Making A Reasonable Offer

If you're buying a home, how can you be sure you're making a reasonable offer, but not paying too much?  In the final analysis, your lender will have an appraisal done and will alert you if the appraisal comes in below the purchase price.  You'll just need to word your contract offer so that settlement is subject to an appraised value at or above the purchase price.  However, in the lead up to that you can use an on-line property valuation service such as the one you'll find at the "Home Property Values" link on our site to help you figure out what you should offer for a specific property in the first place.