10.1. Figure Out What the Home Is Worth

The central part of any purchase offer is the proposed purchase price. You already know how much the seller wants for the home, but it's called the "asking price" for a reason. The amount of money that the seller would like to get for her home is not necessarily the price at which the home will sell. Prices are always negotiable. Even a seller who sets a firm price and refuses to consider other offers may have to think again if the house sits on the market for a few months.

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Note:

It's part of the human psyche—homeowners often have an inflated sense of how much their home is worth, so it's common for them to set an initial asking price that's too high. A seller working with a real estate agent may simply decide to work with the agent who suggests the highest list price—and some agents may inflate the asking price in order to get the listing, figuring that they can convince the seller to set a more reasonable price later. And a FSBO seller may not do the research needed to set a realistic price.

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