" I want to buy your house " letters??

[ripvanwinkle]

For the last year or so I've been getting in the mail, post cards from people who want to buy my house as is cash out. I bought in 1995. I never respond but it gets me thinking. My house was built in 1927 and its zoned R2 (2 homes). Assessed at $375k. Large enough for a duplex. Bulldoze the property.

I have also got some text messages wanting to buy it. I replied my price was $475k as is. I know they don't pay retail but has anyone here sold to one of these home buyers?

[Deleted]

DH's Ex got the house in the divorce with the agreement that she'd either sell or buy him out when their son reached age 22.  She bought him out.  Years later a developer offered to buy the place as is- it was in a very desirable commuter town (Westfield, NJ) and backed up on a park.  She got $500K for it and could take whatever she wanted with her and not worry about garage sales, donations, etc.- they just tore it down and built a $1 million McMansion on spec.  

Nice to have the option but the only time I ever responded to one of those was one I'd saved when DH and I were close to divorcing.  They'd put a letter in our mail box.  Maybe 6 months later we were about to put it on the market.  I called the person, left a message...crickets.

[sesfw]

I've never answered a mail solicitation but get plenty of phone calls.

My standard price is ........ $5.5 Million in cash at the front door.

Click

[NoNamePerson]

Had to laugh at this subject. I’ve had two calls in last couple weeks saying interested in buying my home. I don’t, nor have I ever owned a home at either address they want to buy! More scammers at work??

[Deleted]

Aug 28, 2021 19:09:58 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Had to laugh at this subject. I’ve had two calls in last couple weeks saying interested in buying my home. I don’t, nor have I ever owned a home at either address they want to buy! More scammers at work??

Likely flipper wannabes who bough cheap mailing lists knowing that some wouldn't be homeowners.  Now that I think of it, I've gotten an occasional post card that's printed in a  script that looks like handwriting.  I ignore them- not interested and I suspect they're looking for a cheap sale from someone who's desperate.

[steph08]

We haven't gotten any of those, but we did get two letters from some place that wants to buy vacant land. They offered us like $6k for a 9 acre lot we own. No.

[kadee79]

Aug 28, 2021 19:53:31 GMT -5 steph08 said:

We haven't gotten any of those, but we did get two letters from some place that wants to buy vacant land. They offered us like $6k for a 9 acre lot we own. No.

Even dessert land is more expensive than that.  Dumb offer!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sometimes I see the signs on the side of the road that say "We buy houses in any condition! Cash!". I do wonder if those are good deals. But, I've never called the number. I'm trying to think if I've ever gotten one fo those letters, but if I have I don't remember getting one and not just tossing it and forgetting it. 

[Tiny]

I get texts, phone calls, and mail solicitations for all three of my "houses". One week I got so many calls about one of the houses (I was answering the phone because I was waiting for calls from various people/businesses and wasn't sure what phone numbers the calls would come from) that when the nice person said they wanted to purchase - I said I wanted a million dollars for it.

I have since upped the price to 3 million dollars.


FWIW: I'm guessing most of the "we buy your house for cash" people aren't going to give you market value. They need to make a profit. I'm guessing they are hoping to find someone who NEEDS to sell (old and moving to assisted living or to a retirement home or who is dead and their estate needs to off load the property ASAP) and that the property isn't rundown but also isn't in move in condition. I wonder if some of the solicitations to sell are from people who have recently been to a "Get Rich Quick Flipping Properties" seminar and are working their way thru the list of "potential properties" they purchased from whoever gave the seminar. The info is public record - but someone has to compile it.

[buystoys]

We receive at least two or three calls or post cards a week.  Most of them are for the rental property, but some are for our home as well.

[NoNamePerson]

They need to do better research. The two calls I’ve gotten they wanted to buy “my house”. I don’t own the houses and have never even lived on the street the houses are on. They named the addresses! I’m getting this from voice mails they leave.  I saved one of VM since unfamiliar with street. Curiosity got best of me so did search. Damn I wish I could afford the lots in that neighborhood much less a house.    The other house is in a “tear down” area! Guess I hit it on both types of list. 

[Deleted]

Aug 28, 2021 21:30:33 GMT -5 Tiny said:

FWIW: I'm guessing most of the "we buy your house for cash" people aren't going to give you market value. They need to make a profit. I'm guessing they are hoping to find someone who NEEDS to sell (old and moving to assisted living or to a retirement home or who is dead and their estate needs to off load the property ASAP) and that the property isn't rundown but also isn't in move in condition. I wonder if some of the solicitations to sell are from people who have recently been to a "Get Rich Quick Flipping Properties" seminar and are working their way thru the list of "potential properties" they purchased from whoever gave the seminar. The info is public record - but someone has to compile it.

This.  DH called one of those companies when we were getting married and we were moving.  He had a decent but old house in a town with express bus service to NYC- a huge plus- but it was built into the side of a hill with 2 flights of steps leading up to the front door and then another staircase inside, up to the main floor.  We knew it would be a tough sell.  He had over $100K in equity in it and they must not have smelled desperation.  They never called back.

[Bonny]

I got one this week for our cabin in So. Cal. It was a postcard with a picture of my next door neighbor's lot. Guess they aren't very good with homework. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 28, 2021 19:53:31 GMT -5 steph08 said:

We haven't gotten any of those, but we did get two letters from some place that wants to buy vacant land. They offered us like $6k for a 9 acre lot we own. No.

Yeah….we get these regularly.  We own a piece of undeveloped land at the end of this road.  The purpose is to keep us at the end of a dead end road.  I guess it is about a couple acres, but hard to tell as it is a weird shaped parcel of land.  Developing it would probably be sufficient for 6 houses.  

Undeveloped we pay taxes on a value of $250k, which is low.  Taxes on the appraised land value of our 1/3 acre house is about $250k.  The land remaining in this development is privately owned, like us for similar purposes, so nothing is available.  

Last letter we got was for $25k for the land.  Other than an incredible low ball offer, we know the appraised value of the land undeveloped is about $600k.  Yeah……that letter went into recycling.  We get people coming to the door about yearly (we are due) wanting to offer…..nope.  Thanks, but no thanks.

[bookkeeper]

We get the calls, text and mailings.  My new line for the phone calls is "I lost it in a poker game".  Please remove me from your list.

[NoNamePerson]

Aug 29, 2021 16:08:09 GMT -5 bookkeeper said:

We get the calls, text and mailings.  My new line for the phone calls is "I lost it in a poker game".  Please remove me from your list.

If I took the calls I would tell them I sold to drug cartel so they need to deal with them and here’s their number

[jerseygirl]

Remembering the poster who had so many marijuana growers in her area snd finally sold her house. She moved , she was an artist snd I really enjoyed reading about her art and moving to new area
Sad she left

[NoNamePerson]

Aug 29, 2021 20:05:32 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Remembering the poster who had so many marijuana growers in her area snd finally sold her house. She moved , she was an artist snd I really enjoyed reading about her art and moving to new area
Sad she left

Yep. Forget about her story and druggies.    Can’t for the life of me remember her name!  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 29, 2021 20:15:59 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Aug 29, 2021 20:05:32 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Remembering the poster who had so many marijuana growers in her area snd finally sold her house. She moved , she was an artist snd I really enjoyed reading about her art and moving to new area
Sad she left

Yep. Forget about her story and druggies.    Can’t for the life of me remember her name!  

Shasta…until she moved to OR when she sold out her land in CA.  She renamed herself, I forget what.

[tallguy]

I got a letter a few years ago from someone in the area (but just outside "my" area) who said she would like to buy my house for $950,000.  I'm never selling and besides, it was worth more than that.  I was going to ignore the letter.  The next day, an agent showed up at my door with a fully written-up offer from the woman...for $900,000.  I'm thinking, "Come on, lady.  I didn't even respond back to your letter in the first place, but your offer is $50,000 less than you wrote you wanted to pay?  What?  Did you forget?"   

Told the agent I wasn't interested in selling.  If I wanted to now, though, it might not take too much work to get $2 million.  Still never selling.

 

[wvugurl26]

My old landlord sold to one of those we buy houses places. He hadn't really been living in the house for the last 18 months. He was at the girlfriend's most of the time. It was a large house with a desirable lot and good schools close to two metro stations. It needed a lot of updating. He survived the Vietnam War and that permanently changed him. Free is the best price and you didn't change things that weren't broke.

My brother had figured up he needed to drop at least $100k into renovations to get top dollar. They paid $600k and it's currently pending for $815k. The roof was new with solar panels but everything else was painted, new floors and replaced. My bathroom was the newest only a couple years old and they gutted it too.

[NoNamePerson]

Reading replies here have helped me make a decision! I will be taking the offers on the two houses I don’t own. TY. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 31, 2021 3:27:32 GMT -5 tallguy said:

I got a letter a few years ago from someone in the area (but just outside "my" area) who said she would like to buy my house for $950,000.  I'm never selling and besides, it was worth more than that.  I was going to ignore the letter.  The next day, an agent showed up at my door with a fully written-up offer from the woman...for $900,000.  I'm thinking, "Come on, lady.  I didn't even respond back to your letter in the first place, but your offer is $50,000 less than you wrote you wanted to pay?  What?  Did you forget?"   

Told the agent I wasn't interested in selling.  If I wanted to now, though, it might not take too much work to get $2 million.  Still never selling.

 

I got a text from a guy in Bellevue who wanted to buy this house.  I told him $6.8 million, which is about 10x what the estimate was on it.  Since the house is TD's, I told him that I offered the house up for sale after the fact for that much money.  He was ok with selling if someone wanted to ante up that much $$.  Neighbors would be happy to see their comps rise too.

I figured that for that we could get a place on the water - the only way we are moving is to get offered and obscene amount of money for it.  Inventory sucks around here, even if you have $$.