Looking for homes in Ashburn/Herndon - how much to offer off listing price...-10%, -15%? (Leesburg: low income, foreclosures)

[tysons2008]

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Ashburn, Herndon, Leesburg but not sure on what a decent offer is compared to the listing price. Has anyone or knows anyone who has gotten a home by offering 10-20% below asking price? Trying to figure out what range of listing prices to view.

[novahousehunter]

I'm not sure if you can determine this from the list price--some might be reasonably priced and completely firm, others might have more flexibility. The tax assessment can be some guide, but also is not always the same as market price.

In general my sense is that while prices have dropped, the market is still fairly competitive and often there are multiple offer situations still (just at a lower price point than a couple years ago).

Still, if something looks overpriced and has been sitting on the market for a while, no harm in trying.

[mdcrim]

I agree with novahousehunter. Your answer is not going to be a blanket 10%-15% off the asking price. It's going to depend on a lot of variables. How long has the property been on the market? Is the asking price already low or is it high compared to others in the area? Why are the people moving (do they HAVE to move)? Generally, I would think that the longer the house has been on the market the more you may be able to negotiate the price, unless the people have been regularly updating the price (down).

Good luck in your search. There are definitely some bargains to be had.

[LTDUTCH]

Might want to ask the R/E agent for their local Housing Inventory Snapshot..... it will give you some basis for marketing prices.

[nwlv]

You don't need a gun to rob a bank......

[spidercharm]

Originally Posted by tysons2008

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Ashburn, Herndon, Leesburg but not sure on what a decent offer is compared to the listing price. Has anyone or knows anyone who has gotten a home by offering 10-20% below asking price? Trying to figure out what range of listing prices to view.

1) Listing price does not matter much (it does but not a lot)
2) Rent for a while if you can, you will pay less trust me
3) If you do have to buy, don't overpay. I would say 10-15% below '09 assessment is probably the best you can do if you can't wait.

My 3 cents.

[TechlawyerinPG]

I recommend that anyone looking in the area subscribe to the Loudoun County Sheriff email alerts to see what is going on in various neighborhoods; they are enlightening about the crime in the area...stuff you rarely ever here on the metro area news. I work in Ashburn/Sterling/Dulles and subscribed to them to get info about the area...mainly traffic alerts and emergency alerts (paranoid since 9/11 when I was at work with no radio reception or TV). I decided to sign up for the Sheriff alerts also. I mean it seems like multiple times a week there is something happening in certain areas around Dulles. I had been trying to talk my husband into possibly relocating there closer to my job (though farther for him since he is in DC) and he always argued that it is not this perfect utopia suburb like everyone makes it out to be (he does a lot of work with gang outreach and is aware of a lot of crime hotspots all over the metro area) just because I never hear anything in the nightly news. Well I have to say after what I have seen in these alerts with constant assaults, rapes, burglary, crystal meth and other drug busts, and even driveby shootings (yes mainly Sterling but not limited to as it spills out elsewhere) I am not sold that such a move with more expensive housing and far away from a support system of family and many friends is going to provide some perfect safe haven from DC area crime which seems to be everywhere (not just urban areas like my own that everyone seems to focus on). My point is, sign up for the alerts and use it to assist in choosing your neighborhood in that corridor. I wonder how so much of this stuff is never reported.

[mdcrim]

Originally Posted by TechlawyerinPG

I recommend that anyone looking in the area subscribe to the Loudoun County Sheriff email alerts to see what is going on in various neighborhoods; they are enlightening about the crime in the area...stuff you rarely ever here on the metro area news. I work in Ashburn/Sterling/Dulles and subscribed to them to get info about the area...mainly traffic alerts and emergency alerts (paranoid since 9/11 when I was at work with no radio reception or TV). I decided to sign up for the Sheriff alerts also. I mean it seems like multiple times a week there is something happening in certain areas around Dulles. I had been trying to talk my husband into possibly relocating there closer to my job (though farther for him since he is in DC) and he always argued that it is not this perfect utopia suburb like everyone makes it out to be (he does a lot of work with gang outreach and is aware of a lot of crime hotspots all over the metro area) just because I never hear anything in the nightly news. Well I have to say after what I have seen in these alerts with constant assaults, rapes, burglary, crystal meth and other drug busts, and even driveby shootings (yes mainly Sterling but not limited to as it spills out elsewhere) I am not sold that such a move with more expensive housing and far away from a support system of family and many friends is going to provide some perfect safe haven from DC area crime which seems to be everywhere (not just urban areas like my own that everyone seems to focus on). My point is, sign up for the alerts and use it to assist in choosing your neighborhood in that corridor. I wonder how so much of this stuff is never reported.

Constant assaults, rapes, burglary, crystal meth, drivebys. I also subscribe to those e-mail alerts. Maybe they censor mine because I seem to be missing some of these constant alerts.

We get, like, one murder every year or two and two out of three are domestic related. There are areas of Sterling where these "constant" drivebys are occurring, as well as some of the other crime-stabbings, rapes, etc. These tend to be pretty limited to the immigrant community in Sterling and they are purpetrating these crimes against each other. There are sections of Leesburg that have low income housing-there are pockets of crime in those areas as well, kind of in a concentric circle around where the housing is, which is probably why the Leesburg Police built their police station where it is.

I moved here from Bowie, MD, which I thought was the safest area of PG county. Wow, what a difference.

If you are getting these "constant" alerts, then this stuff IS being reported. It may just not be exactly what you are purporting it to be.

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by tysons2008

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Ashburn, Herndon, Leesburg but not sure on what a decent offer is compared to the listing price. Has anyone or knows anyone who has gotten a home by offering 10-20% below asking price? Trying to figure out what range of listing prices to view.

Are you working with a lender or broker? They can give you an idea of how much house you can afford with your income and debts. I'd do that first to see what your price range is. I'd also suggest not going to the top of your price range, just because you can doesn't necessarily mean you should

Like others have suggested, work with a buyer's agent. Once you find a home you like, the BA can run a comparable market analysis of this home. It'll show you what houses in the area that are comparable to the property you want to buy have sold for recently. Houses that have been on the market longer will generally be more open to offers lower than list price than a house that just comes on the market.

[GoHokiesGo]

Everyone is right in saying that there isn't a blanket %-off statement you can make. I just purchased a townhouse in Ashburn over the New Years holiday, so just got out of the market.

We made a number of offers and every situation is completely different. Most houses that were owned by individuals were more willing to negotiate, however you have to remember that people that bought in bubble don't have much room to negotiate sometimes. We found that regular sales, people priced their houses a good bit higher than foreclosures, but often times couldnt come down much since they'd have to bring cash to the table due to buying in ~05-06.

Most of the houses we looked at were foreclosures, they were the best deals and usually in good shape overall. They're priced a good deal lower than your non-REO listings. But, the banks usually played hardball also and didnt negotiate much, or they priced houses so low that they would often sell for more money due to bidding wars.

You have to move fast with the foreclosures that are good deals, because they sell quick. We made 5 offers before we found the right house. 2 houses were still owned by people, and just couldn't bring enough cash to the table to get a realistic market price. 1 foreclosure was with a bank willing to negotiate, but it was out of our price range and they wouldn't negotiate down far enough for us into our comfortable price zone. The last 2 foreclosures we bid on, we actually made full-price offers within days of the listing. The first one sold for more than list price (within 5 days). The house we ended up buying was a very nicely priced foreclosure, so we made a full price offer, but it was literally on the market for 30 hours (barely a day) because the bids came in so quick. Luckily, the listing agent accepted our terms right away since it was full price for the bank.

So the situation varies greatly, it all depends on the seller, the condition, and how close the house is listed compared to it's actual values, etc.