Is good value or a big discount more important
Back from house hunting and a thought came to mind regarding today's Charleston South Carolina real estate buyer's market. The answer seems pretty evident to me but here goes, would you rather buy a home in the Charleston area that is a good value or is a big discount off list price more important to you.
Here's the scenario (anonymized for privacy). 2 homes are both very nice and were purchased for approximately the same amount of money but one year apart. Home A was purchased by the current seller for $489,000 in spring 04 and Home B was purchased by the current seller for $487,500 in spring 05. Home A is listed for $569,900 while home B is listed for $599,900.
It seems to me that Home A would have appreciated more than Home B because it had one more year to increase in value and yet the home is also available for $30,000 less. I suppose that I could negotiate with (or beat up) the seller on House B and help my clients purchase it for significantly below the current list price which I think is a little high and wind up with a big discount. Or I could negotiate with the seller of House A and get a little bit off list (why not, it's a buyer's market after all and I don't think very many sellers realistically expect a full price offer right now) and obtain good value for my buyers.
What strategy do you think is better and which home would you rather have (if both homes are nice and meet both your wants and needs.)