Use recent pricing signals to decide how hard to push
You are trying to decide how aggressive your first offer should be in Westwood, CA. My rule is simple anchor your offer to what homes are actually being listed for right now, then protect yourself with terms you can execute cleanly.
One number to respect from recent closed activity is the typical asking price $195,000 was the typical list price last month, and it was reported as 0% month over month. That matters because when the typical asking price is holding steady, overbidding just to "win" can be a self-inflicted problem if the home does not support that jump in price. Some metrics were not reported for this period, including the typical sold price and the typical sale-to-asking percentage, so I cannot responsibly tell you that buyers are consistently paying above or below asking in Westwood, CA. Start by building your offer range around the list price you are seeing, not around what you hope the seller will take. If you want to compete without guessing, shorten decision time by pre-reading disclosures and having your lender or funds verification ready before you write. Then use clean, executable terms you can honor, because in a small market like Westwood, CA the offer that closes is the offer that matters.
