Just Ask For The House Yourself

(There are many ways to buy or sell a house.)

The local market plays a dominant role on whether the buyer or seller will be in control of the transaction.

Incentives are often provided by a seller in a buyer’s market to sell a house, such as paying closing costs or the first few months of the mortgage.

Buyers may offer more than asked for or will pay for the seller’s moving costs, etc.

However, if you are a potential buyer, the market status may not affect your decision if you know that a particular house is just meant for you. You must have it.

The article, “Give me your house, I'll pay top dollar!” posted November 1, 2006 on bestformortgage.com presents an experimental way to obtain the home of your dreams regardless if it is for sale.

“You have found the ideal nearby neighborhood and for years have coveted a certain house on a quiet street. The fruit trees, creative landscaping and ballpark-size backyard all are terrific pieces of what you envision your all-star place to include. You often say aloud, ‘If these people ever sell this place, I'd be first in line.’”

Believe it or not, there is actually something you can do if you are in a similar situation.

You may decide to act upon your desire either because you really want to buy that certain house and just do not want to wait anymore or because of the increasing number of people moving into the neighborhood and you want to distinguish yourself from future competition.

So what can you do?

First, you need to find the legal owner of the house. You can do this by searching through legal county records. Then you want to write a “heartfelt” letter to the owner, explaining how the home would be perfect for your family.

You have to be patient, but if the owners ever considered selling, you want probably be the first one contacted.

“Now, put yourself in the seller's shoes. How would you react if you got an offer ‘out of the blue’ to buy your house? Would you be more receptive if the pitch came from a real estate agent or from an individual who had little to do with the property profession?”

Companies are now beginning to test out this technique on a more professional scale, offering prospective buyers assistance in making unsolicited sales proposals on properties that are not actively for sale on the market.

“Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Reply.com, a lead-generation Web site that has linked consumers with real estate professionals in a specific area, will now send a potential buyer's unsolicited proposal package to a seller via Priority Mail for $24.95.”

“‘Conceivably, every home in the country is for sale -- for the right price!’ said Payam Zamani, Reply's chairman and CEO, who started the company in 2001. ‘At any time, only a small percentage of homes in America are actively on the market.”

The proposal receive by the home owners will be from one of two distinct types of buyers; the one that has dream of living in the house with his or her family or the investor.

Whichever buyer is interested in the property will determine the way the proposal is written.

A “dream home” buyer will tend to have a more personal, heartfelt message to it, while the investor will thoroughly explain why he or she would like the property.

Both methods are effective, but the end outcome obviously lies with the owner.

“With the unsolicited offer service, we believe we can stimulate commerce by connecting a homeowner, who may have been thinking about selling their home, to transact with a prospective buyer through Reply.com,” said Zamani.

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