I went on my third house hunting trip this past weekend and found a house that was beautiful. The square footage was kinda low for the price, but that is downtown Baltimore. I also learned some things about what goes into a bid before placing the bid on the house. Here are my findings.
As I looked around the quaint townhome one block from the waterfront in Canton ( a downtown hot spot), the house was in immaculate shape. The sellers took very good care of the wooden floors and the walls were just renovated. I looked around for about 25 minutes, when my agent says, “so you wanna put a bid on this house?” I hesitated and said with a stutter, ” I don’t know yet.” Then I noticed the look on their face and knew that they immediately thought, gees, here we go again. I learned that you must look at houses that are similar in value and know how much the houses sold for with a block or two with the same square footage. I also found out that the sellers dropepd the price 10K from a week ago. I was missing something here, as mortgage rates rise, due to falling bond values.
My agent had no idea what to tell me about homes in the area and were quite uninformative. They didn’e even know how much I should bid on the house. They wanted me to bid on the full price of the house! I was reluctant to do so and I held off and I told them that I will think about it and I need to see some more homes. And at that moment I thanked them and took off out the door.
In summary, know what you are lookng for in a house and don’t just “settle” for something. You are making a huge investment in a property that you will be living in and building you financial future with. Know the things that you are willing to compromise on and things you aren’t. Do some research in the neighborhood and nearby houses that just sold. In Maryland you can go to the Department of Taxation and Assessment’s website to see how much the sellers purchased their house for and how much Maryland thinks its worth. It’s some great information. Most of all, have fun, because it is a fun experience, until the dreaded buyer’s remorse sets in. 
