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Hi, We have just bought a house and move in in two weeks! The above threads are quite true in that there are houses offered for sale at auctions where the price is set by the auctioneer and the vendor. I went to one auction where the house was valued at $350,000 in the paper and sold for $520,000! Bit of a difference. Some auctions don't even reach the initial price and are then taken off the market and the auction is held again later.
Some agents put a price range, this means that you offer more than the lowest price but less than the highest. If there are other people interested you almost have a private auction where the agents will go between the interested parties and raise the value up and up! I asked why they put the lowest price if that was never going to be accepted and the agent simply shrugged his shoulders but it's obvioulsy just to get people through the door.
There are some agents who will price it at what is expected to fetch, you may be able to haggle down on those, but my experience is that they only haggle upwards of the advertised price. Quite different to the UK and it took us quite some getting used to. We offered on three houses and had learnt by the third what we needed to do.
Once the offer is agreed you then sign a contract binding you and the vendor to the sale, you have three days to change your mind. You can find out what houses sold for in the area if you are concerned that you have overpaid and pull out of the agreement as long as you are quick!
All in all, this house purchase here has been the least stressful I have ever had as we knew once the offered was agreed that we wouldn't be gezumped! The other thing to bear in mind is that when you agree the offer you also agree a moving in date. We had to wait four months (120 days). It can be as little as four weeks but the more I hear the more common it is that its about four months.
Hope this helps.
Jo
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