Winning the Bidding War - Part II: Make it Personal
A few weeks back I introduced the first of a three-part series on "Winning the Bidding War". This week, I want to focus a bit more on viewing yourself, the buyer, as a brand. I talk about "branding" quite frequently in my listing presentations in terms of giving a seller's home an identity or personality to better expose it to the target market. We can look at positioning you as a buyer in the same way, which leads me to the next item in our trio:
Make it personal: The practice of writing letters to the owner has become more and more common in recent years. Tugging on the heartstrings can help in a multiple-offer situation where these is a large amount of sentimental value placed on the home by the sellers (or their family), and is an exceptional tactic when competing against developers or investors who have plans to drastically alter a property. Why not take it one step further and record a short video, or even a simple slideshow to accompany a voiceover or letter that showcases your family or even why you as the individual are the best fit for this home?
Recently, clients of mine relocating back to New England submitted a very strong offer that was one of three on the same single family home just outside of the city. Unfortunately, the conditions of their financing made their offer less attractive to the seller than the other two, and despite the rest of the terms being quite favorable, they were not selected as the winning bid. Days later, they found a property that had just hit the market, and chose to present an offer right away, attempting to get the home off the market before the many showings and open houses over the weekend. In an effort to win over the sellers, the buyers wrote a heartfelt note speaking of their visions and dreams of a life in this new home. Within hours, the sellers had signed the offer and an inspection was taking place! A similar story took place just prior to this instance where my buyers beat out cash by writing a letter and appearing less "nudgy" (read: particular?) than another offer.