Making a Questionable Offer

[Mark Abbate]

Hi All,

Myself and a friend of mine are going in on a first house together, that we eventually would like to be a rental. We found a suitable property that we would like to put an offer in on. Our Real Estate agent let us know that in the current market (Location, price, amenities, etc.) that we should offer $30k over list price. 

The property popped up on a few listing services about a week ago for $499k and went live as of Saturday 1/30. So far it has over 1,000 views on Zillow and almost 100 saves. She also let us know that there are already at least 2 offers on it and they are reviewing offers today, 2/1. 

She said that a lot of places are being swooped up fast and it is true having been searching for almost 2 months now. My question is, it normal to make an offer that much higher than list to try and secure the property?

I'm looking forward to your responses!