I live in Southern California, in a neighborhood less than a mile from the beach, on a tree-lined street with great public schools and neighbors who knock on each other’s doors to borrow sugar. My kids can play in the street with their friends, we’re walking distance to shops and restaurants and there are plenty of notable residents in my 24-square mile town.
So for good reason, barely anyone is selling their home here — despite some jaw-dropping asking prices on the few that have hit the market. But just because a home here isn’t for sale, doesn’t mean a wannabe buyer won’t try to buy it. Recently, I’ve received handwritten notes, typed letters on letterhead in my mailbox and even text messages from supposed realtors claiming they have clients interested in my house and gauging my eagerness to sell.
And apparently, this is happening in communities across the nation. “With so few homes on the market right now, real estate agents and potential buyers are flooding homeowners with solicitations and offers,” says Clare Trapasso, executive news editor at Realtor.com, which is owned by the same company as MarketWatch.
For her part, Compass sales agent Lily Goldstucker with the Mysti Stewart Group in Dallas, says she’s seen buyers fall in love with certain houses that aren’t for sale. As a realtor that means” there are times we are dropping off a note, making a call or even dropping off some flowers to go along with our ask. If houses in your neighborhood are getting multiple offers, this is often a tactic agents will do in order to get into a property before it hits the market,” says Goldstucker.
What to do if you get an unsolicited offer on your home
Personally, I don’t have any plans to move, but I suppose given the right price, I’d be a fool not to accept an offer that’s too good to be true. The problem is determining whether or not these interested parties are legitimate or if realtors are just trying to drum up new business.
Trapasso confirms that while many of these offers are legit, others aren’t: “Homeowners should do some due diligence, considering whether the prospective buyers are working with a licensed real estate agent, if the buyers plan to finance their purchase and if they can provide a mortgage pre-approval letter from a reputable lender and if any red flags come up, like if buyers keep changing their offer or adding new stipulations,” says Trapasso.
Goldstucker says if the note is detailed, handwritten or the phone call includes specific details about your house, it’s probably legitimate. “If inventory is low in your area, then a pre-printed flier going out to the entire neighborhood might also be real. If you call the number on the flier and they aren’t immediately scheduling a tour, it’s not legitimate,” says Goldstucker.
Anytime you receive an unsolicited offer, site unseen, realtor Justin Feil of The Feil Group at Berkshire Hathaway says, “Be skeptical. Sometimes investors try to get a property under contract just to tie it up and work backward. There are also situations where investors look to get a property under contract and then assign it to another buyer. Could it be a real buyer? Yes, that absolutely does happen.”
It’s also important to remember that just because an unsolicited offer from an individual buyer or real estate agent is legitimate, it’s not necessarily a good offer. “A seller’s agent can help you determine whether the offer is a fair price. Unsolicited offers will often tempt homeowners with a streamlined cash transaction, but these cash offers tend to be well under market value and don’t offer room for negotiation,” says Kate Wood, home expert at NerdWallet.
That said, real estate agents can’t sell homes if there are none available to buy. “Since they typically work on commission, part of their job is often to drum up business. Many of the unsolicited mailings, phone calls and even text messages that homeowners are receiving are from agents looking for homes to sell,” says Trapasso.
If you get an unsolicited offer from a company or an investor, look them up online. “Check out their website and look for online reviews. For an unsolicited offer from a business, head to the Better Business Bureau site. Regardless of the source, know that if it’s a printed card, all of your neighbors likely got one too,” says Wood.
Ultimately, Wood says homeowners tend to be at a disadvantage with unsolicited offers because they tend to be take it or leave it propositions. “Especially when the buyer’s offering cash, they’re not looking to negotiate. Buyers are most likely to make unsolicited offers in extremely hot markets, exactly the market where sellers have the most advantage,” says Wood.
That’s why, Feil says it’s uncommon to receive an actual unsolicited, site unseen, real offer. “It’s a daily occurrence to receive a letter from an agent saying they have a buyer for your home because it’s a low inventory market. They might have a buyer, but so do many other agents,” says Feil. As the homeowner of an unlisted home, remember that you have leverage. “You’re not accumulating days on market and are in the driver’s seat and should be able to control the pace, price (within reason) and timing of the deal,” says Feil.
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