It may sound like a silly question, but how much power does a pen really hold? Sure, it's an instrument we use every day to sign contracts, which are legally binding, so I guess that could be defined as some sort of power. But, there's been a lot of talk around here lately about the power of a handwritten note (The power of the handwritten note). A handwritten note to a client (The Art of the Handwritten Note - Margaret Shepherd), a friend (The Power of the Handwritten Note) or a prospective client can be a very powerful thing. It seems that most of us here agree that a handwritten note can show that we care, because we're willing to take the time to go find the perfect card and sit down and express how much we appreciate or care for someone.

But let me tell you a story of a really powerful pen. I have a client (and close friend, like a brother) who's recently engaged to the woman of his dreams. We'll call them Mr and The Future Mrs B. He's been after her heart for some time and he finally popped the question in April. I was there to celebrate the big moment. You could see the joy in both of their eyes and the anticipation for their lives together. They were in that state of bliss that I remember myself, from not so long ago. It wasn't but 24 hours later that he was calling me, telling me that he's ready to list his house (his bachelor pad) and start looking for the Edmond home they could raise their future family in together. He wanted me to come over and be brutally honest in pointing out what needed to be done to sell the house fast and high. They were on a mission. You should have seen the fervor in which they started cleaning Mr B's house and prepping it for sale. He'd been talking about selling it for about a year but had never done anything to get it ready and, all of a sudden, they've got it fully prepped in 3 days, removing the bachelor-esque feel and staging it like a dream home. We got it listed and immediately started doing the rounds on the weekends, looking at 10-20 houses each Saturday. We went at it fast and furious, just trying to narrow the field, which turned out to be not so difficult. Most of what we looked at needed some work, which Mr B's not necessarily afraid of, but The Future Mrs B's pretty set on finding the perfect, move-in-ready home (and we all know who really makes the final decision). So, the first Saturday out, we find one that's just gorgeous. It has huge picture windows across the back, overlooking a wonderful covered patio, a beautifully-manicured lawn and an incredible greenbelt. Every detail in this house is immaculate, including the current owner's decor so it's one of those homes that just wows you when you walk through the front door. I knew the minute we set foot in the foyer that this home was special (and wouldn't be on the market long, 3 days so far), especially compared to the other homes we'd seen that weekend. They liked it a lot but weren't quite as smitten with it as I was (I think just because it was our first Saturday out looking and they didn't want to jump too quickly). So we kept looking. Over the course of the next two weeks, we didn't find anything that wowed them, so we set out to look again and decided to re-visit the greenbelt house. This time, when we walked through the door, it was a totally different reaction than the first time. I guess after seeing so many undesirables, this home now had more charm than before. It was now their dream home. They could see themselves entertaining in the main living areas, enjoying a quiet evening on the patio, playing with their future children in the back yard. So, Mr B's ready to make an offer right there,  but The Future Mrs B was a little bit skittish, realizing that we're not going to be making an offer from a position of power, since we still need to get Mr B's house sold. Instead, they decide to wait and see what happens over the next few days. Well, as expected, someone else bought the house just a couple of days later. Although they didn't expect to be so emotionally attached to this house already, they were devastated. It was hard for me to watch, after having warned them of the likelihood of this happening, seeing them so upset was even harder. I wanted so badly to get them into the home of their dreams and see them start their lives together in a "happy place." So, our search continued.

Now fast-forward to last weekend. We again venture out to tour a wealth of homes in their selected area. The first home is just too plain, the second home doesn't have enough natural light, but wait, the third home (on the market just 4 days) is WOW! We walk in the front door and I hope there wasn't a hidden camera on us because I'm sure we all had our jaws on the floor and looked really silly. This home is knock-out gorgeous, and located in the beautiful, desireable Summer Ridge addition. It has EVERYTHING they've told me they want, is decorated (or staged) to the max, has tons of natural light and is just all-around fabulous, inside and out. So, as you can imagine, they're ready to make an offer YESTERDAY! They do not want to get into the same situation as the last home (it's funny how fast we humans learn) so we immediately head to my home office to write up the offer. On the way there, I call and cancel all the other showings for the day and I call the listing agent to get a feel for what the sellers' needs are in regards to time frame, etc. It turns out that they have a new home being built and are closing on it May 9th, so they're looking for a non-contingency offer that will be closed on the same day (just barely over 30 days out). Keep in mind, we just listed Mr B's home and haven't received an offer yet, so we're not negotiating from any position of power at this point. However, it sounds like the sellers are in a bit of a predicament also, so my hopes are high that we can find a solution that works for all parties. We run the comps and find that the house is priced about $7-10K high for the area so Mr B and The Future Mr B decide to write a non-contingent offer of $10K below the list price. They easily qualify even with Mr B's current home not being sold but it's still an uneasy position for them just from a comfort standpoint. However, Mr B realizes that in order to get the price down where they want it, the contingency would never work. So, we get to writing and anxiously wait to hear back from the listing agent. Finally, late the next day, we get a counteroffer that's basically in the middle of the offered price and the list price. Things start getting a little hairy as to whether Mr and The Future Mrs B are going to act fast or end up losing out on this, because I have no doubt that another offer is bound to come in on that house soon. They're not willing to pay that much for the home, knowing there's a chance they may have to carry two mortgages for a short time until we get Mr B's home sold. So, to keep more money in his pocket for now, Mr B decides he'd like the sellers to pay $3,500 of his closing costs. Now it's time to get creative so the sellers are happy with the offer and understand that Mr and The Future Mrs B aren't trying to just low-ball and take advantage of them. We go back & forth for a while on different scenarios and how to present this offer in the best light and finally agree on raising the purchase price $1,500 over the price on the seller's counteroffer, lowering the repair cap by $250 and asking the seller to pay $3,500 of the buyers' closing costs. OK, it's a decent offer, but not overly-appealing. Now you're probably wondering when the pen is going to shed it's outer layer and show it's power, right?

I've suggested to a few of my buyers in the past that, to make an offer as attractive as possible, it's a good idea to write a personal note or letter to the sellers. This can achieve a few goals. One, it puts a human element into the offer, rather than it being just about the numbers. Two, it lets the sellers know the situation the buyers are working from, hopefully relieving any feeling that they've got someone just trying to take advantage of them. Three, the sellers may even see something in the letter that they can relate to, giving them reason to want to actually help the buyers. Well, Mr and The Future Mrs B totally understand the value of such a letter and decided they should write something up. They really did want the sellers to know their situation and not feel like they're just trying to get over on them. These letters should always be directly from the buyers' heart, not from me, so Mr B got to writing. Here's what he came up with:

"Dear Mr & Mrs Seller,

We absolutely love your home! We just got engaged in March and are getting married October 6th! We didn't plan on finding our first home and the home we dream of starting our family in so quickly, until we saw yours.

We have decided to buy your home without having sold Mr B's current residence, which is currently for sale. We understand your need to close May 9th, and are willing to help you do this, in spite of our current situation.

We realize everyone involved has certain circumstances that need to be met. Our hope is that we can come to a mutual agreement that satisfies everyone's needs.

Respectfully,

Mr and The Future Mrs B"

Let me tell you, this letter did wonders. The listing agent was impressed, and I think a little bit touched by their story, which made him want to work harder to make this deal come together. It also got the sellers emotionally involved in Mr and The Future Mrs B's lives. They accepted the counteroffer immediately and we're now setting up inspections, closing, etc. The listing agent told me "The sellers loved the letter. At first, they weren't very happy about the offer and were going to counter but when they read the letter, they decided to just go ahead and do it."

So if there's ever a question about the power of a handwritten note, think twice about the emotion it can evoke.