Price is only one line of the decision
You are deciding whether to take the first offer or hold out because you do not want to leave money on the table. My guidance in Colonie, NY is to judge an offer against what the market actually paid and how long homes typically took to move.
Here is the constraint I plan around in January 2026 offers landed about 94.2% of asking in Colonie, NY single family plus condo/townhouse/apt., and a typical sale took 31 days. Supply was also reported at 0.92 months in January 2026, with a typical closed price of $290,000. The practical impact is that your best outcome is rarely about squeezing the last dollar out of one line item. Some metrics were not reported for this period, but January 2026 clearly gives us a baseline for what buyers were willing to pay relative to asking and the pace at which deals moved in Colonie, NY. Screen each offer against the January 2026 reality that buyers, on average, did not pay full asking 94.2% of asking, then decide what improvements in terms would compensate for that gap. Set a decision deadline that respects the typical 31-day sale timeline in January 2026 so you do not drift into a slow, uncertain negotiation. If you counter, counter cleanly tighten the strongest term you care about and keep your price tied to the $290,000 typical closed anchor from January 2026.
