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...continued  Homebuyers taking advantage of current bear market by 'low-balling' sellers
"The  most counter-intuitive part of buying in a buyer's market is to make the first offer the best offer," said Lawrence Roberts, author of The Great Housing Bubble and industry analyst. "Most sellers, even in this market, will not reduce their asking prices more than 15 percent to consummate a transaction, so 'low-balling' a seller with an offer 25 percent away from their asking price is a waste of everyone's time...if the asking price is not within 15 percent of the price a buyer is willing to pay, the buyer should not even instigate a negotiation."
Roberts says the current real estate climate - and the fact that the buyer-seller relationship is only a temporary one - is sometimes the motivating factor behind low balling.
"A buyer will likely never see the seller or the seller's realtor again," Robert said. "In the mind of the buyer, he or she is insensitive to whether or not the seller is offended by a low-ball offer."
Given the rising number of foreclosures - and relocations due to job loss - the buyer may low-ball a seller because the reason for the sale is never disclosed by the seller's agent, according to Roberts.
 Al Suguitan, president and chief operating officer of the Greater Gateway Association of Realtors, says sellers who have their properties reasonably priced in this market
 need to hang tough if they can afford to.
"We saw an offer recently of $260,000 for

 a $300,000 home," said Suguitan. "That offer was summarily rejected. A lot depends on how the (buyer's) agent approaches it, or if the seller's realtor comes back and says, 'They're not desperate.'"
 If a realtor is doing his or her job well, Suguitan says, buyers will be qualified before they ever step into the seller's home.  "But there are all kinds of intriguing strategies going on at this time," he said. "I had one customer who was buying a house and a couple acres of ground from a fellow who was divorced with a couple of kids. The prospective buyer went to the courthouse, researched the amount of child support the fellow was paying, who his employer was, his earnings and more. It's true that people are looking for deals, trying to gauge the sellers' desperation. But what buyers and sellers need to do is not to waste their time figuring each other out, but to make realistic offers on properties that are properly priced."
 Even in these times, price may not always be the only crucial factor, Suguitan says. Other factors that can work in favor of the seller are: lack of any major problems found during the home inspection; an opportunity for quick move-in; and the seller's willingness to cover some of the closing costs typically borne by the buyer.

president/ceo: Kerry L. Smith
  email: ksmith@ibjonline.com

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