Should I ask if house is for sale??

socks_uk

I went to 'sus out' the area where a bungalow is for sale prior to making an appointment to view internally and, because there is a row of shops behind the house, went and knocked on a couple of doors either side of it. I only had a reply from the house nextdoor-but-one and he was extremely helpful and assured me there was no problems regarding youths congregating or anything.
The thing is that the house ajoining the bungalow we might like to buy looks empty and there was no reply when we knocked. There are black dustbin liners taped over the windows and the garden is a bit overgrown. Is it a bit cheeky to write to them saying we noticed thier house and wondered if it was for sale? I don't see a problem if I'm open and honest about myself and give my name and address as in a normal letter and tell them I already have my house up for sale. I would also put a stamp on and use Royal Mail rather than hand deliver.
The houses would be the same but opposite layouts but the main thing is this house would have sunlight all day (Morning in the back all day round the side and evening in the front in the bedrooms) The house nextdoor would miss out on the daytime sunlight because of the side of the house being North facing.

I'm intrested in other people's thoughts on this.

Jill

aliasojo

I don't see the problem either. I would definately stick a letter through their letterbox. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. Only problem might be if the person who owns the house doesn't actually come around very often, then he/she wouldn't see the letter.

Could you ask in the shops to see if they know who owns it or where they are?

People do ask about house sales on the offchance......I had a delivery bloke seriously ask if I wanted to sell him my house.

N9eav

I did it with a boat once. Left a note in the cabin for the owner, whether he wished to sell it, as it looked unused. He contacted me with a price.

halloweenqueen_2

If theres a local post office ask there they may know whats going on!

sportbeth

A friend of mine did the same but even more cheeky. Little old lady died, house hadn't been touched for 30 years and she wanted to get in before Estate Agents got onto it as it looked like such a good investment.

She popped a note through the door and asked if she could make an offer once the property went through probate, and lo and behold she got it

The_Biff

You can find out online who the registered owner is (was if dead) through the Land Registry.

https://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk

frugal_dougal_3

Nothing ventured - nothing gained. Go for it Jill and the best of luck.

Let us know how you get on!

Maisie

I've heard of people putting notes through all doors in the street where they'd like to buy.

Sometimes it does pay off.

Saw that tip on a tv property programme too.

VickyA_2

This is the way that my nearly in laws sold "gran's" flat. Someone noticed that she was moving out, popped a letter through the door and the flat was sold a couple of weeks later without the intervention of estate agents. Everyone was happy!

socks_uk

Thanks for all your replies.

I've just done a search for the street on houseprices.co.uk and the house was listed as being bought in August 2004 for £119,000 which is £1000 under the price of nextdoor. £120,000 is just about our limit so we don't stretch ourselves too much. I can't see them selling for anything less than £125,000.

I still might send the letter, through the post though just in case they have their mail re-directed.

Jill

Trojan_2

Hi - we bought our current house 9 months ago having put a note through the door, knowing that the lady had sadly died. It did take a couple of months before we heard anything from them and it was a bit awkward dealing directly with the family when they were selling their Mum's house. We paid for a full survey to get an independant guide to the price and used it as a tool to agree a price with the vendors. Good luck.