what to offer with no asking price

[Jennifer Ready]

Hello,

My husband and I will be moving to Alaska in the spring, and are ready to hit the ground running on housing.  He is excited for a multi-family, and I would rather a live-in-flip.  As Kodiak is a small island with a large Coast Guard population, homes tend to appear in the spring and go quickly!  We would rather not purchase without seeing, but are open if the opportunity is right.

Fast forward 3 weeks.  While doing our best to familiarize ourselves with the area, our realtor alerted us to a possible off market deal that sounds awesome to me.  The problem is the current owners will be using our agent as their realtor, so we cant have her on our side.  An asking price has not been put forth.   Alaska is a non-disclosure state, so we are unable to see what other homes have sold for, and will only be able to do a facetime walk through.  They did provide a home inspection that came back with only minor issues.

How do you come up with an educated offer with so little information on the house? We have compared the property to others on trulia/MLS, but who knows if they will sell or for what price. We know there is competition and want to put forth an appropriate number, but are also nervous going too high because we haven't really seen the house and the extent of its needs. Any advice on bids and sight unseen buying would be greatly appreciated!

Jen