Has anyone approached a house that's not for sale?

[insertimaginativeusername]

There's a house I pass regularly, it's lovely and in a perfect location for school and work. We are looking to move but there is nothing in the area that we like and we want to stay within school catchment for DC2, so I thought about asking if the owner would consider selling or consider contacting us if he planned to sell in the near future.

Is this ok to do? Has anyone done it and got their dream home? I would hate to offend or upset him. I've wanted to say something casually as I've passed but I never see him and wouldn't want to knock the door.

Oh and when my grandfather died, my mother was approached by neighbours who had a daughter interested in the house. She wasn’t the least bit offended and was actually very pleased to avoid the hassle of estate agents/getting the house ready for viewings (it wasn’t in great condition as he’d lived there through a long illness).

Thanks for all the lovely positive stories, we've had a chat and decided we're going to do it. Worst case he ignores it, but we're no worse off than we are now.

Constant that's a good point. I do have neat handwriting but I thought to make sure it's legible to anyone I've typed up a draft. Maybe I should hand write it out.

MargaretCavendish

Sorry you feel that way. They were my parents neighbours, they had been dead some time at that point and they were already clearing the house. They had already had estate agents out but we got in beforehand they had signed up to anyone, saving them costs. I’m not really sure why it’s disrepectful, it’s not like I dropped a note in the day they died. Plus we cleared the house and cleaned it and took on the jobs that they would have had to sell, so they family were delighted and really grateful to us for taking the pressure off.

But then I suppose there is always someone who will find something to be offended about somehow 🤔 ...even when I bump into family now or pass on Mail they are always thanking us for helping them out, but as I say, there is always someone.