Buyer Love Letters

by Michele McCaskill | Feb 8, 2024 | Canopy Realtor® Association, MLS Policy

So, here’s how it starts.  Your buyer really wants a certain property.  There’s a lot of interest in that particular property and your buyer wants to stand out.  So, they choose to write a love letter to the seller explaining how their house is the perfect house for so many reasons, which they carefully list out. Then, they include a beautiful photograph of themselves, as if to say, “Look at us.  How could you not pick us over all those other bidders?”  

As their buyer agent and advisor, what do you do?  You’ve heard these letters could mean trouble but you’re not exactly sure how to handle the situation because you want the seller to pick them.

Here are a few things to consider.

A buyer “love letter” is not illegal.  A buyer can send them.  The recommendation from the Realtor® association is that agents NOT get involved in distributing these types of letters and to advise their clients against writing these letters for a variety of reasons.  

The main issue is that these letters could create the potential for accusations of discrimination by the seller. If the seller chose not to select your buyers or did choose your buyers over others, there is the potential that someone will claim discrimination occurred.  

In May of 2021 the North Carolina Real Estate Commission published the article linked below that offers additional guidance on how to handle buyer lover letters. 

https://bulletins.ncrec.gov/how-do-i-love-thee-send-the-love-letters-to-a-sweetheart-not-a-seller/

In addition, this Q&A from NC Realtors® is useful in addressing why you should caution your buyers against sending and your sellers against reading these letters.

https://www.ncrealtors.org/question/buyer-letters-and-fair-housing-laws/