Letter to seller

[Guineapiggiesmalls]

A property we love is going to closing date this week, and a friend has suggested dropping off a letter to the seller to explain our situation and why we love the house. Usually I’d have scoffed at this idea, but given the seller is an older lady who has lived in the house for decades and raised her family there (which we hope to do also), I’m considering it especially since so many houses in our area are being bought by developers.

Nothing too OTT, just ‘we’ll be putting in an offer, we are X and Y, and our toddler Z. We love the area and your home, and can see ourselves loving the house as you have so clearly done for many years’

Has anyone done or ever received anything similar? Is it too twee for words?! Am I just being desperate now? Ready to hear that it’s a terrible idea!

We moved into our new home last month. The seller was an elderly woman who had lived in the house since she was 4 years old - 76 years! She actually asked the EA to ask all prospective buyers to write a short “backstory” like you describe. The house is in an area where they rarely come up for sale and she wanted to know the buyer was someone she’d be happy with.

There were 11 offers on the house - she accepted ours, even though it wasn’t the highest, because according to the EA, our story resonated with her.

So I would say go for it, but talk about your own story and keep it honest and factual.

I didn't write a letter separate to the offer, but when we emailed in the offer, I wrote that we were a family looking for a home with accessibility in mind, listed some of the features we valued, and put in our position as first-time buyers with an agreement in principal and so on.

We met the vendor once, after the sale, and he said that us being a FTB family and that we started at asking price and then went up a little bit higher at best and final offers rather than really low balled it and then jumping massively was why we got it over others. He said he wasn't sure, but felt the others came across more like investors and he wanted someone who live in the place he grew up in.

I don't think it would make anything worse by including a few personal details. Different people will have different priorities and it may just be ignored, but I don't think it's a terrible idea.

We had a card from a potential buyer the day after they made an offer - we'd had another better offer the same day and they asked if we would wait until the weekend for them to come back with their best offer. They said how much they loved the house etc.
I thought it was really nice.

We were probably going to go with them anyway as they were a ftb rather than the other person who hadn't put their house on the market yet (despite telling the EA otherwise!!) but the card made it an easier decision.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As above, keep it factual and don't be all gushy and flowery. Worst outcome is it just gets binned without a second thought. Best outcome it helps between the best competing offers.

When I sold a previous property a few years ago I had several letters from perspective buyers , tbf I didn't want my judgement clouded & didn't do more than glance at them , it was a business transaction, I went with the buyer who was in the best position , property sold , cash in bank & offer at asking price.

I think it is worth a try. When we viewed a house a few weeks ago, the seller was just leaving and she exclaimed how delighted she was to see a family, and that she really wanted a family to move in. We didn't make an offer (garden small) but I got the impression that she might be swayed by an offer from us over a developer for instance.

I received lots of letters when I recently put mine up for sale. Tbh they didn't make any difference to me...it's a business transaction after all

@stuntfarter

When I sold a previous property a few years ago I had several letters from perspective buyers , tbf I didn't want my judgement clouded & didn't do more than glance at them , it was a business transaction, I went with the buyer who was in the best position , property sold , cash in bank & offer at asking price.

I guess if that’s the kind of person you are, letters won’t make any difference to you.

In my case the seller wanted to know something about the people who would be living in the house she’d spent her whole life in.

And it could be that the OP’s seller is also a bit like that, and the letter could tip things in her favour. It’s worth a try, imo.

Thanks for all your opinions. In the end, we decided there’s nothing to lose by dropping off a little card so I sent my husband on a drive-by tonight. Tried to keep it to the point, that we want to grow our family there and are planning on it being a ‘forever’ home. Fingers crossed she doesn’t think it overly sentimental, and it gives us a little step up at best and final!