Your plan should reflect what homes are actually closing for.
You are trying to decide how to interpret asking prices when you look at homes, because you do not want to start negotiations from a false anchor. My recommendation treat list price as a marketing number and use recent closing behavior to set your real target.
In Louisville, CO recently, offers were closing around 97.2% of asking last month.
In Louisville, CO recently, offers were closing around 97.2% of asking last month.
Looking at recent closed numbers, the negotiating signal was clear recent deals closed at about 97.2% of asking last month. Over that same recent period, a typical sold price was $830,000 and a typical list price was $849,000.
The practical impact is that you should not assume every seller will accept a big haircut just because a list price feels high. Some metrics were not reported for this period. Still, when closings are averaging 97.2% of asking, buyers in Louisville, CO do best when they separate "what I would love to pay" from "what it will take to win this specific home."
Calibrate your target range before you fall in love with a house compare the asking price to the last month typical closed level of $830,000 and use that as your reality check. Ask for the terms that create value without inflating your price, such as a closing timeline that works for you, or repair requests that are clearly supported by the home condition. Keep your decisions consistent if you are offering below asking, make sure you can justify it with a real reason, because the market is still closing close to list on average.
