Does letterbox dropping work when looking for a PPOR in a certain area?

You make a great point at the end here, and it has also been mentioned already by others. I am coming around to the thinking that being ready to make quick and decisive decisions will be our most time effective and ultimately fruitful way of approaching this process.

 

I have done this many years ago back in the 1990's and it worked. Also know somebody that did it because they wanted a corner site in a suburb and it worked well for them.

 

Yes, if you have a very specific criteria which means that a high % of properties that come to market will not be suitable then I think it has merit. Another scenario is if you have friends who live in a street you like you can get them to ask their neighbours if they know of anyone in the street that might be interested in selling. We have already tried that in one street we like!

Were they looking for a corner block for a sub-division?

 

Yes

 

Hi All,

I commented on a similar post but thought I'd post here too.
I am looking to do a letterbox drop for a house to knockdown/rebuild in my area. I have seen some templates before which are fantastic.

The key questions I have are:
1. Should I state a price.
I can give an accurate price, at or slightly above market value. I believe this would gain interest.
2. Should I use an agent or go on my own.
Individual = personal, agent = professional. What agent fees would they even have if any if they weren't using an agent to sell?
3. Should I include a picture of me and my partner.
I get the sentiment, but does it make any difference.
4. Should I get a solicitor to draw up the letter?
Or just wait to involve them when I have a keen seller.
5. Should I track down the details of landlords and mail the letter to them?
Or is this a privacy invasion, and I suppose investors already have their own plans.

Any advice is welcomed and much appreciated.

Daniel.

 

I get a few of these letters when I'm in between tenants or if the tenant redirects it. They usually get sent to the rental. One RE agent got my number from a sign when I was advertising it for rent it so he calls me once a year, marked in his diary!! I think it would be more tempting for me if a price was given rather than, "I'll give you a great price and You'll save on agent fees"

 

Probably just drop in letterbox. If I was to sell an IP, I doubt I'd do so to a letterbox dropper. And I'm targeting older houses, so I'd say most of these would be owner occupied, barely in rentable condition.

If I wanted to send it to landlords, how would I get their details?


I agree about price, it get's their attention, makes the deal seem more legit. While I risk showing my hand, I'm not trying to get a bargain. I have a price I want to pay, which is around what they would get if they took it to auction.

 

The last letter I received was addressed to our name but the rental property address. So the tenant asked to redirect it. It was from a company that established a few years ago that does niche rentals, developing and BA. I'm not sure what info is available these days. In the past we used to be able to contact the council and get the owners details but I don't know if its possible now.

 

We've bought an IP in Townsville doing this and it's the only place we've bought where the bank valuation came in higher than our purchase price . Seller was a dick , and "new much more than agents " , but just didn't know what was happening at the moment , which the locals did know .

Friend a few years ago , on my advice , tried it in west pymble and bought a nice family home from a little old lady who didn't trust agents . Her neighbour saw the flyer and mentioned it too her . He was buying it as a PPOR so the flyer talked about wanting a family home to raise their family who's kids were at the local school .Our flyer said we wanted a family home ( which was true ) as we we wanted to rent it to a family . Mobile phone so they didn't know we were from out of town . We didn't need to , but we could have arranged to see the house in a couple of days and the seller wouldn't have known we were from Sydney .

Cliff

 

So there's hope! I think I will just tell the truth, which is I am looking for a family home.

 

Did you put a price on your letter, or mention anything about an offer?

 

Don't think so .

had around 10 - 12 reply , half were curious about what we were doing , 1/ 4 had a drastically over inflated opinion of pricing and others were good . Missed out on another good one , because we weren't able to see it that day and his neighbour bought it off him , but I'm pretty sure that one would have gone underwater in the floods..

Cliff

 

My sister’s friend did this. Included information on their family and a photo of them. An elderly couple looking to downgrade sold them their property because they wanted a white family to buy and live in the home. Racist but true story.

I also read an article just recently about an elderly lady selling to a young couple because they had no interest in knocking down the house, she accepted their much lower offer because of that. Not a letter box drop as such but similar seller discretion regarding who bought their property. It’s not about money for some sellers. The letterbox drop might work in reaching out to those kinds of sellers. But you might need to be comfortable sharing some personal details about your family.