Making an Offer on a Lehigh Valley Home

Over the past few months, I have seen or heard of some offers made on homes that are unbelievable. It is not uncommon to hear that a Home Buyer wants to offer $150,000 for a house that is listed at $200,000. The media is driving these low ball offers. Real Estate throughout the country is different. You can't watch national news and determine what is a realistic offer is in your area.

As a Real Estate Agent in Lehigh Valley, I don't set the price a Home Seller asks for a house or the price a Home Buyer is willing to pay for the house. I believe my job is to educate either party depending on which one I am working for and give them the knowledge they need to make a decision based on facts. 

If a house is priced correctly, it is common to get $5,000 to $10,000 off of the list price. If the house has been on the market a long time and is vacant maybe the seller will be willing to accept less. Each situation is unique.

In the above scenario, if the house was correctly priced at $200,000 I would never advise a Home Seller to accept an offer for $50,000 (or 25%) less. I would probably advise the seller to drop the price to $190,000 to see if we could at least get about $180,000 for the house. 

If that offer for $150,000 is made, I also don't believe the seller should get mad and reject the offer or counter back at full price. The Home Buyer may be a serious buyer who is just trying to get a great deal. I believe the seller should make a realistic counter-offer and if the buyer refuses then let them walk.  

Lehigh Valley Home Sellers should be realistic with their prices but that doesn't mean they should give their house away.