Price, letters and leverage
The bottom line
Settlement date, deposit size and clean conditions are leverage. A cover letter that reveals your ceiling is not.
Price is only one lever. A settlement date that suits the seller, a sensible deposit, and conditions with short timeframes can win against a higher price with messy terms. Deadlines in your offer put pressure on the seller to decide.
A letter to the seller can help, but only if it does not give away how much you want the house or how far you would go.
Read this
Submitting your first offer with confidence
Do this
Read how deadlines in your offer change the seller's behaviour
Check yourself
Name two levers other than price.
Settlement date, deposit size, condition timeframes, an expiry on the offer.
What should a letter to the seller never reveal?
Your ceiling or how badly you want it.
Why put an expiry time on an offer?
It forces a decision and limits the seller shopping it around.
Talk it through
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