exceeded your goal. Decide upon the maximum amount you can afford, and don't ever offer more. If you pay more than your maximum amount, you have already lost. Strategy and tactics will vary depending on what kind of market you're in. You have more possibilities to succeed in a buyer's market (i.e., more houses on the market than buyers looking). You can make a less-than-asking offer, request some house improvements, a better closing date, and even a closing fee payment by the owner. In a seller's market (i.e., fewer houses available, with more people looking than selling), you have less leverage, as you're not the only one in line. You're most likely to succeed by offering the same or more than the seller is asking. If they don't get it from you, they will soon receive another offer from someone else. Due to the pandemic in 2020/2021, we’ve had the most competitive seller's market imaginable. Every house was overpriced. Most sellers received multiple offers and many of them were over asking price. Buyers purchased homes sight- unseen, waived the inspection, and tried to pay cash. The market was crazy, but it started normalizing at the beginning of 2022. It is still a seller's market, but there is a chance for buyers to negotiate depending on the property and the location. While preparing your offer, the types of questions you ask yourself should be: “What's important to the seller? Why are the owners selling the house? Do they need to sell? Is there a timeframe within which they must be under contract? If so, is it for financial reasons or because they start a new job in another state? Do they already have a signed purchase contract on another house? Has the property price been reduced due to an extensive time on the market?” It's not always the highest price offer that gets accepted. Depending on the priorities of the seller you may offer flexibility with the closing date. Maybe the seller needs a leaseback, or they want to sell some furniture. Once I had a situation where my
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