When determining if a home is a good value, put on your list price blinders

So many times I find that buyers mistakenly try to determine a homes value by looking at the list price. What I mean by that is, they often will see a home that is listed for 200K and automatically assume the home to be only worth about 190K (or less), no matter what the comparables indicate. Or if the home needs 20K in work and the home is listed at 200K, the home must only be worth 180K. The thing one needs to realize is that the comparable "turn key" homes could be worth 240K, which makes that 200K home that needs 20K in work... a steal.

In order to make an accurate determination of a homes value, don't look at what it is listed at, look at what it is worth. If a home is listed at 200K and the comparables have consistently sold for 210K, your getting a good value regardless of what you get off of the list price. Now of course, your buyers agent should still try to negotiate off of the list price as much as possible but if a home is priced well, it will sell fast so don't risk losing the home all together by low balling the seller. It is very easy to find a undesirable home that you can negotiate a lot off of the price but if you have a home that has the desirable, hard to find features for that specific price range and it is price under what the comparables have sold for, it may be in your best interest to negotiate what you can off of the list price and snatch it up before someone else beats you to it. Trust me, there is nothing that Sellers Agents love more then calling a Buyers Agent who submitted a low ball offer to tell them that another offer is now on the table. When you (as a buyer) finally find that home with the really desirable/hard to find features... that is priced properly, the last thing you want(as the buyer)is a multiple offer scenario.

I have found some of the best valued homes are not ones that are overpriced and that you can negotiate a lot off of the price. The best valued homes are often the ones that have the hard to find features (for that price range) and are slightly under priced to the comparable. You may not be able to negotiate much off of the price, but that has nothing to do with if you "got a good deal".

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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