Will Your Offer Get Accepted in a Hot Seattle Market?

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“What do you think a seller will accept for a fair price?” I get asked this all the time. In our current market, that is a particularly interesting question. 

If the home has been listed for a while, 5% below asking price is acceptable. You won’t ruffle any feathers. I’ve done investment real estate for a long time, and if a property has been on the market for more than a month or two, most of the sellers are happy to receive any offer on their home at that point. Even if it’s a lowball offer, they’ll counter. You don’t lose anything with a lower offer.

However, if a home has only been on the market a couple days, that’s where things get challenging. Multiple offers are common, and I recently lost a home for one of my clients. This was a beautiful property in a top school district. We were up against 13 offers over asking price, and we lost to a buyer who offered all cash and waived the inspections. There’s not much you can do in that case.

Ultimately, it depends on what you’re going for. If a home has been on the market for a while, usually there’s a reason for that. If we’re smart about it, we can find out what that reason is. Maybe the seller doesn’t want to repaint the house. If that's not a deal killer for you, we can most likely negotiate something with the seller.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!