Should Buyers Send "Love Letters" to Home Sellers?

Valentine's Day is a time to express sincere love and appreciation, and few things stir as much passion as the sight of the mountain home of your dreams—one that’s in your price range and newly listed!

Whenever there’s an attractively priced home getting multiple bids, it’s understandable you might be tempted to pull out all the stops to sweeten your offer. One strategy I see all the time has involved “love letters”—heartfelt messages sent from buyers to home sellers expressing a connection with a particular property in the hopes that the seller will accept your offer above the others. While this tactic is used over and over even in today's market in Evergreen, buyers should be urged to “tread carefully” due to the risk of violating fair housing laws. Let’s explore why avoiding bias is important and look into alternate ways to secure your happily ever after with the house of your heart while keeping the transaction objective and lawful.

What is the Fair Housing Act and why is it important?

The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that went into effect in 1989 to protect people from discrimination when renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engaging in other housing-related activities. This act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. It ensures everyone has access to the same opportunities when looking for housing without fear of being discriminated against. This helps create equal opportunity for all individuals regardless of their background and allows all to have an equal chance at finding a place to live.

How might a buyer’s “love letter” lead to a violation of fair housing laws?

According to Charlie Lee at the National Association of Realtors, “The use of a love letter often presents fair housing issues because they often contain personal information about the buyer, such as their race and culture or traditions as a way of appealing to the seller’s emotions.” Even if it is done without malicious intent, the inclusion of buyer love letters in a transaction carries the risk of violating fair housing laws should the seller make their decision to accept or reject an offer based on any information regarding protected classes.

For example, if your letter mentions "looking forward to a Christmas dinner with the kids in this home’s lovely kitchen," this statement reveals religious and familial information that should not be used to accept or deny an offer according to the Fair Housing Act.

Including photos and videos in your correspondence to sellers can add an additional layer of problems as these can reveal a buyer’s race, color, sex, disability, and other protected information that must not contribute to a seller’s decision on whose offer to accept. Even if it’s not done on purpose, introducing buyer love letters into the transaction can lead to violations if the seller makes a decision based on information related to any of the protected classes.

Love letters have already been legally challenged

Oregon made homebuyer love letters illegal in July 2021. The law requires seller's agents to reject any buyers' letters to sellers that contain information beyond the standard offer. A federal judge subsequently overturned this law in May 2022 stating that, as written, it was unenforceable under the First Amendment and not adequately tailored to prevent discrimination. However, the National Association of REALTORS® legal team continues to warn about the inherent issues in these letters.

What Bob Does

As a buyer in the Foothills you'll, of course, want to help your offer stand out above the rest.  Even in 2023 we're seeing multiple offers on our listings and sustained competition for the best homes in Evergreen and Conifer.  But a "love letter" is not the way!

In fact, I encourage my seller clients to agree, before we begin the promotions of their home, to ask me not to forward love letters to them.  By agreeing in advance, we feel this avoids them from being exposed to a potential Fair Housing violation.   Frankly, my position is that the best offer will speak loudly and clearly to my sellers in the form of the net proceeds worksheet combined with a close evaluation of the various provisions on the offer.  A lover letter simply shouldn't be compelling anyway.

Savvy, well represented sellers won't even see your love letter.

In Evergreen and Conifer, when I represent buyers I put the work in to know what will work to win multiple offer scenarios.  By having a deep and current knowledge of what is going on with recent market activity I guide my clients how to write offers that speak for themselves and have the price and terms that sellers want.

What are some alternatives to letters that will help increase your chances of a successful offer?

• Share your credit score along with your lender’s prequalification letter to help show how qualified you are.  This is a given and I'll go a step further to encourage my buyers to work with a seasoned and reliable local lender.  Likewise, encourage the buyer agent and lender to connect to talk abut the merits of the buyers qualifications first hand.

• A non-refundable deposit can demonstrate you’re committed to the purchase.  Or more precisely, refine the contingencies that are built into the Contract to Buy and Sell in Colorado to limit some of the subjective discretion provisions.

It’s completely understandable that you might be willing to do whatever it takes when a certain home makes your heart skip a beat, but the sweetest real estate experience is one where you leave the stress of negotiating an offer to a local expert like Bob Maiocco. So go ahead and hand over the property pains to a professional, and—with a little patience—you’ll soon end up head over heels with your perfect home, giving your real estate romance a happy ending.