their motivation is to get you a house as quickly as possible at any price that is comfortable to you (and thus collect a nice commission). My motivation is to get a house that I want at as low of a price as possible.

This is the one mistake I feel I made in the purchase process of my home. I was 25, buying my first home, and I let the real estate agent coach me too much on the price. If I ever do this again, I am going to #1 be more patient, and #2 bid the price I want to pay.

Remember, you don’t usually make the money on a property when you sell it, you make it when you buy it.

Ohh and note #2 on this topic. The price they paid for the property should be completely irrelevant. The fact that I wanted to pay $165,000 for a property that the previous owner paid $170,000 five years ago shouldn’t keep me from biding $165.