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We had something kind of similar happen. I had posted on Zillow "Make me move" but forgot all about it. Nearly a year later, I got a random email asking if we were still interested in selling. We really weren't, but decided to have them over to see the house. They emailed an offer that night. Long story short, we did a private sale and everyone is happy.
You would need to go and research the market value of the home, then offer that, plus maybe a wee bit over to encourage a positive response, even if that response is a polite "no, we are not interested in selling."
Just out of curiosity, what part of the Triangle is this home located in? Knowing where you are looking might give us some idea of how likely a random person living there might be to want to sell.
If there's a specific subdivision, that's even more helpful.
Example: You are looking to buy a home in a neighborhood where houses sell very quickly, and the owners just bought the house last year... you are probably going to be unsuccessful unless you come to them with a VERY good offer. Way over market.
Example: You are looking to buy a home in a neighborhood where homes are slow to sell, there are a good many on the market that you don't really want to buy in that neighborhood, and the population who live there are aging out (kids out of the nest, lots of owners downsizing or relocating due to retirement) and the owners have had the house for the past 10 or 15 years? You might have better luck because you are more likely to be approaching a couple that are thinking of maybe selling sometime soon.
That's a very popular subdivision and it enjoys a pretty good resale market.
If there is something materially special about the house, you will need to consider that.
As in, if you like it because you just like it from a curb appeal perspective, that's one thing. If you like it because it has some feature of construction (say, a basement where there are no other basement homes on the market or a larger lot), you need to approach a seller offering them more than you might really think the house is worth if the CMA shows the home is worth an amount higher than you thought you'd have to pay.
I'm not sure if this tracks because you'd need to know the local market to know what I'm talking about here, and I'm not sure if you're from around here or if you even live near here yet.
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Okay... I'm even more perplexed now because I've looked for larger lots (.3 acres or more, which is large for that area) and I've looked for basements, and for 3+ car garages, and for 5 or more bedrooms.
I can find all that for sale in Bedford. I'm so curious as to what this particular house has now.
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27 show as active in MLS right now. But, perhaps the particulars of the OPs wish list are harder to come by. Have you many must-haves, OP?
You know, I have a friend who lives in Bedford/Falls River (has owned 3 houses there) and she did live in a house in Falls River at one point that had NO other house like it, from a house plus lot perspective. They even had a little footbridge across the tiny stream that meandered through her yard and they had a huge front porch.
They moved further in, into Bedford, for the schools. I wonder if this is a schools thing for the OP?
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Pretty much what's been said here already, except the one idea that I have not seen raised is that if you randomly approach with interest to buy in a hot market like this (in a highly desirable area of Raleigh like that), you can expect to most likely be quoted a premium price. That may not be such a bad thing in itself, because maybe it's worth it to you for whatever reason, but the bank appraisal may not care about or see the added value (to you) over comps, and if it doesn't appraise high enough they could deny your loan. If you have the cash to make up the difference then it "could work", but there's no guarantee it will work just because both sides agree and are willing.
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