VULNERABLE
Nothing shows “vulnerable” or “weak” like someone who is unprepared. If you come empty-handed and don’t seem to know anything about the market, about comparable home sales, about the property’s condition and history, then you’ll seem like an easy target to the seller and his/her agent and could be taken advantage of, leaving the ball in the seller’s court. You want it to be the other way around! Make sure you hold the power! Don’t leave yourself vulnerable.
DO MAKE YOUR FIRST OFFER THE BEST OFFER
Part of making your first offer the best offer involves doing your research on several comparable home sales in the area, as well as the conditions of these properties. It also involves strategizing with your real estate agent on the amount you will be offering, which involves a significant amount of advance preparation and analysis. Look at it from the angle of using your own knowledge and factors in arriving at your offer, rather than merely “responding” to the seller’s listing price. The two perspectives aren’t necessarily related. One critical component to include in making your first offer the best offer is having a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) done, which your real estate can provide for you — yet another benefit of hiring a good buyer’s agent! A CMA is a mathematical model used to determine the value of a target home. It calculates basic conditions (number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, existence or size of yard, existence or size of garage, etc.), and then compares the prospective home to similar homes currently on the market in your area. This will give an idea of the local/ nearby average home asking price, which is fundamental information to consider for your first offer.
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