If I were you, I'd try to find the worst house in the neighborhood with the better schools as you'll always have an easier time down the road selling in a better district. Additionally, I've noticed that better districts in better neighborhoods normally increase in value more and faster than in so so neighborhoods.

@cpartist: we would love to do that, but those in the better district tend to be out of our range even with significant work needed. For instance, I saw two houses in the better district this weekend, both priced 400K but you couldn't even get a conventional loan on them because of an active water leaks. One had an estimate on that repair of 14K, but also needed additional work. It went on sale last week and had a contract by Monday. That's why I think its unreasonable for her not to take the school district difference into consideration in recommending an offer to us.

Our max budget is definitely $400K all in, but we don't want to put all that into a neighborhood that won't support it.

I'd meet her in her office snd ask for comps in the school system you are looking at, even if you have to go back 6 mo. Deduct for smaller lots and repairs. The reason you need to go to her office, is so you can see what criteria she inputs, so you can make sure you are not being only shown the higher price per sf ones.

Make an offer you think is fair for you. You can make your offer stronger by more earnest money, conventional over other types of financing, and a flexible close date ( quicker if they want a quick close, or longer if that works better, or a lease back for 30 days if they need time to find something else/move. You'd be surprised how much a flexible closing date/lease back can help with a low priced offer.

DEMAND comps based in the same neighborhood or at least in the same schoold district no more than 2 miles from the subject home. It is nearly impossible to adjust price for distinctly two school districts... one stellar and one not. That is why they are called comperables. The lot size will make a lot less of an adjustment than you think. Unless the location of the lot backs up to some deleterious item.

Even if your research determines that the home is overpriced, by all means, offer a reasonable offer price based on that research, and it is sometimes a good idea to include those comps along with the offer.

If you saw the house with that agent, you can't go to another agent to then act as your agent. It's unethical and isn't done.

There are several sites online where you can pull up comps on your own. For example, input into coldwell banker the zip code of the house and then check for sold houses

There are several issues here. A 0.1 acre lot (approx 4365 square feet) is quite small although with rounding perhaps its closer to 6000 square feet which would be more livable. The small lot could impact resale especially if the space is not usable or you open the patio doors and there's nothing but a strip of concrete and a fence (no natural sunlight).

Your realtor should be helping you objectively analyze comps and it sounds like she is not. She should be talking to you about time on market and about price reductions. If she is a full time neighborhood expert she should have been inside most of the comps while they were listed and be able to tell you how the interior condition compares to the house you are interested in buying. Choosing a realtor who knows the local area well is important. as a seller and a buyer.

Still, you should do your own comps in addition to asking the realtor to pull them. Zillow and other sites have the ability to look at recent sales. You should focus on sales within the past 3-6 months. Zillow sometimes leaves up all the photos after a house has closed so you'll still be able to see what the interior looks like. The biggest factors are number of bedrooms and baths.

Remember the return on investment of remodeling projects is seldom 100%. If you find a comp that has a remodeled kitchen and baths you can't expect to deduct the cost of those remodels to determine a comp for a house that has an unremodeled kitchen especially if you are hiring a contractor to do work rather than doing it yourself. I do a agree that a house with a remodeled kitchen and baths should sell higher than an otherwise similar house that does not have those features.

Also expected time on market can vary. Some of us who live in very fast moving markets expect multiple offers within a week but that's not the situation everywhere. If comps are taking 60-90 days to sell and they often sell very close to list price then a house that's been on the market for 60 days may not be over priced.

We've checked the comps on our own and think we'll just pass on the house and move on to a new agent as well. We had no agreement with the agent and she only showed us 5 houses anyway. We indicated an interest in seeing more and the only one she was willing to show us was one listed by her friend in a different neighborhood. Although we can check these things on our own (and will), as first time home buyers, we do want an agent that is interested in providing us with some assistance in our search. I think the problem is she knows that we can afford the full price of the house as she asked about our preapproval amount.

The comps we saw on our own were a bit difficult to compare as most that have sold have been remodeled and this one hasn't at all:

2 fully remodeled homes sold in June 2016, same neighborhood, same schools, approximately the same size (within 100 square feet), new floors, roof, and HVAC, updated kitchen and baths, and sold for $350,000K, 347K respectively.

3 remodeled homes sold in May 2016:

--1 was also 3/2, 200 less square feet but new kitchen, new baths, new HVAC but 7 year old roof , sold $335,000

--the other was a 3/1.5 bath, 100 less square feet with pool, busier street across from a park and sold for $261,000

-- 4/2 with 200 more square feet, new kitchen, baths, hvac and windows, $368K

A few more sold but the interior condition is unknown

$188K for 3/2 with 300 less square feet (June sale)

$224K for 3/2 with 100 less square feet (April sale)

$250K for 3/1 with 120 less square feet (March sale)

$340K for 3/1 with 100 less square feet (April)

In any case, this one is listed at $340K and we would likely have to do all of those things (kitchen, baths, floors and HVAC for sure, and maybe the roof in the next few years). We don't know how much all that would cost exactly. The agent told us $10K for the kitchen and $5K for the baths, but that seems low to me. And, we just don't think it is realistic to put that kind of money into the property when it will likely resale for only $350,000 when fully upgraded.

We like the house but aren't so in love that we can't do without it. We also have plenty of time to keep looking as our current lease isn't up until Feb. So we will probably look for a different house with another agent.

@Stanz thank you for all your comments. According to the county property appraiser the lot is 4550 square feet. With the garage, it leaves only a small square patch of grass for the backyard. Enough for us but you are right most families are likely looking for more.

Totally off topic but I am laughing because my lot is a little over 600 square feet and has what is called a backyard.

My first house was a 1927 bungalow on a 40 x 100 lot and we had a wonderful little backyard and a detached 1 car garage. I LOVED that house and my own little fenced in piece of heaven in back.

@homechef59 I really appreciate your words of wisdom. It's info like this that makes me glad I'm apart of the houzz community

BTW what part of FL is this in? If on the very slim chance you're in my neck of the woods, I can steer you to a really top notch agent. If you don't want to say here, feel free to message me.

We told the realtor that we had decided not to make an offer based on the fact that the sold comps were basically the same price as this one is listed and had significant work done to update the systems (HVAC & roof) and interior (kitchens & baths). She still tried to convince us to put in an offer, despite us not wanting to do so. We finally just had to say "no, this isn't the house for us."

Thank you all for the advice and opinions.

Sounds like you need to find a new realtor. Find someone who has closed sales on hundreds of homes in your area during their career (experienced and successful).

bcandyfl - As soon as I read that the house you're interested in has been on the market over 60 days, then NO WAY would I offer full price. The absolute worst that can happen with a lower offer is the seller says NO. That's the worst. There's nothing wrong with offering lower than the asking if the house has been sitting and doesn't have other offers. I think your realtor is an idiot for telling you to go in at asking.

I live an in area with sought after schools. The subdivision right up the street from me is in a different school zone. As a result, the same style home may be 50k less. It sounds fun being in the sought after school districts, until your taxes come in (and you don't have kids)... Not everyone wants to live in high price school zones. So your plan to buy now and move later when the kids get older makes sense too.

Good luck.

'The agent told us $10K for the kitchen and $5K for the baths, but that seems low to me.'

I have no clue but really, I think that agent has no clue either. I think you need a new one.

cpartist's offer sounds like a good one to me.

bcandy, message me again?