Sod it, I'm flyering houses on the dream street. Your tips?

[Ilovesnacks]

Did anyone pop flyers through to houses on streets they'd like to buy? I've thought a lot and gone back and forth but sod it, there's nothing to lose. We are under offer ourselves and flexible. But this is London where it's dog eat dog.
Would you put your cards on the table and mention budget? What other tips do you have? If you're someone who received one and was a bit curious, what was it that peaked your interest?

We did this and it worked! Hand wrote about 40 letters and posted (had to post as we were moving out of London so not local to hand deliver). I would say prob about 20% of people relied - even to say thanks but were not moving. 2 said they were thinking of moving soon, and we ended up buying one of them. They’d been in touch with an agent already and had it valued so they knew the value they wanted and it was within our budget so we went for it. Easy! If you don’t ask you don’t get. As a pp said I’d love to get a letter like this to reassure me we made a good purchase!

My grandparents used to get these all the time and it pissed them off to no end. They weren't selling.

You'll never know anyone's reactions to these things unless it is positive though. So it's probably worth trying, but I'd personally keep it short and sweet and avoid giving them to vulnerable people if possible.

I've had a letter, I felt flattered. My neighbour has been sent 3 letters by the same person insisting that he should sell to them. He's very upset.

I think it really depends on whether you're respectful, which I'm sure you will be

I get them sometimes as have an unusual house on a popular street. Not in slightest offended and if i was prepping to sell and one plopped through i'd probably contact.

can't understand what the neighbours did to offend @Cupcakequeen75 you've not said they were rude or pushy, just really keen to have the beautiful large garden your parents enjoyed and were prepared to pay a premium for it even! Your response is spiteful

In defence of @Cupcakequeen75, this was neighbours sending a letter after they’d given eviction notice to tenants. It was very likely gossip on the road/estate that her mum had died, after being in a home for some time and so the house was now “up for grabs”. In this context, it feels very much like vultures waiting to swoop. Especially as it was a similar house to the one they own, just a bigger garden. This wasn’t a general leaflet to the whole street, it was just to this house.

Also selling is a two way street. The buyer has to be prepared to pay what the seller wants or the seller needs to be prepared to drop what the buyer is offering. The seller also needs to have good faith in the buyer that they will do their best to complete the purchase. You can’t start a good relationship by preying on someone’s vulnerability.

They sensibly waited until after the funeral and once the house was getting cleared but it absolutely could’ve gone either way with the family’s reaction I think!

This happened to me when my mother passed away. I was at the bungalow decorating it and clearing out etc. someone saw it was empty and put a hand written note through the letterbox. I contacted them to say I was keeping it but would be open to discussions if at the right price and that since the probate valuation (not revealed) I’d spent a lot on rewiring, new lighting, internal doors etc and they told me their budget which was about £100k below the probate valuation that has taken place a few months before ! It didn’t go any further despite them begging to view it and saying they could buy cash. I said it just wasn’t worth wasting their time considering their budget. I got the impression they hoped we might need to get rid quickly to pay for nursing home fees or similar.

Ditto.
Surely one just puts these flyers in the bin if you aren't planning to sell.

I did it years ago to a house I liked that had been taken off the market before I managed to sell my own . They sold to me and I stayed there 9 years - I do think I paid a bit too much for it though .

One a year wouldn't bother me at all! It's the frequency of these notes that annoys me, I get at least one a week. I mean yes I do just chuck 'em straight in the bin but it does get a bit tiresome seeing a letter sticking out my mailbox every week, adding to the junk mail along with the charity bags.

I guess OP has nothing to lose by trying it, but it's cold calling basically.

I have no idea why someone would be offended that people want to buy their house. My house is my biggest asset. If I were in the position of wanting to sell, I'd definitely try and avoid using estate agents and paying commission. Fair enough, if I have no intention of selling then I'll put the letter in the bin.

In general I don't find them annoying but I cannot abide the ones that go on about how little Jocasta and Tristan would love to live in our house.

I'm sure they would love to have our house, but if I'm going to sell, I'll put it on the open market and get the best price.

Can I be cheeky and asked how the private sale worked? We are living in a house we would love to buy. Probate was granted years ago and the house is the only thing left. Can a price just be agreed between the two parties?

We sold ours in a private sale - to the son of an estate agent. We'd also had another person we knew contact us to ask us to let him know if it went on sale. It was a house on a popular street.

Our current house is another one that I think might get leafletted.

We were hoping to do a private sale before we went with an estate agent. I got two estate agents out to value the property. We got a £30K range between the two agents so we decided to go on the market £10K above the bottom number (after sense checking that with rightmove). Estate agent fees would be 1% so I told the person wanting to buy it that we would go on the market at this price but we would sell for that amount minus EA fees. As it happened they couldn’t get the funds and we have hopefully done better on the market (we’re sold stc at the moment for a higher than asking price).

You do both agree a number but sometimes sellers will want to take the chance of going to best and final offers on the market.

I find the letters cringey (we get them regularly) and would never engage with them. I had one over the weekend 'we want to move to the area, want to raise a family here, our elderly and sick parents live nearby' they tried to get in all the key phrases to get some sympathy. What tipped me over the edge was it was signed 'X, Y and bump'.

If I'm going to sell my biggest asset, I want a market price for it and the only way to do that is to go out to the open market. If you're selling a standard house that's the same as lots on a street then maybe it's easier, but for houses around here (Victorian semi's) they vary by about £150k depending on how they've been renovated, I can't see how it can work.

@Blarn we’re in Scotland so not sure if it’s different but basically in laws got the home report done, negotiated price with buyer and then it was just a case of paying lawyers’ fees and the two lawyers working with each other. All you’re missing out is estate agent commission, photos, going on the market, House viewings and then buyer’s lawyer contacting estate agent with offer etc before it transfers to buyer’s lawyer.

My husband thinks they would’ve got a better price on the open market (was a large house in much sought after area) but the offer was competitive enough to make it worth their while. House sale was being split four ways so it also took out any hassle of who was doing the viewings, who was dealing with estate agent, what offer would they accept as each would need to be discussed between all siblings etc. good luck!

Go for it and good luck.

Bil and Sil did it on a road they loved.
However they got nothing back.
They bought better elsewhere.

I did it - leafleted the close I wanted to live in. Couple were just about to go to an estate agent but sold it to me instead thus saving on fees. Worked well in my case and I'm still here now!

My grandparents neighbour asked me if the house would be for sale THE MORNING AFTER he died as her friend was wanting to move next door to her. I asked her if we could at least have the funeral first!!!

There were also notes through the door very shortly after he died as it was a really desirable area. It was a bit too raw at the time and these notes did upset me. However, a lovely couple from one of those notes now live there and I hope they enjoy it as much as my grandparents did ❤️

I have never posted flyers but am very fortunate to live in a very popular road.

I can't tell you the positive difference it made to our lives to live to a slightly bigger house, with a better garden, in a nicer road, in a better area.

To those of you who are snippy about this, just stick the notes in the bin. Some people are desperate to move... have some empathy!!

To those of you who are snippy about this, just stick the notes in the bin. Some people are desperate to move...have some empathy

Having been in similar position to @Cupcakequeen75 I would suggest that the buyers might also have some empathy. Leaflet dropping the whole street is fine. Targeting one house soon after a death feels like vultures circling.

Such helpful replies, thanks all. I will of course make it respectful and not an X-Factor sob story. (I'm saddened by the tale of someone writing "you must want to downsize" - cringe! How rude are some people?!)

@WheresTheForum Oh wow, thanks for replying. So in this case you were already thinking of selling? Was there anything you’d recommend putting in the flyer so as to not make it seem either dodgy or a waste of time? Can’t decide how upfront to be (e.g. with budget) and how much background (“we love this street”) to be, or not.

@grimbleton Good for you! Did you keep it short and sweet or did you add any emotive angle? And would you recommend being open with a budget (so as not to waste anyone’s time) or not?

@mosaic Yes great point, I personally bin the slick pushy ones from Estate Agents so if I do it I’ll make it a bit hand-done.

@clymene Haha ok good to know. Yes I’ll remove any cutesy tale of our little baby etc

I think it’s an excellent idea OP go for it. I would love it if any prospective buyers had a cute baby😂.How do I get someone to put one of these notes offering to buy my house in my letter box? It would be a dream come true (currently decluttering, and decorating my house plus dealing with a dithering about moving DH) We did have a flat in London years ago. The couple who were renting upstairs did ask us if we were considering selling our flat. We weren’t at the time but it sowed a seed and a short time later we did sell it. We were not offended in the slightest.

@Ilovesnacks
Mine was actually written by an estate agent on behalf of a buyer. This might be unusual but it made me think they were serious about buying not just a chancer. I wanted to seek anyway so it was perfect. I would keep it factual - no X factor style info, just that you love the area, want to buy, are chain free etc and that if anyone is thinking of selling, you’d be grateful if they made contact. I wouldn’t include budget, don’t give them ideas!