By Leanne Bach, February 21, 2018
This is one of those scenarios I’ll tell my buyers who are competing with multiple offers on a home they want to buy. I’ll tell them that every once in a while, even though you may not be the highest priced offer, you may just win the hearts of the seller by telling them your story. I believe I wrote a blog post 6 months, or so, ago regarding a similar situation. There were multiple offers, my client went the highest she could afford to go, we weren’t the highest offer, but the seller chose her offer. Their reasoning was because they wanted her to have the house. They read a letter from my client, to them, and fell in love with who she was. Unbelievable, right? The sellers gave up the opportunity for more money in order to listen to their hearts and pass the ownership of their home on to someone that “spoke to them.”
Anyway, back to THIS love story. There were CRAZY offers on this house. I discussed our situation with the listing agent and did my best to build a package that the sellers could not refuse. My clients wrote a letter and added a photo of them standing in front of the house after they collected their children from frolicking in the yard. And alas, even though we offered well over asking price, with all the bells and whistles of what I felt would be important to these particular sellers, there were other offers that were higher than ours AND waiving appraisals at that, which is just a position I didn’t want to put my clients in. We did our best. I told my clients the news that their offer wasn’t chosen. The sellers apparently fell in love with my clients through their letter, but saying no to more money was just not practical. My clients went to bed that night, heartbroken.
The next morning, I received a text from the listing agent asking if she thinks my clients would still want the house. WTF, huh? I immediately asked what happened. The sellers, after “sleeping on it,” changed their mind about whom they wanted to see take over their home. They couldn’t get my clients out of their mind. We tweaked some details to fine tune the offer, and my clients were officially in contract on a house, just yesterday, they thought they didn’t have a chance on. All the while, I was prepared to tell my clients they will fall in love again; maybe this house just wasn’t meant to be. Blah blah blah..Will this be the house that just got away? And here we are now: Their love had a change of heart and came back to them. And it didn’t end there.
My clients wrote a letter of gratitude to the sellers, thanking them for choosing their family’s offer, promising them they’ll take such good care of the house. I dropped off a gift basket my clients put together for the sellers. We still had things to negotiate! And business moved forward. Maybe with glazed over heart filled googly eyes, but things got done. We, ironically, closed just after Valentine’s Day. I handed off one final love letter from my clients to the sellers and received one back from them to give to my buyers. “Have you ever seen so many love letters?,” the listing agent asked me. Ha ha! NO! And I wouldn’t change anything about it. This transaction was pure gold. And my heart is full to see my sweet McCarthy family moving into their new home where I, once again, get to watch their sweet children (and Brock, the cat) frolic in the yard.
Leanne Bach
Principal Broker | OR & WA
She/Her
Leanne has experienced the real estate boom on the frontline. Her integrity and persistence have helped clients navigate the outcomes of the 2008 financial crisis, as well as coached and guided buyers and sellers through a competitive, fast-paced market of today. Licensed since 2003, Leanne’s drive and skills of being a natural connector, put her at the top of her field. She finds great joy in establishing a client’s needs and uniting them with a solution. She sees challenge as an opportunity and proactively wins trust while still getting things done. Real estate involves a network beyond the client. Leanne connects with the community through volunteer efforts. She has built a solid network of contractors, lenders, caterers, bankers, and accountants, as well as caregivers, artists, and organizers. Her goal is to connect a buyer’s vision of home to reality and connects a seller’s financial goals to the best possible outcomes. This is the fuel that motivates Leanne in her career. She believes strongly in creating harmony between work and life and it shows by what her clients say about her. She feels lucky every day to be able to call this her job and feels fortunate to have clients that are multi-generational, helping parents of clients and children of clients through all the stages of life. The relationships she’s built are truly rewarding.
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” -Albert Einstein
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- T: 503-349-7890
- leannebach@gmail.com
