Home purchasers attempting to stand out from a group of offers in today’s competitive market are often told to pen an individual letter to accompany their offer. Purchasers who are financing a home, or have a smaller down payment, commonly have difficulty competing with all-cash consumers. Appealing to the vendor as a person, in opposition to a contract, can sometimes give a customer an emotional edge.
What isn’t frequently explained to buyers is how exactly to draft that letter. The best ideas are sometimes squandered by poor execution. Here is a handy guide to framing the house buyer letter and leveraging your best endowments by thinking from the seller’s standpoint :
One ) Flatter First
This is an emotional pitch. You’re making an attempt to tell the seller, “I’m such a good person that you should ignore the numbers.” They have to like you. Tell the vendor how great their taste in colour is, how much you’d love to have their lifestyle, and what a wonderful neon bottle top exhibit they have over the fireside. Lay it on thick, but keep it sincere. You’re selling, but you don’t want them to feel just like they’re being sold a used car.
Two ) Get To The Point
You may have Ten good ideas that you’d like to tell the seller. They can only remember two. The seller may have 10 other letters to read. If you mix in your best points with your lesser points, they may all just become a jumble.
Pick 2 or 3 reasons why you will be the best customer for this home, and make them distinctly distinguishable. The more streamlined you make your message, the more memorable it is going to be.
3 ) Paint A Picture
People remember what they’ve read at a far higher rate when they can see an image of it in their head. “I actually love this neighborhood because I have lived here and gone to college here,” doesn’t resonate.
From a different perspective, “I spend half my time walking the cobblestone streets around this block, dropping my daughter off at Gilman School and volunteering at Schnitzelfest each summer,” will trigger a visible memory for a seller. Think “I’d be so ecstatic in the summer to be cooking Neapolitan pizza for mates and neighbours in your out of doors wood-fired oven”.
Four ) Don’t Rework The House
Planning on adding a second story or changing the landscaping? Don’t mention it. You might be correct the seller’s sewing room would make a good workout room for you, but this isn’t the time.
If you are going to expand to create more bedrooms, you might be changing the seller’s favorite eyebrow windows in the roofline. They may have buried their dog under the tree you’re meaning to pave over. He sellers may have nasty taste, but owners are awfully protecting of their houses.
Five ) Show Steadiness
Present yourself as a stable consumer who’ll likely have no problem closing the purchase. Whether that is a reference to your lack of contingencies, stellar work record, or dedication to moving in as soon as the sellers are comfortable, ease the sellers’ fears of a shaky exchange.
Six ) Show Meekness
At the exact same time, be humble and ask for the sellers’ blessing on your offer. “We would be so honoured to live in your home,” goes much further than “We are confident that you will accept our liberal offer.” The ball is in their court, and your letter should recognize that.
Seven ) Don’t Whine
The emotion of your letter must be optimistic and high. It has to make the seller feel really good. Everyone wants to play with a winner.
The seller doesn’t care what number of other houses you’ve lost out on. They don’t care that your rent just doubled. They don’t want to understand about your wife’s miserable condition that requires you to have a home like this. They just feel uncomfortable now. Actually they’re already tossing your offer in the round file as they finish this paragraph.
8 ) Close With Lucidity
Remember the five-point paragraphs and five-paragraph themes you had to write in school? While those formulas are too long and firm for this letter, their closing guidance should be noted. Your excitement, incentive, and ability should be repeated at the end of your letter in a fast summarize.
Remember the sellers may be reading one or two letters. Make sure that the closure of your letter reminds them of your best qualities and strengthens them.
Nine ) Sign with Appreciation
The feeling your sellers will leave with can live or die on the signature line : “Sincerely”, “Cordially”, “Best Regards”, and “Yours Truly” do not apply. This isn’t a business correspondence of equals. Thank the sellers for spending their valuable evening reading the ode that you wrote about your undeserving self.
“Thank you so much for your time,” “Thank you for the opportunity,” “Your consideration is greatly appreciated,” or even “We are pleased to have the opportunity,” will leave the seller understanding that you place a value on their time and are thankful for it.
Ten ) Spell Check. Grammar Check. Mate Check. Do It Again.
As the recovering boy of an ex Catholic school English teacher, there’s a dark secret I would like to let you in on. We’re biased. We look down on folks who are not like us. There is a nasty belief embedded in us from birth that says folks who misspell and use wrong grammar are smaller beings and not worthy of our respect.
Honestly, though , there’s a unbelievable amount of weight that some sellers will put on the preciseness of the letter. Right or wrong, the buyer’s character will be judged from their attention to detail, capability to follow-through, and level of care in the letter. Purchaser reliability is usually gleaned from how well the guidelines of grammar are followed. If grammar isn’t your thing, find somebody whose thing it is. You never can tell : the house you would like to buy just might belong to my ma.
Write The Letter, Check It Twice, and Send It Off
There are several methods being used by home buyers to stand proud of the crowd. While not all sellers will read them, individualized letters are the most-accepted and popular form of unique purchaser systems available. Don’t rush the letter. Take a bit of time to write it correctly. It just could be the most valuable single page of text you ever write.
