Should your buyers send a buyer letter? (Here’s a template anyway)

It’s a competitive real estate market out there right now. And when homes are selling the same weekend they go on the market, real estate agents need to employ every tactic they can to help their clients get their dream home.

And sometimes it’s not about the buyer’s cash. It’s about the buyer’s character.

Because even though it shouldn’t matter who they are selling to, as long as the financial aspect of the transaction is sound, it does matter. And so real estate agents use Buyer Letters to help their clients sell themselves to the people who are selling them a house.

So, are real estate buyer letters a good idea?

In her article for REALTOR Magazine, associate broker Christine Smith advised against them. “When issues arose after inspection, the seller was none too willing to negotiate, knowing how much my buyers wanted this house. Because of my buyers’ disclosure of emotional attachment to the property in their letter, it put them in a weaker negotiating position. The seller was able to take advantage of that.

But Time reported that Redfin found that writing a personal cover letter “tugging at the seller’s heart strings” increases your chances of winning multiple offer situations by almost 10%.

Smart Asset has suggestions for the perfect buyer letter:

1. Address the seller by name
2. Highlight what you like most about the home
3. Share something about yourself
4. Add a personal picture
5. Discuss what you have in common
6. Keep it short

Just in case: here’s a buyer letter template

With those tips in mind, we got to work. And we built a buyer letter template you can download and use or laugh at! Because every buyer really is different, but most buyer letters are pretty similar. Remember Mad Libs? This is just like that. Download the PDF and send it to your buyer. Then everyone can have a good giggle!