Negotiating while Buying

One thing I have noticed when working with buyers is the hesitancy in negotiating.  Negotiating can be a fine art and in Missoula offering too low can breed bad blood between buyers and sellers.  One thing that I try to do if I can't meet with the Seller's and their agent is to write a cover letter explaining our contract and how we came to that price point.  Sometimes for sellers it is hard to remember that your home is a commodity now and not the memories that you have collected in it.  Another service I offer for buyers is a Comparable Market Analysis; an analysis on similar homes sold within the last 6 months.  This helps us determine what the market is saying about sold trends.  Here is an article that I thought had some useful information on the subject.