So, we’re house-hunting, after a fashion. Not in a hurry, but when the right place comes up, we’re ready to pull the trigger. However, we’re finding we have pretty narrow ideas of what constitutes “right”, especially in regard to the location. So far, we’ve just been waiting patiently, but we’re considering contacting a few specific homeowners and inquiring whether they might be interested in selling their house in the next couple of years. According to Zillow and such, the houses we’re looking at haven’t been sold within the last 15-20 years, so it seems at least possible one of the owners might be ready to move soon.
We’ve actually gotten letters like this ourselves recently, but they were more general “Buyers are looking for homes in your area! Now’s the time to sell!” We want to make clear that this isn’t just a realtor trying to drum up business; we’re actual people interested in buying this particular house (presuming the inside is in relatively good shape, etc.). So what should we say? Should it come from our realtor or us or both? Should we put it in their front door, or actually mail it? If you were toying with the idea of selling your house, what would persuade you to give us a call?
Zillow has a “make me move” feature - I wish there was the reciprocal of that on there. I think if it was me in your shoes, I’d knock on their door. “Hi, we’ve been looking to buy a house in this neighborhood, and have been through the area several times. We’ve always liked your house each time we drive by, and we were wondering if you’ve ever considered selling. Here’s my realtor’s card - if this is something you’d like to pursue, we’ve given her a price point to begin with, and she’s just waiting to hear from you if you’re interested. Thanks for your time.”
You could do like the guy in Enough. Knock on the owner’s door, and tell him that a person, if he wants something bad enough, could make it hell for the other person if he doesn’t give him what he wants.
This happened regularly in the town where I used to live (Montclair NJ), especially when the housing market was hot. Those offers came in many different ways, so there is no one way to do it, but here is what I think;
For the buyer, the reason to do this is not to save money. It is to get the right house in the right neighborhood. For the seller, the enticement is to get a fair price without having to do all the work to put your house on the market (and it is a lot of work) and to deal with a buyer who is a bit flexible on when you need to leave.
Leave a note at the front door. Give your full names and contact information. Make it clear that you are not brokers and that you are looking for a home (not a house).
I have gotten a few letters over the years from real people who wanted to buy my house. It was just a nice personal note with contact info explaining their situation.
Personally, I love my house and it would take way more than it was worth to get me to sell. Like three to four times the actual value.
Thanks for this. I’ve been a little nervous that if we did something like this, the homeowner might say to themselves, “Hey, I must have a pretty hot property!” and put it on the market at a far higher price than they would have if we hadn’t expressed interest. It’s reassuring to me that there might be benefit for the seller in this, too.
So, how would we make that clear (the home-not-house part)? Should we keep it short and sweet, like Munch suggests? Or should we go into detail about all the reasons this particular house and location would be perfect for us (good schools, trees and quiet streets, walking distance to downtown and community resources, reminds me of my childhood home, etc.)? I don’t want to go overboard (as is my way), but I feel like it would help to make a more personal appeal. I figure these people probably have a good deal of attachment to their home and want to see it go to someone who will love it, not raze it.
That’s what I’m afraid of. If these places seem perfect to me, I’m sure they do to the owners as well.
We have a nice home, on a large chunk of property. We are in no hurry to move, but if some insane amount of money were offered (four times current worth, say) we would be packing as soon as the check cleared.
Offer me enough money for it that I’d rather have the money than the house. Everything else, like how the offer is conveyed, is of vanishingly minor importance compared to the actual offer.
Another seller benefit you could bring up/offer:
Offer to cover all of their realtor based closing costs. If I put my house on the market through an agent, I assume that I, as the seller, will be handing over 6% of the final sale cost.
If person A is selling directly to person B why would there be any realtor based closing costs?
I understand what you’re saying, but if someone came to me in this situation and said, “I’ll cover all realtor based closing costs,” I’d just think to myself, “That’s worth exactly zippo since there aren’t any costs.”
If you instead said, “… And remember, there won’t be any commissions in this deal,” that would be more likely to have a positive effect on me.
This, exactly. If you take someone’s breath away with the size of your offer, they will sell.
For instance, I’m not particularly wedded to my condo, but the idea and hassle of house hunting and moving is appalling to me. Offer me enough so I could afford to take time off from work to house hunt, to live in a hotel and/or take a vacation while movers pack, move and unpack my stuff, and enough left so I can afford some hookers and blow to celebrate my new digs.
But there’s no reason to think that the would-be seller was planning on leaving and just hadn’t got around to the marketing. That would be a rather incredible coincidence, no?
My assumption, as either party in such a scenario, would be that the would-be buyer would have to offer substantially more than a “fair” price (for a comparable in the area) to entice the owner of that particular property into becoming a seller. Moving is plenty of trouble even with all the house-marketing deducted.
That would be grand, but if we had that kind of money, we could just buy land and build our dream house wherever we damn well please. The best we can realistically do is maybe 15-20% over our best guess at the market value. Not much of an enticement, I know.
That’s a very good question. I hadn’t considered that we might do a direct sale; I kind of assumed that our realtor, at least, would be involved. But if there’s no seller’s agent, and therefore, no commission, maybe she would opt out of participating. I have no idea how that would work.
Today, I’ll give you $1000 to take him off my hands. But that’s my final offer!
When the hospital came over to buy my mom’s house they just said name your price within reason. If you don’t want to sell then good day. We had the house appraised and asked for 20% over the appraised value and they bought it; even let her live there rent free for two years. Another neighbor has been holding out for 200% of his house value and his home now sits in the middle of a huge parking lot. I hear they are now planning on putting a parking garage with a helicopter pad next to his home.
It depends on the contract you have with your realtor whether or not she would be involved in a case like this. There are contracts that bind you to your realtor no matter how the house is found. Then there are contracts that only require you to pay the commission and use the realtor if they found the house and showed it to you.
Look over your contract. There’s not sense getting a realtor involved if you don’t have to. What you would do is hire a real estate attorney. It’s a flat fee that’s usually way way less than what a realtor would charge. The attorney draws up all the paperwork and makes sure it’s all legal and binding. (Some areas people regularly use an attorney and a realtor.)
I would suggest a simple note on the door as well. Be careful though. Choosing a home from the outside is not exactly the best way to pick a house. Be absolutely sure you could live with the house (barring unknown structural/maintenance issues) before you put the note on the door. I would be very annoyed if you bothered me about buying my home and then didn’t follow through with it.
Speaking of which, if you want my house you can have it. not that you do or anything. Wrong town and state I’m sure.
My suggestion is to sign a Buyer Agency Agreement with a Real Estate Agent of your choice. He/she will work on your behalf to find and negotiate what you want. Agents have vastly more resources than you do (unless you are in the real estate business), and can approach even unlikely sellers if you are guaranteeing the commission.
At least that’s the way it works in my state, and I am a Realtor[sup]TM[/sup] and licensed agent in this state.
I know several property owners who have told me that they would sell under the right circumstances, but aren’t willing to put their property on the general market right now. That’s useful information that you could benefit from.
And if my buyer eventually buys a property that’s already listed for sale, by the terms of our agreement, he will pay nothing, as the seller is already obligated by virtue of the listing contract. How can you lose? Hire a professional!
not that you do or anything. Wrong town and state I’m sure.