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Jeff Tracy
  • Investor
  • Peekskill, NY
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Advice on yellow letters from someone who is now getting them

Jeff Tracy
  • Investor
  • Peekskill, NY
Posted Feb 26 2015, 03:44

About 6 months ago my mother in law passed away and we inherited her home outside of Atlanta.  We were lucky enough that her friend around the corner wants to buy the home, so we struck a deal with him and we close in about 2 weeks.  However, in the last 2 months we have received about 7 or 8 yellow letters so I want to share our experience and our reactions to receiving them.  Hopefully it will help some people out.

My wife finds the letters to be upsetting and likens it to buzzards trying to feed off a dead carcass. To be honest, some of the letters are just down right stupid. Like the guy who sent us a yellow letter that just said $BUY$ on it in giant letters written with a Sharpie. That one was not well received and several curse words were spoken before it was torn up and put in the trash. Others have been very generic and say something like, "we want to buy your house at.." followed by the address. The letters have a very scammy/sleazy feel to them and I don't think these investors are taking into account that they are contacting someone who just lost their mother. Had any of these people delivered the letter in person they probably would have been on the receiving end an expletive filled rant and probably a few punches. I'm sure everyone sending the letters have the best intentions and we are the ideal candidates; we inherited a house 1,000 miles away, we don't want it and we can't rent it (it's part of a HOA that caps the units that can be rented). This is the perfect business situation; motivated buyers and VERY motivated sellers. I can't speak for all sellers of inherited homes, but I'm sure we are in the majority of people who are looking at this as an emotional decision, not a business decision. This isn't so much looked at as an asset that needs to be disposed of, but rather one more severed link between her and mom.

We did receive 1 letter that was very honest.  The person explained that they learned we had inherited this property in Atlanta and that it may be difficult to deal with because we live in New York.  When we were ready they would be happy to speak to us about options to sell the property.  It was very specific to our situation, it was very sympathetic and understanding of a delicate situation and, most importantly, it didn't make my wife want to punch the sender in the face.  If we didn't have a buyer, this person may have been called.

The point to take away from this post is not the intention of the letter, but how the letter is received.  I can't speak for everyone, but we, especially my wife, were much more receptive to the yellow letter that was respectful of our situation and much less receptive to the more generic letters.  I'd be willing to bet that the people who are prospecting from probate lists are much more successful when they send specific, targeted letters rather than a letter that says "I want to buy your house".

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