We’ve covered this topic before, ad nauseam.

And yet every time a big, sexy story runs in one of the major newspapers on this topic, I feel inclined to respond, yet again.

The problem, of course, is that every buyer out there reads the story and thinks, “Why not me?”

But that’s the same logic as the Powerball winner in Georgia who won $236 Million on the first ticket she ever purchased.

It can happen, but it’s not likely.

And the degree to which “it” takes place, is up for debate.

It’s one thing for your heartfelt, handwritten letter to get you a second chance to increase your bid, when you’re not in possession of the top offer, but it’s another thing altogether to have the seller accept your offer when it’s not the highest price, or far from it.

A story ran in the Canadian Press earlier this week, which was picked up by multiple online media sources, both newspaper and television media.

Here’s the story in full:

Buyers turn to letters to snag homes in Canada’s hot real estate markets
Tara Deschamps
Canadian Press

Buyers turn to personal letters to seal deals in Canada’s hot real estate markets

Monica Martins and her husband had been looking for a house for nine months by the time they fell in love with a “character home” in Toronto’s east end.

With demand for properties high and bidding wars the norm, they knew getting the home wouldn’t be easy, so to convince the seller to choose their offer, they decided to go beyond simply digging deep into their bank account.

Despite her husband’s doubts that it would carry much weight, Martins put a pen to paper and scrawled a note that described her family, detailed how much they adored the home and noted that she and the sellers had shared tastes in books and furniture. She also included an informal commitment not to gut or demolish the place as had been done to another property down the street.

“If you pick us, we will make it our own over the years, but we love the house that you’ve loved so dearly and would love to live in it and raise our family in it,” Martins recalled writing, before tucking in a photo of the family complete with her daughter and dog and leaving the note with her realtor.

The note placed the Martins in a growing group of Canadian buyers who are opting for the personal touch in hopes of gaining an edge in heated markets — and realtors and sellers say such missives often do the trick.

Agents told The Canadian Press it is not unusual for clients to ask them to deliver notes sprinkled with mentions of single parents, millennials saving up for a first property or young couples looking for a place to raise a family. They often mention how much the prospective buyer loves features of the home, like a big backyard, stunning wood floors or a spacious kitchen, and frequently talk about the sender’s occupation, hobbies and hopes for the property.

While the letters could be viewed by some as desperate and having a negligible effect on the offers process, some realtors describe them as a “must” because they said sellers often seriously consider sentiments relayed in a note when choosing what offer to accept, especially when a home has long been in the family.

Donald Bergeron, a lawyer, received a letter when he and his wife put the Etobicoke home, where they lived for about 23 years and raised their children up for sale recently.

They received a handful of offers, but one came with a “very well-written” letter detailing that the senders loved the neighbourhood and admired the two renovations the Bergerons had done on the house. He later found out the letter writers lived just down the street and had often trick-or-treated at his home, where their children would always tell their parents how nice the property looked.

Bergeron and his wife ended up accepting the writers’ offer after some haggling over financing conditions, but he said the note wasn’t the deciding factor.

“It capped off our good feelings that we had chosen the right folks,” said Bergeron. “Reading the letter was almost like the whip cream on top of the sundae.”

He said letter writers run the risk of appearing corny or overdone and should know that a lot of buyers are still ultimately driven by money.

“Whether the letter trips it over the top, I can’t say it does, but it doesn’t do it any harm either,” he said.

In the Martins’ case, they weren’t the only buyers to write a letter and didn’t have the highest bid, but still landed the property. The sellers later told them their “impactful” note sealed the deal.

“Someone else in their neighbourhood had a character home and was given assurances that it wasn’t going to be a flip job and then the buyer got in there and the day after closing, the demolition trucks came and he never lived in it,” Martins said.

“(Our sellers) felt that we were authentic in our communication, which we absolutely are.”

Toronto realtor Ben Ferguson, who represented the Martins and often includes cover letters about his clients along with their bids, said letters were used long before the city’s market heated up last year.

While some sellers make money the deciding factor in which bid they chose, he said most “care about who they sell the house to, not just the price.”

That mantra was true years ago when he took a client to visit a home for sale in Toronto’s east end that featured a basement filled with KISS memorabilia and electric guitars. Ferguson’s client was coincidentally a massive fan of the band, so when he threw in his offer, he sweetened the deal with an original KISS concert t-shirt dating back decades.

The seller had two very similar offers to consider, but when he heard Ferguson’s clients offer, he said, “Oh my god, I don’t even own a KISS original t-shirt.”

“It swayed the seller,” Ferguson said. “We got the deal done.”

Montreal realtor Amy Assad hasn’t heard of bidders offering anything as creative as a KISS t-shirt, but said letters have been cropping up in the province in recent years, and carry the most weight when they’re given to sellers who have long lived in a home.

“People want to know they are trading their family home to another family,” she said, noting she has had clients bid $10,000 less than but still snag homes because of their letters.

“It is not always about dollars and cents.”

Now here’s the part where I walk up in front of a group of people, all having a good time, and steal the lollipop from the cutest child in the group.

There are situations where the “personal connection” can make a difference to a buyer, in a competitive bid situation.  But these situations are far more rare than a buyer wants to believe, and as I’ll explain later on, it can also backfire.

As I said at the onset, this is a topic I’ve covered before, and I’ve written my own blogs about how the personal connection, the meeting between buyer and seller, a coincidence or commonality, or a hand-written letter can make a difference.

Hell, even a photo of a buyer!

Here’s two very old blogs I wrote on the subject, both of which featured my own buyer clients getting a leg-up because of a personal connection:

April 7th, 2009 – “Personal Touch”

April 24th, 2013 – “The Personal Touch” (forgive the unoriginal title…)

And if you recall my blog from this past February, about a multiple offer situation I had with some very elderly sellers who received “personal letters” from buyers, both good and bad:

February 20th, 2018 – “Either You Get It, Or You Don’t”

This latest blog post featured tales of both a buyer who submitted a beautiful letter than brought the sellers to tears, as well as a clueless, egotistical buyer who just “didn’t get it,” and submitted a misguided letter that failed to make a point, and actually offended the sellers.

To each, their own.

I’m sure many of you will recall this 2017 article in the Toronto Star, one which resulted in yet another post from me on the topic:

“A family bid $150K under the highest offer on an Oakville home and still got the sale. The reason why will leave you heartened”

In response to that, I wrote the following “Debbie Downer” type blog:

April 5th, 2017 – “You Will Not Win In Competition Without ‘The Best’ Offer”

One more story bears mentioning at this point, since I believe it might be fresh in some people’s minds.

It also has a happy ending, or at least an honest ending.

Recall this article from the Toronto Star back in the spring market:

“For sellers of this semi-detached home, a deserving family trumps price”

Let’s be honest, most of us thought this was complete BS.

We figured that this was a gimmick, and oh what a great gimmick it would be!

Last week, I literally lined up to go see a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom condo at 230 King Street East, listed at $500,000, that attracted naive, clueless, hopeful/wishful buyers who either didn’t do their homework, or did, and still hoped the property might actually sell for the list price.

It sold for $650,000.

Hate the game if you want, but you can’t disagree with the result.

The gimmick worked, as transparent as it was.

So if you’re a seller, and you really want bring as many boots through the front door as possible, then give buyers hope!

Well, guess what?

In the end, the collective cynicism of people like myself turned around and bit us in the ass.

Because the property featured in that article actually sold for the $875,000 list price.

(And I only know this because I saw it on MongoHouse, and not because I’m “giving away sold prices” as is prohibited by the Toronto Real Estate Board)

So as a buyer, does that newspaper article, (and subsequent sale price provided by a company with a server in China that TREB can’t do anything about), give you hope?  Or do you still find the whole thing gimmicky?

Personally, I think that as a buyer, you always run the risk of “playing your hand” to a seller that thinks he or she is in a poker game.

Yes, if the seller happens to be featured in a newspaper article talking about how he or she wants a “great family” and isn’t concerned about price, then perhaps you won’t be exploited.

But what about the other 99.9% of situations?

What about when there are 12 offers on a house, and you instruct your agent to show up with a photo of you, a hand-written letter, and a beg and a plea?  If you had the highest offer, don’t you think that seller might instruct the listing agent to go back and get more money from you?  You’ve clearly indicated you want the house, and you’re emotional about it!

Forgive me for being a pessimist, but I think you’re far more likely to be exploited by a greedy, advantageous, and/or smart seller, than you are to be respected and dignified by a seller who sees that your offer is about more than just money, and treats it as such.

So let me pose the obvious two questions, and since you’re all anonymous, please feel free to rain on the otherwise happy parade.

As a buyer, would you submit a photo, hand-written letter, and/or Leafs tickets, grandma’s cupcakes, et al?

Do you think it has any benefit?

Would you try to identify times when not to do it, versus times when it makes sense?

Would you worry it could backfire and end up costing you more money?

Would you be suspicious if the listing agent came back to your buyer agent and told you that you were so close, and you just needed to add a little more money and you’d have a good chance at the property?

Would you be embarrassed if you didn’t get the property?  And if the property sold for an incredible amount more than you had offered, would you feel stupid for trying the “personal touch” when you were dead on arrival?

Would you be hurt or angered?

–

As a seller, would you respect the emotional, honest attempt at a buyer in a difficult market trying to strike up a personal connection?

Would you consider taking less money from a buyer that you liked more?

Would you see a situation where you wouldn’t sell to a particular buyer, no matter how much they offered?

Would you ever use the hand-written letter or personal photo against the buyer, knowing that they’re emotionally involved, and likely would pay more for the property?

–

I’m all ears, folks.

But first, and to be fair, let me answer the questions:

1) I have submitted a personal letter with an offer in the past.  In retrospect, I did feel stupid.  So painfully naive, stupid, and misguided.

2) I would consider going back to the buyer for more money, after he or she has played his/her hand with a personal letter, under certain circumstances, but not under others.

Now it’s your turn…