You may not control the market, but you can control how disciplined you are inside it.
If you are trying to figure out whether buyers still have room to negotiate in West Lafayette, IN, the answer is yes, but only with the right targets. Recent offers came in at 97.8% of asking, which tells me there is some space between list price and contract price. At the same time, this is still classified as a seller's market, so leverage exists more in selection and discipline than in lowball strategy.
The first thing I would focus on is the split between active and sold pricing. Last month, the typical asking price was $464,900, while the typical sold price was $405,000. That tells me not every seller is hitting the number they start with, and that creates openings for buyers who know how to identify homes priced above what the market is actually closing.
Pace matters too. A typical sale took 37 days over the previous 30 days, and supply stood at 2.27 months. That is not a market where buyers can drift, but it is also not one where every decision has to be made in a panic. In West Lafayette, IN, I would stay decisive without becoming reactive. That is a meaningful difference.
Target the homes where price and condition feel misaligned. Keep your offer grounded in the recent closing range instead of the seller's opening position. Write clean terms when the home is right, and walk away quickly when the price does not match what the market has been accepting.
