Forum and Classifieds

My Ballard Forum » Open Forum

Heartfelt Pleas To Buy Your House?

(79 posts)

Started 3 months ago by GAM
Latest reply from allisonw

GAM

offline
Member

Is anyone else getting a bunch of "personal" letters from people wanting to buy their houses? I guess it means the housing market it picking up. Apparently I need to tidy up my yard a bit to stop giving the "distressed property" vibe.

Posted 3 months ago #
clamster

offline
Member

Yes, I got one today. Was it from someone in Everett? I used to get them all the time a few years ago and had figured out that there was a real estate class taught by someone in Seattle who was using my house as an example for his class and so I'd get a whole bunch of those annoying letters from different people all within 2 weeks. They're hoping they'll stumble upon someone very naive they can take advantage of who will sell below market value. But really, isn't it easier to buy houses that are for sale than ones that aren't? I am tempted to write back, thank them for the inquiry and let them know they have been added to the ever growing list of people who will never be allowed to buy my house.

Posted 3 months ago #
GAM

offline
Member

Two were from Issaquah of all places. One may have been from Everett (I've tossed them already - two today and one last week).

Interesting about the class. That would explain why they seem to arrive in bunches. I feel sorry for the students. Get rich quick in real estate, eh? I'd say they were all just scammed.

Has anyone ever seriously responded to one of these? Or heard of anyone who has?

Posted 3 months ago #
Cate

offline
Member

Actually I know someone that recently sold their house in the Wallingford area who had three firm offers in hand before she put it on the market. She accepted one, no real estate agent fees and is quite happy. She had mentioned to friends that she was getting ready to sell and that was all it took.

Posted 3 months ago #
teigyr

offline
Member

There's one guy in Everett who does a "handwritten" sign wanting to buy houses. I traced him back to a company (though he acts as a single person) who approaches it on all different levels. One of the more offensive ones was "my mom and I want to buy your house" just because anyone who wants to flip a house (and that's what they want) is treating our neighborhood as a depressed neighborhood. We ignore all pleas and promptly remove any signs.

We did get a flier on our front porch too. I e-mailed the guy, he was a real estate broker, and told him that since he obviously couldn't read the "no soliciting" sign on our front door, he obviously wouldn't respect our wishes as clients. He wrote back saying it'd never happen again. I'm mean that way.

Posted 3 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

We get those handwritten notes on a fairly regular basis, we're zoned LR3 so that probably makes our lot more attractive to developers.

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

Given what the market is doing, nothing surprises me. I'm not even going to get into what tomorrow's house shopping nightmare is going to look like.

I will say that I'm probably going to throw up before I go to bed--this market is heinous for buyers.

Posted 3 months ago #
Lori

offline
Member

I'm getting them too -- if they're well-written and have an e-mail address I usually do respond with a polite "thanks but no thanks". I think it's a combination of people looking to do flips and other people trying to get and sell "leads" to bigger real estate firms who will pay a few thousand to someone who connects them to a seller.

I also had that "hmmm, how bad does my house look anyway?" reaction, but I think they're just doing searches for specific parameters like how long ago you bought, what the house is worth, etc. Also, I like to think my home's slightly battered exterior means burglars are more likely to bypass my house as not worth the effort. (At least, that's a good excuse for not pressure-washing the stoop.)

Posted 3 months ago #
MidWest

offline
Member

It's a sellers market again. Sell your house for what it's worth, and no less.

Posted 3 months ago #
crownhiller

offline
Member

Huh - we've never gotten one of those - that makes me kinda sad, I'd love to mess with someone ;o) - nah - but it is a little on the creepier side, though I suppose whatever works.

Posted 3 months ago #
PDaddymom

offline
Member

The last time I sold a place was when I sold my condo and bought the home I am in now. What really edged me to sell was a note from a neighbor indicating interest in purchasing another unit in the building to rent out. So it worked out extremely well – no need to list and show (yuk) and the sale and purchase done at the same time was seamless – in fact both transactions closed at the same meeting. I felt very lucky.

Posted 3 months ago #
Ballardemician

offline
Member

The market turned around quickly, that's for sure. But then again it's still way down from the highs of 2008 (? 2007?) and inventory fluctuates pretty quickly. And the fed said today that they aren't raising interest rates any time soon because the economy didn't grow in the 4th quarter of 2012.

If I was buying I wouldn't be in a panic -- would wait till late-spring to see what pops up as families time moves to the summer break, then wait to see which of those properties stay on the market for more than a month, pick a couple of them with fixable issues that are hiding their value from the masses, then make a couple of low-end-of-reasonable offers and see who needs out right away. That strategy has worked for me in the past, and (easily) more than made up for the general rise in prices over the six month I was patient.

If I was selling I'd tart my house up to the nines and get it on the market before summer inventories rise, if lucky let a couple of headless chickens making anxiety-driven decisions bid against each other.

It's interesting to me that so many flippers are back at in en masse. If I did that for a living would have started buying in 2011. Guess they wait for growth before getting in the market? At any rate real estate speculators really are a pain in the ass when you're simply looking for a place to live -- creating artificially inflated prices and driving down inventory. All's fair in love and real estate, but flipping houses seems like a fairly soul-less way to make a living ....

Posted 3 months ago #
Ballardemician

offline
Member

The market turned around quickly, that's for sure. But then again it's still way down from the highs of 2008 (? 2007?) and inventory fluctuates pretty quickly. And the fed said today that they aren't raising interest rates any time soon because the economy didn't grow in the 4th quarter of 2012.

If I was buying I wouldn't be in a panic -- would wait till late-spring to see what pops up as families time moves to the summer break, then wait to see which of those properties stay on the market for more than a month, pick a couple of them with fixable issues that are hiding their value from the masses, then make a couple of low-end-of-reasonable offers and see who needs out right away. That strategy has worked for me in the past, and (easily) more than made up for the general rise in prices over the six month I was patient.

If I was selling I'd tart my house up to the nines and get it on the market before summer inventories rise, if lucky let a couple of headless chickens making anxiety-driven decisions bid against each other.

It's interesting to me that so many flippers are back at in en masse. If I did that for a living would have started buying in 2011. Guess they wait for growth before getting in the market? At any rate real estate speculators really are a pain in the ass when you're simply looking for a place to live -- creating artificially inflated prices and driving down inventory. All's fair in love and real estate, but flipping houses seems like a fairly soul-less way to make a living ....

Posted 3 months ago #
Rudy

offline
Member

I'd tart my house up to the nines

Probably my favorite line on the forums in quite a while. Well done.

Posted 3 months ago #
Cheese

offline
Member

Nothing personal if you're a flipper, but I am so glad that my next door neighbor's house is no longer in the flipper rotation - for about 8 years it was like a pancake on a griddle. Which is fine as long as the flippers weren't 24 hour partying alcoholics as one set was...it was obvious that they had no use for neighbors and treated the neighborhood as well as they treated their bodies.

Posted 3 months ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

Cheese - that sounds as bad as having a rental house next door, which we have and it is currently vacant. Fortunately the owner has upgraded it and wants 2K+ a month for a 3 bed small house, but we are still concerned. :)

Posted 3 months ago #
Cheese

offline
Member

VB: We have had very good rental neighbors, knock on wood, but I get the same concern when the old renter moves out and the new one moves in.

Posted 3 months ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

Cheese - :) we are hopping for the best! The last folks were SO quiet, most of the time I thought the house was vacant! But it turns out they both worked on the East side and worked long hours so the eventually moved to the East side.

Posted 3 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

offline
Member

If they can afford 2K the Kegerator outside should have some tasty high end micro's:)

Cheers Mates

Posted 3 months ago #
Mondoman

online
Member

BA - you need to keep your pulse on the infomercial market! Not only has Armando Montelango been showing his stuff again, but Vanilla Ice (yes, THAT VI) is now having flipping seminars in town.

Posted 3 months ago #
VeganBiker

offline
Member

BH - we never really saw the last folks and as I have my own kegerator I am happy to just enjoy my own fresh Islander Pale on tap :) And never leave a kegerator outside! It's a fridge, can't take the moisture.

Posted 3 months ago #
iPlod

offline
Member

Huh? Ain't outside the same temperature as a kegerator? Pull that plug!

Posted 3 months ago #
Samkin

offline
Member

We've been searching for a bigger house in Ballard for the last 2+ years, but (esp lately) everything seems to be either falling apart or already so revamped that the price is insane.... Happy to see the market rebound *some*, but the last house we loved ended up with 22 offers and sold for $100,000 over asking.... So have to admit I've daydreamed about sticking letters in a few specific mailboxes....

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

I am probably going to start rifling through the "Make Me Move" listings on Zillow for the same reason. Today there were only 6 offers, but one was for cash, and we lost out. We offered about 5% over asking and had 30% down and even THAT wasn't enough.

Only our first attempt though, there will be more. One thing that's tough for us is that the neighborhoods we are looking for also have really good schools, something that only makes more competition and doesn't sweeten the pot for us in any way.

100K over asking is insane. I'd love to know which property that was. Was it on 74th in Whittier by chance and sold recently? It's still pending, but I happened across it when I went to the open house next door.

Posted 3 months ago #
pennygirl

online
Member

Alli...

Prepare to be in it for the long haul. You can't be disappointed when it's your first attempt. Also prepare to widen your search.

Here's an example: we started looking on the Hill 20 years ago. Couldn't afford that. Moved a little further out. Couldn't afford that either. Looked in Fremont and found something but someone offered more. Looked in Loyal Heights but someone offered more. Drove past our shack and made an offer without even looking inside.

Posted 3 months ago #
idbill

offline
Member

Two names come to mind: (We get several letters every year, almost a dozen last year from these two.)

Michael Nelson (who says he owns several properties in the area)... slumlord?

and:

'City Land Broker' aka 'Lumin Brokers'

I think I got one to stop calling when I stated I felt harassed and I had a lawyer call and ask them to stop contacting us.

Personally, I think they are pond scum.

Posted 3 months ago #
Samkin

offline
Member

Allison, ironically enough, our house is listed as a "make me move", at a pretty reasonable price given all the remodeling we've done - but it's been so hard to find a new place that I think we'd balk if anyone actually offered! We added it years ago, before things tanked and then started back up again.... Schools are a huge part of our problem, because of the revamped assignment plan, we are only looking within a very set area.... Sigh. Our kids will be done by the time we find a place!

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

Wanna tell me where it is?

Posted 3 months ago #
crownhiller

offline
Member

22 OFFERS!!! That's insane - I know we got lucky with our place - the sellers were in a hurry to move out of state and only took offers on Fathers Day - turns out not to be a good house selling day and we happened to be first offer the next morning - got it for asking - sometimes its just t-ming, so I'm sure that's why the letter thing works now and then - right place, right time

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

The house we offered on was listed at 440. We offered 460 with 150 down. Turns out it went for close to 500 cash.

Gonna be tough.

Posted 3 months ago #
Jules

offline
Member

A real estate agent showed up at my FATHER'S FUNERAL and made an offer on my parent's house. Sadly, I didn't get a card. I just said: " BOTH of my grandparents and my father died in that house, and I fully intend to go out feet first. Please leave now."

We had a man stand on the sidewalk outside so long my Mom went out to ask what he wanted (before she called the cops.) He yelled "I want to buy your house! " over and over. Whack job.

What cracks me up about these letters is that they generally use the same phrases. Ie: "put money in your pocket" and "I'll pay cash." (as opposed to what? Clamshells?)

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

online
Member

I have had our house on Zillow's "Make Me Move" for approximately 2 years. It began as sort of just a curiosity but also because I have been in limbo with work for that long wondering if we will have to move. I'm still in limbo and we might still have to move in the next few months, but I have had so many contacts and questions and calls that I finally had to remove the "Make Me Move" listing today. That is after having only 2 contacts in the prior 2 years. In Ballard, it is definitely a sellers market again. I suspect most of those contacts are from Realtors and developers but a couple people I have talked were private parties.

Posted 3 months ago #
iPlod

offline
Member

That's funny, Jules.

"I'LL PAY CASH!"

As if "cash" is actually what's important vs how MUCH cash they're willing to offer.

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

online
Member

Actually CASH is important because there are all sorts of title transfer fees and relator fees you won't have to pay if it is a straight pay out.

Posted 3 months ago #
iPlod

offline
Member

"how MUCH cash they're willing to offer."

See above.

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

online
Member

If they don't even offer what you are asking or close to it, then it doesn't really count. If a home is listed for 450 and good cash offer might be 420.

Posted 3 months ago #
iPlod

offline
Member

What he said.

And still negotiable.

Posted 3 months ago #
yourFriend

offline
Member

Well someone came up to ask me to buy my adoba and I said that it was okay as long as I could be there tenant and even tho there is only 1 aputment we could live together and she said yes and now we get to park our home where a we want even upload house driveway. Wave plodo

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

Throw the old "good cash offer" that's less than asking right out the window. Cash at listed or above is standard fare right now, and yes, it simplifies and expedites the process considerably.

See my example from yesterday--no way in hell the house I offered on is worth 500 in current condition.

Posted 3 months ago #
Samkin

offline
Member

Allison, do you think the $500 cash was from a developer or a 'real' buyer? I feel like we are competing with developers and flippers rather than people who actually want to *live* in the house... (the one that we liked that went for 100,000 over asking was that same one you mentioned earlier, near 63rd & 28th. I know they turned down a developer, but think it prob went to a flipper...)

Posted 3 months ago #
Samkin

offline
Member

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

online
Member

Is that the 2656 63rd that went for 100k over? I have been ogling that house for years. Very neat structure.

Hmmmm. Maybe its time to cash in and get the hell out!

Posted 3 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Flippers, if they are good at it, won't pay over market because it comes out of the profit. 100k over asking is likely someone who was emotionally invested in getting that house.

Posted 3 months ago #
pennygirl

online
Member

Paying more for a house than it's actually worth is very overrated. And might hurt you in the long run.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

online
Member

gee thanks for the expert advice.

Posted 3 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Buy low, sell high, son.

Posted 3 months ago #
pennygirl

online
Member

Come on great idea. Many many people paid way too much for their property. It's only prudent to warn someone against doing it again.

You moved to Ballard 10 years ago. Were you one of those people by chance?!!

Posted 3 months ago #
racerX

offline
Member

PG + 1

Posted 3 months ago #
Samkin

offline
Member

Corvus, yeah, that was the house. I still have such mixed feelings about it, really hope it went to a family, etc. On the one hand, it was priced to create the exact kind of bidding war that happened, on the other hand it needed so much work that it was hard to say what the real value was.... If I knew that we could have actually gotten it for $100,000 over list price, without having to compete with 22 other people, I would have gone for it.... But the were so many cash offers, no inspection offers, etc, that it was just too stressful to get emotionally invested in...

Posted 3 months ago #
racerX

offline
Member

Smart

Posted 3 months ago #
Ballardemician

offline
Member

did a quick scan of Redfin -- you folks weren't kidding when you said inventory was low! Holy hell, in some common 50k brackets there's only one house!

Not a lot you can do about it ... sit it out if you can ...

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

online
Member

"You moved to Ballard 10 years ago. Were you one of those people by chance?!!"

no. I bought over 12 years ago and got a pretty good deal, even at the time. my current zillow estimate is over twice what I paid.

none of these actual houses are worth that much. but if the market dictates the house sells for $500k, then that's the value. unless you're a flipper, you will make money on the house if you live in it long enough (and maintain it, etc.).

as you said at the top of this thread penny, "prepare to widen your search."
when I was looking, I certainly was not looking at just Ballard, let alone a specific neighborhood. I know it's not as easy w/ kids in school, ideal job commutes, etc., but those things don't last forever and you need to be flexible.
I'm pretty sure I would've been just as happy if I bought in Mapleleaf.

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

online
Member

@Samkin - we walk by that house frequently on the way to Walters and it is one of our favorites. It has so much potential and from the outside appears to be completely original and un-adulterated. If you are a lover of old houses, it is a real gem. However, if you consider all the work it will require to restore and modernize, it makes it less likely it was purchased by a family. Most of the lots below 65th turn into 4 shoe boxes on end and because of the size of that lot, it is even more attractive to the developer. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

online
Member

it's too bad that house wasn't 100 feet west (across 28th), where the zoning changes and it couldn't be razed/re-developed.

Posted 3 months ago #
pennygirl

online
Member

I wonder if the developers feel a twinge of guilt when they kill these lovely old houses.

Posted 3 months ago #
crownhiller

offline
Member

Sadly, probably not PG - money is a powerful cure for that kind of thinking ;(
Just looked at the photos posted of that place - makes me sad to think it might be dozed over - but maybe someone really really really wanted the character and charm that it "could" have with some TLC. We bought at the height of the market - my only hope when we get around to selling someday is getting anywhere close to what we still owe - anything above that is icing on the cake ;o)

Posted 3 months ago #
Ernie

offline
Member

Maybe the buyers have another 100k cash on hand to rehab the exterior and update the systems (those basement photos are like an illustrated history of plumbing and electrical!), the living spaces didn't look that bad to me. That house would look fantastic if it was restored to the look of the archive photo on Redfin.

Doesn't look like a tear-down to me, but there are some a-hole developers out there.

Posted 3 months ago #
allisonw

offline
Member

I talked to a friend of mine last night and he said a lot of the houses are being snapped up by international investors these days. There is no way a working-class family can compete with that.

As far as broadening the search, I'm just not ready to do that yet. I've lived in this neighborhood for a couple of decades and have deep roots here. I know that's an emotional reason, but it's also the truth.

Posted 3 months ago #
onederfullone

offline
Member

"I talked to a friend of mine last night and he said a lot of the houses are being snapped up by international investors these days. There is no way a working-class family can compete with that."

News flash, most 'international investors' are working class families from some socialist country seeking an out. It takes at least a half million to do so, and they do, even more in most cases.

What have you saved? What is your goal?

Maybe you should give it some thought.

Maybe tell your children as well. We've got no corner on 'working class' by any measure, but we excel in stupidity.

Posted 3 months ago #
pennygirl

online
Member

1der...

Earlier in the thread Alli said they were offering 460 with 150 down. She knows how to save :-)

Posted 3 months ago #

Daily news for Seattle's Ballard neighborhood

My Ballard Forum » Open Forum

Heartfelt Pleas To Buy Your House?

Reply »