I cannot recommend enough deciding prior to getting into the heat of negotiations, what your top number will be.

This has been an EXTREMELY competitive market this year especially with homes in the price range of $280,000 and below.

With a sellers market this hot we have seen just some of the following happen :

Multiple offers the first day on the market
Holding impromptu Open Houses just to get everyone in the first day
Submissions of personal letters with offers from buyer to seller!
over asking offers as much as 20% over list price ( I will give you my thoughts and concerns on this in another post)

With all of that said, you want to be both mentally and emotionally prepared when you do find “ The One” and are putting an offer on that property.

Typically, you will start with an opening offer that your buyer’s agent will draft and advise you on. Once that is submitted with all of the proper paperwork, you then wait for a response from the seller/seller’s agent.

Before you hear a response to your offer sit down with your realtor and whoever might also be buying the home with you and decide the following:

What is the top price that you are willing to pay for the home? Decide what your absolute top number is that you would pay for the home and that should offers go higher than this number, you are willing to walk away no matter what.
Are you willing to pay over the asking price? If so, will you be OK with possibly paying a bit MORE than the fair market value? If this truly is your DREAM home and you are planning on staying there for a good chunk of time, paying over asking or significantly more than you planned might be worth it over the span of a 15 -30 year loan.
How will you feel if you lose the property to another buyer? Will you be mildly disappointed or DEVASTATED? This is really important to talk about as a group.

Once you have answered all of the questions above, you are fully prepared to hear whatever response comes your way after submitting your offer.

Lastly, I will say that in 17 years of real estate, I have never seen a deal that fell through not be for the best in the long run. It’s so hard to see that when you are in the midst of it but again I promise you, if it doesn’t come together for that house and another buyer gets it … it just wasn’t meant to be.

Happy house hunting everyone!

Tanya

“Some things are destined to be -- it just takes us a couple of tries
to get there.”
― J.R. Ward