Love Letters. Real Estate

[Frankenkubota]

Apparently there is a new approach to buying a house. They said in NC There is such a housing shortage that buyers have taken to writing letters to the homeowner and leaving them in the mail box. It was implied that this was not kosher and possibly against the law.

10 years ago, while selling my property in Oregon, I found just such a letter in my mailbox. Like a moron, i read it. Sounded like a soap opera. The more i read, the less i wanted them to have my place. I remember thinking, young couple and they watch to many tv shows.

If you deserve help, i'm your guy, if your a whiner, take it down the road.

Anyway, these letters have become so common and problematic many listings specifically discourage them.

I wonder if it works?

 

[ChuckT]

Won't work for me, doesn't work for wifie.

 

[Hay Dude]

common in my area. I don’t see what the problem is in merely asking?

 

[Cat385B]

We’ve had people come by out of the blue, asking if we’d consider selling.
One couple, other two were realtors. The two shysters were told to eff off. The couple I offered the place to for 5x’s it’s market value.
They declined, guess they weren’t so desperate after all.

I’ve never heard of letters being left.

 

[MoKelly]

When we sold our last house in the city (2019) we got many letters from potential buyers. BUT - that was after there was already a listing.

I’ve never received letters on a house not listed for sale.

That is sort of creepy.

MoKelly

 

[Citydude]

After I declined a realtors offer for our property in South Dakota, he kept calling me each week until I blocked his number.

He then did some research on us and found my wife's phone number at her work. He was relentless like the car warranty scammers.

 

[Jstpssng]

It's not uncommon for somebody to pore over the city tax maps and send out letters of inquiry. It's when they won't take "no" for an answer that it becomes obnoxious.

When we sold our last house in the city (2019) we got many letters from potential buyers. BUT - that was after there was already a listing.

I’ve never received letters on a house not listed for sale.

That is sort of creepy.

MoKelly

A friend bought a remote camp on the water years ago, it was on a leased lot, in disrepair, and at the time only accessible by water.
He and his father fixed it up and turned it into a nice place. For the next 15 years he had somebody calling asking him to sell it, and he kept saying no. I finally suggested that he give them a price, so he did.

The calls stopped.

 

[Rebeldad1]

we got one of those letters along with the highest offer for our last house. Maybe it worked... but the offer did.

 

[fried1765]

When we sold our last house in the city (2019) we got many letters from potential buyers. BUT - that was after there was already a listing.

I’ve never received letters on a house not listed for sale.

That is sort of creepy.

MoKelly

I get the cards and letters all the time!
Only from shyster realtors, or developers though.
I have a 291 year old house on 11.7 acres of ocean view property.
They see the potential for 10 one acre house lots at $400K+ each, (that is the going rate) and just drool on themselves.
It is in trust for my kids, so perhaps it may eventually be sold, but I kinda doubt it.

 

[oosik]

I get letters from real estate agents wanting to sell my property. I've never responded. Never heard of nor received mail from individuals wanting to buy. That's just plain weird.

 

[Citydude]

I get the cards and letters all the time!
Only from shyster realtors, or developers though.
I have a 291 year old house on 11.7 acres of ocean view property.
They see the potential for 10 one acre house lots at $400K+ each, (that is the going rate) and just drool on themselves.
It is in trust for my kids, so perhaps it will eventually be sold, but I kinda doubt it.

I hope your kids keep your slice of heaven!

 

[Jstpssng]

My aunt and uncle own a vacant lot adjacent to their house, with access to a lake. Last year when real estate was heating up they received two unsolicited letters asking if the wanted to sell that lot... both ultra lowball offers.
I don't see why it's any more unusual for an individual to solicit a sale than a realtor, just as some people sell via private sale.

 

[Rowdy Redneck]

About 5-6 years ago I was buying property in downtown Nashville. Mostly vacant lots. Using property records I created a list of owners and wrote them polite letters saying I was interested in buying their property. For every hundred letters I would send out I would get about ten responses. About half of those wanted a fortune, three more were reasonable but we couldn't work a deal, and I would end of buying two. I bought about ten lots this way. Some I built on and some I sold. All were bought well below market value. Several people told me that they always ignored those type of letters but mine resonated with them.

 

[fried1765]

I hope your kids keep your slice of heaven!

Me too,.... and I will croak, believing they will!

 

[plowhog]

I sold my residence in Northern California some years ago. It was a very desirable home, prime location, luxury home in the best neighborhood in the City. I received numerous offers.

One couple, with a family, wrote a letter about how much they loved our home and why it would be extremely desirable for them-- and why our home would be better than any other.

It made their offer stand out from the rest. It also added confidence that they would do everything possible to close the escrow. It is who we chose to sell our home to.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I was getting unsolicited emails 1-2 times daily asking to buy my properties. Also the typical realtor solicitations weekly in the mail....

I could tell that they just went off old public records because they kept referring to the 'vacant' land property.... I built a house on it 3 years ago.

Of course they wanted an "easy cash sale" on the other property (our old house that was sold to our son 9 months ago).

We never got a price from them, but when I got tired of their emails, I responded to the Email:
Sure, lets get it done! I will accept current market price: $450K.......

I haven't received a check nor any further emails or solicitations for the last few months.

 

[Yogi05]

I had a waterfront renovated cottage that I bought as a repo.
Person got my number and started calling me every 1 1/2 weeks asking if I wanted to sell. I didn't.
I finally put a ridiculous price on it. They accepted.
Simple sale, lawyers only. No realtor.
Once the deal was signed including price, pending a building inspection, they asked me to reduce the price because
the inspector found some stuff. Their inspector spoke french. They assumed I didn't.
They lied their ass off about what the inspector told them.
Once I repeated what the inspector actually said, they shut up and paid for the house.
I did well on it compared to the repo price I paid. In only 5 yrs I made slightly more than double what I paid.

My elderly mother had a letter dropped in her mail from someone wanting to buy her house. She wasn't even thinking of selling at the time.
A couple months later she decided to sell to downsize.
Hours after it went on the market the person who left the letter was there looking at it. He ended up buying it at asking price with plans to gut
the inside redo. (wasn't necc, but I guess he had lots of money to play with).

We have been having a booming market in Canada. Bidding wars over house purchases. Most are getting 25% or more above market asking price.

 

[Pixguy]

We were in Florida last winter thinking that "Why are we on a waterfront home in SW Florida when we don't fish or boat on salt water while paying high taxes?" We sold in 24hrs at way over asking at price we didn't realize it was worth. Time to sell!

We bought another home much less inland where I can golf at lower rates and pay just a few k in taxes.

 

[dmccarty]

Before we found our current place, I was visiting the courthouse to find vacant land, owned by people not living in the area, parcels of a certain size and a specific area. I was going to send mail to the owners to see if they would sell. Then the place we now own hit the market and we bought it.

We get mail a couple of times a month asking to buy our land. Either with no price or a very low ball offer. One would have to be a fool to sell for at the low ball prices.

Never had anyone mail and offer to buy the house.

Later,
Dan

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I hope your kids keep your slice of heaven!

May not be "their" slice of heaven... money does funny things to people.