Anonymous wrote:The only letter I care about is one that is willing to escalate over asking

In a lot of these situations, the letter is putting people over the top while they are also offering over asking, when other bidders are as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any of you who wrote letters and got the house were a different race from the sellers.

I like the idea of letters but wondering whether as a South East Asian, it would be in our best interest. Our agent has never suggested it and we haven't won any houses so far.

I don't know the details of the sale, but the people who bought my (white bread) parents' house were South East Asian, first generation immigrants, and it meant a lot to my parents to hear how much they loved the house. But I don't know if they learned that through a letter or it was just mentioned at closing. My parents are pretty hard-nosed about finances, but they're also able to see that if one offer is only a few thousand less than the top offer, there isn't much difference, and if you would feel better going with the lower one, that's a reasonable course of action.

I'm the one who got a house for 50k under asking a few years ago after writing the letter. The sellers were elderly and African-American; we are white. The wife had grown up in the house and then moved when she married, and the house had sat unlived-in since her parents died 20 years ago. She and her husband visited weekly and kept the house up until they finally decided to sell (all their kids had finished college and moved elsewhere.) I really think the letter helped. It made them see that we wanted to raise a family in the house, which probably mattered to the seller since she and her siblings had been raised there.

The house had been on the market for months, though, so maybe they were just ready to sell. The whole interaction with the sellers was so pleasant, though--I think the letter must have made a difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any of you who wrote letters and got the house were a different race from the sellers.

I like the idea of letters but wondering whether as a South East Asian, it would be in our best interest. Our agent has never suggested it and we haven't won any houses so far.

I don't know the details of the sale, but the people who bought my (white bread) parents' house were South East Asian, first generation immigrants, and it meant a lot to my parents to hear how much they loved the house. But I don't know if they learned that through a letter or it was just mentioned at closing. My parents are pretty hard-nosed about finances, but they're also able to see that if one offer is only a few thousand less than the top offer, there isn't much difference, and if you would feel better going with the lower one, that's a reasonable course of action.

+1 Agree

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any of you who wrote letters and got the house were a different race from the sellers.

I like the idea of letters but wondering whether as a South East Asian, it would be in our best interest. Our agent has never suggested it and we haven't won any houses so far.

I don't know the details of the sale, but the people who bought my (white bread) parents' house were South East Asian, first generation immigrants, and it meant a lot to my parents to hear how much they loved the house. But I don't know if they learned that through a letter or it was just mentioned at closing. My parents are pretty hard-nosed about finances, but they're also able to see that if one offer is only a few thousand less than the top offer, there isn't much difference, and if you would feel better going with the lower one, that's a reasonable course of action.

Can't hurt to try.

Anonymous wrote:It depends. My aunt and uncle, both teachers, did this in Long Island in the 1980s. They could never get close to asking but they loved the house, they had seen it at a church picnic and it wasn't even for sale. A year later the owners contacted them and asked for an offer. For some people it is not solely a financial transaction....

Those people are fail

It depends. My aunt and uncle, both teachers, did this in Long Island in the 1980s. They could never get close to asking but they loved the house, they had seen it at a church picnic and it wasn't even for sale. A year later the owners contacted them and asked for an offer. For some people it is not solely a financial transaction....

Just sold a house, chose between two offers. One had a better bottom line $, one was a lesser offer with nice letter. We went with the better bottom line.

Why would it matter if you are SE Asian?

I wonder if any of you who wrote letters and got the house were a different race from the sellers.

I like the idea of letters but wondering whether as a South East Asian, it would be in our best interest. Our agent has never suggested it and we haven't won any houses so far.

It really depends on the seller. Since we bid on 9 homes, we went through various strategies before getting our home. While the majority wanted cash, you need to be in the ballpark of the top offer. Our first home we bid on with a letter didn't make the top 3 offers so it wasn't in contention. We found out later it closed for $90k over ask so looks like the Benjamin's won out. However, we just recently closed on our forever home and our letter helped us win it before it went to the open house. We loved the street and met the neighbors so we named dropped it to the owners. That was all she wrote and now we are happy homeowners.

The only letter I care about is one that is willing to escalate over asking

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes. The buyer absolutely has to be qualified.

Well yes, of course.

That goes without saying. No one is arguing that a letter will help a non-qualified risky buyer over a solid buyer with a good offer.

But all things being equal in terms of the sellers, a letter can in some cases make a difference between one offer and another, and might in a few cases be the tipping point that causes a seller to go with a slightly lower offer.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes. The buyer absolutely has to be qualified.

We put our hearts into our renovation, but would have taken the highest reasonable offer.
The sellers wrote a very mushy letter, and their realtor (smartly) didn't give it to us until after we signed the contract on their offer about $20K under list price (we listed high). I still get a kick out of that letter.