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You've done your research and you know how much that house is worth. Now the question is
what is the best way of negotiating it's purchase. How can I get the best deal on it?
This isn't a question that comes with an easy answer. Everybody negotiates differently. Some people don't negotiate at all. They either take it or leave it. For the rest of us who are in the process of trying to find a home to live in, negotiating the purchase price is part of the fun.
The first thing that I'm going to ask you to do before making an offer is to the think about how much you want this particular home. A truism in negotiations is that he or she who cares least ALWAYS wins. If this is the only ranch home in this subdivision and you've got to have a ranch home and you really want this subdivision, you might care more than the seller does about selling it. He or she might be fully aware of the scarcity of what he is selling.
The opposite can be true too. Maybe there are 15 homes that meet your needs and if you don't get this one, oh well. If this is you, then you have nothing to lose by making a low ball offer. Most people are somewhere in between. That said, my philosophy on making an initial offer is that you generally get the best deal when you make that initial offer right at the point where the seller shakes their head and says, "Damn! I don't know......okay, I'll take it"
Nobody, including the seller themselves, really knows where this exact point is, but you can make your best guess. If you nail it, then you've generally gotten a better deal than if you low balled and got into a countering back and forth deal or simply got a rejection.
The other thing that I think that you need to take into account is how important getting that lower sales price is to you. If you get beat out on the transaction by another contract, are you going to be bummed out? Devastated? If so, it might be worth giving them what they are asking. In some situations where you've got competition, you might want to offer them MORE than they are asking.
The big thing to remember is not to let a few thousand dollars stand in the way of you getting the home that you really want. 10 years from now are you going to remember that you gave $337,000.00 for the house as opposed to $339,000.00?
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