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Old 05-23-2017, 01:03 PM
 
3,657 posts, read 3,275,304 times
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Since some of you have been so helpful on my last thread, I have another question for realtors.

A home has been in the MLS listings. The home doesn't sell, it is off the market. A year or two goes buy, and the situation hasn't changed. Same owners, and it isn't for sale.

Have any of you realtors been contacted by a buyer asking you to approach a home that was no longer on the market or never was to see if the owner(s) would be interested in selling? If you have done this, what is most effective? Do you knock on their door and show them an actual sales contract or something else, like a letter of intent to purchase?
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL (Mandarin)
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I wouldn't do this for a buyer unless they had already signed a buyer representation agreement with me, which would include compensation.
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:33 PM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
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Yes we have done this! Not uncommon at all :-)

We contacted the owner and let him know we have a buyer who is interested in the property, negotiated price and terms, and we are currently handling all the paperwork for the transaction.
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Old 05-23-2017, 02:45 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EricBoyd View Post
I wouldn't do this for a buyer unless they had already signed a buyer representation agreement with me, which would include compensation.
Are you referring to some additional compensation above the regular commission a buyer's realtor would get for doing this?
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Old 05-23-2017, 02:52 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook View Post
Yes we have done this! Not uncommon at all :-)

We contacted the owner and let him know we have a buyer who is interested in the property, negotiated price and terms, and we are currently handling all the paperwork for the transaction.
Did you contact them by knocking on their door? Sending them a letter? I ask, because sometimes I've heard from my neighbors that many get the same letter from someone (I assume a realtor, or perhaps it is a developer) who is interested in buying their home.

What do you do, so the home owner doesn't think this is simply a way to get their listing, and you actually have a real buyer who is interested. Do you disclose the prospect buyer's name? Do you say the buyer asked you to make contact with them?

As a home owner, if a realtor knocked on my door and a sales contract or something (letter of intent?) from someone, I would take it seriously. I understand the sales have tons of contingencies. The first thing I'd want to do is be able to walk through the home especially if I've never been inside of it. But even if I had, it might have been years and they could have done anything from put in a strange decor to have fully upgraded the kitchens and bathrooms.

From your experience, or any other realtors here, how often does the sale end up closing in this situation?
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Old 05-23-2017, 03:52 PM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,416 posts, read 11,959,919 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eastcoastguyz View Post
Did you contact them by knocking on their door? Sending them a letter? I ask, because sometimes I've heard from my neighbors that many get the same letter from someone (I assume a realtor, or perhaps it is a developer) who is interested in buying their home.

What do you do, so the home owner doesn't think this is simply a way to get their listing, and you actually have a real buyer who is interested. Do you disclose the prospect buyer's name? Do you say the buyer asked you to make contact with them?

As a home owner, if a realtor knocked on my door and a sales contract or something (letter of intent?) from someone, I would take it seriously. I understand the sales have tons of contingencies. The first thing I'd want to do is be able to walk through the home especially if I've never been inside of it. But even if I had, it might have been years and they could have done anything from put in a strange decor to have fully upgraded the kitchens and bathrooms.

From your experience, or any other realtors here, how often does the sale end up closing in this situation?
In my case, I got his contact info from an expired listing that had run last year without sale. I called on the phone because he lived out of state. I called and introduced myself as a realtor who had been contacted by a client who wanted to know about his property. I asked first if we could go walk it. There's a locked gate on it, but could we climb it? It's a large parcel, over 80 acres, with a couple of now-cleared off old home sites with septics, a well, and a large barn. Vacant property. He said yes.

I don't know if there is a normal sequence of such events, but I had several more phone calls with the owner, discussing various aspects of the property, including one conference call with my buyer, before we settled all the terms and wrote it up. It is a complex contract, with sale contingencies, hay leases, and a private contract with a two year buyout. It hasn't closed yet, but I expect it will... both sides want it to work.



You do bring up a good point, about false promises of phantom buyers being a common sales tactic for cold calling and door knocking campaigns by agents. I don't like the practice, and this deal may well have worked ONLY because he was out of the normal neighborhoods where agents usually focus such efforts. I said I might have a buyer for his property and he believed me. I really did!

Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 05-23-2017 at 04:03 PM..
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Old 05-23-2017, 04:02 PM
 
Location: Austin
7,244 posts, read 21,757,022 times
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I've done this. When I've sent letters, they've always gone unanswered. I've knocked on doors, and it's freaked people out. What I learned is to go back to the agent who had it listed and have them make contact. SOLD each time I got the previous agent back involved.
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Old 05-23-2017, 09:02 PM
 
3,657 posts, read 3,275,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook View Post
In my case, I got his contact info from an expired listing that had run last year without sale. I called on the phone because he lived out of state. I called and introduced myself as a realtor who had been contacted by a client who wanted to know about his property. I asked first if we could go walk it. There's a locked gate on it, but could we climb it? It's a large parcel, over 80 acres, with a couple of now-cleared off old home sites with septics, a well, and a large barn. Vacant property. He said yes.

I don't know if there is a normal sequence of such events, but I had several more phone calls with the owner, discussing various aspects of the property, including one conference call with my buyer, before we settled all the terms and wrote it up. It is a complex contract, with sale contingencies, hay leases, and a private contract with a two year buyout. It hasn't closed yet, but I expect it will... both sides want it to work.



You do bring up a good point, about false promises of phantom buyers being a common sales tactic for cold calling and door knocking campaigns by agents. I don't like the practice, and this deal may well have worked ONLY because he was out of the normal neighborhoods where agents usually focus such efforts. I said I might have a buyer for his property and he believed me. I really did!
In this situation, did you also list the property in the MLS? Or as a realtor, you can do the property sale working with these two parties without it being listed publicly?
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Old 05-23-2017, 09:13 PM
 
3,657 posts, read 3,275,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest View Post
I've done this. When I've sent letters, they've always gone unanswered. I've knocked on doors, and it's freaked people out. What I learned is to go back to the agent who had it listed and have them make contact. SOLD each time I got the previous agent back involved.
That's a good approach!
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Old 05-24-2017, 06:40 AM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL (Mandarin)
2,560 posts, read 6,482,238 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eastcoastguyz View Post
Are you referring to some additional compensation above the regular commission a buyer's realtor would get for doing this?
If a seller doesn't want to pay my fee, but the buyer still wants representation on the purchase of the seller's property, then the buyer would pay my fee. If the seller pays the fee, or a portion thereof, then the buyer's obligated amount is reduced accordingly. It's addressed in the buyer representation agreement.
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