflets through to houses in the area in hope we may find the right property directly.

We have recently sold our 2 bed house and are renting from family at the moment so we are able to give short notice to leave. I have a solicitor in place and a mortgage already pre approved so we are in a great position of flexibility.

We are looking for a good sized 3 or 4 bed house for our family with a good sized garden for our son and any future children to play. If you feel you may be interested in selling your house to me which would mean you avoided estate agency fees then I would be grateful if you could either call me on my mobile or send me an email to discuss this further feel free to pass on my details to friends or family if they may be interested in contacting me.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

OP posts:
specialsubject · 09/09/2015 13:24

nothing to lose by trying - people will either answer or bin!

take out the requirements list, just put the note through the door of the right houses.

give a landline if you have one, calling mobiles is very expensive for the 1 in 3 of us who don't have a contract phone.

Original poster
1sttimemummyedinburgh · 09/09/2015 14:47

Fab advice I will remove the requirements list and add on a landline.

Thank you!

OP posts:
specialsubject · 09/09/2015 16:41

Smile hope it works out!!

Lunaballoon · 09/09/2015 16:55

We've had a few such leaflets through the door and if we had been considering selling, I would have definitely pursued it! Good luck.

SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 09/09/2015 17:04

Is this a thing now? I'm asking because we've had a couple of similar notes popped through the letterbox over the summer, and then last week a woman knocked on the door and directly asked DH if he'd like to sell the house.

We thought it was some kind of ruse to drum up business for an estate agent.

Saying that - I'd make it clear you are private buyer OP, so your letter doesn't end up in with the junk mail :)

scarlets · 09/09/2015 17:52

My parents sold their first house in this manner over 30 years ago. A passerby knocked on the door. They'd been thinking of upsizing and this was the spur.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 09/09/2015 17:54

You have nothing to lose, and I think the wording is perfect.

senua · 09/09/2015 21:16

"have decided to post leaflets through to houses in the area in hope we may find the right property directly ... feel free to pass on my details to friends or family if they may be interested in contacting me "

This doesn't say "I want your house". It says "I am blanket-leafleting the whole area and looking at loads of other houses too".
Make them feel a bit more special and targeted.

Ta1kinPeace · 09/09/2015 21:49

nothing to lose : I hate the ones from estate agents
but I know of two houses in my road that sold your way in the last few years

Whatthefoxgoingon · 10/09/2015 11:49

Nothing to lose. We get these letters quite frequently and bin them as we are not interested in selling, but would consider them if we were. I remember the more more personal albeit desperate sounding ones.

Winning · 11/09/2015 01:53

Just wanted to say good luck and this is exactly how we got our dream house! Did a leaflet drop in our two favourite roads. Two people responded. The guy who we bought off was just going to get new tenants but then our note made him think about selling.
Our note wasn't as well thought out as yours, just a couple of sentences, but it did the job! Best of luck.

RingDownRingUp · 11/09/2015 06:44

Lots of houses sell this way in my village. In fact, the nicest houses rarely make it on to RightMove.

We several if these letters through the door each year. However, I would target the letter to the house in question rather than a general flyer that goes through all doors. I've been almost tempted to sell by a letter that mentioned specific details about the house and was very enthusiastic, but ones that clearly haven't engaged their brain as to size or price go straight in the bin.

Snoopadoop · 11/09/2015 07:02

It isn't specific it is essentially spamming houses you are not interested in. Drives me nuts. We used to get them, we are looking for a 4 bedroom detached home in your area, well why post it through a 3 bedroom terrace.

If you are serious be selective. I want to buy your house and post it only in houses you are interested in because if it looks too generic it'll go straight in the bin.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 11/09/2015 07:50

Personally I don't think you should be selective, you might miss the house which could work out.

For the sake of a few more people having to bin the letter, and be a bit cross about it, I think it's worth it.

It is hard to finch out exactly who had three or four bedrooms, etc, just letter drop everyone in your specified roads. Also one of those may not be thinking of selling but have a friend who is, and pass your letter on, but you haven't letter dropped their particular road etc

There's no downside.

Original poster
1sttimemummyedinburgh · 14/09/2015 11:15

Snoopadoop im not exactly going to drop a leaflet through a door I know to be unsuitable so no we are not spamming.

We will not be wasting our time posting through houses we do not think will work however we cannot make each leaflet specific to each house unfortunately. The area we wish to buy in is 3 neighbouring villages which are quite large and we are very flexible in the type of property as long as it 'feels right' and has enough space.

Thank you all for your positive vibes and stories and also the constructive feedback on the leaflet I have made some changes. We live in Scotland so selling is slightly different to the rest of the UK so we are hoping this works. If anyone is interested I will let you know how it goes...

OP posts:
Saltedcaramel4 · 14/09/2015 11:19

It's far far far too long. Makes you sound like hard work. Keep it hand written and simple.

'Dear home owner, we have recently sold our home and would like to buy a family home with a garden in x area. If you are interested in selling, my contact details are ....'

Saltedcaramel4 · 14/09/2015 11:21

Only post through doors of houses you like the look of

carmugz · 14/09/2015 11:27

I've had one of these recently. It asked if we were thinking of putting house on market within the next 12 months contact them. It was a short note saying they wanted to move to be close to family and just gave tel and email. We have kept it just in case!!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page