I used to tell my buyers and sellers that an offer, any offer, within 10% of the listed price was an offer worth talking to. Note, I did not say worth accepting, but worth opening a dialogue.
In today's market, that has changed.
I showed a property to clients recently, and they like the home. It's listed right around $500,000, and the buyers wondered out-loud whether it made any sense to put an offer together around $450,000, and then they looked at me with raised-eyebrows, waiting for my input.
Ordinarily this is where I'd roll out my hackneyed: "Any offer within 10% is worth talking to. Don't expect them to roll out the red carpet, but we'll know a great deal about their motivation with their first counter."
In today's market, however, I don't think that applies. I know that we had to shoe-horn ourselves in, because they had showings scheduled all day. Properties in this price range, in good condition, are rare in my marketplace. So the liklihood that we would find ourselves in multiple offers is strong.
It's very possible, coming in 10% below list price, that we won't get a counter at all. In fact it's very possible we might not be included in the call for highest and best. So my counsel, today, is that unless we're prepared to bring in a very clean offer, full-price (or higher)... we might just as well move on to the next property.
Today's market has become unhinged.
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