It is a buyers market. Put in a lower offer than you can afford and see what the counter is. I would suggest without konwing the area to put an offer in at 150,000. Good luck

Hi Shane, here is a good rule of thumb... "You'll never know until you try." Good luck!

Hi Shane. My first qestion would be, "have you been inside the homes yes"? I don't believe in making an offer from the driveway. A Seller can price a home at what ever price they choose, however, the sales price will be determined by what a buyer will pay, the seller will accept, and most importantly, the bank's appraisal. Monroe County is struggling. It's a buyer's market only in that there is so much to chose from. There is alot of information available that a good Realtor has access to that will help guide you toward a strong offer. My philosophy is that you can always "add" but it's hard to "subtract" when dealing with the original offer and subsequent counter offers. I do not believe in insulting a Seller. If it comes to that, there are always other homes to look at. Hope I've helped! Good Luck!


Connie Vicary, GRI, ABR, e-Pro
Re/Max Experts
15600 Telegraph Road
Monroe, MI 48161
734-915-2876

Baldurr wrote:
BEST ANSWER
In response to the question, "How much should I offer for a house that has
been on the market for a few months"? First of all, virtually all of them have
been on the market for a few months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not mine. Mine are priced correctly. My sellers's are THRILLED to sell quickly. In fact, I had two of my listings go into contract this week. One was on the market 12 days. Yes, on Long Island in THIS market. We had 4 bids in one day. Maybe you should shop with me? Only if you've already sold your home and are prequalified, though. :)

Baldur seems to have a problem with agents and is therefore not qualified to give an unbiased opinion. Stop whining Baldur, and if you can't give a good response, then as your Mother probably used to say "If you can't say something good, then don't say anything at all".

You obviously have an ax to grind, but that is not what this forum is for. If you don't recommend or like using an agent because you feel like you were misguided at some time in the past, then go find another one. It's a good thing you haven't had a problem with Doctors, CPA's, Attorneys and wives - then again, you probably HAVE, and NOW (because YOU KNOW BETTER) diagnose your own illnesses, do your own taxes, and are divorced.

NOW - getting to Shanes question of how much to offer on a house that has been on the market for a few months. Get a good buyers agent, do the comps, see what it is worth, see if you can find out motivation and then throw something out there. The only way to know how good of a deal you can get is to be educated about what the market has been doing, know the sellers motivation level, and then just DO IT.

Good luck to you and let us know how it goes!

Hi Shane,

Writing as a follow up to Badurr’s misguided post.....

When making your decisions about real estate, I strongly and sincerely recommend that you work with a qualified buyers agent who knows the inventory, trends, comps, and has insights into the local market.

While I can provide you generic, yet very credible, advice about truisms that transcend geographic boundaries, when push comes to shove on matters of constructing an actual offer, you need the insight that only a local pro can give. i.e. In my earlier post I indicated that a sellers’ list price is not indicative of value. It represents the price the seller assigned, perhaps with advice from a Realtor. Sometimes sellers choose to ignore the advice of their Realtor, so even when a property is listed, the ask price may not reflect the Realtor’s pricing opinion. A seller’s agent is bound by ethical and fiduciary responsibilities to the seller. The conversations that took place between the seller and the listing agent remain confidential.

For you, as a buyer, I do suggest that you speak with a few prospective buyer agents and choose the one that has the knowledge (of the local market and the industry), skill, and commitment to you to work in your best interests.

As it pertains to Baldurr’s comments, I would hope that you could discount his credibility, as I am sure the vast majority of all readers will. Baldurr states that RE agents are ‘unqualified resources’ and that blanket prejudice against all agents is senseless and quit telling of bias, his inability to separate emotional rant over rational thought, and his lack of understanding of real estate.

I, as a Realtor, will be one of the first to speak loudly and boldly on the matter that I believe the barrier to entry for obtaining a license or gaining Realtor status should be raised several bars. That fact, notwithstanding, does not eradicate the fact that there are dedicated, competent, knowledgeable Realtors in every market. If customers find their agent by throwing darts at a dart board, they might come up with a winner, and maybe not. I suggest to all real estate buyers and seller that they interview agents and determine the knowledge and skill level of the agent they employ. If you need further assistance in choosing an agent, search Trulia on that topic, repost a new question, or feel free to email me directly. I do not have a direct referral for your area, but would be happy to discuss with you what makes a great buyers agent.

Best Regards,
Deborah Madey - Broker
Peninsula Realty Group
New Jersey

In response to the question, "How much should I offer for a house that has
been on the market for a few months"? First of all, virtually all of them have
been on the market for a few months. As a trained economist, my rule of thumb
to determining RE values is to go back and look into the property records and
see what the price was 10yrs ago, when Al "Bubbles" Greenspan began to
inflate with reckless abandon.

Have there been any transactions since 1997 ?? If not, then look at the
assessment records. My thoughts are that if you can land a property
somewhat close to the assessments levied in the late 90's then you
can be reasonably assured of bidding a price that history will show to
have been in the bottoming area for this cycle.

As for subsequent cycles, all depends on our governments response
to the wave of mounting defaults. From all appearances, it appears that
the US is headed for a hyperinflation, which will not be good for RE values
since RE values are dependent on longterm financing, which will become
virtually unobtainable in an environment of triple digit overnight rates.

Whatever you decide, the course of action most likely to be to your financial
detriment would be to accept an RE agent snowjob that prices are at their
lowest levels in the last 2yrs and now is an excellent time to buy. I can
virtually guarantee that you will regret accepting advice from such unqualified
sources as RE agents and especially the NAR.

The Economists View

Have your Realtor find comps that have recently sold (last 4-6 months) in the target area that you are looking at. Add all the listing prices, then determine the average listing price. Do the same with the sold prices, determining the average sold price. What is the percentage between them i.e. 5%, 6%, etc. So, if it comes up around 5%, then just offer 5% below list. This is certrainly not the best way which I'd never advocate, but merely something very quick and simple. Many of the CMA's will include this infomation.

Hello Nancy from Anaheim, CA,

I noticed that your recurring posts simply solicit referrals. Please review the Community Guildeline as this is considered SPAMMING.

Thank you for your cooperation in ceasing this type of posting.

If you have sincere input and advice for the question posters, please do participate.

Regards
Deborah

Shane....

Have you Realtor pull the comparables on the area. Take them into consideration alon with how long this property has been on the market compared to the comps. Base you offer on the stats that are provided. Good luck.

Hi Shane,

I cannot speak to your area, and for that, please do rely upon a local Realtor. What I can tell you that is true all over the country is that the sellers list price may or may not be in line with the market. Some sellers are priced very high, and others very low. Paying full price on a property that is priced attractively can be an excellent deal for you as a buyer. Likewise, paying a substantial deduction from an overpriced lisitng could have you, as buyer, still overpaying.

Your best results will come from reviewing comps with a local "Realtor who knows the inventory well, is full time, and can be a good negotiatior on your behalf. If I were to blindly indicate to you that 'x' was a good number, I would be doing you a disservice.

Best of luck to you.
Deborah

Shane, All offers are made up of two parts. These are price and terms. Basically, the further away from the market value of a home (not the asking price) the better your terms have to be in the offer. For example, let's assume the market value of this home is $174,000. If you are also asking for assistance from the seller (sellers concessions) to obtain a mortgage or do major repairs then your offer may have to be very close to the asking price (assuming the home appraises for that amount)

A real estate agent would look at similar sales, within the past 3 to 6 months of homes in the same subdivision, city, or at a maximum the same school district. Based upon all these sales, and concessions given by sellers they would give you a range in value for the home. Once you have all the facts, you can make an informed decision for your offer.

Have you contacted a real estate professional to help you get all the facts? Remember, in Michigan, only a Buyers Agent under a written Buyers Agency Agreement can work for the home buyer.