How to Negotiate When Buying a House (And When to Lowball)

by Brian Wittman

Somewhere along the way, buyers got told that a low offer is an insult. Here's what a low offer actually is: an argument. And arguments are won or lost on the receipts behind them, not on how polite the number looks.

How Do You Negotiate When Buying a House?

You negotiate from what the property's situation gives you, not from nerve. Three things create buyer leverage: what the home is worth against its comps, what it needs in condition, and how it's positioned, meaning how long it has sat relative to similar homes, whether it's vacant, and how it was priced. Read those three honestly and the negotiation mostly writes itself. And measure every move in the number that actually touches your life: the monthly payment, not the purchase price. Two offers that look identical on price can be hundreds of dollars apart per month depending on how they're structured, and that structure is the most under-negotiated thing in real estate.

Do You Even Have Leverage Right Now?

Depends what you're buying, because a "market" is not one thing. As of mid 2026, most of Chicagoland is a seller's market, and first-time buyers shopping entry-level resale homes are facing the toughest version of it, the kind I covered in how to buy in a seller's market. But leverage lives in pockets, and two are open right now. The first is the mispriced listing: in a market where comparable homes go in a weekend, the house sitting at 45 days is a one-property buyer's market, because time on market is the seller's problem, not yours. The second is new construction: new-build inventory is up year over year around here even while resale stays tight, and builders have started scaling back how much they're putting in the ground. Rising standing inventory plus slowing starts means builders are motivated on what's already built, and that window is real but not permanent.

How Do You Read a Seller's Position?

The average negotiation article says "look at days on market." The number itself is close to useless without context, so read everything relative to the comps. A high-end home sitting longer than other high-end homes nearby is probably overpriced; the same days-on-market count in a segment where everything sits is just Tuesday. Vacant matters: an empty house is usually a seller paying two housing payments, and every month you wait costs them real money. Even the staging tells you something: a home that's been professionally prepped and priced tight is a seller playing their market correctly, while an occupied, un-prepped listing priced off a wish is a seller who hasn't accepted their position yet, and the second one has more room in it.

I'll prove the framework from the other chair. When I sold my own home, I spent weeks removing every piece of leverage a buyer could have used against me: I listed well before we were ready to buy, giving up a few thousand in convenience, specifically so no buyer could squeeze me on a flexible closing, and I paid for a pre-sale inspection and handed it to every interested buyer so nobody could renegotiate me after we were under contract. That's what a prepared seller looks like. So when you tour a home and those levers are still lying around, unaddressed condition, awkward timeline, stale price, that's not rudeness waiting to happen. That's currency.

One clarification, because people conflate them: seller motivation doesn't create your leverage, the property's situation does. What motivation tells you is how to shape the offer. A seller who needs speed values your clean timeline more than your last $3,000; a seller who needs a leaseback values flexibility. Finding out what they need most and giving it to them cheaply is how you buy the things that cost them the most to give.

Is a Lowball Offer Ever Okay?

Here's where I break with the etiquette crowd: if your offer is built on the property's actual condition and the actual comps, there is no such thing as an insulting offer. A house that needs $40,000 of work priced like it doesn't is the thing being unreasonable, not the buyer who prices the work in. "How low is too low" is the wrong question, because the answer isn't a percentage, it's whether you can show your math. An offer 12 percent under ask with an inspection summary and three comps attached is an argument; the same number with nothing behind it is a coin flip that mostly annoys people. So make the low offer when the receipts support it, attach the receipts, name the why in plain language, and be genuinely ready to hear no, because a defensible offer that gets declined cost you nothing and sometimes gets a call back in three weeks when the market agrees with you.

What Can You Negotiate Besides Price?

Almost everything, and the best answers aren't price at all: closing costs, repairs or repair credits from inspection, the closing date, a rate buydown funded by the seller, a home warranty, appliances, and with new construction, upgrades and financing incentives that builders will move on long before they'll cut the sticker price. HOA dues themselves are set by the association and aren't negotiable, but who pays the transfer fees, upfront assessments, or the first months of dues absolutely is.

Now the part I stress with every buyer I sit with, because this is where the three lanes of my work meet: a seller credit and a price cut can net the seller the exact same dollar, and do wildly different things to your payment. Illustration with round numbers, example rates for illustration only: on a $400,000 loan at 6.4 percent, a $10,000 price cut saves you about $62 a month. That same $10,000 taken as a seller credit and used to buy down your rate can save roughly double that, month after month, for as long as you hold the loan, and the seller's net didn't change by a dollar. Which structure wins depends on your rate, your timeline, and how long you'll keep the loan, which is exactly why I wrote up how interest rate buydowns work and why the negotiation should start from what you're approved for versus what you can actually afford, not from the sticker. The question is never "what's the lowest price," it's what the next five to ten years need this payment to do. Most negotiations are fought over the wrong number.

Where Does Leverage End?

At the seller's walk-away point, and buyers who don't believe that line exists find it the expensive way. The part I left out of the seller's market article: after I went under contract at $425,000, my buyers came to inspection holding real leverage, a plumber's report claiming a major sewer problem. Legitimate issue to raise, and a credit conversation was absolutely available. Instead they used it to try to drag the deal all the way back to $400,000, past what the facts supported and past my walk-away point. I didn't counter my way down. I went back to my backup buyers, confirmed one would take the exact deal, canceled the contract, and closed a week later than originally planned at the same price. The buyers with the leverage got nothing but their earnest money story.

Two lessons from their side of it. Leverage is a tool for getting the deal right, and the moment you use it to win rather than to correct, you're betting the seller has no alternatives, and you can't see their alternatives. And the strength of your position is capped by what the evidence supports: they had a case for a repair credit and pushed for a repricing, so they lost both. Know your number, push to it, and respect that the other side has one too.

The Bottom Line

Negotiating a house isn't about courage or scripts. It's reading the property's position honestly, building the offer the math supports, shaping it around what the seller needs most, and fighting over the monthly payment instead of the sticker. Do that and you can make an aggressive offer without a moment of guilt, and know when to stop pushing before leverage turns into a lost house. If you're staring at a listing and trying to figure out what the situation actually gives you, that's a conversation I have with buyers every week, and I'm happy to run the read with you before you write anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a lowball offer, and how low is too low?

A lowball offer is one meaningfully below asking, often 10 percent or more. There's no universal "too low"; the real limit is what you can support with evidence. An offer backed by comps and documented condition is a position, whatever the percentage. A number pulled from hope is just a number.

Should you make a lowball offer on a house?

When the comps, the condition, or the time on market support it, yes, and without guilt. Attach your reasoning, keep the rest of your terms clean, and accept that no is a possible answer. A defensible low offer costs you nothing and occasionally gets a callback weeks later.

What can you negotiate besides price when buying a house?

Closing costs, repairs and credits, the closing date, seller-funded rate buydowns, home warranties, appliances, and on new construction, upgrades and financing incentives. Structure often matters more than price: a seller credit toward your rate can beat a same-sized price cut on monthly payment, at no extra cost to the seller.

Can you negotiate HOA fees when buying a house?

Not the dues themselves; those are set by the association. But transfer fees, upfront assessments, and who covers the first months of dues can all be negotiated into the contract like any other cost.

Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market right now?

That's local, and it's segmented. As of mid 2026, most Chicagoland resale is a seller's market, hardest at entry level, while new construction carries rising inventory and more motivated builders. Check days on market against comps in your exact segment before assuming which market you're in.

Licensed through Real Broker LLC (IL License #475.164962).

This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial, legal, or real estate advice. Consult with a licensed professional for guidance specific to your situation.