The best way to research this is to look at the original asking price of the home, how long it has been on the market and how much the sales price has been dropped. You can find all of this on the MLS with the use of a buyers agent. You can normally "guesstimate" what a builder will negotiate by looking at his/her past sales. I would also look at similar homes in similar neighborhoods to see what they are selling for to draw a conclusion about what market value should be. There is no rule of thumb that every builder will negotiate X%. In your question you say "new construction that is not selling"... that tells me that the builder has not found market value yet. Market value is the price that a buyer is willing to pay for a home. With builders there are many extinuating circumstances. For instance, the lender who is holding the note is probably holding a construction loan and they frown upon "lease purchase" (rent to own). And if they allow a lease purchase, the lender will require that the builder increase his/her equity position to at least 20% which can be difficult to accomplish in these times. Also, the builder probably owes more on the note than the market will bear for the home. Some builders are choosing to eek along making payments on the home rather than do a short sale with the bank and lose their ability to get more construction loans for future building. If their ability to get a construction loan is taken away, they are essentially out of business. So, as I say alot when I answer these questions, it depends. Your best bet is to look at the MLS research for the neighborhood you are interested in and then find a Realtor that is "in the know" about the new construction builders. With that information you will be able to set a price that the builder will most likely take. Give me a call anytime and we can discuss further!