Agree w/ Fori, or call back and say only if the offer is greater than x (whatever price would make you sell without hesitation).

This has happened to us on occasion. I ignore it.

Sometimes, a person might be on the fence and this contact from a realtor pushes them over. I'm fine with these letters, just not fine if they get pushy.

oh thank you all so much

especially as I dislike telephones lol..unless it's very close family/friends

(ASAP also has two exclamation points..so yeah feels a bit like a pressuring matter one needs to attend to, or else..)

It's aggressive and worthy of ignoring! Sort of like in-person spam.

The realtor is the rude one and doesn't deserve your time. He's just trolling for listings.

or ask for

One

Billion

Dollars.

This is like the guy coming to your door pretending your neighbors hired him for pest control and while he's in the area...

Or a telemarketer.

More then likely he is looking to get listings. We own numerous homes, we get the 'I have a buyer for your home' cards/letters weekly. No need to respond.

It's also a pretty standard practice. He's just trying to drum up more business.

You'll know soon enough how serious these people are and how hard they will pursue you.

We used to get people wanting to buy our house (great neighborhood). Some would even just come to the door. I wish I had said, "Bring me your best offer." You never know...

There is a shortage of homes in most parts of the county. I've heard of realtors inquiring if people are interested in selling their homes. I wouldn't bother answering them back if you are not interested in selling.

We recently got a personal letter fron a realtor who has a client who wants to buy on our very sparsely populated beach road. We tossed the letter.

This is such a standard realtor practice, nothing new, nothing about a 'real client', just plain working the area looking for listings. Period. Ignore.

Yep. Don’t make his urgency your responsibility. I know he’s trying to make a living, but jeez. That’s just too aggressive/rude.

Yes it is a fairly standard practice. It doesn't usually lead to anything, except for those sitting on the fence, as mentioned, or cases like my neighbours. They were recent empty nesters, but not yet planning to downsize. But they called back the realtor, 'just to see what it was all about.' Not having kept up with the current market, our neighbours (who have a larger property) were shocked that the realtor's comps indicated their house could sell for at least a half million more than they expected.

Since they hadn't planned to move for several years, they said they'd only be willing to list their house for 30 days to see if his assumptions were accurate. On the eighth day their house was listed, he brought them an offer that was $615,000 more than what they had assumed their house was worth. They sold, and moved to condo a few years earlier than planned, but are really happy with their decision.

We are also empty nesters, planning to move within a few years. But having kept up with the real estate market, there would be no big 'surprises' for us, so the same scenario would just have me tossing the card.

Hi April....the same thing is happening in North OC too. It's a result of extremely low inventory, especially in "affordable" neighborhoods.

Thank you so much guys..you saved me from making calls I basically hate to make, and from possible embarassement too

there's something very naive in me..if I hear "please!", "ASAP!!" and "thank you!" it can get me into this mode it might be oh so important, and I'm oh so bad for not reacting immediately..happy to hear it's not about some lives I need to save))

btw your half-jokingly mentioning of this "make me move" offer sent me onto imaginary road to hell-what sum would indeed make me move? at first, I mentally agreed to 4 millions(needless to say our house doesn't support even a quarter of that sum)..within half an hour though I decided 5 mil would be even better..))

That was very interesting conversation between me and me..while one "me" was truly appalled at the other lol

Inventory is so low here the agents are begging for listings. Yeah, we can sell, but where would we go that would not be a bad commute for one of us, and for what price.

If there is any chance that you would sell, reply with the price and a stipulation that you are not paying any realtor commissions. A serious buyer would likely cover those costs.

We have been looking for vacant lakefront land for years. We were ready to put an offer in on a lot after it was listed for only 3 days, but someone beat us to it. I noticed that there were two other undeveloped lots for sale on the same lake down the street. Out of desperation I asked our agent if letters are ever sent asking if they are interested in selling. Our agent said it was done, but getting a response is hit-or-miss. Well, the owner of the nicest lot on the lake replied and we closed on the purchase of the lot last week. We are excited that someone beat us to the other lot, because the one we got is much better for us!!

It may be an honest inquiry.

"Thank you so much guys..you saved me from making calls I basically hate to make, and from possible embarassement too

there's something very naive in me..if I hear "please!", "ASAP!!" and "thank you!" it can get me into this mode it might be oh so important, and I'm oh so bad for not reacting immediately..happy to hear it's not about some lives I need to save))"

April, I have no idea how old you are, but if a realtor tactic like this causes you to think it's deadly important, you will better understand how the elderly are being preyed upon and make awful decisions.

Ignore. She won’t care, may not really care about your house but may be interested in input you might provide about who’s life in neighborhood is changing, implying possible house sale and possible listing for him/her.

very assertive and a tactic I might use as a realtor. But as a resident, I’d ignore it w/o a 2nd thought.

even here, when thread title says pls respond ASAP, On my way to store to buy (or whatever) I take it as a clue to ignore. World does not revolve around those who habitually use urgent, ASAP, and the like.

Never respond to any demand from a stranger. You owe nothing to anyone trying to drum up business when you didn't initiate contact. I find such tactics borderline unethical.

IdaClaire beat me to it--I have come to a point in life at which I no longer feel obligated to respond to every overture I get. I think it is because I finally realized that as she says, when you have not initiated contact you aren't engaged in any sort of reciprocal or cooperative exchange. You're just being asked to engage and you can decline to do so :).