What discount is average off a homes LIST PRICE?

I am just curious...

What do most buyers offers in terms of discount off of the Sellers list price. This would be for a home that is a little overpriced based on comps. Not priced to sell, but priced to sell with a little negotiations.

Do you start of with a 10% off the lsit price and hope to negotiate up to maybe a 4- 5% discount?

I knwo it really depends of where the house is priced, so lets say it's just a little over priced....and the owners do this for some room to negotiate.

I would assume most sellers would not list their house at what they Expect it to sell it for right?? I know when we sold out Apt in nyc we left plenty of room for negotiations and were priced very fairly with all comps.

Re: What discount is average off a homes LIST PRICE?

It really depends on many factors.

- Not much room for negociation if the house is priced to sell and within comps.

- A slower moving house (not much traffic, on market longer), 10-20% sometimes more. But again depends on how motivated a seller is.

I think comparing to comps is essential. But you have to compare apple to apple. You can't compare a house wihtout seeing the inside either. A newly renovated house is no the same as a non renovated house.

Re: What discount is average off a homes LIST PRICE?

I agree -- I don't thnk you can look at an "average" and have it be useful to you, because every house and every situation is unique (and very dependent on sellers' motivation).

I think you need to look at the comps -- and this is where I good buyers' agent can come in -- and really assess where the house fits in with other recent sales of the same style of home in the area.

I also don't think you can assume that a house is overpriced because the owner wanted to leave room for negotiations. Most of the time, sellers don't list the price at the rock bottom number they want to get -- they know that buyers may come in with lower offers (plus, they have to pay a real estate commission). But I recently had a seller who wanted and needed to sell, priced the home aggressively, and we got an offer within 2 days of the home being listed for only 4K under asking.

Also, when you do make an offer that is significantly below asking, I do think that it helps to justify WHY the offer is below asking (and it has to be something other than just "leaving room to negotiate"). So if you say, "we are offering x because the basement is unfinished or the yard is torn up or the roof is old or the carpets are destroyed" it is a lot more effective than just giving a low number. Of course, it can't be something taste-specific (I don't like your wallpaper or paint colors and will have to re-do them) but something objective that will require work in the home or that brings down the value of the house (e.g., all of the comparable sales in the area were homes with finished basements and yours is unfinished -- hence, your house is worth less).

Good luck! Hope you find something soon.

Re: What discount is average off a homes LIST PRICE?

I think some buyers think that because it is a buyer's market, they can lowball. Not saying you're doing that, but it is something I noticed as a seller.

I had one buyer bid 350k on my house that was listed for 399k. That was already a competitive price and my house is in mint condition. We countered but I really felt like telling this buyer to go check what 350k buys you in my town. In the end, our buyer's final offer was less than 3 percent below our asking price.


ETA: I wouldn't go by a set percentage. I would go by what you feel the house is worth.

Message edited 3/21/2011 2:18:40 PM.