A seller may take a 5% haircut in the offer. I know if a house in foreclosure, and they finally got an offer 3 days before auction. The offer was 4% below asking price.
Sakina was right about seller expectations. They are still high, based on current sales.
The longer you wait, the more desperation is in the air, the more you can negotiate.
If you must have a house now, make an offer, but if you can wait, time will reward you.
Another thought: before making an offer on a house, make sure you have picked 4 houses you like. NEVER get yourself married to a particular house. That destroys your negotiating ability, your willingness to walk away. If you have 4 ready offers, and the 1st one doesn’t accept your offer, go on to house #2, and so on. Let each seller know you have 4 houses you like, and that will keep them from making a counter. The seller will know if they make a counter offer that you don’t like, you can abandon their house and go on to one of the others.
