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Home bargains: It's vital to do research before navigating a buyer's market

Low-balling can insult a seller and should definitely be avoided. A more polite approach is to wait until the price comes down to a level you can afford. Another approach is to look at other houses, but whatever you do -- be polite to sellers.

Low-balling is insulting? Whatever. I find the sky-high prices insulting, so we're even.

Low-balling is not insulting, its a reality in a market that stands on the edge of dropping drastically. We are at the exact same position the rest of the country was at a few years ago. I lived in California and this is exactly what the beginning of the end looked like. Suddenly homes stop selling, then you get a high inventory, then you see prices dropping by huge amounts (just like that Salt Lake home), then the bottom falls out.

That home in Salt Lake will turn out to be the lucky one. They will likely get the $317k (or whatever it was), but the next seller in the neighborhood will have to start around $317k and then drop from there. I saw homes that were going for $425k in California selling now for just $310. Our local market cannot support the price of homes. The average salaries are not high enough and the market will have to correct. It's just like the stock market - when it gets over inflated, it corrects itself.

Obviously, no one from Forbes has been to Salt Lake City or has done any research when comparing median home prices to median salary in the area. The only people dumb enough to believe this are realtors.

Some publications have the Salt Lake metropolitan area over-valued by 30%. There is a long way to go before homes drop to a level of affordability and buyers start buying again. Current home prices are based on artificial demand and money that people never had in the first place. Take a ride through developments built in 2003-2004 and you will see a number of for sale/reduced signs for obvious reasons.

As for low-balling, it�s about time that the home sellers in Salt Lake County get a wake up call and stop pulling inflated asking prices out of �.the air. The only people telling you not to low-ball are those who make their living off of inflated asking prices. Home prices will return to normal once people are allowed to lose homes they cannot afford and people start low-balling delusional sellers. If the market can decide the price on the way up, it can decide it on the way down. Low-ball away!

What is low-balling? What is the real value of the asset? The answer....whatever someone else will pay for it.

Look up the term Anchoring in reference to negotiations. Simple, effective tactic. Basically the lowest number that the other side will not walk away from and still continue talking is good. Countless research has shown that once a number is thrown out and individuals are anchored to it they rarely don't move enough away from it. Very powerful psychological effect.

Bid low, don't fall in love with one house, have options, get a better deal for yourself (do you really owe the other person 10s of thousands of dollars?) drive the prices down.

Nothing like the housing market to spark good debates. Low balling is not insulting it is part of free markets (I�m in industry). We are in now is a term called "price discovery" we will know how inflated the market is when sellers continuously reject lowball offers.

Comparing Cali V. Utah is unrealistic. The premise of overvalue may be true in certain areas, but these folks need to also talk about Wages, Unemployment, Housing Inventory, locational overpricing/supply. If not they should sit on the sidelines of the conversation.

Also, when people say prices will drop 15% to 30% they need to talk about specific areas. New areas like Herriman/Traverse Mountain are getting crushed, too much inventory the same size & prices; that are not in line with reality and more developed lots than you can imagine.

More developed/older areas should see small decreases or flat. Bottom line if you are buying now there is a chance that your house will be worth less in 6 months, but not in 3 plus years. Buy and hold, investors hit the road...

A good question to ask, how many people got caught carrying two homes? Buying before selling?

It's amazing to see the emotion and radical views surrounding this economic issue. Few people have actually researched the issue enough to comment. A few disgruntled renters sneering from the sidelines is not enough to drive prices down and obviously your average home owner is not pushing for a drop in the value of their home.
Also, resist the temptation to put allot of weight on asking price reductions, there are no 'price police'.When it over priced, wait. When it is under priced, offer first. Sellers will drop a price $10K after a slow weekend but reject an offer that is $3000 low once you show an interest by offering.

Forbes must have had a local realtor or the chief kool-aid stirrer Lawrence Yun (Chief Economist for NAR) write this piece.

Facts: Sales of existing homes in Utah dropped 33.8% in the fourth quarter, the sixth-highest drop of all states, a new report showed Thursday.

30% of those who purchased homes in 2007 are already upside down in their homes and roughly 40-41% of those who purchased in 2006 are upside down.

Utah started its descent in the third and fourth quarter of last year and prices are starting to drop and home sellers are now getting a reality check.

This is only the beginning and it will get much worse (i.e. better and better for home buyers and the overall market) for those who are in over their hards and as their ARMs reset.

For home sellers who want and need to sell their homes, they will have to accept reality and that their homes just aren't worth what they think there worth.

This is the time for buyers to make a statement. For people who rent, they can continue to rent. For those who need and have to sell, you'll have to drop your prices or suffer.

darebroker,
You seem to be one of those who has done little research.

Others have lots of very good comments.

Don't catch a falling knife! Wait at least until fall of 2008. It will take about that long for in denial sellers to start to come around to reality.