Prices are definitely coming down, that’s a good thing. But, its not a fire sale. Two and three years ago when the market was hot, homes were over priced and selling for more than they were worth in some cases. What’s happening now is that home prices are coming back into line of where they should be.

If you watch the news or read the paper, you may get unrealistic expectations of how much you can expect to pay for a home. Generally speaking you can offer as much as 10% below the asking price, then negotiate to 3-5% below. Before you write the offer, your agent should be able to tell you if its priced, at, above, or below market price, an should be able to give a market report showing how much homes are selling for in that area, and this report will also show the difference between the asking price and selling price of the homes.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, in most areas homes are selling for 95-97% of the asking price. So if you were to see a home listed for sale at $200k, you can expect to get it for $190-195k. In a hot market that home may list for $220k, so you are actually getting a good deal.

The point is that you should not expect to go in with unreasltic lo-ball offers, for example offering $170k on a $200k home. Unless the home is obviously over priced, or in need of major repair, this will result in a negative response from the seller.

The Lehigh Valley real estate market continues to be strong, even in this economy, homes are bought and sold everyday, many homes still sell very quickly, others may take a longer, but prices are still holding up fairly well.

In any case, be sure you a have a buyers agent working for you before you start looking, as he or she will be able to advise you on what you should expect to pay for the home your looking for. Contact an Agent Good Luck!

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