This is A Smart Buyers' Market! I know it is hard to NOT lowball an offer on the house you hunted hard to find.
You did your due diligence in finding a great Realtor to work with. You read some great articles and even blogs on how to go about finding the right home. You have done the research on the right town or the right area of the town of your choice. You paid attention to what your Realtor suggested on finding the right home for your family.
Now the hard part...Your agent has shown you anywhere from 3 to 30 homes...You are probably what I would call an educated buyer. You actually know that the home you are about to make an offer on is priced right, or what some folks would call... "A Good Buy".
You look your agent in the eye and ask..."What do you think this property is worth?" Your agent has probably answered with something close to...'After comparing this home with 20 other comparable properties, I think this Home is priced fairly." You have made up your mind, You are ready to make an offer. You are already pre-qualified for a loan that will cover that needed for this home. You do some quick calculations...subtract 30% from the list price and announce to your Realtor that "this is a Buyers' market". Actually....this is A Smart Buyers' Market.
I know that when I list a home to sell...I discuss with the seller that the market is down 15% over the last 2 years and that we need to get out in front of the market and price the house correctly. I also warn them to expect low ball offers...to not take it personally.
The best thing that a buyer can do after doing all their homework is to actually listen to their agents' advice. In A Smart Buyers' Market the buyer usually will end up paying less for the home of their choice when they are reasonable rather than greedy. I give buyers the average percentage off the list price that homes sell for in our area. I encourage them to come in close to that number...That is assuming that I believe the home is actually priced right. Many times when a buyer takes my advice, they get the home bought at a very fair price.
When the buyer insists on making a Low Ball offer because their brothers' uncles' cousin told them to not pay too much, they end up frustrated and actually paying more for the property than had they been reasonable to begin with. Sometimes they end up offending the seller and actually starting all over with finding a different house to buy to the disgust of their tired and frustrated spouse...
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