In a recent comment thread, Reno Ignoramus referenced my 96%  sale-to-list price ratio when representing buyers. This is a number I published some time ago on my website. Honestly I haven’t updated this figure in quite a while, but based on my latest fishing expeditions with clients, I knew it had to be lower at this point. So I went back through my first quarter resale buy-side closings for the year. These days I’m down to 92% on sale-to-list ratio.

Just so you know, I don’t make willy-nilly lowball offers with clients, because they’re generally a waste of time. What I do is assess each situation strategically on a case-by-case basis. When submitting a lower-than-asking offer, I thoroughly research the situation: talk to the other agent, google the owners, discern the seller’s motivation, run a property history to determine true time on the market, ask about showing activity, find out the results of other offers if there were any, and ask about seller financial constraints, etc.

Then I write a detailed cover letter to submit with the offer that includes market statistics, comparable sales and industry trends that support the price we’re offering. I present the buyers as good people who will take care of the property, but I also introduce the seeds of doubt, based on current market conditions, as to whether or not they’ll ever sell the property. Again, market data is key here. The object is to submit the lowest possible offer, yet still get them to talk back.

Sometimes, this strategy works miraculously, and the sellers just accept. This is most exciting for first-time buyers who can save $30K, just for asking. That’s a year’s salary for some! But even when you knock off $50K for a seasoned client, that can still mean a giant plasma TV, a new kitchen, a whole lot of decorating or a year’s college tuition and expenses. Saving clients big money is my personal holy grail as a buyer’s agent.

But not every offer ends in success. Sometimes the sellers just aren’t ready to participate. They haven’t been on the market long enough, their price expectations far exceed the reality of the market, or they themselves are just fishing to see what they can get. Sometimes you get into a multiple bidding situation with a foreclosure, and the bank ends up selecting a competing party based on their down payment, their credit score or the fact that the listing broker brought the buyer so the bank can further cut the total commission and thus save money. Once in a while, a seller doesn’t respond, so you just move on.

Some homes are extremely well-priced and warrant a full-priced offer. Others are priced okay, but the buyers are less emotionally attached in an unsettled environment, so they offer what they think the property is worth based on market dynamics. Many more properties (90% of them in Reno-Sparks) are currently overpriced and just won’t sell any time soon. That’s the reality of today’s market.

Key to being a good Realtor is decoding the buyer mindset. Love the house? Must have it? Then be aggressive for as little as possible. Not sure? Like it but don’t want to overpay? Throw something at the wall. If it sticks, it’s destiny. If not, we’ll find something better. These are the kinds of conversations I have with buyers every day. But the one thing to remember about offering less is that if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

Deceleration brings instability, in physics as in markets. I think we need to be alert and flexible as professionals to make the most of an uncertain environment.