Buyers and sellers in todays real estate market are getting inundated with vast quantities of market data that  make even the savviest clients perplexed at best as to what to do in todays marketplace. All it takes is the morning and evening news, a newspaper and a couple of magazines thrown in to draw into question, “what is going on?”  Here in Vermont the marketplace for real estate is varied depending on the area and seems to fluctuate wildly day to day in terms of response to advertising. But one thing is certain, all real estate brokers are working overtime to keep up with the changes. To that end, we have seen many price changes, restructuring of offerings and most importantly realistic pricing of new listings. If a broker is astute and careful, new listings will be priced to reflect current market conditions. With that said, here comes the information overloaded buyer thinking that based on everything that they have heard, that all listings can be severely discounted.  Does a weak real estate market mean that a newly listed property with a proper listing price must be heavily discounted to keep a buyer on track? Of course not, what it means is that a broker must do their utmost to ascertain the mindset of the buyer. They must educate the buyer as to what the market conditions are locally and how the property they are interested in fits the current value trends. There are definitely many buyers looking for bargains, and conditions are right for them to get a bargain. However, they must express that to their broker so the broker can focus on those listings that fit into the bargain catagory. Its a total waste of everybodys time and an insult to the sellers for a buyer to make a low offer just because USA Today says thats the way to do it. More often than not, a seller will be so put off by a low offer that further negotiating will prove quite difficult and end up costing the buyer more in the long run. 

Posted by Wade I. Treadway