Initial Offer vs Waiting for Asking price

[Josh Anderson]

I am doing direct mail marketing in my area and had a general psychology question about offers. I am looking for other's opinions or experience in making offers/buying off market properties. The few properties I've looked at so far have been single family and duplexes.

When talking with a property owner is it best practice to offer your price first or get the property owner to set their initial asking price and negotiate from there?

[Chris Policicchio]

It's part of my script for the answering service to ask the property owner what they think the house is worth.  If they don't answer, I will typically ask when I call them back.  The only times I have been asked to name a price or make an offer, the sellers were not motivated to sell and they are usually not cool about it.  :-) But when the owner talks about the house, is open about repairs needed, what they owe, etc., I have found most to be realistic when it comes to what they want.  From there, I typically will do some of my own due diligence to determine if their price makes sense (i.e. is it a good deal).  

My two cents!

Good luck!