How I Help Austin Area Home Buyers Make an Educated Purchase Offer on A Home

June 25, 2010 - PRLog -- Deciding how much to offer on a home can be at times a difficult task.  Although the current housing market seems to be stabilizing, there is never a guarantee that prices will not continue to decline.  Fortunately for us in the Austin, TX area prices have held up better than in most areas of the country.

Because of these complications you need to have a long term outlook when buying a home no matter where you are buying.  It is often a big mistake to buy betting that the home will appreciate.  Buy a home you can live with for the long term and negotiate the best price you can.  It is also important to make sure you are comfortable with the financing and payments.

It is often said that you lock in your real estate profits when you first buy the home.  To ensure that you do not pay too much I will take the time to educate my clients on how much you will actually have to pay for a home that will meet your needs.  The internet and my website http://www.AustinRealEstateScene.com are great resources to help you learn about currently listed homes, neighborhoods as well as past sales prices.  My job is to use my experience to help my clients buy and sell homes in Austin and its neighboring suburbs and cities.  I will help you understand the local market and what is going on in the smaller niche markets throughout the area.

All of my actions are an effort to ensure that I meet my fiduciary responsibilities to my clients.  One of many things I do to separate myself from other agents is to provide my buyer clients with a list of recently sold homes that are comparable to homes that they are currently searching for.  This list consists of homes sold in the past 3 to 6 months and includes things like the list price, sales price and how long the home was on the market before selling.  I also provide neighborhood reports that will show how the average sales price has changed over the past year.  Are currently prices trending down, rising or staying constant?

We will also review a list of properties currently available and those that are pending sale.  A pending sale is when the seller has accepted an offer but the home has yet to close.  When there are a much higher number of active listings compared to pending sales in a specific area that would suggest a high inventory market and provides buyers with an advantage.  When there are few active listings as compared to pending sales the opposite is true and you are now in a potential sellers market.

While my clients and I are in the house hunting aspect of our home search I will continue to educate them.  Updates are giving on market changes such as a possible over priced listing that has been reduced and now may fall into our price range.  In this case if the property is of interest we should view it as soon as possible because a new price can attract other buyers’ interests as well.

When past listings my clients have seen sell, we will discuss the sales price so that you are aware and able to develop a sense of when a listing is priced too high or priced at or  under market value.  This is because how well a listing is priced in relation to the market will dictate your offer strategy.

Listings that are priced well in a low inventory market are likely to sell very quickly.  Under these circumstances there could be multiple buyers making offers.  If this is the case you may need to make a more aggressive offer that is near, at or over the asking price.  Multiple offer situations do not always result in a sale price higher than the list price but by using your prior knowledge of pricing that we have discussed you will better be able to make an educated offer.  It is also this knowledge of local market pricing that will enable you to know when  to make a strong offer on a new listing, even when the overall market may be lagging.

The scenario is reversed when looking in a market where there are plenty of listings that have been on the market for months.  In this case you have more choices, making it possible to offer less than the asking price and negotiate harder to get a good deal.  If the first home does not work out there are plenty of options so you can move on to the next.  It is always better to walk away than to pay too much so do your best to keep your emotions out of the home buying process.

If your offer is contingent on the sale of another property you may have to pay more than an all-cash or pre-approved buyer who can close quickly.  If you’ve already sold your home and are waiting for the sale to close, you will be in a much better position when it comes to negotiating the price.  It is always best to have your home sold and closed because this will remove any uncertainty the seller may hold and can possibly make them more receptive to a reduced sales price.

About the Author

Don Groff is a licensed REALTOR & Mortgage Broker in Austin, Texas.  He has over 10 years of experience in these fields and is also a consultant. You can contact Don at 512.669.5599 to discuss this article or any other real estate or mortgage questions you may have. You can visit http://www.AustinRealEstateScene.com to search the Austin MLS and read about ever changing Austin Real Estate Market. Don can also be reached via email at listings@dongroff.com.

A direct link to the blog article can be found on my website at: http://austinrealestatescene.com/blog.php?view=item&id=846

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Austin Real Estate Scene.com is consists of a team of professional REALTORS that will help you get the best deal on your next home purchase. We will also help you sell your current home for the best price available in Austin, Texas.