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Yes, I've thought of doing that. Wasn't sure it would be something anyone would bite on or not. Wonder if it would be better coming from my realtor versus just me?
I have done this, but got zero responses. I'd suggest having an agent or a lawyer send the letters.
Not so much. There's more available for sale in the 5-10 acre range but getting beyond that, it's usually few and far between that comes up for sale with more acreage but there's not a lack of those type of properties based on county property maps. They simply do not come up for sale very often. If it weren't for the waterfront component, it would be easier but I know my husband has his heart set on water (quite an avid fisherman). In the two years we've looked, we've put offers in on two properties. One we were outbid on early in our searching (learned a lesson on that one!) and the other was an estate sale where the children couldn't agree to sell or not.
Our agent claims that property has been slow to come on the market in the past couple of years because people were holding out until the market got better. Well, it has improved - dramatically - and I can only hope that means more properties come up for sale come spring at least. Funny enough, before we were ready to buy, there were plenty of these types of properties for sale at about half what we're willing to pay now. Apparently, my timing sucks.
No one has told us our price range is unrealistic for what we want, so that's good news at least. I'm certainly willing to compromise and am not too picky about the house. We're definitely more interested in the land itself and can work with just about any structure that may or may not be on the property. I'm going to ask my agent about the possibility of sending out letters to people. Perhaps we'll get at least a bite from that.
You can research the names of the home owners, price paid and date and a host of other information through the online County Tax Assessor's Office. You can then send a letter or other to those people stating your case and interest; perhaps, "Would you like to save $65,000 on the upcoming sale of your house?" --- etc. -- Nothing to lose, but, a little postage and time.
Be careful with your wording. If I got a letter from someone that said the above, I would freak out, thinking someone was advertising my house for sale as a scam (this happens all the time). I'd be looking for a phone number to call you immediately to find out where you saw my house advertised for sale. Upon finding out it wasn't, I'd be too irritated with you to discuss a sale, even if I was interested in selling.
My second thought about the above wording is that it sounds like one of those "we buy ugly houses" scams, and if I didn't totally freak out, I'd just throw it away as a scam.
Also, if I got a letter from an attorney, I think I would respond the same way. It would stress me out to the point that I wouldn't be amenable to opening a discussion.
I work in a real estate/property management office and have for 14 years, so I'm not paranoid, I've just seen so many scams over the years that I'm perhaps a little hypersensitive about this sort of thing.
So personally, I would be most open to a letter from an individual or agent that said something along the lines of "I am interested in buying a house that {describe what you love about the house/setting/whatever here}. If you are interested in selling, please contact me and let's see if we can work something out and everyone can save some money. If you aren't interested in selling now, please hold on to my name and let me know if you decide to sell in the future" type of thing.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We bought our current home when it was not on the market. Our realtor knocked on the door and said he had a buyer interested and when his wife came home they discussed it and decided to sell. We had not found anything as big and had our old house sold so we were getting desperate, and this house was perfect. I would not suggest doing it yourself, you could come off as a burglar casing the joint or some other kind of scammer. A realtor with a business card will be more accepted as legitimate. While some may use this tactic to get new listings, having the actual potential buyer in the car lends credibility.
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