Is this idea weird/creepy?

16 years ago

My husband and I have been looking for a house for some time, and it seems like every time one hits the MLS, it gets snapped up before we can manage to make an offer. Right now there are no houses listed in our desired area, which is a neighborhood that is maybe 50% rentals. We were thinking that we would like to send a letter to all of the homeowners letting them know of our interest in the neighborhood, as some people have already discussed doing on this forum.

The thing is, since so many of the homes are rentals, and since we want to get our letters to the owners, we were thinking of sending them to the owners' addresses, rather than the houses themselves. The owner addresses are quite easy to get off public record (the assessor's office) but.....is that weird or creepy? Would that be an immediate turnoff to the owners, like we're stalkers or something?

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Comments (10)

qdognj
16 years ago
i see no problem with it
cordovamom
16 years ago
the addresses are a matter of public record -- not like you're going to extreme measures to find the owners and stalking them. If I were to get such a letter, if I wasn't interested in selling I'd simply throw it away, if I was interested in selling I'd probably contact you and see if a sale could be worked out. I don't think you'd do any harm in trying. It wouldn't creep me out unless you continued to solicit me if I didn't answer you.
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mariend
16 years ago
Do you really want to live in an area that is high rental? I don't. Check the area--crime? lots of unkept yards?
Just a thought
thisdamnhouse
Original Author
16 years ago
It's an area near a university campus and we're both grad students, so it makes sense to live there. Yes, some of the lawns have foot-high weeds, and yes, some porches have couches on them, but houses there keep their value really well (location, location, location) and it's not really a "party area" or anything like that. Thanks to all for the advice...I think letters will go out tomorrow (beating the stamp price increase, ha ha)
Brewbeer
16 years ago
Get yourself an aggressive buyers agent. These folks will have knowledge of a new listing before it comes available for viewing on the internet by the general public.
sweet_tea
16 years ago
I like the idea of a letter. Make sure you tell them you are grad students and that you want to buy in this area. They might think you are investors trying to steal the place for a low price so might toss the letters if you aren't specific enough.
Also give them your email and snail mail and phone#. Hand sign them if you can.
thisdamnhouse
Original Author
15 years ago
Just wanted to give an update....

After seeing maybe half a dozen houses and driving through various neighborhoods, we narrowed our search down to one area and sent out 90 (yes 90!) letters to owners asking if they were interested in selling. The response was actually better than we expected, I think we got around 6 replies, and one of them ended up being, if not the house of our dreams, at least a house that we really liked and found workable.

Since the home is in an older neighborhood with maybe 3 floorplans, the whole transaction was really easy to figure out, even for us novices (we did hire a lawyer for $250). Price was agreed upon to give both us and the sellers the financial benefit of no realtors. To be honest, things were a little uncomfortable a couple of times during negotiations, and it did take us a little more time (setting up inspections, talking to title company, etc) than it would have with a realtor involved, but for our particular transaction, it was well worth the savings for both sides. We closed yesterday and as of today, the house is still standing and we're still excited about it :)

Thanks all for your insightful and informative posts; this forum has been extremely helpful! Now it's on to the remodeling forums......
jbspook
15 years ago
Wow, great update! You couldn't have asked for a better outcome. Congratulations!
devorah
15 years ago
Yes, congratulations. I don't think buying in a University District is ever a losing proposition. I hope you enjoy your new home.
kellyeng
15 years ago
Very cool. I love updates!

Is this idea weird/creepy?

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qdognj

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