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They do and they don't.
People all have different needs.
Many folks are emotionally attached to the homestead.
We had no emotional attachment to my husband's house. It was the people next door who asked us to sell the house to "Indians". You can guess what ethnicity our neighbors are.
We didn't tell her about the offers we were considering. I think she was just playing the odds. We never mentioned this to our agent. And it didn't influence which offer my spouse accepted. But now I'm curious: If my spouse had granted the request of the nice Indian lady next door, would that have been "bad"?
We had no emotional attachment to my husband's house. It was the people next door who asked us to sell the house to "Indians". You can guess what ethnicity our neighbors are.
We didn't tell her about the offers we were considering. I think she was just playing the odds. We never mentioned this to our agent. And it didn't influence which offer my spouse accepted. But now I'm curious: If my spouse had granted the request of the nice Indian lady next door, would that have been "bad"?
On it's face it doesn't sound so nefarious. It's not as extreme as "I would never sell my house to such and such race." But at the same time if you're favoring one particular race then anyone of a different race isn't getting a fair shake. Even though there isn't malice or hate in the thought process it's still discrimination.
We had no emotional attachment to my husband's house. It was the people next door who asked us to sell the house to "Indians". You can guess what ethnicity our neighbors are.
We didn't tell her about the offers we were considering. I think she was just playing the odds. We never mentioned this to our agent. And it didn't influence which offer my spouse accepted. But now I'm curious: If my spouse had granted the request of the nice Indian lady next door, would that have been "bad"?
If your agent knowingly supported and enabled that request, that would have been a misstep for them.
Best for agents to keep in mind we sell houses, not people.
On it's face it doesn't sound so nefarious. It's not as extreme as "I would never sell my house to such and such race." But at the same time if you're favoring one particular race then anyone of a different race isn't getting a fair shake. Even though there isn't malice or hate in the thought process it's still discrimination.
I agree it's an overreach. And I actually have supported and helped write such love letters in the past. Not for banned reasons, but for emotional reasons important to buyer and seller.
We sold a horse farm that the previous owner had built and loved and made careful decisions about the layout and finishes on (the barn, not the house!) She wanted to sell it to another horse person. She didn't want to sell it to someone who wanted to turn it into a welding shop or a marijuana grow. She wanted happy horses to continue living there. That's understandable.
And increasingly in this area, it's an issue that can be in conflict with the highest and best offer. There are cash buyers who will come out and pay high prices, cash, for rural properties with big outbuildings on them, to use for growing and processing operations. I don't think it's wrong if people don't want to see that happen to a place they've loved, even if it means *perhaps* more cash in their pocket.
Our own farm, I will definitely want to sell to someone who will love and maintain what we see as a beautiful sanctuary. We have a bald eagle nest in our pasture and a large natural area below with a creek and wetland and forest where we have abundant wildlife we have protected and nurtured. We want to sell it to someone who will continue to protect that. As agents, we know how careful we need to be to honor fair housing law and we intend to do that. It's not about the money, it's about this place, that is special. And I think that's OK. "Lover of nature" is not a protected class.
It's something we definitely think about, perhaps more often than some, because some of the farms we sell are not just houses, they represent a lot of work and sweat and love, both for buyers, and sellers. Some of our buyers are looking for a dream. And some of our sellers want to see someone appreciate what they've built. And some don't care about that stuff at all, they're leaving, or planning on doing something new with it. People make decisions for all kinds of reasons and I'd like to leave ourselves enough freedom to allow for those reasons to matter sometimes.
Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 07-08-2021 at 12:14 PM..
I agree it's an overreach. And I actually have supported and helped write such love letters in the past. Not for banned reasons, but for emotional reasons important to buyer and seller.
We sold a horse farm that the previous owner had built and loved and made careful decisions about the layout and finishes on (the barn, not the house!) She wanted to sell it to another horse person. She didn't want to sell it to someone who wanted to turn it into a welding shop or a marijuana grow. She wanted happy horses to continue living there. That's understandable.
And increasingly in this area, it's an issue that can be in conflict with the highest and best offer. There are cash buyers who will come out and pay high prices, cash, for rural properties with big outbuildings on them, to use for growing and processing operations. I don't think it's wrong if people don't want to see that happen to a place they've loved, even if it means *perhaps* more cash in their pocket.
Our own farm, I will definitely want to sell to someone who will love and maintain what we see as a beautiful sanctuary. We have a bald eagle nest in our pasture and a large natural area below with a creek and wetland and forest where we have abundant wildlife we have protected and nurtured. We want to sell it to someone who will continue to protect that. As agents, we know how careful we need to be to honor fair housing law and we intend to do that. It's not about the money, it's about this place, that is special. And I think that's OK. "Lover of nature" is not a protected class.
It's something we definitely think about, perhaps more often than some, because some of the farms we sell are not just houses, they represent a lot of work and sweat and love, both for buyers, and sellers. Some of our buyers are looking for a dream. And some of our sellers want to see someone appreciate what they've built. And some don't care about that stuff at all, they're leaving, or planning on doing something new with it. People make decisions for all kinds of reasons and I'd like to leave ourselves enough freedom to allow for those reasons to matter sometimes.
I don’t think that it’s unusual even in an more urban area. If you live in an older, more vintage home or building, you might not want it to be torn down to be replaced with a multi-story condo building or several large townhome units. I had a friend who owned a vintage 3-flat in Chicago that was torn down for a condo building and I think she was sad about it. 2- and 3-flats are also part of Chicago history, so it is sad when they are torn down to be replaced by larger high rise condos/apartments.
I don’t think that it’s unusual even in an more urban area. If you live in an older, more vintage home or building, you might not want it to be torn down to be replaced with a multi-story condo building or several large townhome units. I had a friend who owned a vintage 3-flat in Chicago that was torn down for a condo building and I think she was sad about it. 2- and 3-flats are also part of Chicago history, so it is sad when they are torn down to be replaced by larger high rise condos/apartments.
Yes, I think that's definitely true, particularly with vintage and historic homes!
If you are the buyer, why not just write directly to the seller? The "love letters" are not illegal.
"a seller’s agent shall reject any communication other than customary documents in a real estate transaction, including photographs,
provided by a buyer."
Nothing prohibits a buyer from sending the letter directly to the seller.
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