Thread: First Offer Advice

I just had to counter to 3 offers with my property. I felt I didn't want to play games (since it's more a balanced market now) and I figuered out "my" bottom line. I added up what I still owe to my mortgage company, my closing costs, my tax implications. In other words all my out-of-pocket expenses. Now I knew what I wanted as a bottom-line. So I went up $20k from that. Knowing I might have to spilt a couple of repair costs after they have their inspection.

I think in today's world the best thing to do is be fair and think if you were in their shoes what kind of an offer would be reasonable to meet and not scare you away.

By the way my counter was MET and the other buyer went $5k OVER my counter. To me my thinking worked!

Good luck. It's nice to be talking about accepting offers now isn't it? Maybe we'll bounce back from all the trama of the last year....

Susan

Remember that we are in a buyer's market. I would not feel badly about offering a price that you feel comfortable with. Have your buyer's agent do a CMA on the property to determine what it is worth. Then negotiate the best you can to get the best price. I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by c5marine

Asking Price is 290K for a condo in the Northern Va area.

Would a 90% offer be too low at 261K?

Or would you try for more?

What is to low without being offensive and not getting a counter?

I think 10% less than list is right about the max you want to offer at. Most sellers are expecting to have a buyer come in with an initial low offer. The market is still pretty week in Northern Virginia so you shouldn't scare them away with your offer, however, they probably won't be happy with it.

Disregard the asking price, (for the most part) ask what is it worth.
So what if they are asking 290 and it is worth 350?
If that is the case quite being stupid and buy it before someone else does.
What if they are asking 290 and iti s worth 225, offer 200 for it, yours will be the only offer.

The term real estate is local really applies here. If the house is priced right a 90% offer seems reasonable to a little low to me. However, in different parts of the country you might be offering too much. Talk with a local agent to get a feel for what is going on in your area.

SURF is right on the money. Asking price means absolutely nothing in this market. We just wrote an offer for $30,000 over list price and lost the deal to another buyer.

If it is undervalued then asking price is a deal, if it is over priced then 90% is too much.

Back to the question... there's already been lots of great advice regarding market value. That, and the overall state of the market (hot, cold, average) will be your guide in what to offer... either under or over the list price.

Regarding your second issue... trying not to offend the seller... well, that's another subject in and of itself.

At that point it's no longer a question of market value or business... it's an emotional reaction that will vary from seller to seller and 99 times out of 100 your agent will have NO WAY of predicting how a seller might react.

Some sellers are offended because the offer is too low. Some sellers are offended because you've asked for repairs. Some sellers are offended because you've asked for closing assistance. Some sellers are offended because you've made a cash offer which means you're a rich SOB and they want nothing to do with the likes of you! Some sellers are offended because you made your offer on a Tuesday and you've disturbed their leisurely evening watching American Idol.