Is it a bribe?

Who are you giving this to? Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Operations In: NY, NJ, FL & CA

I wouldn’t do that. It may not be a “bribe” in the criminal sense, but it can look messy, inappropriate, or even create disclosure and ethics issues. Keep your offer clean. If you want to stand out, improve the actual terms: stronger price, larger earnest money, shorter inspection period, flexible closing date, appraisal gap coverage, or letting the seller choose the closing timeline. A seller cares more about certainty than football tickets. Make the offer easier, cleaner, and safer for them, not gimmicky.

The real question is what can you offer a Seller that would be something that they want? Most instances its terms and price for the house they are selling. Submitting the cleanest (least contingencies) and best price you are able to offer and also working around their selling timeline can set yours ahead of other offers. Make sure that your agent is communication with the Sellers agent "prior" to making the offer and find out what is "important" to them and cater your offer around that the best you can.

I have found that if there is a way to connect with a Seller, it is worth trying. I have had Buyers get creative and offer to pay moving costs up to a certain amount, offer a gift card to the restaurant on the corner where they likely have dined many times, and this did set those Buyers apart. But, some Sellers choose not to entertain these kind of things, like a love letter to the Seller, or even an escalation clause. I believe it is worth it if it is meaningful and is heartfelt in a connection... so tickets to a baseball game if they had baseball things all over the house might be appropriate, but if I were selling and that was offered, it would be awkward and weird as I have no interest in basement. So in my opinion, it's about making a connection. People often care about who is buying their home, where they have made memories and lived life. They often want to know it's going to good hands, or to Buyers that you have something in common with, a connection.

Most sellers aren’t looking for those kind of ‘extras’, they are looking for the offer that nets them the most. A creative offer with things like: paying seller taxes for the portion of the year; escalation clause (automatically puts your offer ahead of others by $1000 up to a max of $x); offer to pay some of seller closing costs… Depending on the home and your situation, there are always ways to make your offer stand out!