Determining Your Offer Price
After weeks of seeing homes for sale, you've finally found the
house you want to buy. If you are thinking of making an offer,
don't be too anxious or act hastily. Taking your time to
carefully study the house as well as the environment before
determining your offer price, will result in a better price for
your house.
As soon as you have found your dream home, let the sellers know
they'll be receiving your offer shortly. Then, determine your
offer price carefully.
Initially, you'll need to know about market conditions, so, the
first step will include looking at recent sales of similar
properties to come up with a price range. When you are making
comparison of properties in terms of sales, be specific and
compare those houses that are similar in square footage, number
of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage space, lot size, and type of
construction. These market conditions are external to the
property, yet cannot be ignored because it has the ability to
greatly influence your offering price.
After knowing the comparable sales that structure the market
condition, start to evaluate the property itself and compare it
with the other houses in the environment. Property specific
considerations means you should examine the house in terms of
the feature it offers, namely the number of bedrooms, bathrooms,
square feet, lot size, and many more.
To get the exact data regarding the comparison, both in terms of
sales and in terms of property features, you should use a
Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). The CMA is a tool designed to
compare the subject property with other similar properties in
the neighborhood. A well-prepared CMA is critical in helping you
to settle on a price you think would be fair to pay for the
home.
Consult your real estate agent about CMA. A CMA form usually
includes:
Listing Date
Listing Price
Listing Expiration Date
Sale Price
Sale Date
Nnumber of Days on the Market.
The CMA would not only include homes currently for sale or sold
but also those houses which were listed but didn't sell.
In performing the assessment, it is recommended that you seek
professional help to determine the value of the house. You would
then establish an offer price based on the comparables and the
assessment. The rest is negotiable from that point on because
the final price would depend on your negotiating style!
Good luck in getting your new home, at the price you want.