The very best way to finalize an offer price is to do exactly what the appraisers and real estate agents do, pull comparables. To do this, you will want to make a few adjustments in your search. Start off with a mile radius of the subject property in your search and pull homes that are currently active, pending homes (ones that have accepted an offer but not yet closed) and closed homes that have sold in the last 6 months. Search within 10-15% of the square footage, within 10 years of the year built, same number of levels (one story home, two story etc), homes with pools if there is a pool, same number of garage spaces, lot size etc.
After this initial search, there may not be many homes that come up. The goal is always at least 5 similar homes to determine your list price. If you don’t have the comparables you hoped for, begin to slowly remove some of the criteria. For example, the year built and check your results. Then, perhaps lot size and make a mental adjustment for what results come up, remove garage spaces, then increase the square footage to 20%, your area radius can sometimes grow up to 5 miles in the event not many comparables come up. These slight adjustments should provide enough comparables to obtain a realistic price of what you could sell your home for.
Many times calculating the price per square foot and then comparing that to your home will be another indication. For example, if a 2500 sq ft home sold for $500,000, that leaves a price per square foot of $200. If the home is 2650 sq ft, take that $200 and multiple by your price per square foot and you will obtain an estimated offer price of $530,000