Great – You found your dream house! Bad news is that five other buyers did too! You have listened to your realtor and written a strong offer. You are pre-approved. All  your cash needed for closing is in the bank. You are giving a 10% earnest money deposit and you already did the inspection and looked at comparable sales, so you are confident that you can waive all the contingencies.  You have an escalation clause ready to go.  What else can you do to get this house?  Write a letter to the seller! Make your perfect offer stand out from the rest of the pack.

What  should a love letter to the seller say, in an effort to endear yourselves to them… and end up being the offer chosen?  Keep in mind, the love letter won’t tip the scales on a bad offer… but might make the seller lean your way if the offers are tightly packed together.

So… here is a sample for that all important letter:

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Seller

    We are Steven and Sylvia Smileyface, and we are in love with your home.  It’s clear from viewing your home, that there’s a great deal of love in the house.  From your wall of photos in the main hallway, we could tell that you’ve raised three wonderful children here.  We are just starting a family, as we’ve just found out that we are “in the family way”, and we can only hope to raise our children, as you did, in this beautiful home, in this wonderful neighbourhood.

    We can envision our children playing in the beautifully landscaped backyard, playdates, and family events.  We hope to fill all the bedrooms with the patter of little feet, and have already picked out the furniture for the classic first-floor office.

    Sylvia loves to garden, and is ready to continue to safeguard your perennial garden.  Your tulips and hydrangeas are spectacular.

    Your fantastic kitchen renovation perfectly suits our idea of a modern updated kitchen, and we particularly love the double-ovens, and the 6 burner stove.  Great for Sunday breakfasts, and family dinners… The dining room is perfect for larger meals, and we could finally host Thanksgiving in our own home… wouldn’t that be great?

    We even love your decorating style, and other than moving in our own furniture and hanging our pictures, we’d have very little to change.  It’s clear that you’ve taken great pride in your home and it shows.  We can only hope to continue the tradition, should you choose to accept our offer.

    Thank you for allowing us to view your home.  It’s a perfect choice to begin our new family.

Yes, I know it is a bit saccharine... and you should feel free to personalize it… but sugary sweet often works.  Ideally, you should handwrite it  in a nice clean script on nice paper.  Some buyers even include pictures of their pets and family members just to make sure the seller can feel connected.