Back in the late 70s before I got into real estate I heard some real estate friends of mine talking and they said that your first offer is always your best offer.  The logic I have as a businessman says that this cannot possibly be true just because the law of averages. 

When I took my first real estate course the instructor said that your “best offer is always your first offer”.  Once again, I thought this was just a line – it cannot possibly be true.

After selling real estate on Hilton Head Island for 28 years and handling over 3,000 transactions, I realize that it probably is true.  Statistics in case studies show that it is. 

I am not saying that this is true 100% of the time, but I would be willing to waiger that probably 80%-90% of the time, it is.  The question is – why?

I thought a lot about that because logic shows it should not be that way.  I think I understand why it probably is this way. 

There is an old saying in real estate that says, “time is an enemy of the seller and a friend of the buyer” and I think that is true in this case.

When a property first comes on the market agents are on the phone telling prospects about it and encouraging them to take a look at it before someone else buys it – you have a sense of urgency.  The longer the house stays on the market, the less urgency there is and if it has been on the market a long time people will often ask what is wrong with it and why did someone else not buy it.

One of the questions people often ask when we show them real estate is how long has the property been on the market.  Of course, the Hilton Head Island MLS does not show those dates, so normally we do not know unless it is our own listing.  The reason they ask that question is because they want to know what is wrong with the property. 

It might not be true in 100% of the cases, but I think there is some truth to it – usually your first buyer will pay you the most money for the property.