Dearest Seller: Your Home Is Like a Red, Red Rose

Joel Goyette and Margaret Cooley walked into the open house for a two-bedroom 1920s Craftsman in Berkeley, California, and knew theyd found their dream house. So did 10 other couples.

Having lost out in two bidding wars, the couple decided to try to connect with the sellers over more than money. Neighbors had told them about all the restoration work the owners had done, including five weekends stripping interior doors down to old-growth Douglas fir. They learned how close-knit the neighborhood was, with "meals shared, tools borrowed" and how "people overall looked after each other," says Goyette.

So when they sent the sellers their bid, they included a two-page personal letter. They wrote about how much they appreciated the home's character and the hard work the sellers had put into it, that it would be their first home, and how much they valued being part of a close community. Since Goyette had made a foodie connection with the sellers when they saw him ogling a bookshelf of cookbooks, "we couldn't resist sharing our plans to construct a masonry grill in the backyard and build a thriving social community with friends and neighbors," he says.

The couple raised their offer by $25,000 during the ensuing bidding war. It wasnt the highest bid, but it was the winning one. We were told that our letter made a big difference. The sellers felt a connection to us, says Goyette.

Goyette and Cooleys experience shows the value of writing a love letter when pursuing a home. These letters can be so effective that some sellers agents try to intercept them to keep the focus on price. Nearly four in 10 home buyers facing off against other bidders included a love letter with their offer last year, according to national real estate brokerage Redfin. In multiple-bid situations in 2013, Redfin found, bids with love letters were 9 percent more successful than bids without a letter.

For a buyer billet-doux to have the greatest impact, children may be pressed into service. Kris Paolini, a Redfin agent in Rockville, Maryland, recalls one bidding war in which his clients included not just a letter from themselves but a note from their teenage son. He mentioned how great it would be to live in the same neighborhood as his two best friends.

Including a picture can also help tip the odds. San Diego real estate agent Cheree Bray recalls one deal in which her clients beat out an all-cash offer after noting in their letter that the spacious backyard would be an ideal romping area for their two young boys, and included a family photo. The seller was choosing between an investor who wanted to tear down the home and build a new house, and my couple, who wanted to live in it just like she had, says Bray.

Just don't go too far, like the pregnant woman who offered her first-born child as a namesake.

Love letters arent solely for bidding wars. A few years ago, Seattle real estate agent Ryan Halset was helping a woman sell the home in which she had raised her family. The list price was $375,000. A single bid arrived from a young couple offering $350,000; it included a letter saying how much they hoped to be able to raise their family in the home.

The seller insisted on accepting the offer, despite Halsets advice that she at least counter. She wanted to give the family a leg up, says Halset. For some sellers its about being able to drive by every few months and feel good about whos in your home that gave you so many memories.

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Dearest Seller: Your Home Is Like a Red, Red Rose