Realistic Offer for A House

[Tou Yang]

As noted in the description and title, I am interested in buying a 1985, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom 2,965sq ft brick house on 1.20 acres. 1 acre in the city limits runs around $15-25K as there is a small 1 acre lot left. It appears to be in very good condition and it is in a small city of 11,000 people. They are asking $279,900, reduced a month ago from $283,000. Right now where we are at, it's a sellers market and most houses sell within 20 days; this house has been listed for 68 days. The sellers have also told our buyers agent that they are "motivated sellers". My question is, what offer would be appropriate? My buyer's agent said to offer $260K, I was thinking more along the lines of $250K as I know we will work our way up toward $260-$270. Also, 250K is roughly an offer of 10.7% lower than the original asking price of $283K. I don't think 10% is an absurdly low-ball figure but with the property being on for 68 days without a single offer, I think it is a fair offer/starting point. I'm hoping to get it for $260K

[Russell Brazil]

This is almost an impossible question to answer.  So many factors go into this....actual value of the house, negotiation style of the buyers agent, negotiation style of the listing agent, what the factors in it not selling are, what the sellers motivation is, what their personalities are like, what the market customs are.

You bid too low, you insult someone and they will just choose not to sell to you. You go to high, and you leave money on the table.

With all that being said, $250k doesnt sound crazy as a starting offer, but nor does $260k either.  Also something to keep in mind, sometimes sellers get focused on what I call the front side number...(price) and less focused on the backside number, the net price.  So I often try to put some closing cost help in the offer, both to lower my out of pocket expenses, and because often its easier to get a couple grand there on the backside than on the front side.