Personalized Offer Letter

[Sean19]

Does anyone think these are effective?

Any pointers?

[spdrun]

Sure, on sellers with the IQ of a potted plant. Any seller with 1/4 of a brain will sell to whoever comes firstest with the mostest money.

The only paper that matters is the green, hard-to-fake kind.

[svelte]

[quote=spdrun]Sure, on sellers with the IQ of a potted plant. Any seller with 1/4 of a brain will sell to whoever comes firstest with the mostest money.

The only paper that matters is the green, hard-to-fake kind.[/quote]

Not always true. Here is a true example from last twelve months.

A close friend was shopping for a house so we recommended our friend, an excellent realtor. The realtor found our friend an excellent home (half of a duplex) and wrote the seller a very nice offer letter, introducing my friend’s young family and stating they would treat the home well. They got the house in a multiple offer situation.

After they moved in, they found out the other half of the duplex was also owned by the seller and his daughter lives there still! So the seller had a vested interest in getting a very decent buyer in the place he was selling.

In a multiple offer situation with close bids, it is very possible the offer letter makes the difference.

[Sean19]

A friend of mine at work was telling me about writing a letter. He didn’t say it would make the seller take my offer that was $30,000 less than everyone else’s but he felt like it helped him get into his home.

I can tell them are some people with a lot of experience buying and selling and I would love to hear any thoughts.

[FlyerInHi]

For what it’s worth, my younger brother wrote to Freddie Mac at the bottom of the market. He got the short sale.

Nowadays, nobody reads the offers. The agent tells the seller over the phone and he usually electronically signs a counter.

If you write a letter, overnight it directly to the seller. Otherwise, there is no guarantee the agents will submit it to the seller.

[Anonymous]

I have some anecdotal evidence that they do. It seemed to help for a friend buying from an older couple with sentimental attachments to a property.

[sdsurfer]

Assuming all other terms are equal it can set you apart from the other offers.

I do not think you’ll save any money, but if they have multiple offers at the same price and considering it costs you absolutely nothing you might as well.

[spdrun]

If I were selling and someone wrote a letter, I’d know that they want it bad enough so I can squeeze another few grand out of them 🙂

[Reality]

[quote=spdrun]If I were selling and someone wrote a letter, I’d know that they want it bad enough so I can squeeze another few grand out of them :)[/quote]

I admire your greed.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]If I were selling and someone wrote a letter, I’d know that they want it bad enough so I can squeeze another few grand out of them :)[/quote]

Haha.. hey it’s capitalism. Greed is good. The art of the deal.

My friend who retired sold his house a few years back for a lesser price to “good” family because he “couldn’t do it the neighbors”, that is sell to a noisy family. More of the story, dress well and be on your best behavior when viewing house.

I’m with you spdrun, I don’t have such scruples.

[sdgrrl]

It worked for my fiancé and I and we also put a picture of us attached to the letter. It felt weird at first, but our realtor urged us to try. I emphasized my fiancé’s military service and when we were up against a few other couples, the owner chose us.

He had lived in the home for 30+ years with his wife until she had recently passed away and he decided to move in with his son. The owner also served in the military and his wife was Asian- double slam.

I don’t see it hurting to give it a go. I see myself as a seller. Of course I’m going to go after the best offer, but if I have a few in I would definitely read the offer letter. Anyone that had served in the military- especially those who served in Afghanistan or Iraq, was a teacher or were a small family just getting their boots on the ground would get top billing.

[spdrun]

Yes on teachers.

No comment on military, other than there’s no longer a draft, and signing up to follow orders of a bunch of rich old men in DC makes me question their judgment.

We haven’t had a just war in 70+ years.

[sdgrrl]

I won’t get too much into a debate about the worthiness of a vet in our modern times.

Vietnam was not a “just” war and for those whom served, my heart goes out to the men who were drafted into a mess that put them in jungles, fighting diseases and an enemy that couldn’t easily be identified. They were young, uneducated and had no choice in the draft, while other young men who came from wealthy families easily were able to dodge it.

I look at a just war, our greatest war, WWII. My father was 50 years old when I was born and served in WWII in the Pacific. My father didn’t sign up for the Navy for any heroic purposes.

He was born in 1926 in Hugo, Oklahoma. Until he joined the Navy at 17, he had never had any type of stability in his life, was always hungry and often went without shoes. He never liked hunting later in life, because it reminded him of how poor he had been growing up. Just saying this because we were raised in Texas, in a very gun/hunting enthusiastic community.

I have three cousins and two went to West Point. Both who went to West Point were born in Korea. They wanted the prestige, but also wanted a free education. Many other enlisted men I know went in for a free education and stability as well.

Many aren’t out to be heroes. They need stability, family, medical insurance and a path to affordable education. Maybe they haven’t fought a just war, but that doesn’t mean one won’t occur. If it ever happens, they are there for us and I do respect that.

[spdrun]

If people are joining the military just to have stability, health insurance, and education, maybe that’s a comment on our country and whether it’s worth saving. Maybe an invader would do better for us than we do for our own people 🙁

[sdgrrl]

I get it spdrun. It does say a lot about our country that young people have to potentially put themselves in danger to be able to have education and health care.

A lot of countries have forced military service- even Switzerland. In Korea if you don’t serve you have dishonored yourself and your family. Even their greatest K-Pop stars and movie stars must be in the military. Imagine JayZ or Beiber (Candadian thouh) having to serve. I think it would do a lot of people good and I think women should be a part of it as well.

I do get what you are saying.

[Author]

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