Buying houses that aren't for sale

[spludgey]

Yesterday I went and knocked on the door of a house that's next door to one of my properties. As it has excellent potential for a development, I wanted to buy it.
I asked the owner whether he was interested in selling, unfortunately he said no and that he had been there for 55 years and was likely to see out his days there.

He still took my business card, in case anything changes.

Is there anything I should have done that I didn't that would have increased my chances?

 

[see_change]

Name an actual price . If he's lived there for 55 years , he may not realise how much it's worth.

Cliff

 

[xactly]

How old was he and how badly do you want it?
Take a life insurance punt.

You could always offer tp buy it from him with the sale condition that he lives in it rent free until he dies.

He gets cash, lives in the same spot. Can still do what he likes with it. (you are going to knock it down after all) financial situation improves massively before death not after.

YOu get a locked in dev site, ?..if you are prepared to wait ?.


of course if he becomes the longest living australian then you have lost your bet with yourself.

Did he answer the door smoking?

 

[DaveM]

Is there anything I should have done that I didn't that would have increased my chances?

Not bought a semi?

 

[skater]

Is there anything I should have done that I didn't that would have increased my chances?

As a punt, do you have another closeby that is in better condition? You could swap it with him (you pay all costs of buying & selling both properties) and then pay his moving costs as well as give him a little something extra to sweeten the deal.

But....DaveM probably hit it on the head.

 

[spludgey]

Thanks for the tips, I might go back next year and try some of them.

Also:

 

[Newbieatlife]

Yesterday I went and knocked on the door of a house that's next door to one of my properties. As it has excellent potential for a development, I wanted to buy it.
I asked the owner whether he was interested in selling, unfortunately he said no and that he had been there for 55 years and was likely to see out his days there.

He still took my business card, in case anything changes.

Is there anything I should have done that I didn't that would have increased my chances?

In my experience it usually comes down to money...if the price is right, he'll be out in a week doesn't matter if the property's been in the family for 6 generations...

But how bad do you want it?

On first approach, you should be armed with some figures - comparable recent sales you've found in the area and compile it into a quick, easy to read printed format. Also tell him you are willing to pay above market price (you could even stress a percentage here and if he's interested, you can negotiate anyway), all his legal fees sorted and remind him there is no commission to be paid to an agent.

Even if he tells you to bugger off, he's going to have a good long think about it that night trust me

 

[Joeyv]

Not bought a semi?

This is the cold hard truth

You now have to wait until he moves on or pay a higher price than it's worth which defeats the purpose of buying the semi to begin with.

Is it in Elizabeth?

 

[spludgey]

This isn't actually the other half of either of the semis I'm buying. It's a house next to a house of mine on the NSW Central Coast which is zoned medium density.

 

[Redom]

How old was he and how badly do you want it?
Take a life insurance punt.

You could always offer tp buy it from him with the sale condition that he lives in it rent free until he dies.

He gets cash, lives in the same spot. Can still do what he likes with it. (you are going to knock it down after all) financial situation improves massively before death not after.

YOu get a locked in dev site, ?..if you are prepared to wait ?.


of course if he becomes the longest living australian then you have lost your bet with yourself.

Did he answer the door smoking?

Hahaha this is brilliantly innovative.

If you own anything nearby, maybe you can have a sweetner to move there to allow you to do what you want when you want to (instead of waiting for death to come knocking).

 

[onion33]

Print out some numbers for him to keep (he might be so old he can't remember the numbers ) and tell him to discuss it with his kids. His grown kids might be able to convince him it's a good deal?

 

[XBenX]

Ive bought a dev site in this way. Took 5 or so years for the owners circumstances to change but that worked out well. Paid the price I was willing to pay 5years previously which was nice as well.