On Mar 15, 8:45*am, Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote:
wrote:
I'm interested in buying a home in IL, first time home buyer.
There is a home came out as fair condition and is priced $195000.
My realtor said it is 'a bit under priced' didn't exactly mention how
much.

My realtor wants me to put as much earnest money as possible to get it
closed as quickly as possible.
He also believes that will help him for negotiation process.

In this market condition - I heard it is buyers market, what is the
reasonal amount for earnest money?
I was thinking that I can put $5000. *Should I put more or less?
Also, my realtor is thinking about making initial offer for $180,000,
expecting to close the deal
around $190,000. *My realtor explains that though it is buyers' market
and for some houses, those come out
as discounted as much as 20 - 30%, however that would be rare for the
housing market that I am interested in,
under $200,000. *In usual situation, I would agree with my realter
100%, however, in this given market condition, I'm not so sure,
feeling that I could demand lower price; however, on the other hand I
wouldn't want to scare off sellers that I'm getting a bit tired of
home buying process.

well, this pretty much sums up my situation.
Do you think that I could demand lower than or around $180,000?

It is a buyer's market. If a tract house, i.e there are a lot of similar
ones, ask to see the realtor's comps and only pay attention to the
recent ones as market is declining. If you are a qualified buyer, have
no property to sell first, and put up $5,000 you are in a very strong
position to put in the lowest possible offer. *Also get an itemized list
of buying costs and property taxes and property transfer taxes. *I hear
horror stories of high taxes in certain places.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd stop worrying about the earnest money as if it were the main
factor in someone accepting an offer. Are you pre-qualified for a
conventional mortgage with 20% down? Someone making an offer under
those conditions with $500 earnest money is going to impress me a lot
more than someone that puts more down, but wants to get a 5% down
mortgage. Or worse yet, someone that wants to make the purchase
contigent on them selling their own house.

You say the first deal was under priced according to the realtor
friend of yours. If you've looked at so many houses and have access
to his MLS data, you should know what similar houses have actually
sold for. Meaning you should also know if the house is priced right.

Make sure you have an inspection contigency in the contract and get a
reputable inspector. Usually, that winds up free, because most
inspections on an existing home will find enough squaks that you can
get then get the seller to agree to lower the price by an amount to
fix them. And that is what you should do, as opposed to having the
seller ffix them, because then you can control what's done. For
example, if there is a dishwasher and on the inspection it shows up as
leaking, I'd rather get a credit of a couple hundred bucks, then get
the new one of my choice.