Dropping a letter to an owner

mariad2004

Hi all,  
Just want to consult with you all if I am being completely outrageous or if it is an OK move.  I found a semi-detached house which was extended beautifully and is arguably our ultimate dream house.  The slight problem with it is that it is under offer, BUT there is another half of this house which is not extended and hence can be turned into a dream house.  Unfortunately it is not on sale.  How outrages would it be to drop a personal letter there and say that we are interested in it and can deal with the owners directly (saving agency fees and currently stamp duty)?
Is it risky? Should I be aware of anything? Will I just anger the owners?  
Any advice would be much appreciated.  
Maria 

Doozergirl

They can only say no or ignore you!  Just write it.  

Soot2006

It costs nothing to ask.  If you asked me for my semi-detached, I'd consider an outrageously high offer ...

AskAsk

when we bought our previous house the purchase came to a sudden stop as the seller lost the house they were buying and so they said that they would have to find another one before they can sell their house to us! 

their plan was to write letters and drop it into everyone's letter box in the area that they want to live in.  we thought this was the end of the purchase as there was very little chance anyone would sell their property this way!  to our surprise they found a new house very quickly.  so yes, people do buy properties this way, and estate agents do this themselves by writing to people and ask if they want to sell their house as there is a big demand in their area.

steve866

Go for it. I am currently buying directly from the current owner and the whole process has be much nicer, being able to communicate directly. 

Slithery

mariad2004 said:

I found a semi-detached house which was extended beautifully and is arguably our ultimate dream house.  The slight problem with it is that it is under offer, BUT there is another half of this house which is not extended and hence can be turned into a dream house.

Bear in mind that just because next door was allowed to extend in the past, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be allowed to do the same in the future.

need_an_answer

No harm in asking but its a very long shot.
We have received similar letters in the past because our house is one of 6 reasonably niche houses in the area.When one of the houses comes up for sale it usually generates unsolicited letters from potential purchasers who maybe missed out on the one for sale....we just ignore such enquiries...sorry if its not the answer you want to hear.

Davesnave

Slithery said:

mariad2004 said:

I found a semi-detached house which was extended beautifully and is arguably our ultimate dream house.  The slight problem with it is that it is under offer, BUT there is another half of this house which is not extended and hence can be turned into a dream house.

Bear in mind that just because next door was allowed to extend in the past, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be allowed to do the same in the future.

While this is a sensible caution, do you really think Boris & Co are going to tighten planning law?

Remember, "No more newt counting!"

happy_2008

I saw a house that i liked on the market in July but was shortly taken off the market. I dropped a letter to the owners to let me know in advance if they decide to sell again in  the future. They did send me a message via whatsapp to say they would review there situation in Sep/Oct time. All i can say is that it wont hurt to drop a letter by, at worst they would just bin it.

mariad2004

need_an_answer said:

No harm in asking but its a very long shot.
We have received similar letters in the past because our house is one of 6 reasonably niche houses in the area.When one of the houses comes up for sale it usually generates unsolicited letters from potential purchasers who maybe missed out on the one for sale....we just ignore such enquiries...sorry if its not the answer you want to hear.

Thank you for your thoughts. It is good to hear both perspectives.  So the worst that can happen is that we get ignored,  I can live with that. 

need_an_answer

Can I then play devils advocate here and ask you why you think that just because the house is attached to your "dream" property it will be easy to transform?
I'm guessing that you have not even been inside this house so even though it may have originally been the mirror copy of its attached partner it may be far from that now....it only takes one owner in a properties history to change a few things and suddenly it could transform the house into something totally different inside....remove the period features for example and if thats what you want to put back it could cost you a fortune in time and money sourcing them....if someone has gone down the removing wall or blocking up doorways it suddenly reconfigures the house....or you could end up purchasing the property where nothing has been done to it for many years and it needs stripping right back before you can even begin to think about the cosmetic changes you want to make to turn it into your dream home.
At the monent you are simply being seduced by a property location without really knowing what lies behind the front door

Can you afford extensive remodelling on top of what may be an inflated price that the vendor could ask for because they know you "want" this house....can you live easily in the house whilst the potential changes are carried out...and at the end of it theres no guarantee that you have a house that is worth the purchase price and what youve spent in time and money to achieve your dream home.
I'm a great believer in a property being a home rather than something you make money from but even I  would be cautious about overpaying for something...unless you have a substantial deposit that wouldnt interfere with a mortgage application....I can perhaps understand you calling it your dream home but unless you plan to live there for many years you would be unlikely to gain back what youve spent on it if you were to sell say in the next 10 years.....i appreciate no one knows which way house prices will go but to overspend now would tie you to the property for longer than you might want to be there.
 Are there genuinely no others within say a half mile radius that are currently for sale that you would consider.
If you havent already then i would contact the selling agent of the one under offer and register an interest in the property should the existing sale fall through.