It's really hard to find a house in Hinsdale! (Clarendon Hills: real estate, houses)

[geminimagk]

Even with our budget ($1.2M), it's impossible to find something we love. We don't have very strict criteria, but do need 5 bedrooms (it's OK if there's one in the basement). We're open to Clarendon Hills as well, we just want D181. Most of the really nice houses are gone within 10 days!

[JJski]

You will find the same case in western springs and la grange - these 4 ultra desirable towns are on fire right now... Good luck!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by JJski

You will find the same case in western springs and la grange - these 4 ultra desirable towns are on fire right now... Good luck!

I tried to buy multiple houses in these towns, but any time something seemed reasonably-priced there was a bidding war. We had to expand our search area to get something we wanted... And this was three years ago in a colder housing market.

[geminimagk]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I tried to buy multiple houses in these towns, but any time something seemed reasonably-priced there was a bidding war. We had to expand our search area to get something we wanted... And this was three years ago in a colder housing market.

Yikes! I'm feeling quite discouraged. Doesn't help that I'm relocating from out of state and don't have much time to make a decision.

[JJski]

We relocated from out of state 2.5 years ago - yes challenging is putting it nicely...

[Daze55]

If you find a house you like, I would suggest writing a letter to the sellers. This simple task seems like it wouldn't work, but being a real estate agent myself, sellers who are emotionally attached to their homes are more emotionally inclined to sell their home to a family who would continue to upkeep their former home as well as they did than the higher offer from, for example, an investor who wouldn't care about the house as much as you might. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[geminimagk]

Originally Posted by Daze55

If you find a house you like, I would suggest writing a letter to the sellers. This simple task seems like it wouldn't work, but being a real estate agent myself, sellers who are emotionally attached to their homes are more emotionally inclined to sell their home to a family who would continue to upkeep their former home as well as they did than the higher offer from, for example, an investor who wouldn't care about the house as much as you might. Hope this helps, and good luck!

What a nice idea!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Daze55

If you find a house you like, I would suggest writing a letter to the sellers. This simple task seems like it wouldn't work, but being a real estate agent myself, sellers who are emotionally attached to their homes are more emotionally inclined to sell their home to a family who would continue to upkeep their former home as well as they did than the higher offer from, for example, an investor who wouldn't care about the house as much as you might. Hope this helps, and good luck!

The success of "heartfelt letters to the sellers" is generally a function of how poorly the house compares to marketleading units -- sellers with five bedroom homes over $1M include some folks that have not lifted a finger since they retired a decade or so ago, but far more sellers in that category are in their prime and have staged their own to attract buyers that will happily pay what the market demands...

If the OP was competing for 3br teardowns against builders at a lower price point their success with appealing to emotion might be different...

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The success of "heartfelt letters to the sellers" is generally a function of how poorly the house compares to marketleading units -- sellers with five bedroom homes over $1M include some folks that have not lifted a finger since they retired a decade or so ago, but far more sellers in that category are in their prime and have staged their own to attract buyers that will happily pay what the market demands...

If the OP was competing for 3br teardowns against builders at a lower price point their success with appealing to emotion might be different...

Of course my idea was merely a suggestion and may not be particularly effective, but what trouble does it cause to try to tug at the sellers' emotional attachment to their house? Although most buyers in that price point will be owner-occupants, it always helps to attach a face to your offer. Of course this won't work with a new construction, flip, etc. While it may or may not help you to get the house, I feel that it is worth a shot. Especially if there are multiple offers on the house all at the same price. I personally would much rather sell my home to buyers who loved my home enough to send a personal letter to me, as long as the offer isn't ridiculously low of course.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Daze55

Of course my idea was merely a suggestion and may not be particularly effective, but what trouble does it cause to try to tug at the sellers' emotional attachment to their house? Although most buyers in that price point will be owner-occupants, it always helps to attach a face to your offer. Of course this won't work with a new construction, flip, etc. While it may or may not help you to get the house, I feel that it is worth a shot. Especially if there are multiple offers on the house all at the same price. I personally would much rather sell my home to buyers who loved my home enough to send a personal letter to me, as long as the offer isn't ridiculously low of course.

The house I currently live in went in to a bidding war within a couple days of being listed. It wasn't the first time that this happened to us, so we were better prepared this time around. Eventually the seller's realtor narrowed it down to the three highest offers, and our realtor wrote one of these "heartfelt letters" on our behalf, mentioning that we were a nice family who would cherish the house, or something to that effect. I'm not sure if it worked or not, but we did end up getting the house.