Michele Baird, Joseph Oregon Real Estate

.. answers by Michele Baird

How do I know how much to write an offer for?

This is a frequently asked question by many home purchasers. Some people believe that the sellers mark up the property 5% expecting to get an offer that is 5% lower, or there is an industry formula.  The fact is, a seller has the right to price their property for whatever amount they choose. Hopefully when they listed, their listing Broker did a complete and accurate market analysis on the property. This would compare the subject property to similar recently sold properties and help determine a value for the subject piece. You also study what is currently on the market that would compete with the subject property and analyze the current local market conditions looking at how strong the market is, how much inventory for that type of property, interest rates, trends across the country, days that sold homes are on the market, condition of the property and a few other elements that may be unique to that specific property.

"a buyer is really in need of an education to be comfortable writing an offer"

All of this said, at the end of the day, it is still the sellers prerogative to ask however much they wish to, reasonable or not. So, a buyer is really in need of an education to be comfortable writing an offer. I feel strongly that your agent's responsibility is to help you to acquire this knowledge. While some information will be gained when shopping and comparing properties, a purchaser should still insist on a market analysis to be done by their Realtor when they have chosen a property to write an offer on, especially if they are not feeling confident with the amount of knowledge that they have been able to acquire at that point. It takes experience and time, which some may not have.

A buyer in this situation needs to have trust in their agent, knowing that the agent is keeping the buyers best interest at heart and not just trying to make a sale. The agent needs to be experienced, knowledgeable and accurate. A market analysis in our specific area can be quite challenging to pull together as we are a small area, with many unique properties and a low volume of inventory. So, finding like sold property is always a challenge and sometimes they aren't available. Then you need to rely on experience to access the situation.

Price typically relates to supply and demand – how much inventory there is and how much demand there is for it. It also relates to the consumers perception of the market. If the consumer sees trends they react to them. This is what creates a stimulated market – if buyers see prices going up and they want to buy before they go up more – it creates a cycle of inflated prices. Conversely, when the market slows or corrects, consumers can react by not buying or postponing buying to study the market which in many areas can cause more inventory to be on the market, which causes prices to go down.

In our Wallowa County we don’t always follow the national trends or our market is very delayed in reacting to a trend. Again, this comes back to relying on your agents experience and opinions. A qualified, experienced Realtor that you can trust to put your best interest before their own is your best tool to rely on in a rapidly changing real estate market.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call-

Michele Baird

This information is from sources deemed reliable, but it is not guaranteed by the agent or the broker.
These properties are subject to prior sales, price change, correction, or withdrawal.
These properties are offered without respect to race, color, creed, national origin, familial or marital status. All measurements are approximate.
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