You found the perfect home!  Should you offer the asking price or is it better to start low and have some bargaining room? 

This is what I often counsel my clients: “It depends”.   Is the property priced competitively?  How long has the home been on the market?  I haven’t yet met a seller who is excited about a low offer during the first week of being on the market. 

In a buyer’s market, when the property is competitively  priced and newly listed, you may be able to induce the seller into accepting a lower offering price when the other terms are attractive (from the seller’s point of view). 

If the property is vacant the seller may likely want a short escrow, such as 30 days or sooner.  If the seller has not yet found a home to purchase, the seller may prefer a longer escrow, or the option of renting the home from the buyer after closing.  If you are currently renting, you may be in a position to do this (discuss rent back options with an experienced Realtor such as myself). 

Just as each buyer’s situation is unique, the same holds true for home sellers. 

Typically prior to negotiating an offer to purchase I  contact the seller’s Realtor and ask probing questions, quite often terms attractive to the seller are just as important as the offered price.