Thanks for the detailed response. My buyer's agent gave $260,000 but didn't mention why and I didn't want to offend her by "questioning" how she came up with $260K but I think it is my right and responsibility to as. Thank you so much

You need to learn to question things that you need to know. The why an agent came up with an amount especially if you are spending money is one of the "need to know" things. Trusting too much is one of those things where people loose large amounts of money along with other things.

It depends also upon what that particular property is worth to you. I've seen people let $5000 keep them from purchasing a home they really wanted, and end up paying the price it could have been purchased for a few months later, for a house they liked less.

Market values fluctuate. There are the comps of what a house is worth on the market at this moment, and what it is worth to you. If you pay $5000 over market value today, but get the house, maybe that purchase price is the market value in six months. Does that matter in the larger picture for what is often a30 year mortgage, and the "value" bouncing up and down? Sure, you don't want to pay more than you have to. But increasing the odds of actually being able to purchase the house you want has a value, too. How badly do you want this particular property? If low-balling increases the odds that someone else will purchase the property instead, how much does that matter to you? That is a question only you can answer. Offering an amount closer to what you said you expect to have to pay, increases the odds of your being able to purchase the property.

Not all offers must be made with negotiating in mind. We offered less than market for our house, but that was what we were willing to pay with consideration to the work needed. The owner wanted more, but it was easy to decline increasing our offer, because we had already established what we were willing to pay.

Don't forget that most properties get appraised, and that can affect how much price wiggling is done during the negotiations for inspection repairs, closing costs, etc. Even if they accept your lower offer, if the house appraises much higher, they will then probably not going to concede additional money. If your offer is above the appraisal, you can renegotiate (per contract) and are more likely to get a roof replacement, or whatever. In the end, it could be a wash when it comes to the final price.

Go to redfin.com, type in the address and see how Redfin sees the value (parameters of low to high) is after 68 days on the market..

In my area, Redfin is pretty much on the mark with their numbers and the eventual selling price. This house sold on 8/1 for 1.1M.. Here is redfin's estimate:

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Orleans/16-Shore-View-Rd-02653/home/133912830

An offer of $250,000 is going to be sticker shock, IMO.

Love to know what info you get from Redfin.

Share the numbers, please, as it is a learning experience for me.

@JudyG, those AVM's (automated market valuations) are hit or miss. Certainly it is worth checking out as much information as possible before making an offer and during the due diligence period, but knowing the limitations of any AVM is important. The AVM algorithms don't take into account condition of the property. Or take into account view or proximity to amenities or proximity to negative features. It is a good idea to see what the AVM says because you get a range, but it is a better idea to look at the individual comps so you know where the property fits. Sometimes the value is outside the range presented by the AVM. The more conformity the neighborhood has in recent sales and building style/size etc, the more accurate the AVM will be; conversely, the more individuality of the homes within the neighborhood, then the AVM will be much less accurate.

Also redfin isnt everywhere. When I type my address in, it says, it is not in my city yet.

Good information, Denita. Thank you and you are correct, as always. My daughter bought a condo In Boston area several years ago and over time she has renovated it…big reno.

Photos of her condo, on Redfin, et ux, are of the interior when she bought it.

Also, the new Green Line will have a stop right at her complex. The T stop alone has raised the value about 3 times, and the inside reno has never been tallied into the estimate. Yes, her AVM, is way off.

Boston’s immediate suburbs started to go nuts with pricing when Cambridge stopped rent control. Somerville, a city where it’s nickname was Slumerville, is now unaffordable to most, either to rent or to buy.

Across the street from Tufts football field, is a lovely row of old Philadelphia style multi-families, some of which have been turned into condos. I know of one sale, the first floor of the house, which came with the garage (built for a Model T Ford) and the yard, sold for over a million dollars!!

On Redfin, my address had all the correct info but no price estimate

As an appraiser, you need to sit down with your agent and have a conversation. They need to provide you with the most recent closed sales in the area. Use these to make a determination as to appropriate offer strategies. The realtor should guide you through this. That's what they do.

Understand that the seller doesn't have to counter an offer that they view as ridiculous. Nor, do they have to sell it to you. It's a balancing act between you and the seller to determine an acceptable sales price.

In my personal experience, once you make a low-ball offer, you have a lot of difficulty raising your offer price high enough to satisfy the seller. Because they have already lowered the price once, they are getting much closer to the true market value of the home. You can try for 10% off, but your offer will most likely be declined. Be prepared to raise it.

Bottom line, rely upon your realtor to guide you through this process. Use market data to support your price. If you don't understand something, stop the process and have another conversation.

Depends on how much you want the house. I am not a Realtor but recently bought a house in Florida. We moved from NYC after retiring.

We made low ball offers on homes that were sitting on the market for three months or more. Our Realtor had the comps and did not always agree with us but would put the offer in. We took our time, looked at many homes but knew we'd need to put money into most of them. I would say that our offer was accepted at least 60% of the time.

The home we wound up with was listed for $250.000. We wound up paying $218,000. It took the seller at least five months before she accepted the offer. Of course, we continued looking and frankly forgot about the house.

We were not in a rush. We were also in a buyers market.

Jane