Letter to the Homeowner?

DH and I are totally in love with an old home in Franklin Lakes NJ. This house is almost 100 years old and the women who currently owns it is only the 2nd owner and has been in the house 34+ years. DH and I are planning on putting in an offer on the home shortly.

Is it worth it to write a letter to the owner to give with the offer or should we not bother and just put in the offer.

DH thinks I am crazy, but I feel it can't hurt to write a letter and tell her how much we love the house and how we want to restore it.

We were wondering if anyone has written a letter to the owner of the home they put an offer in and if it helped at all.

Thanks!

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

Don't let it be known to the seller how much you want the house b/c they'll assume you will be willing to pay anything to get it.

I wouldn't write the letter and most homeowner's don't want to know what you're going to do to the home once it becomes yours.

I would just submit the bid through the REA.

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Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

I think that after you have an accepted offer and you are in contract, it might be nice to write the letter telling her how you will continue to take care of the house and you are very excited for it to become your home. People get attached to their houses and I think that my mom would have really appreciated a letter like that when she was selling my childhood home. Also, an open invitation to come back to visit any time would be nice! My mom forgot something during her move and went back that afternoon. The new owners didnt even invite her in - they made her wait at the front door!

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

Thanks for the input.

The letter really wasn't to get to know the owner. It was more to get our offer to stand out in her mind. I am sure she is getting lots of offers. I also know that ours probably isn't the highest. I really just wanted to point out that we are flexible on a close date, are qualified for the mortgage, etc. I guess in some respect we are looking for a little sympathy (even though that isn't quite the word I am looking for)

We have a number in mind and are totally willing to walk away from the house if she does not accept that number.

Does that make more sense?

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Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

You might, without intending, insult the homeowner by telling him/her that you intend to restore. My parents just sold their house, and while it needs renovations, they don't see that, and whenever it's mentioned, they get *very* upset.

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

Thank you all for the great advice! I truly appreciate it. This is why I love LI Families. You have opened our eyes and we have moved forth with the offer through our REA, without the letter.

Thank you soooo much for all of your great insight. I will keep you posted on the response.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us. We really do love the house!

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

Our agent did this for us (2 houses ago) - we were offering asking price (but this was the era of bidding wars - and offering less was not an option). She wrote a letter telling the owners about us and our desire not to tear the house down (it was really run down and contractors were bidding on it for the land)


In the end we didn't get it as we were outbid.


but on another note, when we sold a house once, we had two offers that were the same and we were told that one was a young couple that was just like us and we chose them to sell to. So I guess it depends on the seller.

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

When we were house hunting, the two houses we bid on (one fell through and we got the 2nd house). Our Real Estate Agent had us write a letter that was presented with the offer.

ETA: We live in NJ

Re: Letter to the Homeowner?

we ended up getting this hosue over someone else because we loved it. They sellers confided in us after we went to contract and while we went back to measure that they chose our offer because we genuinely loved the house. So while a letter may not be the way to go, conveying your feelings may be.

We also discussed decorating but not the renovations we wanted to do. We tried not to insult their tastes in that conversation. I agree that sellers can get their feelings hurt.