How much % can you talk down on a house these days? (Alpharetta: for sale, houses)

[Galaxy28]

Based on the market this year, what is the percentage one should/can talk down on the asking price of a house these days? If there's a difference between lower and higher end market. What will be the % difference for house market $400-$600K vs $600-$800K? I have heard 18% and above but does it seem like a lot to ask for? Any thoughts anyone can share?

[bdawk]

Originally Posted by Galaxy28

Based on the market this year, what is the percentage one should/can talk down on the asking price of a house these days? If there's a difference between lower and higher end market. What will be the % difference for house market $400-$600K vs $600-$800K? I have heard 18% and above but does it seem like a lot to ask for? Any thoughts anyone can share?

We purchased our house in Alpharetta a few months back for about 20% off asking, but comps supported our number. We actually liked 2 houses. We made offers on both for a similar % off of the asking prices. On one property, they (realtor/owner) called my realtor to tell us they were "not replying" to our offer. Fine. The other countered high. We came up a litlle and presented a final offer that was about 20% less than asking. Deal.

You never know, what's going to offend people but if you can justify your offer, send it in.

[IntownHomes247]

There is no standard percentage off you can expect. Every house is different and every situation is different. There are still homes (not many but some) that will sell in less than a week on the market for at or above full asking price. And there are plenty of homes that have been on the market for a looonnnnggg time where the seller will consider just about any offer. Rather than trying to find some kind of standard discount, you'd do better to learn the market in-depth in the area where you're interested in buying. Knowing everything that's currently available and everything that's recently sold will give you ammunition for making an aggressive offer that has facts to support it. Many sellers are still asking more than the market will bear and some do "pad" their list price hoping to get a "reasonable" offer from someone who expects a discount, but there are also sellers out there who are pricing at or below recent sales prices in order to under-cut their competition and get their home sold first. But there's no substitute for in-depth knowledge of the market when it comes to figuring out which property is a really good deal.

[Elisa81]

It's all about the reserach you do yourself. We are in the process of purchasing a wonderful home in Duluth. We did our homework ahead of time, looked at comps and also checked out the public records on the county's website for sales prices in the past, values and taxes. That way we were able to know that we were getting what we thought was a good deal, about 15% below the current appriased value. Truthfully, if you find a property you love, as long as you and the bank think the numbers add up, thats all that truly matters.

[roxyrn]

We also put offers on two separate houses (last February). Both homes were listed at about the same price with good neighborhoods and same square footage. Our realtor gave really good advice on initial offers (one higher). I spent a long time researching online the neighborhood comps and the selling history of both homes. Also take into consideration how long the house has been on the market and motivating factors the sellers may have. Both homes came back with counter offers-one substantial and one minor saying they would not negotiate further. By the end of the day, we had an accepted offer.

So do your homework and have a trusted realtor.