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Below & Above Asking Price Offers

Updated: Mar 20


Those who have bought homes before, if most or all of their experiences have been purchases in buyers' markets (especially in rural areas), are often used to getting homes below their asking price. Sometimes they won't buy a home unless they get it below asking price. I generally recommend avoiding that philosophy, since a home can be listed for far below the actual value, and a buyer can be shooting themself in the foot if they will only go below no matter the actual value. While there are many other factors than just looking at market and interest rates, it's generally best to be picky if the market is going down in price &/or the interest rates are projected to go down, while it's best to be expeditious if rates and prices are projected to go up.


Sometimes buyers will be able to get below asking price contracts through, and I've helped buyers to get as much as $49k below asking price on 1 occasion and as high as 4.5% closing cost assistance on another occasion. That said, I've also helped buyers win in an 8-offer scenario in part by going above asking price for a home that they would have never gotten if they had gone below asking price.

Increased Probability of Below Asking Price

Increased Probability of Above Asking Price

Long market time

Short market time

a long time [i.e. >30 days] since the last substantive [i.e. 3%] price reduction

a short time [i.e. <3 days] since the last substantive [i.e. 3%] price reduction

a long time since it's went back on market or with substantial issues uncovered during last contract or the listing agent not wanting to talk about it

a short time since it's went back on market with minimal issues discovered & transparency from the listing agent (especially if inspections are available)

Lower population density

Higher Population density

Comparable sales don't substantiate list price

Comparable sales easily substantiate list price or more

​No improvements &/or significant deterioration since last sale & high Zestimate accuracy factors involved with list price above initial Zestimate price on 1st date of listing

​Many improvements since last sale & high Zestimate accuracy factors involved with list price below initial Zestimate price on 1st date of listing

Poor marketing

Excellent marketing (i.e. professional photos, aerials, virtual tour, highly detailed listing, placement in >99% MLS, etc.)

Low (i.e. <100%) average % contract price vs list price for area

High (i.e. >100%) average % contract price vs list price for area

Listing agent has typically below asking price sales

Listing agent has typically above asking price sales

To help illustrate the importance of market time, the time since the last substantive price reduction, and the time since the property has been back on the market, note the following differences in the same SE VA city, Suffolk, between a 0-1 day market time and a 60+ day market time, without even factoring in price reductions or properties that previously went under contract.

Here's the figures with 60+ day market time at the bottom 10% of the total #s:


With the top 10% of those #s, they don't mean as much as they would otherwise because they don't factor in price reductions and properties coming recently back on the market.

Let's compare the above with the bottom 10% of properties with a 0-1 day market time in the same time range and place:

As you can see above, the very bottom of the pack was a larger % vs list price versus the long market time numbers, and the bottom 10% even included properties that went at list price.


Real estate is seasonal, so keep in mind too that % sales price vs list price will tend to be lower in the Winter and higher in the late Spring/Early Summer:

Keep in mind with the graph above that time of contract is typically 1 month from closing, so January lows are typically from December contracts.



Tips on Below Asking Price Offers

Escalation Clauses on Below or Above Asking Price Offers

More Tips On Below Or Above Asking Price Offers

Importance of Buyer Brokerage Agreement Before Specific Offer Advice in VA


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