buying a property not for sale

[mikezen]

hi there

i know there r threads on this but i cant seem to find them....

do i use a agent or not? i would be singling out run down old houses in my area for reno potential

do i just drop notes in the letterboxs?, i dont want to offer a price i would rather see what people want to sell for if they do

in my area there r loads of run down houses w potential but none of them ever seem to make it onto the market and if they do they get snapped up pronto, so i need to change my tatic

any advice would be great

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

I have tried the old letter in the mailbox but response rate wasn't great. I did get a response (albeit not the response I was after) when knocking on their door. The other thing is that the property may be tenanted and the tenants will give you the details of the agent so you would need to contact the agent.

 

[thepeoplesagent]

Hi Mike,
Get ready for several difference answers. Some will tell you to get a buyer’s agent, others will tell you to approach the owners yourself, look on realestate.com.au etc. Neil Jenman will tell you that the cosmos will direct you to the right home.

But really, if you were to give your details to a few reputable agents around your area, they will contact you if they list anything in your criteria.

From experience, a lot of our listings are sold before we get a chance to market them as we have buyers on the sidelines ready to go. Homes which are priced correctly will usually go very fast. It will not cost you anything to put your name down with a few agents. If you’re a serious buyer, most agents will trip over themselves to find you something.

Sometimes, the problem with approaching an owner directly is that they get the impression you are overzealous to buy. Therefore the owner thinks cha-ching! Additionally, the chances of finding someone who is thinking about selling is low. Most of my days are spent canvassing and it’s not easy.

Best of luck with your endeavours.

 

[Ed Barton]

Sometimes, the problem with approaching an owner directly is that they get the impression you are overzealous to buy. Therefore the owner thinks cha-ching! Additionally, the chances of finding someone who is thinking about selling is low. Most of my days are spend canvassing and it’s not easy.

Best of luck with your endeavours.

Takes off investor hat...

If someone approached me directly, I'd immediately think they 'need' the property. A neighbour wanting a tennis court or a developer knowing they could cash in etc. The dollar signs would spin around in my eyes like a poker machine on centrelink pay day.

You would only have a chance of purchasing if I was considering selling, in which case I would have, or would get valuations. If you offered a fair price then I might split the agents commission.

You might be extremely lucky to stumble across gran who think's she's won the lottery because you're offering 400k, when she paid 4k - she may be suspicious of these funny new dollar things and require payment in pounds.

Let the peoples agent do the hard work and get on his list...

 

[Jacque]

These threads might help

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72141&highlight=buying+privately

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63143&highlight=buying+privately