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Very legit letter, especially if you're in a market with very low inventory. Some buyers focus on one neighborhood and will not buy anything not in that one neighborhood. If there isn't anything marketed for sale, we have to try to create a sale of someone who hadn't really thought about selling, but now are thinking about it because they know someone would want their home.
Why does the letter bother you so much? Do you get just as upset when an insurance company tries to solicit you to change carriers?
What's the big deal? Call the agent and ask: How much? If they give you a nice number, just say thanks, i'll get back to you. If it's a BS offer, tell them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
It is not necessarily junk mail. It may be quite sincere, since one never knows for sure unless one asks.
With very low inventory in this area, I have a client who has targeted a few neighborhoods.
I am contemplating similar marketing. It is very time consuming, with a very low chance of success, but I am considering it.
But, since you have no interest in selling, I agree with others. Just toss it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest
Very legit letter, especially if you're in a market with very low inventory. Some buyers focus on one neighborhood and will not buy anything not in that one neighborhood. If there isn't anything marketed for sale, we have to try to create a sale of someone who hadn't really thought about selling, but now are thinking about it because they know someone would want their home.
Why does the letter bother you so much? Do you get just as upset when an insurance company tries to solicit you to change carriers?
I've sent out the same kind of letter quite a number of times. Sometimes, it's more targeted and it's legitimately because I have a client who loves your specific house and sometimes it's more that I'm casting a wide net because there is not much on the market so your house may or may not be right for my client. If you express interest in selling but your house isn't right for my client, then I'm going to do my best to try and get that listing.
Regardless, I highly doubt there is someone sitting in a car across the street watching your house with binoculars because they love the house SO much.
It's not junk mail. It's phishing mail. If it's seller market, low inventory, and desired area, developers or investors simply phish for properties to acquire, and flip.
We sent a letter like this to a neighbor one property over west from ours. As in - our realtor did. And we'll send one to the immediate neighbor west of us. We are likely to buy him out.
I recently received a letter from a local R.E. agent from a national realty company. The agent states he has a client who wants to purchase my home, all cash with a short closing. The letter says to contact him directly to commence the process.
Foremost, I am not interested in selling. Maybe this is a R.E. tactic to prey on new home buyers who realize they can't afford the mortgage payments or have buyer's remorse. The "all cash" offer is probably way below market value.
Normally I'd toss a letter like this but,
1. The letter was hand addressed to me. It wasn't bot-generated and or computer printed like the other solicitations I've received. The envelope's writing matches the agent's signature on the letter.
2. Maybe the R.E.A.'s client had viewed the property during open house last summer. But the client missed out on writing an offer by the time I had a signed contract to buy it. In that case I would like to inform the agent/client to move on to another property.
3. It feels weird that some client and realtor could be obsessing over my home. I'd rather not have them knocking or stalking me out front.
I will have no problem ignoring the letter if this is a common R.E.A. solicitation to new buyers. If it's legit, I am wondering how to handle it: Should I send a brief e-mail to the R.E.A. saying thanks but I'm not interested in selling? Or just ignore the letter anyway?
It's becoming a common tactic, especially if you live in a desirable neighborhood. The agent probably does have clients who are interested in that neighborhood (or may not, to be honest), and this is one way of getting in touch with everyone (since they probably don't have your email address).
Don't obsess on it. They didn't pick you out, specifically. Ask your neighbors and I'm sure they will tell you that they got the same letter. They hand addressed it because -- hey, people OPEN hand-addressed letters (like you did :-) )
Just ignore it. The agent may come knocking on your door, too. Think of it this way -- if you were buying a house, this is the kind of agent you'd want: proactive, hustling and digging for a house in the neighborhood you wanted. If they were on top of things, they would have pulled the sale dates in the neighborhood and not bothered anyone there less than a year. But then again -- things change (transfers, deaths in family, divorce, etc.) You just never know.
"It wasn't bot-generated and or computer printed like the other solicitations I've received. The envelope's writing matches the agent's signature on the letter."
Still could be computer generated.
I got one and thought: hand written.
A week later got another with the exact same writing.
A closer examination revealed the truth.
Last year I sent out five letters like that on behalf of buyers that were all legitimate. As others have stated, inventory is really low in some neighborhoods and some people have them targeted as their new neighborhood.
I don't typically target a specific house though. I pull title records for non-recent sales that match my clients basic criteria and then I spell out in my letter anything more specific like an updated kitchen. I did many showings of homes this way last year and got one sale for my buyer that way, almost had two.
Sometimes it is a way to try and get you to call so they can try and list your property, but you just won't know until you call. I had a lot of people call and say their house wasn't for sale. I didn't take it personally. I was just trying to help my buyer get a house they wanted.
"It wasn't bot-generated and or computer printed like the other solicitations I've received. The envelope's writing matches the agent's signature on the letter."
Still could be computer generated.
I got one and thought: hand written.
A week later got another with the exact same writing.
A closer examination revealed the truth.
I love those fonts. Some of them are pretty convincing.
Personally, I have a scanned image of my actual signature that I import into my letters. It helps make it look personal without wearing out my hand signing a few hundred letters. I went the extra mile and used blue ink when I scanned it to make it look even more convincing.
Call the agent and ask: How much? If they give you a nice number, just say thanks, i'll get back to you.
I'd press for a written contract offer. I suspect that's when I'd get the run around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest
Why does the letter bother you so much? Do you get just as upset when an insurance company tries to solicit you to change carriers?
Like dblackga mentioned, the envelope's handwriting adds such a personal touch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePRU
Personally, I have a scanned image of my actual signature that I import into my letters. It helps make it look personal without wearing out my hand signing a few hundred letters. I went the extra mile and used blue ink when I scanned it to make it look even more convincing.
I've seen exactly this ^ in other solicitations. My correspondence's handwriting, however, has a slight groove of using a ball point pen. Even the return address is handwritten rather than using a preprinted company envelope.
I will ignore this letter. The R.E.A.'s client apparently wants a very short closing on my specific home. Using snail mail doesn't show me that is the case. It wasn't sent priority mail or registered mail. For all the R.E.A. knows, the letter could have been lost. Or I could be spending the winter in south Florida or abroad. The client is probably pursuing other properties too. Ignoring the letter seems fine.
Call the agent and speak with them. If it sounds like a fourteen year old, you'll get your answer pretty quickly.
If the person sounds like a competent adult, and explains the 'story' behind the letter (presumably someone who saw the house and just can't live without it, let's say) double your purchase price and throw it back at them. There just might be some sugar daddy t o whom the money doesn't matter, and you will make yourself a tidy sum.
The chances of this being the case are millions to one, but hey, you never know. In that one instance you can make a tidy sum in a short period of time and you move to another place which suits your fancy and you bank the difference.....after taxes.
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