Price matters, but the contract details decide who wins
If you are making an offer, the decision is how aggressive your terms need to be to get a yes without overpaying. In Richmond, VA, I use the recent close-to-asking performance as the baseline, then I tighten terms only where it actually changes the seller's risk.
Here is the constraint I plan around based on the previous thirty days recent offers in Richmond, VA landed at about 99.8% of asking last month, and a typical median home took 30 days last month to move from list to contract. The practical impact is that a seller is not training themselves to expect large discounts, and they are getting decisions within a defined window. Some metrics were not reported for this period. Still, that combination tells me your leverage is created by certainty and clean execution, not by swinging for a major price reduction. Write an offer that feels inevitable shorten decision points you control and remove avoidable friction so the seller can say yes quickly. Use the recent 99.8% of asking as your guardrail to avoid bidding against yourself with a price that is disconnected from what buyers just paid. Commit to a tight contract-to-close calendar that aligns with a typical deal pace, then keep your contingencies clear and specific so you do not create fear for the other side.
