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My friend is selling her house and was telling me how moved she was by a letter a prospective buyer sent her. The letter mentioned things about how the buyer loved the house's decor, how she looks forward to making pancakes for her kids in the kitchen, and the neighbors that she met were so very nice. My friend was downright weepy over this "lovely" letter.
This strikes me as blatant tugging the seller's heart strings and would turn me off the buyer. But perusing the web, I guess real estate "love letters" are the going thing now. Comments?
They work and it is that simple. My wife sent one with our offer because my agent suggested it, I didn't care at all about doing that. If I were selling I'm too practical to even read a letter because I know the point is to distract a buyer from the actual offer and make an emotional decision on a business deal.
Done right, they work for some buyers, with some sellers.
I have had listing agents tell me that they have been a factor.
Gushing too much, or focusing on the buyers' wants or needs, and they don't work nearly as well.
In multiple offer situations, and price and terms being equal, they may help the offer be chosen. Sometimes, some grace and appreciation can go a long way with a seller who loves their home.
For the most part, no matter how weepy the letter, the price and terms are still going to tug at a seller's heart more.
I had one where I gave the entire sob story about my buyers losing out on 11 previous houses and please please please they want this house. I got the call that the sellers felt so bad for my buyers and they would gladly accept if my buyers raised their offer another $5k. They were already $20k over asking, and weren't going to go anymore.
Greedy sellers wanting even more than their over asking offer will always win over a heart-felt story that is already over asking price.
When I sold my parents' house the buyer sent a letter with the offer. It was the best offer but I really did appreciate the effort and it was nice to know the buyers saw that as their "forever" home. My parents had lived in the house over 35 years and really loved the place. Glad they wanted to grow a family there. My folks would have liked that.
That type of letter would either be sent back unopened or thrown in the trash unopened. This is a professional, non personal business transaction, keep it that way.
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