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Thanks everyone for your helpful advice and sharing from experience. I've been doing my best to keep mind and heart open to another house and location in the area, now have looked about about 10 places and nothing inspires. Wish we could offer double to new owner, but unless there is a big $$ windfall coming our direction, not a possibility! I somehow keep hope alive, without consciously cultivating it.
best to everyone on their searches! And if you hear of a quick turnaround story that would inspire, do share!
athena
the best you can do then is try to find out more about the new owner, and see if there's a chance they move around a lot. If it applies, then you could let them know you'd be happy to make it an easy sale for them.
I do see numerous times (though still < 1% of all sales) where the new owners are moving for a job transfer after less than a year. Most often, this is someone who moved to town, rented for a year, took their time after that, and then after 2 years in town, the employer transfers them.
Well, how does one go about talking with the owner about potential future scenarios? Do you just knock on the door (address is an unknown PO Box) - and risk looking like a stalker, or worse? Previous experience shared is appreciated!
Any attempt to contact the new owners would be perceived as stalkerish because it is stalkerish. Lol. I know the Bay Area is a tight, tight market (especially if you're particular).
I have a couple of houses that were "the one that got away" that I still loosely keep an eye on, even years later. But you've just got to keep looking - the right house will come to you at the right time.
I just want to be sure of the best way to know if this is inching toward being on the market again. I don't know how to do that any better than letting the owner know of my interest, even agents can be bypassed or overlooked if the seller goes with someone new or....
Maybe others can share from their previous actual experience here? Has anyone actually reached out to a current owner about their house and a desire to be informed should their housing plans shift?
what confuses me is that you keep referring to a PO Box, when certainly there's a physical address to the house that you know. I mean, you've been inside it yourself, right?
what confuses me is that you keep referring to a PO Box, when certainly there's a physical address to the house that you know. I mean, you've been inside it yourself, right?
yes, but that doesn't make mail delivery to the house an option if sending correspondence. All homes in the neighborhood use a PO Box.
Well, how does one go about talking with the owner about potential future scenarios? Do you just knock on the door (address is an unknown PO Box) - and risk looking like a stalker, or worse? Previous experience shared is appreciated!
athena
I had my agent arrange a meeting and later followed up with a thank you letter and was invited to drop by and see what they were doing...
The place was perfect for me but the wife had just got her dream kitchen last year and only way she would agree to move was if it was replicated in the new place... heard that was over 50k...
I often wonder if 15 or 20 years I will hear or the place will be again for sale if I would still want it???
I had my agent arrange a meeting and later followed up with a thank you letter and was invited to drop by and see what they were doing...
The place was perfect for me but the wife had just got her dream kitchen last year and only way she would agree to move was if it was replicated in the new place... heard that was over 50k...
I often wonder if 15 or 20 years I will hear or the place will be again for sale if I would still want it???
Ultrarunner, really? Did you actually make an offer on this house that didn't get picked up so the house went to someone else, and then arranged a meeting with the new owners after they moved in? I am very curious about the timeline on this. What was the reason the new owners agreed to come by and meet? Did you tell them (via agent) that you were interested in the house should they decide to move, even though they just bought? What was their response to that? How long ago was that?
I have friends that are avid surfers and divers... there are other places but living in Santa Cruz and Monterey is their heaven...
Others are every weekend skiing...
I learned to sail and the SF Bay Area is a great place to sail and to learn how to sail.
The University system here draws from around the globe... when you think of patents... California is definitely at the top of the list...
There are few places that offer as much as the Greater SF Bay Area and there in lies the problem of demand outpacing supply...
Another attribute not often spoken about is the diversity of cultures which is a huge draw for some... and this is not new... our neighbors came here decades ago from Indiana.... they had both been divorced and were looking to start a new life... California was all that and more...
I get that. I was mainly raised in Santa Monica, CA. I love the beach and love my home town. Would I live there now? No.
You could say someplace like Houston has the same lifestyle (minus skiing). A quick drive to Galveston and you have beach activity, surfing, sailing, and what not. World class health care, universities, and Texas is a no income tax state. Multi cultural - Yeah, just about everything lines up with your post and the cost of living is within means. Traffic can be hectic but not as bad as the LA area.
Cousins in Portland, Oregon say they have the beach and the mountains to do all sports. Again, it's about researching and finding what you want.
Ultrarunner, really? Did you actually make an offer on this house that didn't get picked up so the house went to someone else, and then arranged a meeting with the new owners after they moved in? I am very curious about the timeline on this. What was the reason the new owners agreed to come by and meet? Did you tell them (via agent) that you were interested in the house should they decide to move, even though they just bought? What was their response to that? How long ago was that?
Thanks for sharing your story,
athena
My agent let me know a home I should look at had just come on the market and sent a link... the link was for the wrong property... so I lost a couple of days.
Once I had the right address I did a drive by and couldn't believe it was a property I had admired for some time... contacted my agent and said I am very interested... he was at a wedding... the day he returned my offer was submitted a full price non contingent except for a survey paid for by me...
That same morning the seller had just accepted a contingent offer for 100k less than the listing price!
The Broker and Seller naturally wanted my offer as it was more money and not contingent on loan approval... for 59 days I was back-up and twice got the call it was a go as the buyer was out of contract...
During the 59 days I had my agent set up a meeting with the buyer and I offered 100k to the buyer to take over the contract... we sat down and talked about it... learned the buyer was not even in the market until is Real Estate friend cold called him and said if you see this property you will buy it...
The buyer got back to me and said he would walk for $300k as his wife really didn't want to move from their home in Alamo anyway... $300k was just beyond my ability but looking back now it would have been well worth it...
The buyer is a retired contractor and quite happy where he was... but when he saw the property he said he couldn't come close to duplicated it for the money not to mention it was turn key...
I have kept in touch and even got a tour as they were tearing out the 12 year old kitchen and every stitch of carpet going all hardwood throughout....
5 acres pastoral acres with a 3600 square foot home and 3600 square foot shop it was my dream property...
It's been 6 years and nothing has come close... even looking at property many times more expensive...
There could come a day when I do get a phone call but the reality is if that comes in 10 or 15 years things will have changed.
I know the range of emotions you are feeling... wish I could say it will go away but 6 years later I still think what if.
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