In today's housing market, do you think you can offer 20% below asking and get it?

Question

In today's housing market, do you think you can offer 20% below asking and get it?

Answer 1

Yes my old roommates got their house last year in Oct just before things got really bad on the market.  I didnt think they would end up getting it at their offer but they did.  To their benefit, the sellers were near facing foreclosure.  Look at how far the foreclosure rate has gone up since then and it still continues to climb.  With that in mind, I'm sure there are more to come and more desperate sellers.  Also, if you put that offer on the table, they my come back with any a counter offer and you may settle on say 18 percent! Good Luck!

Answer 2

I just bought a house that I did just that. Asking was $469,500 and I got it for $350,000 just by making the offer. Housing market is so poor right now people just want to get out at any cost!!!

Answer 3

20 percent is quite a bit.   It will depend on whether the house is priced well over market, how motivated the seller is to get rid of a house (a person who is relocating will be more motivated than a person who is just looking to move somewhere).  

Have your real estate agent get area comps to see what similar houses are going for (if the house is priced right around the going price, you won't have much leeway, even with the down market) and base your offer on that, plus condition of the house and any other relevant info you can glean.

Try not to way underbid - if you insult the owner, they may decide not to counter and you will cut off negotiations before they even begin.

Answer 4

Historically, houses sell for 10% below asking, so 20% is not that far fetched.  However, to get the 20% start by offering 30% less than asking, and you can negotiate up from there.  It may very well surprise you if they accept the first offer.