A Buyer's Agent's Responsibility to Help a Buyer Make a Good Offer

Wonderful stuff. I've seen this first hand, and buyers do indeed sometimes end up in a worse scenario by trying to "steal" the house at first. Hey the object of having a buyer's agent is to have an experienced representative working for you.

Good advice! Not a good idea to irritate the seller! Once they have been offended they may never come back! There is an emotional side to selling a home no matter how hard we try to convince them to not take it personally!

Andrea, good job on a well written post!  Extremely low offers - and even "just" low offers when the property is priced well - don't get the buyers anywhere.  It'll more likely cause them to "lose" a property or two before they get a reasonable offer accepted.

The last offer I wrote for a client was over the asking price and there were ot multiple offers!!!!!! We had been through a few  heartbreaks already with my client in tears and so when we found another home that she absolutely loved, We added the closing costs on top and even an extra couple hundred dollars to round off to a nice even number and she was guaranteed to get the contract signed with NO counteroffers enabling for a few more days for others to come in with another offer. She got the home and loves it!!! Was I acting in her best interests\? Absolutely!!!! I got her what she wanted and that was her home!!!

Hi Andrea;

Buyers goals are very different from the sellers during negotiations. Buyers want to pay as little as possible while sellers want to sell for the highest possible price. Buyer advantage comes with market knowledge.

You may have seen enough to decide your offer price. However, it's wise to ask your sales professional to provide you with sold property data. By examining recent sales of similar properties you can reduce the risk of overbuying.

Know how the market has behaved recently to focus your offer price. You can assess the likelihood the seller will take less by looking at the number of competing properties and days on market. If comparable homes are selling quickly, your selection might not last long. This would prompt an offer price closer to list.

Sometimes the buyers just have to try low-balling and losing a few before they figure this out.  It's funny how some people just have to try anyway.

Hi Andrea - I have heard that it isn't anyones market, but I do feel that it is a buyers market.  I have been putting in multiple offers on properties, mostly bank owned or short sales.  But because the agents are pricing them right they are going for asking or above. 

The market has really changed over the last 24 months. Buyer and agents habits have changed and I'm seeing more low-ball offers than I used to. In the past, sellers often said "Thank you for your offer but we are too far apart at this time." Now, if a seller says that, there is a great risk of a buyer just saying okay and going away for good!

Also, not all offers are based on comps from a few months ago. In the recent past, we had to begin forecasting what was happening and what it would be like in another 3-6 months. I did a listing appointment last June and she didn't list until 2 weeks ago and her home value dropped about 2%. Now, put yourself in the shoes of agents working back in June in that area where prices were slipping. Are you going to pay a price based on 6 month old comparables?

Great post, gives us something to think about.