[For an updated list of sample cover letters, check here.]
Cover letters are one example of how to put buyer offers above the competition, and looking at how tight inventory is in today’s market, buyers could use any extra help they can get.
According to a recent Redfin report, the number one way buyers are standing out against the competition is through cover letters, with 43% of winning offers using them in March, up 35% from last year.
And it might be exactly what real estate agents need to provide to their homebuyers, in order to help stand out in places like San Francisco.
By the way, San Francisco’s bidding wars are nearly at 100%, rising from 88% last year to 94%, with 32% of homes selling over the asking price. Check out this article to see what other cities face heavy bidding competition.
Sergio Silva, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in Carmel, California, sent over a list of three things he does to get his client’s offers accepted above the competition.
In his third point, he went in depth on what a letter should look like.
Letter to the seller:
A letter to the seller does help, but it has to be done a certain way. The point of the letter to the seller is to make your clients come alive. You want your buyers to be more than just a number on a paper. When touring a property, find certain things that your buyer and the seller have common, such as water skiing, camping, local sports teams etc. When writing the letter to the seller, include that in there. People do business with other people that are just like them, so it’s important to build that rapport with the seller. Another important thing to do is to talk about just how amazing their home is. Never ever bad mouth or try to negotiate in a letter to the seller. The main point in the letter to the seller is to make your buyers come alive, tell the seller how beautiful their home is and how you are putting your best foot forward to buy the home.
Silva passed along a sample cover letter to help show how to properly create a successful cover letter. As a note, the personal info of the buyers was changed to maintain their privacy.
Click here to see the letter in full.
