So are you ready to buy a house? Here in the finger lakes area it has never been a better time to buy. The inventory of houses for sale is high, prices are competitive and there are great interest rates. So in this buyer's market how do you go about negotiating the best price for the house that you want? My first word of advice is to enlist a competent real estate agent. You should have your own agent who works for you as a buyer's agent. A buyer's agent work's exclusively for the buyer and is there to guide you through the real estate process and most importantly to GET YOU THE BEST PRICE FOR THE HOME YOU WANT! Once you find a property that you like your agent should do all of the leg work. Before I have my clients write any offers I first check to see how long the house has been on the market and how many times the price has been reduced. This helps me to feel out how negotiable the seller is going to be. The second thing that I do for my client is a comprehensive market analysis (this is not just for seller's). The market analysis looks at comparable houses in the area that have sold within the last year. The analysis will give you a good idea of what the house is worth. So after you have ran the number's and know the value of the house how do you go about negotiating the best price? There are a few different negotiating strategies that you can use. I assess each situation and then will advise my clients on what I think is the best way to go. So lets look at some scenarios. Example 1. The subject property has been listed for 6 months, the original list price was $189,900 and is now reduced to $179,900. After calling the listing agent I have found out that the seller's have purchased another home and the house is vacant. My market analysis came out with a price of $180,000.00 Negotiating Strategy: With this scenario I know a few key pieces of information; 1. the house has been on the market for a while, 2. The seller's are flexible as they have lowered their price by $10,000.00 3. The seller's need to sell as they are now carrying 2 mortgages. So even though my market analysis and list price match I would still be aggressive with this negotiation. I would offer 90% of the asking price. Most likely the seller will counter offer this first offer. I would have my clients counter again and statistically we will probably end up paying 92% of the asking price. Stay tuned to my next blog post that will explore two other negotiating scenario's.