When asking this kind of question, beware of real estate professionals, who almost always have conflicts of interest when it comes to advice regarding the pricing of a home or other property in which you may be interested. Unless you have a written agreement that they represent you as the potential buyer, real estate salespersons are obliged to obtain the best price possible for the SELLER of the property. Think about it; how are real estate salespersons compensated? The answer, of course, is that they generally receive a percentage of the sales price of the property being sold. The higher the sales price, the greater their commission. So, back to your original question. If you can find an experienced real estate professional, i.e., someone who has several years of successful sales experience, and they are willing to represent only you (again have this in writing), then and only then should you discuss how much to offer for a property you may want to buy.

Many years ago, I learned the answer to this question the hard way. After literally years of house hunting (I rented for 11 years) I found a nice little brick rancher that I fell in love with. I contacted the real estate saleswoman listed on the for sale sign and, among other things, we discussed at great length the price of the property. I felt it was rather high but she assured me that it was more than fairly priced. Only after the sale did she admit to me her concern that my loan request might be rejected because the price I had agreed to pay was so high. This was 28 years ago at which time my next door neighbor had just paid $6,000 less for her tri-level house with 500 square feet more than my rancher. Although we each purchased our homes at the same time, my neighbor managed to get an important jump on me. Homes in our neighborhood have tended to double in value every ten years. Not so for me, however. After nearly thirty years, my home is now worth slightly more than three times what I paid for it. On the other hand, my smart next door neighbor's home is now easily worth five times what she paid for it.

My final advice to you Halley S. is that you look with suspicion at anyone whose self interest is the basis for the advice they give you. I hope this helps.

Will Richardson

p.s. I spent many pleasant hours in Solvang while assigned to Vandenberg AFB as a newly from 1964 - 1967. I would love to go back there some day but doubt is will ever happen.

You need to depend on a good realtor who knows their market and whether or not a property is priced well.