What is a good offer

Once you've found the right home , you'll need to know the real value of the house so that you can make an educated offer.
A home's value is determined by the following:

• Sale Price History: Pay attention to trends in appreciation or depreciation on the home.
• Home Characteristics: The number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage and other characteristics of the home. 
• Similar Home Prices: Prices of comparable homes in the neighborhood.

I always offer to create a market analysis of the property for my buyers, this is something that is done for the seller when they put the house on the market and it helps position the home to sell quickly.  It will help a buyer make and informed decision as to what a particular house is worth to them.  Some things to keep in mind when making an offer:

If there are multiple offers on the house be careful of the "I want to win" mentality, I've seen buyers overpay because they get caught up in the heat of the bidding war.

The final price, regardless of what other homes have sold for, is what a ready, willing and able buyer is willing to pay for a property, so, the buyer is really the one who sets the value of the home.