Write an Offer Letter for a House in 6 Simple Steps and Say Hello Your Dream Home

The 2025 housing market has notably low inventory, so when you find the home that’s calling your name, you probably want to do all you can to stand out from any other buyers and end your exhaustive search. One way to set yourself apart is by writing an offer letter for a house. Why? It’s special when a seller receives a home offer letter — especially a handwritten one — from someone interested in their property. It adds a feeling of thoughtfulness and permanence to a process that can seem very fast-paced and transactional. Looking for tips on how to write a letter for a house offer? We’ve got you covered.

How to write a letter for a house offer in 6 simple steps

What Is an Offer Letter for a House?

At its core, an offer letter for a house (sometimes referred to as a buyer love letter) is a document that you create, as the potential home buyer, that tells a seller why you are interested in their home. Some real estate experts even call this a love letter for a house you really want to buy. It can also be included as a cover letter for a house offer.

It generally includes a short introduction to you as an individual or something about your family — how many people will live there, what kinds of activities you will do there, and how much you’d enjoy the neighborhood, for example. You may want to tell stories about how you, your spouse, and your kids enjoy playing board games in the living room on the weekends or that the backyard has a perfect spot for that swing set you’ve always wanted to build for the kids. These kinds of sharp images will help the home seller see you in their home, where they, too, created great memories over the years.

If you’re feeling nervous about it, you shouldn’t. Honestly, if you speak well, it won’t take much work to write well, too. If it’s easier, perhaps ask a friend or your spouse to type out the words as you say them orally so you can think on your feet and feel the emotions you’re trying to express.

Dealing with a competitive house-buying process is nerve-wracking enough. Writing a letter with a house offer is simply an added bonus, so don’t feel like you have to seal the deal with an offer letter for a house alone. Rather, it should be another way your agent can separate your offer from the pack, something that is especially important in a hot real estate market with bidding wars and counteroffers.

Should I Write an Offer Letter for a House?

Is it a good idea to write an offer letter for a house? Let’s get the legalities out of the way first. Writing an offer letter for a house is not illegal in any U.S. state. However, Oregon did try banning home offer letters in 2021, but a U.S. District Judge permanently blocked the ban in 2022. As of today, the injunction is still in place, but Oregon real estate licensees are not required to comply with it. 

Why are there concerns about writing a letter with a house offer? Some argue that an offer letter for a house can come into conflict with Fair Housing laws, which are at both the state and federal levels, to protect people from discrimination when renting, buying, or securing financing for any housing. The argument is that if the letter reveals too many personal details, especially ones covered by anti-discrimination laws (like gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or source of income), you could put the seller at risk if they choose you over another potential buyer. Ask your real estate agent if they have a guide in place to help you navigate how to write a letter to buy a house. While this article can give you advice for the emotions and details that go into a general offer letter for a house, they’ll have a better feel for the specifics around your situation and needs.

People who have written an offer letter for a house say they’ve been effective in swaying a seller in their favor. Sellers want to know that their home stands out from the rest of the market, and they enjoy picturing how the home will look in the years to come after they have moved. One real estate agent shared a story about a home offer letter to a seller that included two special words at the end: Semper Fi. Both the buyer and seller were Marines, so this Latin phrase meaning Always Faithful — the motto of every Marine — connected them on a real and personal level.  

Is an Offer Letter for a House Legally Binding?

There is a big difference between an actual house offer or contract and an offer letter for a house. The house offer or contract is likely legally binding, meaning you have agreed to buy a house at that price point outlined in the formal offer. On the other hand, an offer letter for a house is a nice extra that doesn’t force a potential buyer into a deal they may regret or want to change at some point. The offer letter for a house can either be an independent document you give to the seller or a cover letter for a house offer.

Either situation can be easier if you work with a real estate agent who can help you put together that formal offer for a home or what you should include in the home offer letter. A home offer letter can also be somewhat emotional or draw on feelings, whereas a formal offer is all business. 

Writing a letter to a homeowner when making an offer lets them see why you want the home – it conveys emotion instead of being strictly about business.

How Long Should a House Offer Letter Be?

Your heart and your hand will tell you what to say and how long the letter should be. In general, if you’re writing from the heart, go as long as you need to when talking about the house and how you’ll live in it as a family. As far as your hand goes — well, if it starts to cramp up, you may have written too much. You want a handwritten letter to be about one or two pages, while a typed letter should be a single page. If you’re looking for a general word count, think between 500 to 700 words. That should take you about an hour to write, has enough space to say everything you want to say, and will take about four to five minutes to read. 

If you can, have someone read it for you before you share it with your real estate agent. This should be a friend who has an eye for grammar, style, and substance. This person can tell you if — especially as a first-time home buyer — you’ve been too sappy or if you should add more sentiment to the letter you’ve written. Plus, having an error-free letter will make sure the seller takes your offer seriously and knows you are a tried-and-true person in pursuit of their home. 

Sellers want the best or highest offer much of the time, but some home sellers with multiple offers are looking to learn about the buyer, so a letter could be a key element of that decision. 

What Should Be Included in a House Offer Letter? 

You want to share some — but not too much — personal information in the letter. This lets the seller see you or your family as real people, giving a face to those who might buy their home. Traditionally, the seller won’t meet the buyers at any point in the house closing process. So, having an image in their minds of who you are and how you’ll use the house may feel reassuring. 

You may also want to include your favorite parts of the home, describing how you appreciate the renovations or decorations the previous homeowners brought to the residence. However, stay away from getting too detailed — some sellers may not want to hear about how a large family might trample the extensive gardens he or she developed over the decades. It’s a fine line to know how much to include and what to exclude (except for the obvious exclusions named below), so run anything you write by your real estate agent in every instance. You don’t want a house offer letter to backfire and cost you the home that could have been perfect for you and your family. 

Even if you don’t know how to write a letter for a house offer, you probably do know that this missive shouldn’t talk about what you don’t like about the house or problems your real estate agent might have mentioned. You also don’t want to use AI assistance or a house offer letter template you got off of the internet verbatim for fear that the home seller might recognize your words as inauthentic or similar to another letter they may have already received. You can look online for home offer letter examples, but make sure you take the time to draft your own letter with your own words. A house offer letter from your real estate agent probably isn’t a good idea, either; the seller may be more compelled to listen to your plea for the home than your agent’s. Let the agent negotiate your offer — you handle writing a letter to a homeowner when making an offer. 

Do You Need a Pre-Approval Letter to Make an Offer on a House?

The simple answer here is no; you don’t need a pre-approval letter to make an offer on a house. But there are some key aspects of this answer that need to be explained. Your home offer letter should include how you plan to pay for this life-changing purchase, such as an all-cash offer or bank financing on a home mortgage. If you are financing this home, it is best if you can include your pre-approval letter from your bank alongside your home offer letter. This shows how serious you are about the house and that you’ve already started the process of getting bank approvals. This gives the seller confidence that the deal you are proposing will go through.

Now, it is feasible to write your home offer letter without enclosing the pre-approval letter from your bank, and you can write this letter without pre-approval. But not including those items may cause the seller to take longer with your offer or to question whether you are a serious buyer. If you truly want this home deal to go through in a timely fashion, real estate experts generally agree that your home offer letter should include how you plan to pay, your contingency requests, your closing time frame, and a pre-approval letter.

What Makes a Strong Home Offer Letter?

If you’re ready to put pen to paper and your real estate agent is on board, now is when you should get organized, set aside some time, and think about what you love about the home. A strong offer letter for a house will include a bit of emotion, a touch of poetry, and a lot of detail.

Give yourself about an hour for the writing session. This should be enough time to go into detail without writing a book that might intimidate the seller or slow down the process. The house should be foremost in your mind: Why did you choose it? How do you see yourself living there? How will your family use the spaces? Dream in 3D so you can make the letter reader experience what you are describing and feel the same feelings.

You may want to reach out to a friend or family member to review it and offer suggestions. But as we mentioned earlier, if you speak well, you’re likely to write well, too. Have confidence in what you have to say.

When writing a house offer letter, focus on what you love about the home.

How Do You Write an Offer Letter for a House Without a Realtor?

Sellers who choose to sell their house themselves may also find a personal and heartfelt home offer letter important in their decision between two similar offers. However, there are considerations to creating such a letter if someone is selling a house themselves.

For example, a seller may have a lawyer that they are working with, so you may need to submit your home offer letter to this representative rather than directly to the homeowner. And if you, as the buyer, are working with a real estate agent, that agent may want to review your home offer letter before you submit it — this is important if you include certain pieces of personal data. If you’re both unrepresented parties, though, remember: The Fair Housing Act, as well as some state and local fair housing laws, say you cannot discriminate against someone based on their race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.

So, if you are writing a home offer letter directly to a seller, you should be aware that buyer love letters are considered risky by groups such as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) because they can put a seller at risk of violating these fair housing laws should they accept or reject an offer based on information related to these protected classes of people.

How Do You Write an Offer Letter for a House?

Now that you’re armed with information, you may be wondering how to write a letter for a house offer. We know better than most that the hardest part about writing — especially something like an offer letter for a house — is often knowing where to start. And a house offer letter template can go a long way toward taking that first step. 

As with any template, the key is to make it your own. If the seller receives two letters with similar or the same wording, it could mean your letter is disregarded, or even worse, your bid could be dinged a couple of points if the seller is particularly sensitive to these types of things.

Don’t forget to include an introduction when writing a letter with a house offer.

1. Address the Seller and Introduce Yourself.

If you know the seller’s name, use that, but you likely won’t know the name of the owner of the home. Perfectly fine. There are still ways to address them personally if you add a bit of writer’s flourish. For example, 

Right off the bat, you give your offer letter a personal touch and stand out from the folks who opened with a blasé Dear Homeowner, or the cringe-inducing To Whom It May Concern. It also helps the seller picture you in their home. Instead of a faceless offerer, you become a real person with a real interest.

Tell the seller what you love most about their home in your offer letter for a house.

2. Detail What Makes the Home Stand Out to You.  

When you viewed the property, what stood out to you? Did it have big, beautiful French windows? A built-in stone fireplace? Once you know what really stood out, connect those things to how your family would use them. Maybe you have a dog who loves to look outside the window while she waits for you to get home and she would adore those floor-to-ceiling patio doors. Then, once everyone’s home, maybe your family cuddles up around the fireplace with warm tea and a good movie. Give life to those things in the home, and you’ll start to see your offer letter take shape.

List a commonality or two you have with the current homeowner. 

3. Find Common Ground.

As is the case in most things, people are more likely to resonate with people and content they have something in common with. Once again, think back on what you saw in the home and ask if there was something there that you have in common. This could be anything — maybe you grow the same rose bushes, or you play basketball and they have a hoop in the driveway. Whatever common ground you can find is fair game and will help your offer later in the letter.

Make sure your offer letter for a house includes your offer.

4. Present Your Offer.

Now’s the time to get down to brass tacks. The seller knows a little bit about you and can envision how you’ll use the home but, ultimately, wants to know how much of the green stuff you’ll be offering. The real value of the offer letter is that you can give your offer supportive reasoning and context rather than shooting a flat number — but be straightforward and courteous here so as to avoid confusion. 

If the home is a little out of your price range, you’ll want to refer back to the connection you made earlier in the letter and highlight how, if possible, you can make up for the “delta” in funds with a flexible closing date or a pre-approved mortgage. Other ways you can be competitive even if you can’t bring the highest offer include lessening contingencies or maximizing a down payment. 

If you have concerns about the house, you can list them out when writing a letter with a house offer.

5. Note Any Contingencies You Have.

Just like the offer itself, you need to be upfront with any contingencies you have before you get too far in the process, or else you risk it blowing up in spectacular fashion. If you’re worried about an HVAC problem, for instance, note that in the letter. 

Clear, concise language is crucial here. Be sure not to go too far when listing potential problems with the home. The sellers may start to wonder why you’re so interested in the first place. If you progress into the negotiation stage, that’s the time when you and your realtor can hammer out the details. 

Using your best manners is always a good idea when writing an offer letter for a house.

6. Close With a Friendly Thank You.

Has your offer letter for a house been accepted? Time to pack!

The Best Advice for How To Write a Letter for a House Offer? Keep Things Short, Sweet, and Sincere.

Bottom line: A home offer letter could be the difference between your offer getting accepted and missing out on your dream home, so write something that is to-the-point and true-to-you. Remember that it’s a business letter at the end of the day, so you should make sure it is neat, organized, and error-free. But it never hurts to speak from your heart and write about how you plan to make the house into your home. 

Karen Dybis is a freelance journalist and a frequent contributor to the PODS Blog. Her work has appeared in Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The Detroit News, and more.