If you’ve recently gone through the homebuying process, you know that it’s a tough market out there. Competition is fierce and buyers and their real estate brokers are continually trying to come up with (creative) ways to make their offer stand out without necessarily breaking the bank and foregoing inspection and mortgage contingencies. One of these ways is through a buyer written letter addressed to the sellers, a topic that was recently featured in this Boston Globe article.
These days, writing personal letters with the offer has almost become something like a requirement. If buyers have decent to strong offers, why not include a letter to humanize and make themselves more likeable to the sellers and stand out? Well, writing a letter may not be that simple, according to this article. There are considerations to be made regarding the content of the letter (don’t talk about how happy you and your family are to a seller that’s going through a divorce!) and when a letter even makes sense to be included in the offer (spoiler: it doesn’t always make sense.)
The article acknowledges that for the most part, money is king and the higher cash offers with very little contingencies are almost always going to win over the sellers; however, there have been some situations where middle-of-the-pack offers rose above the rest because of the personal touch and insight coming through from the prospective buyer via the personal note.
What was your home buying experience like? Did your offer come with a personal note from you? Did it help you stand out? Let us know and comment below.
-Attorney Virgilio Ong
