Kori Shook

Your buyer's agent should definitely be advising you on this specific to your location. In my area, anything less than 10% under asking price will most likely be offensive. I am a real estate agent and a seller right now with 2 properties for sale, priced right. My personal home has been on the market for only 3 weeks, been shown 7 times (which is very good for my market) and I got a low-ball offer 20% below list price. Yes, even knowing the market and dealing with this all the time, we were insulted AND were much less willing to negotiate-- knowing that they were just "fishing" for a deal and not serious. We also have vacant land for sale that is in a subdivision where several other, less desirable properties are for sale, and for more money. We actually got a half price offer about 3 weeks ago. In both these instances, the buyers were just "fishing" for a deal and got bad advice from non-professionals that "everybody is low-balling these days".... If you were my client in my area, I would advise you to offer what it is worth to you. If you feel that you are going to offend the seller, then you are probably right! If you love the house, then be prepared to come up to what they are asking. As long as you never regret, feeling like you've paid too much then it will be worth it. You will definitely regret it if you love it and you lose it because you were just fishing for a deal. Good luck! - Tue Jun 10 2008, 10:08