The truisms of making an offer

What is the best way to put together an offer to purchase a home you ask? Here are some suggestions and "truisms" to help you along - 

Truisms:

• Homes will always sell at market value. Market value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay.
• Market value is not a fixed, rigid price, but instead is a range of value. This is because no two buyers are alike. 
• Property is a commodity, unlike a car that loses it's value over time. Property values fluctuate with the market.
  
• You, the buyer, are the market.

Helpful do's and don't's

• Don't offend. Unless you are offering on a property which has been held purely for investment, the seller is emotionally invested in his property.
• Do get personal.Write a cover letter summarizing why you believe this is the right home for you. On many occasions, I have seen sellers accept a lower offer because they felt a connection with the buyer.
• Don't defend your offer the wrong way. As in, by saying it is all you can afford or that you are basing it on what you believe values will be during the next lunar cycle. This approach will likely leave the seller with the notion that there is a buyer out there, one who isn't you, who can afford his home and at the price it is worth now.
• Do know the seller's circumstances. Does the seller want to move or does he need to move? Circumstances will dictate whether there is a bargain on the horizon, and knowing this in advance can save everyone the aggravation of a long trip to nowhere.
• Don't preach. Your buyer's agent has given you information on comparable property sales. Beating the seller over the head with your 16-column spreadsheet will not endear you to him. He has set a price, presumably after having taken this same data under consideration. You may believe his price to be high, but it is his price. Insulting his intelligence (even if you believe this intelligence, based on the price he is asking, is of the artificial variety) will not further your cause.
• Do be prepared to negotiate. No buyer wants to think they paid too much, and no seller wants to think he sold out. In negotiations, everyone wants to feel like they were in control and that they prevailed.
• Don't be unreasonable. There is value, and then there is crazy-talk. If a home is offered for X, and you are willing to pay 10% less than X, do not offer X minus $2 million and then ask the seller to throw in his bedroom furniture and a pony. You will not be taken seriously.

(above article adapted from Crafting a Winning Purchase Offer, by Kris Berg, FrontDoor.com, 7/9/2008)