The first offer I ever wrote as a real estate agent was with a customer that called on a home while I was on floor duty.  The home was listed at $212,000, and the buyer offered $160,000.  The home across the street, a foreclosure, had recently sold for $165,000. The buyer insisted on their offer despite the  different circumstances.   I presented the offer to the listing agent, who presented it to the seller.  The seller did not accept our offer, and countered at just slightly below list price.  The buyer was not willing to pay that price and moved on. 

 Almost a year and a half later, that home is still on the market, now a short sale, and under contract at $160,000.  It will probably close near $150,000.  This is interesting first hand support of the statistic that the best offer will be the first offer. 

 This experience also shows how the market price is now being set by distressed properties.  It makes me wonder what kind of a difference it would have made if both realtors and the public had accepted reality sooner about prices, and taken the big hit right away.  Then we might be further up the recovery hill, instead of wallowing in the valley of the bottom.  

Melissa Tolson, GRI - Buyer Specialist