Buying a home, especially if you're doing it for the first time, is quite an experience.
It's a bit scary in the sense that there's a lot of things involved in the process.
It's not as straightforward as picking a piece of furniture and seeing if it fits into your interior design (and changing it for a different one in case it doesn't).
There's a lot of careful thought that goes into buying real estate and the process isn't as straightforward as people may hope it to be.
One part of the process that may seem intimidating for a lot of people is the part where you make an offer to the owner/s of the house.
Offering too low may give the owners an impression that you're not serious about their property and that you're taking advantage of their need to sell it.
Offering too high is, obviously, to your own disadvantage.
Here are some ways to help you figure out how to find the right offer for the property you are eying.
It's important to do some historical analysis.
Don't make an offer straightaway.
Go home and do a little research first.
Find out how much homes were valued at in the area several a few years ago.
Keep in mind to keep your research as current as possible so that you have in your hand relevant data applicable to your situation.
Match up the properties you researched with the property that you want to buy in terms of size, community, number of rooms, etc.
If possible, get data about properties that have recently been sold in the neighborhood and get information about how much the asking price of those houses were.
Remember to also find the closest match to the kind of home that you want to purchase.
For example, if you want to buy Fountain Hills real estate, then it's wise to look through Fountain Hills homes for sale and check how much they're going for in the market.
More or less you'll find the information you need by doing some comparison.
You'll find that the price range of similar houses in the same location would also be similar.
Inspect the property thoroughly to find out what could make you offer something higher or lower.
Check for things that could affect the price of the house directly such as things that need to be repaired immediately, before you move in.
Consider other factors as well such as the amount of time the house has been waiting to be sold.
People who have not been able to sell their home for quite a while may be more willing to negotiate the price than others.
When making an offer, don't offer lower than 85% of the asking price.
This is so that the sellers will not close off the negotiations with you and write you off immediately as a bad buyer.
Offer something reasonably low so that they would be encouraged to make a counter offer instead.