People are obsessed with deals.
They’ll walk through a home and notice a stain on the carpet, and/or a missing dishwasher.
“I’m gonna offer $3000 less because that’s how much I’ll need to spend for this place to be livable. And I’ll try for an extra $3,000 lower than that, just so I can get a good deal.”
Some sellers, the smart ones, will price their homes accordingly. Maybe their home in great condition would be worth $250,000, but because their carpet is trashed, and the new buyer would have to buy some new appliances, and maybe touch up some paint, they’ll drop the list price to $245,000.
The best way (really the only way) to decide what a home is worth is to look at what’s been happening lately in the neighborhood. Sold listings, pendings, expired listings, etc.
Because maybe the list price is really competitive. Maybe there will be multiple offers. You better bring your best offer.
Or maybe it’s way overpriced. The ol “offer 90% of list price” rule of thumb won’t always work to your advantage. You have to put a little more thought into it than that (and that’s where I come in).
Homes values are based on recent sales. And properties have to be competitive with each other. This is why you should never limit your search to only bank owned properties, or only short sales.
