A Piece of the Pie

Offer prices - how low should you go

In this period of unstable home prices it can be really difficult for buyers to figure out what price to offer on the home they want to buy. Tara-Nicholle Nelson offers some great advice on determining an offer price in today's Inman News.

Many people have buyers’ remorse after their offer is accepted as they second guess the price and wonder if they offered too much.  Today’s market encourages buyers’ remorse with news of declining home prices and homes languishing on the market.  In this market, buyers are much more likely to make extremely low-ball offers because they don’t want to risk offering more than a desperate seller will accept or more than a home’s fair market value.  Nelson reminds buyers that their goal is to purchase the home, not to affirm that they have sharp negotiation skills.  Although prices have dropped and there are some overpriced properties on the market, sellers still have to protect their own interests and there are still other people out there buying homes so buyers who offer much less than fair market value just because they believe that every seller is desperate are unlikely to see their offers accepted. 

According to Nelson, it’s very important to determine the home’s fair market value by reviewing the prices of similar homes in the area that sold recently.  Other important factors will be how motivated the seller is (look at factors such as the number of days on the market and the circumstances surrounding the sale), how much you can afford to pay, how much you want the house and whether there are multiple offers. 

What Barack Obama's election means to me

I’ve never consciously felt that there were positions in society that were unattainable to me because of race.  Being from Detroit, I grew up seeing African Americans that did very well in business and politics (despite the efforts of the former mayor Kilpatrick).  Furthermore, most of the people, of all races, that I’ve met in the Bay Area since I moved here six years ago appear to strongly value diversity and promote tolerance and equality.  

However, deep down inside, I’ve always felt that no matter how intelligent we were or how accomplished we became, we would always have a more difficult time achieving success due to both internal (i.e. self image issues due to lack of role models and perceived racism) and external (structural, direct and indirect racism) factors. In many areas around the country, it has remained much more difficult for qualified African Americans to enter the most prominent and elite positions in government and business.  And for a variety of reasons, there were and continue to be overwhelming odds preventing most African Americans from improving their socioeconomic status.  Regardless of the increasing numbers of African Americans that have beat the odds to attain leadership positions within our country, there had always been a glass ceiling preventing one of us from successfully running for President.

On November 4th, the world changed. Almost two hundred and fifty years after this country gained independence from England someone who looks like me was FINALLY elected to the highest leadership position that our country offers. More importantly, he doesn’t just look like me, he truly represents me. He was not elected to serve the interests of those who have little or no regard for his community; he was elected with the support of the majority of Americans, including his community.  

 Although the playing field may not be level, I do believe that finally, as much as African Americans contribute to this country, all of its opportunities are now available to us.  This may sound weird, but despite my birth certificate and ancestors that tie me to this land since before its “discovery,” due to the treatment of African Americans throughout the history of this country, I never considered myself to be fully American. November 4,2008, that changed and surprisingly, I find that since then, I walk around feeling a little more comfortable in my skin.