When writing an offer, I mean a low ball offer. The point earlier on offers helping push up prices and creating a bidding situation I agree with. That is why one of my rules is to immediately withdraw if another offer is comming in. Or that was one of my rules.

What I think now is that it would have been good to write a low ball offer anyway, if that is what my offer really was. If another offer is really in, they will just ignore mine and it should not push the price up. If they were bluffing, they have mine on the table and even if they reject it, at least they know have a better idea of what the market will offer for the house. At some point, as would have happened in the cases I described, the seller will see that my offer was actually the best one they had, after it is too late of course.

Either way. I have a price I am willing to pay for each house and I stick to it. Where that falls compared to the asking price or what the seller is willing to accept I can not control, so to speak.

If I find the house I want listing at the price I am willing to pay for it, I will pay asking. If I think it is slightly under priced, I will pay above asking to get it. I did that once, or tried to anyway. But once the seller wants more than I am willing to pay, I need not play games, I just move on. With this kind of inventory, I can afford to.