Weapons in the Bidding War

Denise Champion, a Long & Foster agent in Chevy Chase, suggested to one young couple that they draft a letter on a Shepherd Park house because she thought it could make a difference.

Her client, Nadine Duplessy Kearns, thinks the personal note she wrote helped persuade sellers Bob and Elaine Joost to pick her family's bid before a scheduled open house in October. "When the seller opened the letter, she smiled and said, 'That's my buyer,' " Kearns recalled.

The letter detailed Nadine and Curtis "Andre" Kearns III's great desire to move from Arlington to the District, where Andre grew up, and their interest in the local schools and a nearby church.

"This is a great neighborhood for a young family like ours," wrote the Kearnses, who have a toddler. They also wrote about how much they loved the house's library.

"The library was it for me," Kearns recalled.

Elaine Joost said she was impressed with the monetary terms of the offer, which was about $11,000 above the listing price. "And since we weren't interested in drawing every last cent from this property, we saw no reason to wait."

But the letter, and its reference to the library that Joost treasured, struck home, she said.

"We wanted . . . to find someone who would be as much a part of the neighborhood as we were. . . . We didn't want to sell to someone who would do a quick slap and dash of paint and then resell, or who would . . . jack up the car and blast their speakers," Joost said.

Casey O'Neal, an associate broker at Re/Max Allegiance, said letters are "more of the exception than the rule in this market."

But, personal messages can still make an offer stand out, he said. He provided one note submitted to his Arlington sellers last July by fellow agent Debbie Wicker.

"I work for the State Department, and have been overseas for the past twelve years," wrote Steve Walker. "The last five years have been especially difficult ones for us: I was assigned to Yemen, and then to Syria. My family was evacuated three times during this period (with one evacuation lasting nine months)."

He added, "One of the things that got us through this difficult time of family separation and dicey security situations, was imagining our return to Washington, and buying our first home where, after long last, we could put down some roots."

The emotional pitch worked, said O'Neal -- but only in combination with the family's strong finances.

"We've had people take pictures of themselves, their babies and their dogs," O'Neal said. "But really what it comes down to is their financial strength. That's ultimately what seals anybody's deal."