Hi Suzy.....

There should be some fantastic buys in the condos downtown Stillwater! It's a wonderful area and unfortunately for the builders down there, the combo of the housing market decline and the over building of condos there, has hurt.

I'd surely be working with a good realtor if I were you, and have them comb the market for buys. They have the ability to see true days on market, not just the current days on market. By that I mean, they can see if it expired or cancelled and was relisted and can tell the total # of days.

Given the situation, I wouldn't think that an offer in the 170's would be out of line on something listed at 199k, given that it does have some market time behind it.

I love the area and spend a lot of time there in the summer, and it'd be great to own a place there!

If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask....... http://www.toddnorsted.com

Thanks, Todd

Suzy-

The most reasonable offer is at the price you are willing to pay. If you refuse to pay $199,900, then by all means, pay less. In Stillwater, sellers received about 93% of the list price for 2007. If you took that statistic into consideration when making an offer, than your offer should be around $185,000. Now that statistic is an average, and I would have to delve deeper into the condo market to get better numbers. But it could be a good starting number.

Homes in Stillwater are taking, on average, 163 days to sell, so a condo that has been on the market 90-120 days does not mean that the sellers are going to necessarily take a drastic cut in price. But then again, there are 99 condo/townhomes for sale in Stillwater, which in my opinion, is over-supply. So if you find a seller willing to negotiate, then you should be able to come down from list price.

My suggestion would be for you to speak with your Buyer's Agent about the market and brainstorm a starting offer. If you don't have an agent representing you (don't worry, you don't pay them, the seller does), then I highly suggest you seek one out. Having an agent on your side, not the sellers, is very important when it comes to confidentiality and negotiating the offer. Good Luck!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

That's impossible to answer correctly without knowing the property in question and looking at the comparables. If you take an arbitrary number (say $10,000) off the price, that might be a good deal if the house is already priced at market value or could be a horrible deal if recent comparables have sold for $170,000!

Also, market time in of itself is not a good determiner of value... average market times are 4-6 months for most markets in the Twin Cities & if the condo originally was listed at $225,000, it's time on the market at that price certainly isn't as relevant as its time on the market at $199,900.

Having a Buyer's Agent represent you in the transaction will assure you that you are given ALL the pertinent information, plus the knowledge and expertise of the agent, and will give you the best opportunity to make an informed offer.

Suzy,
Have your Realtor do a market and see what the condos are selling for. Also check to see what the seller paid for the home. Twenty percent low is very aggresive, ten percent low might be the right place to start. If you're willing to lose a few homes start low and see what kind of a response you get.
Michael Doyle Realtor