The Summer of 2012 is getting hotter every day in the real estate market! Almost every home for sale today is experiencing multiple offers sometimes up to 20 offers in a week! Interest rates are around 3.5% and inventory is in short supply. Buyers know that if they don’t get in on this market, prices and interest rates will go up and they might not be able to afford their Dream Home!
Recently I wrote an offer on a Standard Sale for a very well qualified Buyer. I already knew that there were multiple offers on the property. 2 offers were all cash, 3 were FHA offers and 2 were offers using conventional financing with 20% down payment. So how did I get my offer accepted over all the others?
The Buyer’s Love Letter!
Sounds corny? Well, it works! I asked my Buyers to write a letter to the Seller describing who they are and why they wanted to purchase the Home. In this case, the Buyer included pictures of themselves and their dog. They explained how they fell in love with the house when they walked through the door. They also went on to say that they were expecting in the Fall and could see themselves raising a family in the Home.
It turns out the Sellers had in mind their idea of perfect Buyers for their beautiful Home and guess what? The Buyers matched the profile completely!
Now without the letter, the Sellers would have just seen another offer on their dining room table. The Buyer’s Love Letter put a “face” on the offer. We had our offer accepted right away and closed escrow with both parties feeling extremely good about the sale.
Real estate over the last 5 years has been a drag. Smelly, trashed bank owned houses and “drive by only” short sales have made Buyers and Realtors crazy. It’s about time that the market gets back to a more realistic place where there are “real” Sellers that care about their Home and neighborhood, not just the bottom line on a bank statement.
If you are a Buyer writing many offers on many houses, you just might want to use this technique. Like I tell my Buyers, “There is a Home for everyone” but sometimes you need a little edge over the competition.








