Negotiating price for homes in Houston area? (Howe: renting, house)

[crescentcitygal]

After renting in the Houston area for the past 9 months, we are finally preparing to purchase a home. Can someone give me a feel for what percentage off the asking price one can reasonably expect to get here? We are looking north of the city...probably Kingwood. We have asked our realtor about this, but I am interested in what others' experiences are. In some cities, homes sell for close to the asking price, and I'm wondering what is customary here.

Thanks!

[Mom2Feebs]

Most homes in Houston sells for approximately 97% of the asking price. There are exceptions to this. Your Realtor can check to see how long the house has been on the market, that is a pretty good indicator of your bargaining chips.

[BearBranch]

For me, I purchased my home for full price. However it was listed at market price, 3100 sf custom, fully updated to the max, surrounded by a nature preserve and less than a mile to Kingwood town center and received a total of 9k back at closing. The 9k equaled 5% off of the asking price. The previous owners also offered full price on the home the purchased.

[crescentcitygal]

Wow, that's quite different information than I have been getting from other people (some have been telling me about 10% off the asking price)! I guess it does vary so much. The parents of my daughter's classmate sold their home in February and did get close to the asking price, but they thought it was because of the time of year and because there were few homes on the market at the time. Thanks for the input.

Bear Branch, when did you purchase your home?

[BearBranch]

Summer of 2005.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by crescentcitygal

Wow, that's quite different information than I have been getting from other people (some have been telling me about 10% off the asking price)! I guess it does vary so much. The parents of my daughter's classmate sold their home in February and did get close to the asking price, but they thought it was because of the time of year and because there were few homes on the market at the time. Thanks for the input.

Bear Branch, when did you purchase your home?

The 97% of ask is the closing price, not where the negotiation started.

I can say that offering 90% or less of asking price is a strategy more are using in a softening market but if the property is offered at a fair price the seller sometimes refuses to bargain in that range. I have seen some refuse to even counter, putting the buyer at a disadvantage if they really want the property. More often the seller would come back with a counter.

Many properties are offered with only a 5% margin for negotiation so once you go below 95% you may be putting the seller in a spot where the negotiation becomes emotional rather than business. At the same time you want to buy at a fair value and leave some room on your side for negotiation, so you might consider 5% below what you think is your target as a place to start if you find the property very attractive.

Of course in very hot markets offers above asking price are not unusual.