Why Buyer Love Letters Are No Longer In Our Playbook

In today’s highly competitive market, buyers are looking for any opportunity to stand out from the competition. A popular tactic that has gained popularity over the last decade is the ‘Buyer Love Letter.’ This cover letter to an offer is typically an emotional plea to the seller, showcasing the reasons why the seller should pick their offer over others. 

There’s nothing illegal about sending a love letter as part of a buyer offer package, but lately we’ve been eliminating the tactic from our playbook. 

Why? 

The buyer's love letter puts our sellers in a tricky position, risking a violation of the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing. The Act classifies protected classes based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Vermont’s Fair Housing Act includes five additional protected categories including marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and receipt of public assistance. 

Often, letters will paint a picture that tugs at the heartstrings of sentimental sellers, creating an image of the buyers in place of the current homeowners. These letters are full of demographic information about the buyer, sometimes including a photo or video. 

Here’s a popular example from the National Association of Realtors: 

We “can picture [our] children running down the stairs on Christmas morning for years to come in the house.”

This seemingly harmless sentence contains two federally protected categories, familial status and religion. If the seller chooses to go with this offer or another offer and was influenced by the details in the letter, they could be facing a Fair Housing complaint.

When evaluating offers, sellers should only consider the offer based on the price and the terms. How does the offer compare to the listing price? Are there inspection or financing contingencies? By basing the accepted offer on price and terms, sellers are clear of any Fair Housing Act violations. 

For our sellers, we suggest disclosing that buyer letters won’t be accepted. This removes any potential of buyers sending in letters that could violate the Fair Housing Act. 

For our buyers, we suggest focusing on putting yourself in the best position to make a competitive offer. From approval letters to contingencies, making an offer that stands on its own will have a much better chance than a lesser offer with a ‘love letter.’ In our experience, it’s the best and cleanest offer that gets accepted and sometimes a ‘love letter’ works against you!

Interested in how we navigate the current sellers market? Get in touch with our knowledgeable listing and buyer agents to learn more.