The process of buying and selling real estate is always a matter of negotiation. Offers and counter offers are the norm. Do not be afraid to offer less than the asking price. The goal of the bank is to realize enough cash through the sale to satisfy the unpaid balance of the mortgage principal. In a slow market, they may even be willing to take a small loss in order to turn the property to cash.

Good luck with your offer.

THEY CAN ASK WHATEVER THEY WANT
FIND OUT WHATS OWED ON THE HOUSE AND MAKE AN OFFER

Many sellers are asking for huge prices for their homes the sake of asking..

They think that people will simply pay for homes that they cannot afford just because. Those days are gone. People are more educated now. It’s very simple, if you make $50,000 a year, you can only afford a 200,000 home ($1500 monthly mortgage ) with no money down and 6.5 % interest. Period. If you nevertheless go ahead and buy a $300K-500K home instead, you will simply won’t be able to make the payment since you have to consider your other bills that often add up to at least $1,500 month and you have to pay property tax on home , which often run to $400-800 per month..Not to mention if you have a car payment.

So here’s my proof using a fannie may mortage calcualtor:
with a 50,000 gross income, that equal to about $3,000.00 Net pay a month. So, if you buy that $300 k home, your mortgage will be about $2,627.24 per month plus your other bills such as your Phone/Bill/Cell/Cable/Gas/Food, etc that equals about $2,000.00 Per month (Yes. that is right..Just add your bill and you will see)

Net Monthly Income = +3,000.00
Less Bills -2000.00
Less Mortgage – $2,627.24 (0 down 6.5 % 30 yr fix)
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- $1,627
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So, you will have about $1,627 more expenses a month than your income is bringing. So, it’s a simply arithmetic that you will lose that home eventually.