Love letters from home seller to buyer
Seller Dave Graziosi wrote this letter about his Baldwin home, which is on the market for $490,000 Credit: Newsday illustration / iStock photo
When it was a seller's market just a few years ago and bidding wars were the norm, some buyers resorted to writing love letters to sellers, playing on their heartstrings by saying how living in their home could be the fulfillment of the American dream, or by writing about their urgent need for space for their growing family.
Today's real estate market calls for a different kind of letter: a love letter from the seller to the buyer, a technique real estate agents say could make a house stand out in a buyer's market.
It's important to use this technique only with sellers who are passionate about their homes, because otherwise the letters won't sound authentic, says John Antus of Coldwell Banker Distinctive Homes in Shoreham. "While a letter alone can't sell a home, coupled with a good price it could attract prospective buyers and help them remember a house when all the others start to blur," he says.
Homeowners who have written such letters leave copies at the door during an open house along with all the other information about the property. Some frame it for prospective buyers to see. Others email it to those who have expressed interest.
The letter should always include a photo of the house.
Barrie Dolnick, author of "Simple Spells for Hearth and Home," says she believes that saying goodbye to a home is almost like breaking up and requires a gentle touch. Buyers are likely to feel drawn to a home they believe had a loving family, she says.
Here are six tips for writing the love letter:
