Low-ball offer?

在现在的市场情况下，很多buyer都make low ball offer. 先照着明年今日的价格砍价。 作为agent, 我不得不说几句：

省钱是没错的，绝对有理，但是同时，出一个low ball may be actually hurting your chances of either getting the home or getting the home at a good price by simply wanting to make a "low-ball" offer.

The seller's asking price may already be below market value. Too many buyers simply look at the asking price and subtract a random amount without understanding how the asking price relates to the value of the home. If the asking price is already below market value, you may miss your chance of buying a great home if you insist on making an unreasonable offer. Other buyers, who are willing to learn about, and understand, the market, will get that home before you even have a chance to negotiate.

It's commonly thought that by substantially low-balling a price, you will have more successful negotiation. Negotiation isn't about extremes in the position you take. 其实being reasonable is the key to getting the terms that you want. 其实当前对卖家来说，有很多因素可能比价格更重要更优先。 比如Financing, amount of down payment, whether you have a home to sell, how many days to close escrow, etc. are all terms that make your offer weaker or stronger and should be considered when putting together an initial offer and throughout the negotiation process.

If you come in with so low of a price with terms that aren't valuable to a seller you run the risk of making the seller take as hard a line as you do. This invariably leads to less reasonable behavior because now you've become adversaries. By starting off with, and negotiating, a fair deal, the seller is usually more likely to make concessions (including pricing, closing costs, and other important terms) than if you come to the table with an offer that is not particularly valuable to the seller.

The key to beginning a successful negotiation is to make the seller WANT to work with you. You never accomplish this by coming in with an unreasonably low offer. If the seller sees value in your offer and doesn't want your offer to disappear, you will have more leverage and ability to get the deal that benefits you.

Some things to consider:

在你出low ball offer 的同时，问一下你自己， 如果这个房子被别人买走， 你不会觉得后悔吧。 你愿意take 这个risk吧. 做一些reasearch, 看看附近的具有可比性的房子最近都卖了多少钱。

了解一下有多少个offer了，一般listing agent都会告诉你的agent这些Information。 Understand the strong and the weak points of your offer. You can't have it all because the seller wants a good deal too. If you have a home to sell and you want the seller to accept the risk of a contingency, you may need to be willing to offer a higher price than if you didn't have that same contingency.

Understand the current market. Don't just read the papers or listen to the news about what is happening in the real estate market. Talk to professionals in the area to gain first-hand knowledge and advice. It's important to know where the market is going so you can modify your position as needed.

Make sure you understand how interest rates on your loan can change your buying power. You and the seller may be arguing about a few thousand dollars, but if the interest rates go up, you will probably pay more in interest in the long run than those few thousand dollars would have added to your payment.