Hi everybody. Cheryl Knowlton, CEO of Dynamite Productions coming at you with your dynamite tip of the day. Today’s tip is on fair housing and, more specifically, letters.
I get this question all of the time. If I represent a buyer, should I encourage my buyer or even allow my buyer to write a letter expressing to the seller how much they love the house and how much they’d love to live in the property, and please accept my offer in the myriad of offers that you have on to consider?
Do not include anything about a protected class
Couple things about that. Number one, if you represent the buyer, absolutely, positively, you will not be forwarding any letter to the seller that contains anything related to any of the protected classes. And by quick review, fresh corn, I speak on this all the time, but the protected classes that the acronym is fresh corn. If you need a reminder on any of those, hit me up in the comments below and I would be happy to give you a refresher on all of those because I’ve already done several other videos on that, I won’t bore you with that again. Just make sure that you’re not doing that.
Then the reverse question, what if I represent the seller and a buyer’s agent has submitted this with the offer, this letter, and it contains one or more protected classes in there. What should I do? My answer is always, lovingly go back to the buyer’s agent and say, “I am so sorry. Thank you for your offer. I’m excited to submit your offer and I’ll be doing that right away.” Code of ethics, state law, we have to do that. “I will not be submitting this letter because it contains one or more protected classes.
Absolutely, do not make a video to send with an offer.
If it’s really important to your buyer that this letter goes with the offer, write it up right away and let me know that you want me to hold off for a minute. I will do so at your instruction. Otherwise, I’m going to get this to my seller right away like I’m supposed to because I’m a very good agent.” So that’s what you’re going to say. You’re a very good agent because you’re very, very smart.
So just keep some of these things in mind. An agent asked me in a class a week or so ago, said that she had been to another training where they told her that the buyer should make a video. Hard pass. Absolutely, positively not. Please don’t do that. Just submit really strong, awesome offers and allow the offer to stand on its own merits and speak for itself.
And that is your dynamite tip of the day.