Leafleting to privately buy a house?

MoneyEM

I have put an offer in on a house I like, but there are 7 other offers and if this one doesn't work out, I was considering leafletting in the local area. There is a very specific half a mile radius of terraced streets I would consider living in, and not much comes to the market due to their popularity.

I am hoping that I would get some responses from people who would have been thinking about putting their property on the market in the near future, or someone who wants to avoid the agency costs.

Anyone have any ideas of how to word the leaflets to appeal to the homeowners?

SailorSam

You don't want to make your leaflet to business like, it's better to make it simple so people know it's a personal thing from someone who wants to live in the area. And you just need to say you've been house hunting and the area you'd most like to live is such'n such a road..
When my Mum bought this she knew exactly what she wanted and nothing was coming up for sale, then just got chatting to a lady who said ......... My Sister lives in one of those and they're planning on moving soon.

Sedge123

We did exactly that and now have been living in our perfect house for two months. We said that we were looking for a family home and particularly liked xxxxxx street and asked people to contact us if they might be considering selling.

Lots of people feel quite sentimental about selling their house and I think would quite like to know it would be a family home.
Good luck. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Rose46

Wow good to hear of some success in this idea. We've been thinking of doing the same as we're in exactly the same situation of either nothing coming up where we want it to or being outbid on properties.

Also getting so frustrated that you just can't show any personality in offering anymore, you don't ever meet the owners and the estate agents couldn't care less how heartfelt your pleas are!

But yes it's wording it correctly and getting it across in the right way. But also what are the chances that someones going to have a house you like for the right price?! Bit of a gamble I suppose but then the whole thing is really.

Serious house search frustrations!

MoneyEM

Sedge123 wrote: »

We did exactly that and now have been living in our perfect house for two months. We said that we were looking for a family home and particularly liked xxxxxx street and asked people to contact us if they might be considering selling.

Lots of people feel quite sentimental about selling their house and I think would quite like to know it would be a family home.
Good luck. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

That's a great story! Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have a family, I'm 23 and live/work in London, looking to move back to where I grew up, i just need a small little 2 bed mid terrace near the station as it's just for me! But I would like to get a lodger in to help pay the mortgage.

MoneyEM

Rose46 wrote: »

Wow good to hear of some success in this idea. We've been thinking of doing the same as we're in exactly the same situation of either nothing coming up where we want it to or being outbid on properties.

Also getting so frustrated that you just can't show any personality in offering anymore, you don't ever meet the owners and the estate agents couldn't care less how heartfelt your pleas are!

But yes it's wording it correctly and getting it across in the right way. But also what are the chances that someones going to have a house you like for the right price?! Bit of a gamble I suppose but then the whole thing is really.

Serious house search frustrations!

Well the way I see it, if you have your preferred area how are you going to find somewhere within that area? Wait and hope that they put it on the market? The idea of a private sale is more attractive in that there is more scope for negotiation (get a valuation for the property, and offer close to that?). I like the idea of no competition with anyone, and they must enjoy the absence of estate agent fees & the fact that they aren't having to market the property because the buyer has come to them!

Rose46

MoneyEM wrote: »

Well the way I see it, if you have your preferred area how are you going to find somewhere within that area? Wait and hope that they put it on the market? The idea of a private sale is more attractive in that there is more scope for negotiation (get a valuation for the property, and offer close to that?). I like the idea of no competition with anyone, and they must enjoy the absence of estate agent fees & the fact that they aren't having to market the property because the buyer has come to them!

Well exactly that does sound far more appealing to both seller and buyer but it feels like we've lost that nowadays. But you're right there's nothing to lose in trying so this might prompt us to take the plunge!

Sedge123

MoneyEM wrote: »

That's a great story! Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have a family, I'm 23 and live/work in London, looking to move back to where I grew up, i just need a small little 2 bed mid terrace near the station as it's just for me! But I would like to get a lodger in to help pay the mortgage.

I think the fact that you want to buy the place to live in yourself is enough. We negotiated the price ourself with the sellers after they had three valuations, to be fair they were very upfront with us, no annoying estate agents trying to get us to increase our offer etc.

With regards to the price, I think we got our house at s great price as the sellers realised they didn't have to pay estate agents fees.

silvercar

We sold to people who had put a note through the door.

SailorSam

You were asking how to word your leaflet, i thought something like this but others may like to say what they think to make it better.....

Hi,
I hope you'll take the time to read this before throwing it into the recycling bin, it isn't junk mail.
I'm looking to buy my first house and my preferred area is somewhere around ........ between ...... and ...... I'm currently working and living in London but i want to move back to where i grew up. Nothing i've seen yet is really what i want, but living down here makes it difficult for me to keep up with the local market.
I thought if i were a bit more proactive and asked people, there may be someone that had been thinking of moving themselves, and i maybe able to find a private sale rather than waiting for an estate agent.
If you're thinking of moving house yourselves in the near future, or any of your friends or neighbours have talked about it, could you let me know please.
My FaceBook is ..........
My Email ............
My telephone .................

Thanks,
....... ..........

Fish&Chips

Don't despair with the property you have already made an offer on, you may be fortunate and the vendor may accept your offer.

I have an anecdote for you: I lived in New Jersey for a number of years. In the USA the usual rate which one has to pay an estate agent ('real estate agent') is a whopping 6% of the sale price! Half of this goes to your real estate agent and half to the buyer's agent; properties for sale are listed on the MLS, the 'Multiple LIsting Service' and it's like a cartel, carefully protected by the real estate agents. From time to time people will put a 'For Sale' sign on their lawn to avoid the fees but sadly, in reality many of these vendors end up listing their home with an agent.

Now my friend who lived one town over from me (Maplewood, NJ) had an older lady living down her street whose children had flown the nest and then she became a widow. The house was too big for her needs and it went on the market. There were about 10 offers to purchase this house (it's commuting distance of New York City and lots of people move to the suburbs to raise their families).

What one 'enterprising' couple did was to play on the heart strings of the seller; they got their children to draw some pictures of her house with themselves smiling out of the windows! The parents wrote a letter telling the lady that it was an ideal home for their children to grow up in and how much they loved the garden and how they would look after both house and garden. They even baked a cake and left it on the front porch!

They got the house!

I've since heard that it's now becoming quite common in some States when there are multiple offers on a property. I don't know if the house you have made an offer on (or houses in the locality) are places where one would raise a family, but you could bear this in mind when putting notes through doors; emphasize the fact that you grew up there and know and love the area and would hope to have a family of your own living there one day. Personally I would never like to sell to a buy-to-let purchaser, I would also like my house to be sold to someone who is going to live there, not make a commercial profit on it, so you could probably also state that in your leaflet as well.

Good Luck! If you succeed, do post back here!