Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 21:09     Subject: Love letter to seller?
PP, you also have to remember that there are older sellers who bought their house and paid it off so long ago that the few thousands or so difference in the hundreds of thousands to million plus they are gettingfrom one sale vs another really isn"t significant enough to make them ignore the emotions of the sale.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 21:08     Subject: Re:Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We did this for a house and the seller's agent said they just didn't care (they were a family similar to ours and we wrote that we'd care for the home and raise our kids there, etc). They just wanted the most money they could get.

Later won a bid on a much nicer house and didn't bother with a letter. But our agent had told their agent we were a young family and would be raising kids there and loving the house -- the sellers told us that had meant a lot. So I personally don't think letters matter as much as a good word put in by your agent, but that was just my experience.


If I had to sell our home I would not even open letters from prospective buyers. our house is our biggest asset and we would look for the highest price from the most solid buyer. I would find a buyer who writes such a letter a little naïf. when we bought our home, the sellers had lived there over 50 years (estate sale sold by the kids after the last parent died). the house was very well taken care of and clearly well loved. our agent told the seller's agent that we were a family with two little kids looking for our forever home and at closing the seller told us that they were very happy that the house was going to be sold to us because we were a family similar to theirs when they bought it over 50 years ago. but we also were solid buyers with a good down-payment and an offer that reflected the market.


PP here. Yep, that was the case with us, too. We had 20% down and the sellers were happy to hear we were going to raise our kids in this house. That said, I'm sure the strong offer was what got us the house.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 21:05     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The person who bought our condo wrote a letter, but honestly we didn't care. It's a financial transaction, and we wanted the most money we could get to help us with a downpayment on a new home. Now I'll tell you what the letter did tell us -- this buyer was emotionally invested in the place, so we negotiated with her instead of the other person who made an offer (albeit a lowball one) at the same time. If she hadn't come in with a better offer, we would have gone with someone else who did -- regardless of the letter.


Selling a condo is very different in terms of emotional attachment than selling a single family home, especially is the house you are selling is your "HOME".

I can't imagine any circumstance where a letter would make a difference in selling a condo or even a townhouse, but with the right sellers it will definitely make a difference for someone emotionally attached and selling their forevwr home.


PP here, I don't know about that. We were emotionally attached to our condo. It was the first place we bought. It was the home to which we brought home our babies. I loved that place, but we needed more space. I did want someone to love the place as much as we did, but that was not at all going to be a deciding factor for us in our decision. I guess I don't understand it when people allow business decisions to be clouded by emotions. I seriously doubt someone would turn down a better offer in favor of one that was not as good but included a love letter.


But no one buys a condo as their forever home, the house you bake cookies with the grandkids in, plant the tree to remember your favorite brother who passed away, or picture your daughter walking down the stairs in her wedding dress.

Those are the kind of emotional connections that make a seller connect with someone over a letter.

When you have a seller who can't emotionally let go of their house that is when a letter is effective.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 21:02     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:It depends on who is selling. A flipper does not care. A family who raised thier kids there and improved the house might care. You can see how long they have owned, that might give an idea.


This. We didn't write a letter but the seller was selling the house he grew up in (parents passed away) and he knew how much we loved the house, planned on raising our young children there, etc. etc. which really helped us get it. We lucked out - got a great house at a great price with little headache.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:59     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The person who bought our condo wrote a letter, but honestly we didn't care. It's a financial transaction, and we wanted the most money we could get to help us with a downpayment on a new home. Now I'll tell you what the letter did tell us -- this buyer was emotionally invested in the place, so we negotiated with her instead of the other person who made an offer (albeit a lowball one) at the same time. If she hadn't come in with a better offer, we would have gone with someone else who did -- regardless of the letter.


Selling a condo is very different in terms of emotional attachment than selling a single family home, especially is the house you are selling is your "HOME".

I can't imagine any circumstance where a letter would make a difference in selling a condo or even a townhouse, but with the right sellers it will definitely make a difference for someone emotionally attached and selling their forevwr home.


PP here, I don't know about that. We were emotionally attached to our condo. It was the first place we bought. It was the home to which we brought home our babies. I loved that place, but we needed more space. I did want someone to love the place as much as we did, but that was not at all going to be a deciding factor for us in our decision. I guess I don't understand it when people allow business decisions to be clouded by emotions. I seriously doubt someone would turn down a better offer in favor of one that was not as good but included a love letter.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:57     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Do it. It makes a difference.
VArealtor
Post 06/22/2014 20:55     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Have you or your agent met the sellers? Letter writing only appeals to a certain type of seller.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:34     Subject: Re:Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:All about the money. A letter wouldn't help. Those who say it did, just didn't realize they had the highest bid to begin with.


We were the only bidders and still wrote the letter. I think it helped us negotiate because we were able to give some background about ourselves and how much we wanted the house.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:25     Subject: Re:Love letter to seller?
A neighbor sold to a lower bidder who wrote a letter and promised to renovate the house. He ended up tearing it down. I don't blame him; it was in terrible condition but still feel like he was dishonest.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:23     Subject: Re:Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:All about the money. A letter wouldn't help. Those who say it did, just didn't realize they had the highest bid to begin with.


I know we did not have the higher bid.

We were outbid in a bidding war that went above our max. Since our escalation clause was tripped we saw the proof.

Also, the sellers told us when we met them at closing that it was our letter that made them pick our lower bid.

This was their dream forever home, and they didn't want to sell but had to due to a job issue.

They made an emotional decision because their home was an emotional thing for them and not just a financial transaction.

You have to have the right sellers for a letter to be effective, but it can and does work.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:19     Subject: Re:Love letter to seller?
All about the money. A letter wouldn't help. Those who say it did, just didn't realize they had the highest bid to begin with.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:17     Subject: Love letter to seller?
Anonymous wrote:The person who bought our condo wrote a letter, but honestly we didn't care. It's a financial transaction, and we wanted the most money we could get to help us with a downpayment on a new home. Now I'll tell you what the letter did tell us -- this buyer was emotionally invested in the place, so we negotiated with her instead of the other person who made an offer (albeit a lowball one) at the same time. If she hadn't come in with a better offer, we would have gone with someone else who did -- regardless of the letter.


Selling a condo is very different in terms of emotional attachment than selling a single family home, especially is the house you are selling is your "HOME".

I can't imagine any circumstance where a letter would make a difference in selling a condo or even a townhouse, but with the right sellers it will definitely make a difference for someone emotionally attached and selling their forevwr home.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:14     Subject: Love letter to seller?
The person who bought our condo wrote a letter, but honestly we didn't care. It's a financial transaction, and we wanted the most money we could get to help us with a downpayment on a new home. Now I'll tell you what the letter did tell us -- this buyer was emotionally invested in the place, so we negotiated with her instead of the other person who made an offer (albeit a lowball one) at the same time. If she hadn't come in with a better offer, we would have gone with someone else who did -- regardless of the letter.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 20:04     Subject: Love letter to seller?
worked for us. do it!
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2014 15:12     Subject: Love letter to seller?
I call bs, most sellers want money.