Love letters throughout the ages have been a heartfelt way to convey one’s inner feelings about someone or something. Letters from distant combat zones, for example, often note how much a soldier misses a loved one back home.
In real estate, love letters attempt to convey a buyers “love” of a property for which they wish to purchase from a seller. This personal form of communication – pen to paper, buyer to seller – has often been seen as a successful strategy to win over homeowners in a competitive market where multiple offers seem to blend into one pile of forms and contracts that are initialed or signed many times over.
Perhaps fearing the handwritten letter – sometimes accompanied with a photo – will get lost in the paper shuffle, some buyers are now taking the love letter to a new level – one with color and sound rather than dotted I’s and crossed T’s. Introducing: the video love letter.
Videos take the personal message up several notches. Now, sellers can see how the video is produced and whether buyers are speaking candidly to the camera or reading from a prepared message. Sellers can also get to know the individuals for a fleeting moment of 60-90 seconds.
That all sounds viral – at least for buyers seeking to make a good impression. But there are concerns from a sellers’ perspective.
The video can present all types of insights about buyers – and potential misperceptions that a seller can use intentionally or unintentionally against bidders.
Whether delivered through written or video communication, there are serious Fair Housing concerns when letting a seller see and hear from a buyer. Federal laws make it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status in the sale or lease of residential property. Washington and King County discrimination laws are more strict.
A video of someone’s expressions, using images and spoken words, allows sellers to pre-judge a person – based on many factors – even before reviewing the contract offer. That’s why love letters in any form are raising legal red flags, so much so that this year Oregon became the first state to ban them and there is early discussion about other states following suit. (The Oregon law goes into effect next January.)
The National Association of Realtors® has been warning members for years about the potential risks involving love letters.
Listing agents have the obligation to provide the love video/letter to clients as part of the full offer; that’s Washington state law today.
The message is clear: While sometimes they succeed in matching buyer with seller, love letters pose many risks and sellers should understand there will unlikely be any information in the communication they should be basing their decision to accept or reject the bid.
The offer, addenda and the buyers’ financing details should always be the determining factors on which offer to accept. After all, not all buyers will submit a love letter but everyone will deliver an offer. Sellers should only compare offer to offer, not love letter to love letter. And many legal eagles will advise sellers to avoid watching the video or reading the letter altogether because it will not be – or at least should not be – a determining factor on which offer to accept.