Thread: Pros/Cons of making a low offer?

As agents we rely on the last sale data.

As a buyer you want to be sure that you have a good deal.

Offer what you feel is the right price for the house given the market condition.

The proviso is that the media is not the market. Even if the newspapers are screaming about prices falling the reality of real estate is localism. Certain neighbourhoods and certain areas of town will hold their value better. Your agent can provide some quality input here on the details of previously sold homes.

Has the market changed by 20 % in the last few days, is a little hard to prove or claim. Has the continuing softening of buyer confidance continued, Maybe yes, so the 5% differential your agent suggests may not be out of line.

Good luck whatever you decide

Happy new House

When you make a low ball offer, or you get it and made a great deal, or you don't get it and re-offer higher.
When you make a "close to the asking price" offer, you'll never know if you could have made some substantial savings...

I would simply offer what the house is worth to you, period.

You are the buyer, all we can do is give you a CMA. Its your call.

Negotiating for a good deal wont hurt. I would actually start the first bid 10% lower.

The more prepared your are to buy the property the better the deal you will get. If you have a bank commitment, putting some cash down,great credit, its your primary residence.
Sellers are afraid sometimes to come back with a counter offer so you might get a great deal.

Thanks for your replies! At first I was upset with our realtor, suspecting that he has ulterior motives to try to keep prices from falling, after all, he sells in this market and is also a homeowner in the area. This is obviously a concern because he has an ethical and fiduciary duty to help us negotiate the best deal possible. After thinking about it more, I think he believes that this is a great house in a good location and is concerned that if we don't jump on it with a good offer we'll lose out to someone else.

That being said, all of the comps from within the last 6 months sold within 30 days. This house has now been on the market for 30 days, has only been shown 3 times, and as far as I know we are the only buyers so far who have shown any serious interest. We are also looking seriously at another house which is a foreclosure and priced far lower. We are leaning toward making an offer on the foreclosure, but I would hate to see the other house sell to someone else for far under asking price after we were discouraged from making a low offer.

Costa Rica might be different, but any offer is a good start. As low as you want to bid, the owner can just say no and you might get lucky and they need the money very bad.

Good Luck

To sort of echo what Jared said, you really need to make an offer that you feel comfortable with. What is the house worth to you right now?

You should consider how long you want to be in the house, as well as how stable your job/income is. If you want to spend a good length of time in the house and you don't have immediate reason to fear loss of income that would cause you to be unable to afford the payments and have to move out, then you should buy the house at what you feel it's worth, even if you know the values will drop after you buy it.

Think about it this way - when you buy a house, the house should always remain worth whatever you paid for it in your own eyes. "Market value" is just a measure of what someone would be willing to pay for the house if you sold it. So if you don't plan on selling, does it really matter WHAT the market value is?

I am a middle of the road person. Offer something that the seller can consider. Too low, they get stubborn sometimes. Too high, you feel cheated. This is indeed a local market. Forget the media, check out the comps. Are you represented by a buyer's agent? His/her job is to get you the best terms possible. Hope you get the home you want.