Prospective 'letter drop' in area we want to buy
Discussion
Andehh said:
I'm a man who has been very very lucky in life, so i like those odds! 
As for you saying you would only respond to an Agent's letter over 'my' letter... the ONLY difference is that the headed paper from the Estate Agent would cost you almost £5000.
Sadly (for you) a good number of people receiving that letter won't trust it as much as they would a headed letter from an agency they've known in their town for as long as they've lived there and whose staff they may well know by name. (You might be surprised by how well known you can become even in busy towns). EA have a shoddy reputation, mostly well earnt, but there's still a latent distrust amongst the public of the public - perhaps especially in matters measured in several hundreds of thousands of pounds. Not to say there aren't individuals out there who'll believe the line that they'll be saving several thousands of pounds of course. Debatable in itself, I'd say.As for you saying you would only respond to an Agent's letter over 'my' letter... the ONLY difference is that the headed paper from the Estate Agent would cost you almost £5000.
Andehh said:
I can understand the safety net of people wanting to do everything the traditional way... but all an estate agent are is a middle man. they introduce us together, we then hand it over to solicitors and then job done.
I honestly beieve that everyone should work for a couple of months in a (good) agency to see what they actually do, what they actually have to contend with, the hours they work and the pay they receive. I'm sure most* people would begrudgingly admit they didn't realise how much effort can be put into keeping chains together or how irrationally the public (and other professionals) behave or how unrealistic peoples' expectations are or how narrow a perspective individuals have of the process in which they are only a small part, how complex the process is, how much people lie and mislead, how unreliable pretty much anyone is at any level, and so on. There's a documentary in there for Channel 4 somewhere, I'm sure. Many agents of course don't bother that much and allow someone else somewhere amongst the chain to do it for them and happily free ride on others' efforts. Dare I say it plenty of private sales act in this manner too. That's just how it is for those that put in the effort, mind. Part of the job. Decent agencies recognise the return on proactivity and would prefer to keep a higher proportion of deals together with additional costs associated to that approach rather than see a higher proportion of deals slip away.
Even my solicitor friends would agree that letting the solicitors get on with it on their own is as likely as not to end in stalemate having progressed through boredom, frustration, disappointment and mistrust amongst the parties concerned even in a chain of only two. Most* solicitors expect many other parties to be proactively getting on with things around them. Few would be prepared to walk their clients through the process and assist them in all the mindnumbing low level stuff required. They're too busy and don't think that's what they're there to do.
Andehh said:
Fair enough a good Estate Agent can help with passing details back & forth and chasing up...but nothing that will make/break the deal or nothing that either party is incapable of doing.
Maybe in a certain percentage of sales. Good for us. In the majority however I think that's a little simplistic. Buying and selling houses sadly isn't as simple an exercise as it sounds or we would want it to be. There can be an awful lot going on under the surface to keep the impression of the gliding swan on course. And an awful lot of prompting, cajoling, influencing, pleading, threatening, withholding, and white-lieing to keep up momentum. Only a small handful of transactions occur between individual homesellers and buyers where I think to myself they could have done that themselves relatively murder free.Still, all very off topic and not the best use of a morning off!
Try your letter and hopefully you'l get the ball rolling. Best of luck.
- calculated with a bit of experience and with my tongue in my cheek.
Good luck OP.
Just to counter some of the comments, I'd lob anything that an estate agent sent me straight in the bin without reading it but a personal letter would definitely get read.
Further to that, if I was looking to sell, I'd be intrigued enough to give you a call. If nothing else it sounds like it might be quite an adventure and 'different' enough that it would attract my interest.
I think the key is that its well-written and that you sound reasonably well-educated as I think that's a massive yardstick for weeding out 'scammy' letters. Illiteracy is worse than fraud, probably
Just to counter some of the comments, I'd lob anything that an estate agent sent me straight in the bin without reading it but a personal letter would definitely get read.
Further to that, if I was looking to sell, I'd be intrigued enough to give you a call. If nothing else it sounds like it might be quite an adventure and 'different' enough that it would attract my interest.
I think the key is that its well-written and that you sound reasonably well-educated as I think that's a massive yardstick for weeding out 'scammy' letters. Illiteracy is worse than fraud, probably
scenario8 said:
Andehh said:
As for you saying you would only respond to an Agent's letter over 'my' letter... the ONLY difference is that the headed paper from the Estate Agent would cost you almost £5000.
Not to say there aren't individuals out there who'll believe the line that they'll be saving several thousands of pounds of course. Debatable in itself, I'd say. Andehh said:
Fair enough, cant argue with that and that's why I came to Pistonheads to try and de-scam the letter as best I can! We will wait and see, and worse case scenario is I fall back on waiting for the Estate Agents to do their job.
As I said on a previous post though, whether I hear anything back form these letters also educates me as to the potential for houses to come up in the future from that area. If there are people in that area thinking of selling soon they would probably drop me an e-mail just to ask me more about what I am playing at. If 100% of letters go in the bin then I learn that it is unlikely that any of them will be moving on & selling up anytime soon and I know I may need to compromise on the exact requirements we have for our next house!
That won't tell you that though.As I said on a previous post though, whether I hear anything back form these letters also educates me as to the potential for houses to come up in the future from that area. If there are people in that area thinking of selling soon they would probably drop me an e-mail just to ask me more about what I am playing at. If 100% of letters go in the bin then I learn that it is unlikely that any of them will be moving on & selling up anytime soon and I know I may need to compromise on the exact requirements we have for our next house!
Edited by Andehh on Friday 1st March 11:41
Please take this the right way - I've been copywriting and sending direct mail for the last decade.
If someone doesn't reply, it does not mean that they do not want whatever you are offering - so it wouldn't give you that information. It just means that they didn't respond to your letter. Believe it or not, the effectiveness of the letter is much more important in terms of getting a response rather that what it is you are offering.
If you really want to do this, here's a tip:
Buy a pack of yellow post-it notes. Handwrite something on it. This psychologically then adds 'reality' that you are a real person to the reader. If you add 'thanks' in the text, that's even better.
So, if it were me I'd leave my mobile number out of the letter, and handwrite a post-it note and stick it to each one:
"My mobile number: 07736123456, Thanks! Andy."
If I had to put a number on it, you might be getting 5-10 times the response with that added or more.
Condi said:
Would it be rude to push one of these through the house opposite?? Old lady has died and the house has been boarded up for a month or 2. Would make a nice little home for someone, me.
We're currently renovating my girlfriend's granddad's house and have had quite a few "can we buy your house" notes thought the door and plenty of fliers from estate agents.Not read through all of this but I would do this through an estate agent.
I was in a similar boat and considered doing it directly, but most people will think it's a scam or ignore it.
Doing it through an EA makes it professional, etc.
If someone posted that through your door and you were interested in selling, would you respond? I wouldn't.
I was in a similar boat and considered doing it directly, but most people will think it's a scam or ignore it.
Doing it through an EA makes it professional, etc.
If someone posted that through your door and you were interested in selling, would you respond? I wouldn't.
I have been thinking of doing exactly the same thing, and am fortunate to be in a similiar financial position to you also.
I've spent over a year looking for the right house. When the right house comes up, the agent seems to have a list of favourites, which we have somehow not fallen into, so by the time we find out about it, it's already under offer. This is despite calling and visiting agents fairly often, i'm actually starting to wonder if there are professional buyers who get in with the agents, leaving us out of the loop.
My letter is phrased much like yours, just letting the weather warm up to take the walk(luckily I live locally to where we want to be), but I don't expect much response.
The hint of the hand writing on post it note may work well. The area that I grew up in was very sought after, and I remember getting these sorts of flyers often, but the one that stood out was a very personal, hand written note which was quite obviously genuine. Unfortunately at the time there was no intention to sell, but had there been an inkling, we would have definately called.
Also I was talking to a chap who had recently bought a place, by knocking door to door at houses that he fancied. It just so happened that he struck lucky and got the house he wanted at a decent price.
You never know, and if a mornings work turns into a bit of a cash saving, and the home of your dreams, who cares.
Good luck OP and please keep us posted.
I've spent over a year looking for the right house. When the right house comes up, the agent seems to have a list of favourites, which we have somehow not fallen into, so by the time we find out about it, it's already under offer. This is despite calling and visiting agents fairly often, i'm actually starting to wonder if there are professional buyers who get in with the agents, leaving us out of the loop.
My letter is phrased much like yours, just letting the weather warm up to take the walk(luckily I live locally to where we want to be), but I don't expect much response.
The hint of the hand writing on post it note may work well. The area that I grew up in was very sought after, and I remember getting these sorts of flyers often, but the one that stood out was a very personal, hand written note which was quite obviously genuine. Unfortunately at the time there was no intention to sell, but had there been an inkling, we would have definately called.
Also I was talking to a chap who had recently bought a place, by knocking door to door at houses that he fancied. It just so happened that he struck lucky and got the house he wanted at a decent price.
You never know, and if a mornings work turns into a bit of a cash saving, and the home of your dreams, who cares.
Good luck OP and please keep us posted.
It sounds like you are looking on a fairly modern estate in Banbury.
Bear in mind that a lot of Hanwell fields, Alma road & the old cattle market etc is rented, so the owners will never see your letter.
You'd probably have as good a strike rate if you just posted on here what you are looking for!
Pete (a landlord in Banbury)
Bear in mind that a lot of Hanwell fields, Alma road & the old cattle market etc is rented, so the owners will never see your letter.
You'd probably have as good a strike rate if you just posted on here what you are looking for!
Pete (a landlord in Banbury)
JustinP1 said:
Buy a pack of yellow post-it notes. Handwrite something on it. This psychologically then adds 'reality' that you are a real person to the reader. If you add 'thanks' in the text, that's even better.
So, if it were me I'd leave my mobile number out of the letter, and handwrite a post-it note and stick it to each .
Great tip! I can imagine how that would make a difference. I don't know if I'll ever get to use it, but it's nice to have. Thank youSo, if it were me I'd leave my mobile number out of the letter, and handwrite a post-it note and stick it to each .
No luck so far. Only 30 odd houses so was never getting my hopes up, but would definitely have been nice avoiding the Estate Agents!
As for what we are after.... the seemingly rare, unique and virtually non existent package that is a 4 bed detached, with a double garage within Banbury/few miles of it!
(there are a few up for sale in Brackley, but seeing as the High Speed 2 rail route runs worryingly close to it, and they have a chicken plucking factory there we have discounted it!)
As for what we are after.... the seemingly rare, unique and virtually non existent package that is a 4 bed detached, with a double garage within Banbury/few miles of it!
(there are a few up for sale in Brackley, but seeing as the High Speed 2 rail route runs worryingly close to it, and they have a chicken plucking factory there we have discounted it!)
Andehh said:
No luck so far. Only 30 odd houses so was never getting my hopes up, but would definitely have been nice avoiding the Estate Agents!
As for what we are after.... the seemingly rare, unique and virtually non existent package that is a 4 bed detached, with a double garage within Banbury/few miles of it!
(there are a few up for sale in Brackley, but seeing as the High Speed 2 rail route runs worryingly close to it, and they have a chicken plucking factory there we have discounted it!)
Did you do the post it notes? As for what we are after.... the seemingly rare, unique and virtually non existent package that is a 4 bed detached, with a double garage within Banbury/few miles of it!
(there are a few up for sale in Brackley, but seeing as the High Speed 2 rail route runs worryingly close to it, and they have a chicken plucking factory there we have discounted it!)
Fraid not, only read the replies after I had got back!
Either way, these are all acts of frustration after missing the house that was for sale in the area. Sadly, had that house been found a couple of months/several weeks into our search once we had looked around several other properties I am in no doubt we would have paid asking for it just because of the lack of anything close to it!
Still cant believe my luck, 7 months on the market at that price (a year on the market in total) and it sells the week after our first trip to the house/area!
Either way, these are all acts of frustration after missing the house that was for sale in the area. Sadly, had that house been found a couple of months/several weeks into our search once we had looked around several other properties I am in no doubt we would have paid asking for it just because of the lack of anything close to it!
Still cant believe my luck, 7 months on the market at that price (a year on the market in total) and it sells the week after our first trip to the house/area!
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