With houses now selling so quickly and competition increasing, more and more buyers are turning to innovative tactics to find properties, with the latest trend being ‘house stalking’.
A recent article published by Reuters reports that in the last year, ’20 percent of those who sold their homes without using a real estate agent did so because they were directly contacted by a prospective buyer’.
This trend, which entails everything from knocking on doors to writing letters, has earned the term ‘house stalking’ in the real estate community, and has risen in popularity by 15 percent since 2010.
So if you are on the hunt for properties in competitive markets, you might want to try some of these inventive tactics…
Dear Seller Letters
In hot markets like San Diego, CA, dear seller letters are a growing trend. They offer the seller a convincing argument as to why the prospective buyer would be the best owner for home, and add a personal touch to a process that normally rather impersonal. It could just be the hook you need to get you in.
Property Alerts
Most real estate listing sites have the option to set up alerts on properties you are interested in. So, if you already know the neighborhood in which you want to purchase in, take a look around for which properties especially catch your eye. Then go home and set alerts on those properties. The more properties you set up alerts for, the more chances you have on one hitting the market (and you being the first to know about it).
Foreclosure & Pre-Foreclosure Listings
If you are not already using foreclosure listings to search for properties, you are missing out on a great untapped resource. You can check your local public listings, an online listing service, or other outlets even like your local newspaper to search for these.
