Written Offer VS Verbal Offer

When making offers on Real Estate, which is better- The Written Offer or The Verbal Offer?

It is my contention that The Written Offer is FAR AND AWAY the most powerful of these 2 types of offers.

Here’s why…

Let’s assume that we are making 1 single offer to a seller not following up with them at all…

Now, if you simply make a Verbal Offer to the seller, they don’t have any sort of reminder that you are an option for them to sell their house. Sure they’ve perhaps talked to you on the phone before, but they don’t have a glaring reminder that you are interested in the property. When making offers on Real Estate, the Verbal Offer usually goes in one ear, doesn’t interest the seller initially, and goes right back out the other.

The Written Offer, on the other hand, serves as a constant reminder that the only thing between the seller and a sale is for them to write their name in the blank. The Written Offer is a tangible thing. They can touch it, feel it, and see it everyday and know that if they were to take pen to paper, their problems with this house of their would disappear.

To me, when making offers on Real Estate, the Verbal Offer is one that is initially used to “get a feeling” from the seller if they would entertain our offer. The problem is that most people, when the seller turns their nose up at the Verbal Offer, they fail to ever make a Written Offer out of fear of insulting the seller. I feel that if we are ever interested in a particular house, a Written Offer should be left with the seller, regardless if they are ready to accept it or not.

Here’s what to say… “I know the offer is lower than what you are wanting right now, but just hold onto the offer and give me a call if we can ever talk further about the sale”.

Remember this – these sellers usually don’t accept an offer right off the bat. When making offers on Real Estate, it takes some time for them to really come to grips with everything going on in their life and to finally reach a point where they are ready to sell. However, if you didn’t leave a Written Offer with them, you’ve certainly lost the deal – because even when they decide they want to sell… they’ve forgotten about you. Don’t count on them recalling your Verbal Offer days, weeks, or months down the road when they are ready to deal.

Bottom line – When making offers on Real Estate, we don’t want to count on the seller remembering our Verbal Offer. We need them to know that the only thing between them and the sale of their property is them writing their name in the blank of our Written Offer.