Are low-ball offers a good idea?
Any offer can be presented, but a low-ball one that is extremely less than the asking price can dampen a prospective sale and prevent the seller from negotiating at all. Unless the home is overpriced to begin with the offer will probably be rejected. Do your homework before making an offer. Compare prices of recently sold homes and new listings in the neighborhood. It also helps to know something about the sellers motivation. A lower price with a speedy closing, for example, might motivate a seller who must move, has another house under contract, or must sell quickly for other reasons. Also recognize that while your low offer in a normal market might be rejected at once, it might motivate the seller in a buyers market to either accept it or make a counter-offer. Can you negotiate interest rates? A few lenders will negotiate the mortgage rate and number of points on a loan. However, this is more the exception than the rule with established lenders. As always, shop around and know the ma
