Letter to homeowners

[Starry436]

So, we've worked hard at saving 20% for a down payment.. We now have it. But timing of the market is against us, there is a major shortage of inventory for our price range and even so, people are listing homes they just bought two years ago for 30-40k more and they're being snatched off the market within a few days. We can't compete with that.

That being said, our realtor sucks and we don't feel she's helping us find anything. She's never available and shoots down any price questions we have. She doesn't believe in offering lower than list, even on clearly overpriced fixer upper homes that do sit on the market.

My question is, would it be weird if we personally sent out a letter to homes that we'd love to live in asking if they're looking to sell to please contact us? Is that illegal? Would you feel weird if you received such a letter? We're in VA. I had asked the realtor to do this and she never did. There's a few homes that are perfect, I know we probably wouldn't get the best deal but right now we're in a unique situation and we need a home. I won't go into details but we've been looking for almost two years.

[Jluke]

Do you have a signed contract with the realtor?

i can’t speak for the legality of putting letters in certain homes mailboxes but I have heard that is one way to go about it.

Maybe contact the “township” where the house is to see if that is acceptable. (Solicitation rules)

[Starry436]

No contact with the realtor, she never had us sign one. We just call on her when we see something to look at but she also said she'd give us dibs on her listings and help find us a house but she's not doing that.

I plan to mail the letters, not actually put them in their mailbox I just don't know if that's considered soliciting or harassment, I can't find much info on it. I know realtors send out postcard blasts to whole neighborhoods but I don't know about specific houses.

[Keshet]

We get letters and postcards all the time asking if we want to sell our house. Haven't had any from individuals; it's been realtors and those companies that advertise ("we buy your house for cash today"). I don't see why you couldn't.
Also why haven't you found a different realator?

[bjl584]

Nothing weird about that at all. A lot of real estate investors find properties through direct mailing campaigns. The MLS is probably the worst place to look for property from an investors standpoint. No reason it can't work for a primary home purchase as well. I bought my house via private sale. A friend of the family heard that the owner was thinking of selling. I got her number and called her. A few months later I closed on the house.

[Fishindude77]

If you don't have a signed deal with that realtor, quit using her and find another that works hard for you. Might take a couple tries.
Like others, I have gotten solicitation offers to see if we are interested in selling from realtors. This is exactly the type of realtor I would list with or use to help me buy, because obviously they are aggressive.

[Drake3287]

Agree, nothing wrong with sending letters, it's the exact marketing tool any good realtor does. On a positive note, I'm guessing you might be living here in California with me, if so just hang on, we're in for a market correction soon anyway. Many of my new neighbors that just bought homes like you mentioned are going to be under water in the future.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

yes. also get a new realtor. one that you think is working for your best interest.

[msomnipotent]

Either your realtor doesn't believe you are serious or she has customers with bigger pockets that take priority. Get a different one. If your market is hot right now, you might want to consider waiting a few months (or maybe a little longer) or looking in a different area. Summer is always hot and right before school starts is the hottest time of the year in my area. You could see how it goes in October.

I would feel weird if I received a personal note if my house wasn't on the market. I get the mass mailings a lot, but a personal one would make me feel like someone is stalking me. I would assume they have been driving past my house and googling my address and it just feels weird. But I have had 2 stalkers before, so I am a little sensitive about it. And what happens if someone bites and you don't like the interior? I would feel a little obligated at that point, but again, that's just me.

[disneysteve]

I would feel weird if I received a personal note if my house wasn't on the market. I get the mass mailings a lot, but a personal one would make me feel like someone is stalking me.

We've had people just ring the bell and ask if we were interested in selling the house, and that's when it was not for sale.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with reaching out to sellers directly.

[msomnipotent]

We've had people just ring the bell and ask if we were interested in selling the house, and that's when it was not for sale.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with reaching out to sellers directly.

That is just weird to me. Reaching out to sellers is one thing, but if the house isn't on the market, they are not sellers. If I'm not expecting you and you ring my bell, you had better be selling Girl Scout cookies or I'm going to be ticked off.

[snafu]

Starry, I'd send an e-mail to realtor, confirming you were no longer using her services, just so there was a paper trail. I don't know how much experience you've had in the 'offer process.' You can ask for anything you like. The seller can decline, this is true capitalism. You most certainly can call the seller's realtor to make an offer, fully understanding the 'lister' would get both commissions if a deal was completed. You would need to decide your initial offer plus conditions like 'inspection,' assessment, liens and the highest price + conditions before you make that call as you'll be pressured to increase to lender's top figure since commissions are all based on final sell price.

If you are seeking a home in need of updating, upgrading, repairs, you need to have developed a reasonable estimate of costs as every change has potential to turn into a money pit.

[Starry436]

We used this realtor to buy our first home a few years ago, since then she's come into big money with a builder on a big subdivision so we became little money very quickly. We didn't initially realize this or we would of went another direction. We've been looking at new realtors but wanted to see if we could try this letter scenario first.

It's interesting to hear that the majority don't see anything wrong with sending the letter from an individual stand point and not from a realtor.. I planned to make it kind of generic.. as in I didn't want to address their names specifically because that would seem a tad creepy that I looked up their names. I thought of something generic as in... dear homeowner, we think your home could be a great fit for us and would love to discuss further if you're interested in selling.

The market is unreal right now and as desperate as we are for a home, I'm still not willing to dramatically over pay and potentially be stuck underwater after putting 20% down. I've heard in other areas the markets started to shift to a buyers market, I wish that could happen where we are because our timing has been completely off from us selling our home.. We sold right before the market took off...of course.

[Thrif-t]

Not weird at all, in fact I know of a family that loved a century home and sent the address Christmas cards every year for 10 years telling them that if they ever wanted to sell their house they wanted it, guess what, last year they sold to that family,

There's a house that I like and I thought about doing that and then I noticed my kids pediatrician out in the yard one day. Drat, it must be way nicer on the inside than I thought. It's an older ranch in a nice established neighborhood but has a gorgeous addition on the back. Everything about it is just so nice. But I'm sure the good doctor will want more than I can afford :-(.

[disneysteve]

would it be weird if we personally sent out a letter to homes that we'd love to live in asking if they're looking to sell to please contact us?

I'm sorry. I totally misunderstood your question. I thought you meant reaching out to people who are selling their homes. NO, you shouldn't be randomly sending letters to owners of houses you like the looks of if the houses aren't currently on the market. First, that's weird. Second, the return on your effort is going to be incredibly small and likely zero. The odds of you just happening to connect with someone who is planning to sell their house but hasn't listed it yet and is willing to deal with you is incredibly low IMO.