Offer price vs. asking price in SW Durham (house, neighborhood)

[MzMiss123]

Hi all. I'm looking at a home in a newer SW Durham subdivision and am trying to determine a reasonable offer price. I was wondering what % off the asking price others have used as their starting offer price (in the SW Durham area). And also, what % did you end up paying after negotiating?

The house is less than 10 years old and in reasonably good condition. No major structural work is needed......mainly just cosmetic items.

I don't want to insult the owners.....but, of course, I want to get a good deal. I'm waiting for my agent to supply comps for the neighborhood, but in the mean time, I wanted to get input from the city-data folks.

Thanks!

[SP2SCV]

Originally Posted by MzMiss123

Hi all. I'm looking at a home in a newer SW Durham subdivision and am trying to determine a reasonable offer price. I was wondering what % off the asking price others have used as their starting offer price (in the SW Durham area). And also, what % did you end up paying after negotiating?

The house is less than 10 years old and in reasonably good condition. No major structural work is needed......mainly just cosmetic items.

I don't want to insult the owners.....but, of course, I want to get a good deal. I'm waiting for my agent to supply comps for the neighborhood, but in the mean time, I wanted to get input from the city-data folks.

Thanks!

SW Durham is a great location and as such, the homes move well there. I sold mine there recently for 98.5% of the asking price in much less time than the average time on market. If the home is priced properly within the comps, then starting at 5% under is a good point. Plan on settling between 97% to 100% of the asking price, if it is priced within comparable properties.

Of course, all pricing depends on neighborhood, comps, condition...etc.

[MiriL]

We just had an offer accepted on a house in western Durham, and paid 98.5%. It hadn't been on the market very long, and there was a competing offer. I think it really depends on the particular neighborhood and house. I don't know that there's a rule of thumb.

[sneezecake]

Asking a question like this assumes the seller has priced the house properly in line with comps, which is a big assumption. Rather than base it off a % to asking, get your comps and go with that. You should be able to get a little off the asking price and/or some concessions, but it all depends where the list price is and if its fair, high, or low.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by MzMiss123

Hi all. I'm looking at a home in a newer SW Durham subdivision and am trying to determine a reasonable offer price. I was wondering what % off the asking price others have used as their starting offer price (in the SW Durham area). And also, what % did you end up paying after negotiating?

The house is less than 10 years old and in reasonably good condition. No major structural work is needed......mainly just cosmetic items.

I don't want to insult the owners.....but, of course, I want to get a good deal. I'm waiting for my agent to supply comps for the neighborhood, but in the mean time, I wanted to get input from the city-data folks.

Thanks!

Last May we bid on our current house in SW Durham. House was then 2 years old. On the market for only a couple of weeks. We started at 97% and the owner did not even counter, but did not accept the offer either. The lack of counter ticked me off. But we made a second offer at 98.5% and she accepted it.

I agree w/ Sneezecakes comments to a point. The comps will tell you if the house is generally priced correctly. But what I found was I was looking at price per sq ft of other homes in the neighborhood that we made and offer and had no idea what the upgrades were in those homes. I fully expect to pay more per sq foot if the home has upgrades. From the exterior you can't tell which homes have upgrades. And the comps are not going to include if your bathroom has builder grade tile or custom tile. So you don't really get an apples to apples comparison. But honestly, I haven't figured out any better way.