Will Writing a Personal Letter to a Seller Improve a Buyer's Odds?

July 3, 2014 — Sometimes you just know when you're found your dream apartment. Unfortunately, it may be someone else's dream apartment as well. Will contacting the seller directly improve your chances of beating out fellow buyers, all else being equal? Possibly, according to the home-hunting website Zillow.com. But a lot depends on the "all else being equal" part. And even a beautifully written missive might fall short of the mark(et) unless you've researched what the buyer may want to hear.