Sometimes money isn’t enough.
Forced to compete in a seller’s market where multiple offers are the rule rather than the exception, buyers are doing whatever it takes to make themselves stand out.
Enter the love letter.
When it was first used in real estate, it must have been incredibly effective. What seller could resist being flattered and wooed by an ardent suitor – not for love in this case but to win the right to purchase a property. Unfortunately like most good ideas it was quickly overused, to the point where today a personal note from the buyer – sometimes accompanied by a cute kid’s drawing or family photo – is considered an almost necessary part of the offer package.
As a listing agent, I have read a lot of these letters. And yes, I confess I have encouraged many buyer clients to write them. But even the best ones, no matter how beautifully composed, tend to come off as predictable and often downright phony. That’s because you can feel as you read them that they were dashed off with a goal in mind, rather than coming from an authentic, heartfelt place.
But there are exceptions.
Like the letter I received from a young professional couple about a recent property I listed. The house was in really bad shape. Pretty much a tear-down. But from the moment they first walked in I could see that this husband and wife had fallen in love with the place. I remember watching them through a cracked window as they lingered and conferred in the backyard, nodding and pointing out things to each other with dreams in their eyes.
And their letter genuinely moved me.
Was it really so different than all the others out there? Probably not. There was no magic to their words. But behind them was that deep caring I had observed through the window and it struck a chord.
Because it was real.
Apparently the owner felt it too because they got the house.