My white letters landed me in the hot seat with my broker......
I sent out 500 letters in my town, and another 100 elsewhere on the island I live on, it's Cape Cod, a very popular vacation area. We have a lot of snobby old people, and lot's of property stays within the family. A small portion of the letters were to distressed owners, but the overwhelming majority were targeted for attributes specific to the property that I won't get into.
My letters contain my google voice number, my name, and my real address, it reads like this:
Dear <FirstName>,
I am writing to you because I am interested in moving out of the house that I rent here on the Cape and purchasing a home. I believe your house at <Address:> <Address2> <Address3> <Address4> is very close to what I am looking for in the area.
Would you be interested in selling to me? I have the funds in place to buy the house without a bank loan and because I am very handy I would make any needed repairs to the house myself after I bought it from you.
Please call me at 508-xxx-xxxx. Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
They look pretty legit, hard to tell not handwritten, but not impossible:
Here's the hot seat part:
My police department claims to have received 6 phone calls, but they can s my d... but... My broker/office (several towns over) has received 3 calls & FOUR CRAZY WALK INS! Some of the calls to my office are brokers/agents who claim I need to have a disclaimer regarding my realtor status (they're wrong) but the rest I suspect are wives or children who are mad I might be tugging at their silver spoon.
So all these people are googling my name, seeing my keller williams profile, and jumping the gun on conclusions that I'm shady? Everything in the letter is 100% honest right down to my return address, I moved out here a few months ago & I am renting a home & would like to purchase.
I've gotten responses that run that run the gamut. Some people write back, some call to thank me but tell me not interested, etc. I occasionally get asked if I'm a Realtor/Agent & I'm always open about it, so these people that complain to my broker without calling me first irk me, especially when it's another agent/broker.
It's not required that I add a disclaimer, but to keep the peace I am adding one in even though I think it will turn off the REALLY motivated sellers, and actually more likely for people to think I want a listing-
In full disclosure I want to tell you that I have my real estate license, however I have no intention of listing your house, nor will I send you anything in the future to solicit that, I am genuinely interested in purchasing it for myself without the need to pay any broker fee's.
Any other agent investors dealt with this?