Is this and unreasonable thing to do if you really want to move to a certain area?

[Chichiboo]

There is a certain area where me and my husband would like to move to but houses very rarely come up for sale there ...in fact one came up yesterday, we asked to view it but they’ve already had an offer for the asking price. I’m really gutted as it would’ve been a really great house for us in the perfect location but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

I heard recently of someone who put a flyer through somebody’s door saying that they were looking to move into the area and if they ever thought of selling them to contact them as that’s an area that they would like to live in. It worked out for the best because they have now moved into the house and the seller obviously didn’t need to pay estate agency fees.

I’m really tempted to do this (put a flyer in each house of the street we want to live in ) but my husband thinks it’s a bit out of order and could rub people up the wrong way. What are peoples thoughts on this please?

Worked for us. We were talking about whether or not to go on the market, and then heard the letterbox go.
The buyers had to wait until we'd got a few valuations. Then we sold our house without EAs and split the difference.
It was the easiest house sale I've ever had. Perfect. What's to lose?

Great idea. Have just done it for friends and they have had lots of interest.

We get flyer ‘d lots too. It’s flattering. .

@KonTikki my house is really boring but it is in an affordable area of London and houses sell really quickly so I suppose people try to get in before things go on the market by doing this. I'm lovely though obviously.

We have had several such memos regarding our house. We got the first one years ago. Shortly after we moved in, the neighborhood really took off and we happen to be one of the more affordable homes. We aren’t offended and with some of the early ones we were tempted, though at this point we are firm in our decision to stay.

I know from speaking to neighbors that the few home sales that have occurred recently happened before the house even went on market.

Networking on whatever social media is popular for the area also seems to be a good approach.

Have sold our house, which is completing at the end of this month. Moving in with family while waiting for the right property in the right area to come up, but thought I'd try and speed up the process, so I did this earlier this month.

I wrote to 5 specific houses that I like the look of from the outside, and also haven't been sold since 1995 (found this out by looking at land registry data), so thought people may be looking to downsize, plus property may a bit dated as I'd be pleased with a doer-upper.

I wrote a brief letter explaining that I was looking to buy in the area, and outlined my circumstances very briefly (SSTC, completion end of June, AIP already in place), and asked them to come back to me by the end of May if they were interested, however I haven't heard anything. I didn't mention budget.

I haven't given up hope completely, as my letter may have given some of the owners the prompt to put their houses on the market, so I'm keeping my eye out. I'd certainly do it again, and if any of them had been ready to sell, I'd like to think they would have contacted me.