Going door-to-door

amother

Rose

Thu, May 17 2018, 4:47 pm

We used Debbie finklestein. She showed us a house that wasn't on the market and we bought it. She knew correct pricing because she sold half the houses on the block. She sold the seller his house. She could negotiate with him because she had years of report with him. There are certain things you cat know from Zillow or your own untrained eyes. You need one realtor, but you CAN and should be looking at all the other realtors listings and forwarding them to your realtor. Same with Zillow and redfin and in person networking. Door to door is extremely annoying and inefficient.

amother

Hotpink

Fri, May 18 2018, 6:35 am

OP, I live in Baltimore and I dont agree that the best houses dont make it to Zillow. I just bought a house that was flipped and the seller put it right on zillow the second it was ready to sell. And I moved off of a block thats highly desirable, 2 houses on that block went right to zillow also - aka, sold by a realtor and the people never tried to sell by owner or privately. They didnt want to waste time and tried to sell it right away with a realtor. We used Refoel Szendro as out buyers agent, he did know of houses that were available before they went on the market but none were right for us (too expensive). You dont need to see the “best” houses, you just need the right one for you.

People post on baltimommies all the time that they’re looking for houses in whatever area, and find out who is getting ready to sell that way. Baltimommies is almost like going knocking door to door these days - post on there!

amother

Dustypink

Mon, Jul 11 2022, 11:02 am

I also live in Baltimore. My house was on Zillow--but we used a realtor to get us in to see it. I do know one realtor wanted us to sign an exclusivity agreement that we couldn't contact any other realtor. We did not sign (more because he wasn't showing us anything that we wanted. We gave him an area we wanted to live in and price range and he didn't stick to either--actually barely showed us any houses in our requested area).

I know someone (probably 25 years ago) who read the obituaries in the newspaper. He sent the family a condolence letter and and at the end mentioned if they ever want to sell he'd love to buy the house. They contacted him shortly after to sell the house.

I know someone else who got a job in Baltimore and needed to find a place to live. It was a few weeks before the start date and they still didn't have a place to live (even rent). A relative started knocking on doors. She knocked on a door and left a note to ask if they were interested to sell. The owner contacted them and said she was going to put the house on the market in a few days and was willing to let them see it first. They couple came in that night and saw it and put down an offer--all before anything was put on the market.

So yes, although many good houses make it to Zillow in Baltimore, many never do. An in with a realtor or neighbor who knows their neighbors are thinking of moving is very helpful.

amother

Oatmeal

Mon, Jul 11 2022, 12:40 pm

amother [ Brunette ] wrote:

I'm the OP. I'm in Baltimore. The houses that make it to zillow are often ones that aren't easily sold right away. I think you need an "in" with the realtors who are SELLING the houses because I think the majority of ones that end up getting posted on zillow or shown by other realtors are ones that wouldn't get snatched up right away. I've been talking with others and they feel the same way. I haven't brought up going door-to-door though. I hear what you guys are saying about it not being nice and I agree. I've decided against it. I don't agree with the whole using one realtor thing being in your best interest. It makes more sense that you can use more than one and then they're be even more likely to try to find you something if they know they have competition. Otherwise if they know you're only relying on them then they can take their time. Am I wrong about this? (I'm not talking about legalities, I'm talking what makes more sense).
But if that's what is the "right" thing to do then I'll do it. I just don't think it makes sense when it's so important to have connections with the right people for it to be more likely that you'll get a house.

Umm, no. I’m in Baltimore and don’t see this. What does happen is realtors will say coming soon and start to get offers. Houses go on Zillow and are under contract within a week. That will probably change any minute now with the way the economy is going.
Some houses aren’t listed so owners can gauge interest. Like if they want to raise/lower the price. Once a house is listed legally it has to be off the market for a certain amount of time to raise the price.
What area are you looking in?

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Jul 11 2022, 1:02 pm

amother [ Dustypink ] wrote:

FWIW, there was one very well known situation a few years ago when a certain guy went knocking and he was asking people if he could buy their houses and he made it quite uncomfortable for people to decline. He bought a number of homes and built many more. It was not seen as a nice or good thing...

amother [ Oatmeal ] wrote:

I agree with this. And fwiw, I bought my house the day it was listed.