Dear Mr. and Mrs. Seller

There is a saying that a picture is worth a 1,000 words, but that doesn't mean that words are not important. As a Realtor(R) I write offers for buyers all the time. A great deal of those offers are rejected. This comes with the teritory and I think as real estate professionals we can become desensitized to rejection. Certainly in a sales position this is important otherwise you will get discouraged really quickly. I recently had the infrequent experience of acting as a real estate consumer. I wrote an offer that was about 13% below the asking price. I expected my offer would probably be rejected or maybe at most counter offered. I knew I only had one shot at an offer though because I was offering the most that I could afford to offer. I certainly didn't think that my first offer would be accepted as-is with no counter offer. That is exactly what happened though! What made the difference??? I wrote a personalized letter to the seller and submitted it with my offer. The letter was truthful and sincere and I believe it made all the difference in the world. So next time you or your clients write an offer consider submitting a short personalized letter with your offer and I believe your success rate will go up. Selling a home can be very emotional for a seller. As buyers remember that sellers are human beings with feelings. They have made many memories in their home and now they are selling it to a complete stranger. The extra 10 minutes writing the personalized letter to the seller is time well spent and could as in my situation have a very desirable result!