Using A Love Letter To Get Your Offer Accepted (Plus a Sample!)
The San Diego real estate market can get super competitive and when you’re up against multiple offers you will want to pull out all of the stops. While it’s tempting to think that all a seller cares about is their bottom line this just often is not the case. Many sellers have an emotional attachment to their home and really care about who will take over making memories in their beloved castle.
For that reason, we at Gluch Group have found great success in attaching “love letters” to our offers. These are simple, one-page letters explaining who you are and why this home is the perfect fit for you. Here are the ingredients required for the perfect Real Estate Love Letter.
1. A photo of you
The cuter the better. People connect with smiling faces so pour on the cheese. Here is a good example of what not to use.
2. Use the owner’s name
Dear Mr. Smith sounds much better than “to whom it may concern”. Your agent should be able to get you this information with some digging.
Dear Johnson Family
3. Tell the Story
Tell your story in this format which is the ancient formula for great stories.
- A Character- You. Tell just a little bit about who you are, find a connection if possible (see number 4 below)
- Had a problem – Explain why you need a home in a way that conveys what problem you need to be solved
- Met a guide- In this case, the guide is the seller of the home. They have created a perfect solution (their house) for your problem. Focus on the seller as much as the house. Specifically talk about how their thoughtfulness, creativity, and insight is on display in the things you love about the house.
- Who led the to success- Imagine what your new, better life will be like in this home and explain that to the seller. This is your imagined happy ending.
My name is John Smith and I’m writing on behalf of my Brynne and our two kids Sara and Katie regarding our offer on your home. Brynne and I are SDSU alumni who have been living in the San Diego area for more than 20 years. Since marrying 8 years ago we have been bouncing from apartment to apartment saving up for a down payment on our first home. While we are thankful to have a roof over our head it has become increasingly challenging to live life with our growing family in 700 square feet! We are excited to settle into a place of our own and start making memories in a home that we will be in for more than a year or two.
We have been hunting for the perfect place for months and nothing has felt right. That is until we found your home. The warm feeling you have created greeted us right as we walked in the front door and into your open foyer. We have been hoping to find a house that did not require lots of work just to move in and we’re so happy to see how well you have kept up your home (so many houses we have seen have been in terrible shape!). The new countertops you added are the perfect finishing touch to the open kitchen that I’m sure has hosted many family holidays.
Your house would be the perfect place for us to begin to build our lives together. Sarah and Katie are so excited to share the Jack and Jill bathroom and I know Brynne will be happy NOT to be sharing a bathroom with them! We are also SO excited about having a pool to cool off in during our hot California summers. The sun shelf is especially exciting for us because it gives Katie (2 years old) a place to splash and play in safety.
4. Find a connection
If possible weave in a connection you have with the seller. This could be similar interests, sports teams, etc. Use what you saw in the home (or maybe some Facebook stalking) as possible avenues to connect. Do you have any mutual friends?
We couldn’t help but notice the photo of your family at the SDSU game. We were at that same game and still fight to this day over who won! We are both alumni and die-hard fans, Go Aztecs!
5. Explain your offer
If you are making an offer below the asking price you may want to explain why. If not, then skip this step. Here is some language you might consider here.
Although your home was a bit out of our price range, we had to take a chance on an offer because it’s everything we want and is in a great neighborhood for our family. We know you’re asking X, but we respectfully ask if you would consider Y. It’s the top of our budget range, and our goal is to turn our dream into a reality without overextending ourselves.
I work as X, and my husband does Y. We have already have mortgage pre-approval and are flexible about the date for closing on the house. We so much want this to work out well for you, as well as for our family.
6. Thank them
Close with some simple language thanking them for considering your offer.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and review our offer. We hope to be able to work out a great solution that’s a big win for your family and ours. Please let us know if we can do anything to make this transition smoother or easier.
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Sample Love Letter to Prospective Home Owners
Dear Jones Family,
My name is Maria Smith and I’m writing to you on behalf of my family regarding our offer on your home. My husband, Eric, and I have two girls, aged 4 and 6, and a baby boy on the way. We moved to the San Diego area from Wisconsin only 8 months ago and have been renting a small apartment since then. We have quickly grown to love San Diego and all it has to offer. The people here are so friendly and we cannot get enough of all the sunshine and blue skies!
We have spent the last 8 months becoming familiar with the area and looking for the ideal place for our family to call “home.” We’ve seen so many houses that I’ve lost count, but none of them have felt right for us. As soon as we walked through the front door to your home, we knew it was perfect for our family. We love the open floor plan and the modern kitchen. The den in the front of the house will make a perfect playroom for our little ones, and I know they’ll love the open space in the living room, where they can run around and play make-believe as they always do!
The girls are so excited about the possibility of having their own rooms and have already planned out where their beds will go and where their dolls will sleep. The small bedroom next to the master will make the ideal nursery for our baby boy, who is due in September. When I noticed that the walls were already painted in baby blue, I took it as a sign that this is definitely the house for us and our growing family!
We couldn’t help but notice the photo on the bedroom wall of your son graduating from UW-Madison. Eric and I are both alumni and that’s actually where we met. Go Badgers!
Although your home is the ideal place for our family, it is a little out of our price range. If it were any other house, I would simply walk away and look for another one that we can afford. But I just can’t do that with your home. I have no doubt that it is perfect for our family and therefore I am truly hoping that you will consider our offer of $XXX. We recognize that it is below your asking price, but we have already gotten our mortgage pre-approval and this is the maximum that we can afford to pay.
We truly want to work out a solution that will be ideal for both your family and ours. We are flexible on the closing date and are willing to be flexible on any other terms that may help make the transition easier for you. If you accept our offer, you can rest assured that your house will be loved and cherished. We truly appreciate the work you have put into making it such a warm and inviting home, and we promise to keep it that way.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and consider our offer.
With best wishes,
The Smith Family
