Pricing your foreclosure contract offer is a threading-the-needle experience, you have to have the total and relevant information obtained by your Exclusive Buyer's Broker, so you don't miss the target.  Information and cash are king.

When you truly find your dream home, that is the most important factor, and then, #2. how do you price a contract offer so you don't lose what you have found and attempt to pay the lowest possible price. 

That is what MetroStar® does best, hitting the pricing target you have set -- more times than not.

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Please read a recently published excerpt from an article written by Tara-Nicholle Nelson, see below, to gain further insight to pricing issues to consider.

"1. Fair Market Value: Often what an owner paid for a home and what he or she owes on it are two different things; the third separate, but critical value, is fair market value, which is best approximated by the recent sales prices of nearby, comparable properties. Early on in the exercise of formulating the price that you offer, your Realtor should conduct a comparative market analysis, or CMA. This detailed look at the similar, nearby homes that were recently listed and sold on MLS should result in an estimated fair market value range -- many Realtors will take it a step further and actually recommend an offer price or price range.

My normal buyer client starts out the process of determining their offer by having a recommended price range (or one of their own devising) in mind, and then taking all the other factors into account to narrow the range until they have arrived at a precise dollar amount.

Use the following criteria to pinpoint an offer price from your Realtor's recommended range:

2. Seller's Position and Motivation: In reviewing your Realtor's CMA, it may be apparent that the fair market values of properties have certainly dropped. Nevertheless, sellers cannot or will not accept offers below what they owe, below what the bank will accept (on a short sale), or below the fair value of their home on today's market. You may think that the sellers' mortgage position or motivation is not your problem, but it is if you want the house! Keep in mind that any closing cost or repair credits that you request will be subtracted from the gross price you offer to result in the net price to seller.

For example, if your seller has already moved on and purchased another home, that tells you she may be motivated by the fact that she's making two mortgage payments, but she may also have a bottom line that she has to clear in order to bring her mortgage payment on the new home to a sustainable level. In fact, I've recently represented buyers against several sellers in this exact position, and one seller elected to rent the property out and retain the possibility of selling at a higher price in a better market, rather than to take a low offer. Similarly, you can draw inferences about the seller's level of motivation by the number of days the home has been on the market relative to the average number of days on the market (DOM) in that area. The CMA should show what is average, and your Realtor should have the details about how long your target home has been listed.

3. How Much You Can Afford: With that said, after fair market value, your own motivation level and position are probably the next most important factors to take into consideration. How much can you afford to pay for the property? Since most of us house hunt within a range of prices and over a period of weeks or months, you might want to revisit the issue of what the current interest rate and monthly payment would be at the different ends of the price range you are considering offering. You might be willing to make the payment at the low end and not the payment at the high end of the range -- if so, that helps you narrow down your offer price.

4. How Much You Want It: Similarly, you must decide how much you want the property. Said differently: How would you feel if you didn't get the home? There is value in getting the home you want. Does that mean you should throw tens of thousands of dollars above what you think the fair value of a home is in order to make sure you get it? No -- in fact, your lender's appraiser will not let that happen, especially in these days of enhanced scrutiny of value opinions. But it may mean that you avoid making an under-lowball offer that your Realtor thinks will be insulting to the sellers if you really, really want the place. And vice versa -- if the home would work for you, but you won't be totally distraught and dejected if you don't get it, then you can afford to be more aggressive with your offer.

5. Multiple Offers: Finally, before you decide on an offer price, you need to know whether there are any competing offers to purchase the property. Even in a buyer's market, some areas still see multiple offers -- usually the super-hot neighborhoods in urban areas and the nicer, entry-level homes in metro areas. In today's market, an entry-level home is very desirable to a group of folks who never believed they would have the opportunity to be homeowners, so those buyers are out in force and often make multiple offers on nicely located, low-priced properties in good condition. Obviously, where there are multiple offers, you may need to come in at the high end of the market-value range in order to be the victorious buyer -- sometimes, even over the asking price. (Your Realtor's CMA should tell you whether homes in that area are typically selling below, at or above the asking price.) Where you are the only offer, you can afford for your offer price to be aggressively low." 

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook," and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions."   Visit her Web site, www.rethinkrealestate.com for more interesting discussion on real estate.

Here are more interesting facts found on Tara's website:

Did you know?

Women make or direct 91% of home buying decisions. Source: Martha Barletta, Author, Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment (Kaplan Business, 2002). 85% of women have been, are currently, or expect to be solely responsible for maintaining a home. Source: Nationwide poll of female homeowners, conducted by the research firm of Mathew Greenwald & Associates, commissioned by Sears Single women purchase 1 of every 5 homes sold - about 1.5 million homes a year, and twice as many as single men buy. Source: National Association of Realtors® Single women are the second largest group of home buyers and the fastest growing home buying demographic, climbing from 13.9 million to 17.5 million between 1994 and 2002. Source: National Association of Realtors®

3 out of 5 women would rather receive an hour of advice from Bob Vila than from Dr. Phil. Source: Nationwide poll of female homeowners, conducted by the research firm of Mathew Greenwald & Associates, commissioned by Sears. 41% of women surveyed said "I do not have the time and energy needed to manage my investments because of commitments like home and work." Source: Charles Schwab survey, December 2003 Most working women contribute half or more of their household's income. Source: AFL-CIO 7 in 10 women do research before making big purchases. Source: Ketchum Public Relations and Marketing Communications, 2006

Their home is the primary asset of most women homeowners: 41% of women said the equity in their home is worth more than all their other financial assets combined, and another 30% thought it might be. Source: Nationwide poll of female homeowners, conducted by the research firm of Mathew Greenwald & Associates, commissioned by Sears More women than ever are getting an advanced education, entering the workforce, marrying later in life or staying single, and enjoying increased earning power. Source: Ketchum Public Relations and Marketing Communications, 2006 Women live longer, earn less, and work fewer years toward Social Security and pension benefits. As such, women need to save more and invest more aggressively to build retirement assets than men. Source: AXA Advisors LLC, September 2005

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MetroStar® will be at your side every step of the way, armed with market information to help you choose the best properties at the best prices.