Everybody wants a bargain these days, and I don’t blame you - I am a major bargain shopper myself!  But I hate seeing buyers write offers that have very little chance of being accepted and then end up disappointed.  Here are the mistakes I see buyers making most often.

1.  Fall in love with a house you can’t afford.  If you want to spend $300,000 don’t look at houses that are $400,000.  MYTH: The bank is not going to give the property away just to get it off their books.  Imagine if you were selling your house for $400,000 and you got an offer for $300,000.  Would you be inclined to accept the offer?   I doubt it.  Instead, write a fair offer on a house in your price range so that you actually GET the house.  The longer the house has been on the market, the more likely you can negotiate on price.  If the house is cheaper than everything else in the neighborhood and in similar or better condition, you'll run up against other buyers who want it as much as you do and you'll probably have to offer more than the asking price.

2.  Don’t look at any comps before writing your offer. If the house is $375,000 and all the similar properties sold for $360,000 to $390,000 that should tell you what a reasonable price would be.  Your Realtor can show you statistics for the area.  Again, writing an offer for $330,000 because you think the bank is desperate just tells the bank that a) You're not a serious buyer, b) You can't afford this property so why are you wasting my time?

3.  Offer $90,000 less than the asking price. If this is a bank foreclosure, it’s probably already priced below most of the competition.  If they even bother to make a counteroffer they won’t be coming down much on the price.  I know I sound like a broken record but I negotiate offers on behalf of at least 15 different banks every single day.  Nothing ticks them off more than lowball offers. This is especially true when the house has only been on the market a few weeks.

4.  Offer $90,000 less AND ask for them to pay your closing costs AND have no down payment AND only put down a $1000 deposit. Truly, if you have no down payment and no money for closing costs, ask yourself if you can really afford to buy a home right now.  If the answer is no, start saving so that six months from now you can try again.  But if you really want to buy now, realize that the only thing you bring to the table is a strong purchase price.  You’re still getting a good deal because the property was priced lower than market value to begin with.

5.  Have no idea what your monthly payments will be when you write the offer.  Just because your lender says you’re qualified for $500,000 doesn’t mean you want the payment that goes along with that purchase price.  Figure out what you want your payment to be, and have your Realtor tell you what price range that equates to.  Then refer to rule number 1!