Buyers and Tellers: SYMPATHY PLOY PAYS OFF

My husband and I started house-hunting shortly after our October 1997 wedding. The market was getting hot and properties were going fast, with multiple offers.

It was clear that we’d need to find out about a home’s availability before it was advertised for sale.

I’d read about getting expired listings from Realtors and sending letters to the sellers, but we wanted more immediate impact on prospective sellers.

So we put a wedding picture (for the “sympathy factor”) on a sheet of paper with the caption “Newlyweds Seek First Home.” We also wrote some basic information about ourselves and included our names and phone number.

We distributed 300 color copies of the flier in the areas with homes we liked and thought we could afford. We got seven responses, viewed four homes and found the one we now own in late March 1998.

It’s a 1940s 1,700-square-foot home in the Burbank foothills. The house was in probate, and we had left a flier on the door. A friend of the late owner, who was looking after the house, contacted us.

It took quite a while before our offer was presented in probate court, which gave us time to educate ourselves about the process, so we didn’t feel a need to have a Realtor take us through the escrow. We closed in September 1998.

We love our home and we’re proud of the unusual approach we took to find it; we wouldn’t hesitate to try it again!

TRINA UNZICKER

TOM MOUTES

Burbank