Decide what you will compromise on before you fall in love with a home.
You're trying to decide what matters more price, size, or condition, before you write an offer or set a list price. My guidance is to choose your tradeoffs based on what Tempe, AZ buyers have actually been buying recently.
One number to respect from recent data is the mix of what has been selling. Over the past three months in Tempe, AZ, the largest cluster of closed homes sat in the $400,000 to $500,000 range 71 sales, followed by $500,000 to $600,000 64 sales, and $300,000 to $400,000 54 sales. In that same three-month window, the most common home sizes sold were 2,200 to 2,400 square feet 57 sales and 1,400 to 1,600 square feet 51 sales. Where people get this wrong is they assume one perfect box exists at every price point. Some metrics were not reported for this period. Even so, the sales distribution tells me buyers are making choices many are landing in that $400,000 to $600,000 band, and sizes cluster around mid-range square footage, not extremes. Decide your top two non-negotiables, then pre-approve your compromises in writing before you tour in Tempe, AZ. If you are selling, position your home honestly against where the bulk of recent sales have landed, and avoid pricing it as if it is in a rarer tier unless it truly competes there. If you are buying, focus your search filters around the price bands and sizes that have been moving, so you are not wasting weekends on inventory that does not match your real budget or priorities.
