Ask Price
Ask Price is the initial listed price for a piece of real estate.
It’s important to understand that, in the real estate world, there’s no such thing as a fixed price when buying or selling a property. Fixed price is a concept you can only apply when the product in question has scale, so you might have a fixed price on rental properties of a building, however, when buying or selling a property, the homeowner does not set a price so an interested home buyer can acquire it by merely paying that value.
It is more of a bargaining routine, where the home seller sets a price - the so-called ask price - he/she believes corresponds to the worth of the property. Then, it’s up to the interested home buyer to make his/her own assessment of worth - the so-called offer price - and make an offer to the home seller. If both agree to it - the so-called Fair Market Value - the house is sold.
Although the asking price is thoroughly studied by the homeowner and the professionals surrounding him/her - especially the agents and the Appraiser - the most common scenario is to have the home buyer offering a lower amount of money than the one the home seller set as the property’s asking price. When that happens, the home seller usually makes a counteroffer and both of them go back and forth until they can agree on a fair market value for the property.
There are sometimes when you’re in a Seller’s Market or the house is so unique, that a home buyer might make an offer higher than the ask price in order to secure the house. It’s rare, but it happens.
Real Estate Advice:
Take a look at our Real Estate FAQs. Maybe the answer to those frequently asked questions will help you understand the big picture better.
And check The OFFICIAL Real Estate Agent Directory® to find an agent to help you with whatever you can't find on our website (if that's possible!)
Popular Real Estate Terms
A group of investment bankers underwriting and distributing a new or outstanding issue of securities of a real estate business. a professionally managed limited partnership investing in ...
A cost of funds index that most adjustable rate mortgages written in California in recent years are tied to. Computed by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, it reflects the cost ...
Expenditures incurred to improve a specific real estate development; however, these improvements are not directly on the property. Example are curbs, driveways, and streets. ...
Need to know the Ad Litem definition after coming across this weird term? Ad litem is short for “Guardian Ad Litem” or “Attorney Ad litem”, a legal term that ...
Loss of property from nonfulfillment of some duty or condition. In some cases, forfeiture is required by a court order, whereas in other cases the nonfulfillment of a contractual debt is ...
A way to sell and finance property by which the seller keeps title but the buyer takes possession while installment payments are being made. The gain is taxed while the mortgage ...
The right of a landowner to have lateral land support from adjacent properties. The right of lateral and subjacent support means that an adjacent land owner may not, for example, lower or ...
The term after-tax rate of return calculates an investor’s net return after income taxes. The calculation is used by many businesses and investors to determine their real earnings. ...
Shingles having uniform length, but random width. Random shingles give a creative appearance to a roof. ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.