“How much will they take for it?” seems to be a question asked by most buyers.  It is truthfully answered at Active Rain by Richard Iarossi, an agent from Annapolis, Maryland. His answer,

Well, taking the rest of the contract into consideration, the seller will more than likely accept the listing price.” Frankly, what the heck else did you expect me to say?

Ha.  Yes I agree!  All of my sellers WILL take list price!  As a listing agent it is our duty to the seller to get the top price.  I like one of the commenters replies,

The obvious answer to this question, and the one I use most often, is “How much will you give for the house?”

I may make light of this, but people really are looking for deals today.  It’s a natural question to ask … though the answer buyers are looking for is “What is this place really worth? I don’t want to overpay.”  Just three years ago, a home that was worth $219,000 is today worth about $180,000.  Even when we run comparables, we can’t guarantee the value will hold up.  But we can do our homework – research trends, visit neighborhoods – and make an educated guess.

It is starting to get harder to find deals today.  Several of my colleagues have been working with buyers for the last several weeks who want something around $100,000.  Those houses seem to be disappearing – a sign that in my area at least we are starting to climb out of the recession.  I am hoping we’ll again begin our upward growth where homes will increase in value 2 to 4 percent each year.