First Time Home Buyers: Making an Offer
First Time Home Buyers:
Making an Offer on a Property
by Geraldine Santiago
Making an offer on a property when you are a first time home buyer can be quite overwhelming as many first time home buyers rely on their REALTOR to help determine the fair market value of the property. Determining what is fair market value is not an exact science as no two properties are exactly the same. All properties are unique even two homes built on the same block at the same time with the same builder are different because of its location.
Lawyers look at legal precedents which are judicial decisions regarding law which affect future cases of a similar nature to help them with their cases. REALTORS do something similar by looking at a comparative market analysis or a CMA to determine what is deemed to be fair market value. The CMA report looks at active sales, expired sales, terminated listings, and most especially sold sales in a given time. A CMA that is too old or outdated will not help your buyer at all. Both lawyers and realtors must be experienced in their profession to get the best possible outcome.
A formal CMA report takes a lot of time to prepare. But buyers should have this information on hand before making an offer to purchase so that they will know how to price the property correctly.