Back in February '08, I wrote about buyer and seller perspectives on our real estate market, and pointed out that many buyers are bashful right now. They will look at quite a few houses, and find one or two that they like, or really like, or can't live without --------- and then, they will decide not to make an offer on the property.

Why, you might ask, would a buyer decide not to make an offer on a house they want to purchase?

Most often, it is because they think the asking price is too high, they aren't sure whether they will be able to negotiate it down, and thus they don't want to anger the seller or embarrass themselves by making too low of an offer.

I'm here to tell you --- make the offer! I have seen several offers work out very well for buyers over the past few months --- because the buyers stepped up to the plate and made an offer that they thought was reasonable for the house in question.

As we are evaluating properties, if a buyer seems to really like a house, but doesn't particularly care for the price, I ask the question... is there a price at which you would buy this home?

If there is, let's make an offer and see where we can go from there!