Many years ago, my husband and I bought a 100-year-old home. During our home search my wish list was quite extensive, and finding that perfect home was much more difficult than we ever expected.

Fort Worth is an amazing city filled with a plethora of old homes. So when I began my search for my dream historic home, I never expected it would expand over a nine month period. After months of searching with no luck, hitting the mid-way mark of our search, we started to grow impatient.

I started asking around, and realized many homes (especially older, historic homes) actually sell off-market. No wonder we were having such a hard time. After having that realization, I knew we had to change our game plan.

Step 1: Know Your Market & Be Observant 

Houses in the historic areas of Fort Worth don’t often go on the market. After months of searching (in a low inventory market) I came to the realization that there was a good chance our search could last another year. If I didn’t change my search tactic, I was most likely going to purchase a home that wasn’t really what I wanted, simply due to timing and impatience.

Thankfully we knew the area really well and were familiar with average property prices, and the growth of the area over the last five years or so. I knew that even if we offered to buy a home that wasn’t for sale (and maybe paid a bit more than current market value) that we would still make money if we decided to sell in just a few short years.

Here are some things that were helpful for me to know in Step 1:

1. Know the area: If you’re unfamiliar with your dream neighborhood, start asking around. Chances are, if you love the neighborhood, so do a lot of other people in the city. Do your research and review list prices and sold prices on sites like Redfin, Zillow etc.
2. Low inventory market = FAST selling homes: Observe whether or not the area has low inventory. If the neighborhood has low inventory, you can bet when a new house is listed, it will go FAST. You’re not the only one searching for a home in that neighborhood – others are just as desperate and frustrated as you are. During our first month of house hunting, we made an offer on a house within 3 days of it being listed. We were an hour too late in our offer and lost the house. That was our first lesson learned.
3. Change your tactics: If you’re tired of looking at houses that aren’t “the one,” (or not many houses are coming on the market – or they’re selling too fast) make the decision to change your direction. Start pursuing homes that aren’t on the market.

Step 2: Know the Difference Between Your “Wish List” & Your “Must Have List”

Our wish list started out very long and specific. But as I stated above, that was merely our wish list. We had a much smaller (and more reasonable) must have list that we really relied on. When you’re looking at homes NOT on the market, the chances of checking off every bullet point are slim to none. Below are some examples of our wish list versus our must have list:

Must Haves:

• Covered Front Porch
• Historic/Older Home (around 1920’s)
• Craftsman Style or Prairie Style
• 3 bed, 2 bath (minimum)

Wish List:

• Two Story
• 3,000 SF(ish)
• Back Patio
• Home Office or Extra Bedroom
• Pool or Room to add a Pool
• Fireplace (s)
• Large(ish) Master Suite
• Multiple Living Areas
• Wide Street
• Garage or Covered Parking
• Not too outdated

As you can see, our wish list was much longer, and we were very ok with not hitting a lot of those items on the list. What we cared most about were things you couldn’t change, like location, home exterior style, age of home, etc.

Step 3: Start Driving Around Your Favorite Neighborhoods

Once we nailed down our must-have list, we spent nearly every weekend (for about a month or two) driving around our favorite neighborhoods. Since we couldn’t see the inside of any of these homes, we focused on a curb appeal, location and whether or not it was a good street. We jotted down about 100 homes that we loved, favoriting about 10-20. We then went home and began our research.

Step 4: Online Research

Once we determined some of our favorite houses in our favorite neighborhoods, the internet research began. Here was my process:

1. Online Property Search: Look up the address on your county’s appraisal district’s website. You can type in the address of any home and find the owners information, as well as when the deed of the home was issued to owner. It’s public information, so although this step feels strange, its completely legal.
2. Determine Probability of Selling: If the owner didn’t own the home for very long, let’s say 1-3 years, I didn’t pursue them. I figured they’re still newly in the home, and wouldn’t want to sell. If they had been in the home for 5 years or more, I thought there was a slight chance they might sell. And if they were in the home for 20-30 years, I figured there was even more of a chance they would sell. You have to remember though, not all the people who have owned a home for 30 years were easy to find online, so the chances of finding an email address for them, or Facebook profile was much more difficult for me.
3. Start Searching for Contact Info: Once you’ve found a few homes that have been owned for roughly 5-10 years or more, start trying to find an online account for these homeowners. Sometimes you can find out if they own a local business. If so, you might be able to find contact info on their business’ website.

Step 5: Write a Letter

This step might be hard for some, and easy on others. For me, it was easy. I basically kept it simple and was completely honest about my house hunting journey. Here is an example of a email/letter you could write.

Here is my Letter Template for Buying a House That Isn’t For Sale:

Hi!

We first want to say you have such a lovely home! My [partner, spouse etc.] and I have been house hunting in the area for quite some time and have always dreamed of raising our family in a historic home and neighborhood. We haven’t yet found “the one” with any of the homes currently on the market and wanted to express interest in yours if you’ve been considering selling. 

We’re currently living in downtown Fort Worth, but have already been pre-approved with our lender and are ready to buy. We would be so honored to live in your home and in this area, so if you’re interested please feel free to shoot us an email for give us a call! We’ve listed our contact information below.

Thank you so much for reading our letter!

xo, Chad and Amy
(insert your contact info here)

Since I was able to find most of the homeowners online, I simply sent them a private message on Facebook, using the above template. I didn’t hear back from many people, but I did hear back from a few; one of them being the home we purchased.

We also drove around and delivered our letters to their home, placing the hand-written letter at their doorstep with a small gift (an orchid, for example). For me, doing things in person feels more genuine and thoughtful, so this was an important step for us. We even had one sweet woman write a hand-written letter back to us. She later became one of our neighbors, and meeting her in person was just so wonderful. We shared stories of our neighborhood experiences and how the community was special to us in our own ways. It was such a great way to connect!

Step 6: Be Patient

It took a long time to get from point A to point B. I was a bit discouraged in the beginning that not everyone was replying to my letter. But please remind yourself that the people you’re reaching out to weren’t expecting a letter. They will respond (or not respond) on their own time. And on the other side of things, many people receive these types of letters every year; especially if they have a beautiful home on a great street. So they actually might be numb to these types of letters, and/or simply not looking to sell.

Step 7: Tour the Home and Start to Negotiate

Remember – you went into this knowing you’re not going to get the deal of a lifetime. You’re asking someone to sell their house that wasn’t on the market. You’re also being invited into a kind stranger’s home to see if you’re even interested in buying it.

Side Note: Bring a small gift as a token of thanks. Something small is sufficient; a small house plant or bouquet of flowers is always nice. Maybe even a recipe card of your favorite homemade cookies!

As you tour the home’s interior, if you don’t love it as much as you hoped, BE POLITE and always lead with kindness and gratitude. Simply express this might not be the home for you, and leave with a smile and a thank you. Or, if you see potential in the home, don’t rule it out just yet. If the home has good bones, there’s always room for a renovation down the line. That’s exactly what we did; we knew the home itself had loads of potential, and we ended up renovating it to make it our own.

Now it’s time to negotiate. Be patient, be polite, and understand you will need to work with the seller on their requests, as well as be firm on what you want as well. Be considerate and understanding, while still holding your ground. Do you want to move in within the month? Well, if that’s too soon for the seller, respect that. Ask what works for them and negotiate from there. We’re all human, and we’re all adults. Be reasonable in your requests.

Step 8: Celebrate & Make it Your Own

If you passed steps 6 & 7, and you’ve found the home of your dreams, then congrats! Does this process always work? No, but it’s a step in the right direction. It took us about 3+ months to negotiate our deal and to close on the house.

Now that you’ve closed on your dream home, the next step would be to make it your own, correct? Whether your local to Fort Worth, or not, turning a house into a home isn’t always easy to do on your own.

That’s where Amy Horany Interiors comes in; let our design studio elevate your home. We offer interior design services such as large full-scale renovations, all the way down to smaller projects like selecting your home furnishings.

We will take the time to walk you through our detailed process, and work with you to discover exactly what service is right for you. If you’re looking to launch a local home renovation in Fort Worth such as this one we’ve recently posted about, or you’re interested in some virtual interior design consulting, we can assist in any of those capacities. Feel free to reach out via our contact form to schedule your complimentary 20 minute Discovery Call!

Other Helpful Tips & Tricks:

Another tip is to have an open line of communication with the “movers & shakers” in your community. Personally, I reached out to board members of my favorite neighborhoods and emailed them directly asking for them to keep their ears open about any potential real estate listings about to come on the market.

Overall, what I discovered was that people are so nice. People I didn’t even know were keeping their eyes open for us because they shared the same passion for these neighborhoods as we did. And some of them had even bought homes the exact same way I did; OFF THE MARKET with a simple “Will you sell your house?” letter. Many of these people ultimately became neighbors and friends, which was also pretty cool.

Remember, often times homes in certain historic areas sell before ever actually being put on the market, so staying “in the know” was very important. They are coveted pieces of property in popular neighborhoods, so it’s not too surprising they sell off-market. My hope is this article will assist in your home buying journey and give you some practical pointers along the way. And don’t forget to reach out to our design studio, Amy Horany Interiors, if you’re needing any assistance with your new home’s interior.