I once wronte a blog post about this exact topic. The link to the post is below:

We at Keller William pay strict attention to our list price vs. sale price. Our agent's can find the average in your area. We list right so our ratio is 94% but when not listed correctly can be as low as 60%.

It's good that you know the history of the sales endeavor of this particular home, however it might be useful for you to look at recent sales prices of similar homes in the neighborhood in the most recent quarterly report. I would also recommend consulting with a buyer's broker, who will guide you and represent you although their commission is paid by the seller.

Best of luck,
Alessandra Marx
alessandra@elikaassociates.com

By attending Champions School of Real estate, I have learned that according to the principle of anticipation, the expected net income/sale of property is what can serve as the primary factor to properly quoting your listings. I suggest you consult www. Zillow.com for an estimate; in addition by doing so you can ensure that yur numbers are accurate- in my personal opinion, without a profit motive you should counter offer according to the appreciation/depreciation scale you"ll notice on ziIllow.com to your advantage, utilizing it as a basis for negotiation. One last piece of advice: get an inspection done before signing did and when you decide to purchase from any broker-seller.

From:
Anthony Chin
(281)433-7951

Confer with your buyers agent who can research determine best interest for all parties when submitting a sales offer. GREAT MYTH how much below list price. In some instances homes are purchased OVER list price secure winning contract.

National Featured Realtor and Consultant, Texas Mortgage Loan Officer, Credit Repair Lecturer
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lynn911
Lynn911

Hi Carrie

The people who have responded to your question have offered good advice and I would listen to all of it. But I would not just pick a number out of a hat. There are to many variables to work that way. Consider this scenario. You find a house that you like. It's listed for $700k. You want to make an offer based on a percentage discount. You know that other homes in the area have sold in that price range. You feel that a 5 percent discount is probably fair but you put in a lowball offer 10 percent below list.........$630000. The offer is accepted and you start the process, home inspection, mortgage, appraisal, etc. Two weeks later your lender either declines the loan or offers you a lower amount. Your dumbfounded!!!!!!!!!! You wonder what just happened. Then the ugly story unfolds. The home has been on the market only a few days and it was overpriced when listed. The listing agent knew this but couldn't convince the seller to list at a lower price. Your agent is relatively new to the field and studied the comps, even showing them to you and everything seemed okay. BUT......you are in a delining market. The comps may be 6 months old or older and homes are losing value at 1 percent per month and the higher priced comps were for mint condition homes but yours has all original amenities. The banks appraiser evaluates all these factors and more and comes in with a value of $500000. You can't believe it!!! You did all the right things, asked all the right questions and saw the comparables but you now have no mortgage and your out approximately $800 bucks(appraisal and home inspection).
You started off with the wrong approach. You can't play the percentages without knowing all the facts, the quality of your representation, the motivation of the seller, etc. Even if you used a respected internet real estate site that said homes in your area are selling at a 5 percent discount to list they generally determine that discount off the last listed price..........not the original inflated price. So what do you do? In this market you must do some of your own due diligence and that includes double checking everything you've been told.
Start by getting pre-approved by a lender. By doing this you find out if you qualify for the mortgage you need. You will get a good faith estimate of closing costs(based on certain assumptions of the type, value and location of the home your looking for). And one of the most important things you then have is the ability to show a seller that you are a motivated buyer and qualify for the mortgage needed. when a motivated buyer meets a motivated seller it's a beautiful thing!
Working with an agent will expose you to many homes and provide you with a lot of information. But when it comes to comps have your lender and attorney look at them. The lender has accurate comparable information and is aware of the market trend in your neighborhood. They will be happy to tell you if the comps you were shown are acceptable. Show all the information to your attorney to get another opinion.
If you start your search properly you will have a happy result.
The appraisal is one of the key components to a happy result. Lender guidelines are much stricter these days and appraisers are on a very short leash. I should know, I AM A NEW YORK STATE CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL APPRAISER SPECIALIZING IN NASSAU AND QUEENS COUNTIES. Oh yes I know very well how things have changed in the past 2 years and I know these 2 markets very well.
I apologize if I have been too wordy in my answer to your question but I felt you should be aware how things actually happen. Fortunately most Realtors and appraisers are very ethical and you have probably received good information. But don't hesitate to ask your lender and attorney for their advice also. I should also mention at this point(for the sake of disclosure) that I am also a licensed Real Estate Agent. I have more than 25 years experience in these endeavors and other real estate activities. I hope this information has been of help to you in some way. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns.

Allen Bauman
Century21 Yve Real Estate
Hewlett, NY
516-791-3846
allen.bauman@gmail.com

NYS Licensed R. E. Agent
NYS Certified Residential Appraiser

I am a loan officer on Long Island, not a real estate broker, but do my best to help advise my clients who are looking to purchase homes. There are many things that come into play here when it comes to making an offer. I have worked with Arlynn over the years, and know that she is giving you good advice about using a Buyer's agent. One of the things about Long Island is that each community has different issues that affect what you might want to offer. This may depend on how many homes are on the market, the amount of time that the average home takes to sell, and the general appeal of the area. The most important issue here however is how much you feel this home is worth to you. If it is one that you really like, and have looked at many other homes, you may choose to offer more. If it's one that you can take or leave, you may feel you want to give a low offer and see what the seller would accept. The worst thing is when you miss out on a home you like over a relatively small amount of money, then look at every other house and compare it to that one. You can get guidance from a realtor, but only you can decide how much that house is worth to you.
Of course you also have to know that you can qualify. Rates have improved right now, so please give me a call, and we can go over some numbers to see what price will work for you on this home.

Robin Silverberg
Senior Loan Officer
516-972-1687

What is your agent advising you to do--why not take a look at recent closed properties in the immediate area on MLSLI.com and take it from there.

Anna

Carrie,

The selling price of a home, as opposed to the listing price, takes into account many different factors - among them are the comparable homes that have recently sold in the neighborhood as well as the seller's motivation for selling.

These would be your best guidance as to what offer to make on any home that you are interested in purchasing, keeping in mind that not all homes are sold at a price less than asking price!

If there is a particular home here on Long Island or Queens that you are interested in and would like me to discuss how I can work for YOU as a Buyer's Agent, please contact me directly by phone at (516)410-3594 or by email at Arlynn@ArlynnPalmer.com. After all - the listing agent, as well as most of the agents who show homes, works for the seller, shouldn't you have someone working for, advising and negotiating on behalf of YOU?

In the meantime, please visit my website at http://www.ArlynnPalmer.com where you will find FREE Buyer and Seller Reports, FREE School and Neighborhood Reports, my Monthly Newsletter and other valuable real estate information.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,
Arlynn

Arlynn B. Palmer, ESQ, SRES, CBR, CMS, CNS
Licensed Associate Broker, REALTOR
Coldwell Banker Claire Sobel
Phone: (516)410-3594
Email: Arlynn@ArlynnPalmer.com

It never hurts to ask...

The straight answer - no more than 5% should be O.K. - a starting point - 600K - 5% (30,000) 570,000 offer.

I however do agree you should have an idea of what the real value is and if you're trying to get a deal - go for it. I'm sure there is ahn agent in your area that will put in an offer for you at that price.

The Agent Center

Hi Carrie,
It's best to offer below asking price, when you can reasonably support your reasons for doing so. In other words, if you have comps of similar property that have sold in the area and the prices reflect the price that is being asked is too high. Or if there are other reasons you want to offer less, for instance, the property needs a new roof..or other work. It would be reasonable to expect to deduct the costs for that type of work. Knowing the motivation of the seller is helpful, since they have a compelling reason to get their property sold. I would think they would consider something close to their asking such as 589,999. To be sure, ask your realtor to discuss this with the listing agent. Your buyer agent will be able to give you the best advice!

Carrie,

Your best course of action, regardless of working with a private seller or a bank, is to base your offer on solid factual information. Your offer should be based on a price that is not only a reflection of the current local real estate market but the appraisal value as well since banks will not finance a property that does not appraise for the sale price.

The best way to accomplish this is to have your real estate agent provide you with all of the "recently sold" comps in your target location. This information should shed some light on what your price range should be.....remember, one of your best bargining tools is, "the home needs to appraise" for the sale price.

Since you should be using the same information the appraiser would be using to determine the homes value, proper use of this information, may greatly assist you with your cause.

Base your offer on real facts and logic that can support your position. Your agent will be able to guide you through this process and assist you with the data analysis.

Best wishes,
The Eckler Team

The best way to decide how much below the list price would be a reasonable offer would be to consult a real estate professional in your area and ask that person to put together a "Comparative Market Analysis" to determine what comparable properties in the immediate area have sold for. Once the real estate professional has provided you with this information you should be able to make an informed decision.

Proverb G. Jacobs III, GRI, SRES