Buying private with a speculative letter through the door?

ik1

Hi,

My area in Birmingham could be considered a property hotpot as prices here are still highere than about year or so ago. The right house will still sell for a good price but its difficult to know what a good price is as prices could go down or could go up.

Anyway I was thinking of using my initiative and put some flyers in some houses that I am interested in. I especially looking for property which needs work as I would like to have a project and to do it to my taste as all the houses I have seen I would need to renovate anyway as they are not to my taste.

Do people here think it is worth dropping some leaflets informing the house owener that I am keen buyer looking for property and looking to do a private deal? Has anyone been successfull this way and what are the pitfall?

Thanks

IK

G_M

Why should it matter how a sale originates? If a buyer and seller agree a price, the property is suitabe and the finance is available, it doesn't matter if they met via an agent, the internet, a mutual friend.....or a flyer.

ik1

Thanks G_M.

I suppose you are right but I was looking for some real examples of people successfully doing this. It seems most people prefer to use estate agents for some reason maybe to get a better idea of price etc but I do know what the price of the homes in the area is. Basically I jut want a family home like forever type so looking for a rundown home that I can spend some money on.
The house I have seen does not seem to be lived in but there is some activity from time to time as I recently saw a skip but now the skip is not there however the overall house is still tatty and overgrown so I think I would drop a letter through to see if they want to sell if they are struggling to update it...

SimonMrGreenWard

ik1 wrote: »

Hi,

My area in Birmingham could be considered a property hotpot as prices here are still highere than about year or so ago. The right house will still sell for a good price but its difficult to know what a good price is as prices could go down or could go up.

Anyway I was thinking of using my initiative and put some flyers in some houses that I am interested in. I especially looking for property which needs work as I would like to have a project and to do it to my taste as all the houses I have seen I would need to renovate anyway as they are not to my taste.

Do people here think it is worth dropping some leaflets informing the house owener that I am keen buyer looking for property and looking to do a private deal? Has anyone been successfull this way and what are the pitfall?

Thanks

IK

Your chances are slim to none.

Slinky

My friend sold her house to somebody who dropped a flyer through the door.

ik1

Thank you for your advice SimonMrGreenWard

I do know of a property which sold recently which has been unoccupied for a number of years and even hat squatters at one point. The property was a terraced property and generally on this road they are selling for about £120k and this property was sold for wait for it....£40000 about 3 months ago...no sale board was ever erected.

Now I do not want a property on the cheap, just a going rate suitable for my needs.

ik1

Slinky wrote: »

My friend sold her house to somebody who dropped a flyer through the door.

Theres hope for me then

phlash

I am in negotiation with someone who I knocked on the door of...

You can only try.

QTPie

Yes, we did this a few months ago.

I dropped about 10 through doors (no replies) and posted (first class) another 40 (about 6/7 replies). May be coincidence, but posting (also makes you carefully target) seems to get better response (even if it is a "no" - people are more likely to go to the bother of replying...).

We got a few "no" replies. One where it was completely out of out budget (wasn't just a house, but part of a larger estate with a holiday let). One "could be tempted to move, but not for a year or so". One woman who phoned me up about 10 weeks later saying that they had now decided to sell (but we had an offer accepted a month earlier, so too late). One very promising one, that we did view and loved. The owner had valuations done and it came back too expensive fir us to proceed with (£950k plus - a virtually identical neighbour sold at £775k at the end of 2007...). I think it is a fair valuation (large family houses are going like hot cakes around here since March...), but it needed work and was beyond budget .

So it didn't work out for us, but I think it was well worth doing... I would do it again. Carefully target houses and post the letters if you can. Expect to pay full current Market value.

Good luck
QT

ch1954

We sold to someone who came to our door and if I was looking to buy a property in a specific area I wouldn't hesitate to print off a couple of dozen flyers and spend an afternoon putting them through letterboxes.

sonastin

You put yourself in a weaker negotiating position over price using this method. You're keener to buy it than they are to sell it so they can ask for a high price and it'll be harder for you to persuade them to lower it. Fair enough you don't have to buy if they are asking to much, but it is something to bear in mind...