How much should I offer on a house?

Take three to five sales of genuinely comparable properties within the last six months. Adjust for meaningful differences: square footage, finished basement, garage, lot, and condition at the time of sale.

The result is a range, not a single number. Your offer starts inside that range, and where inside it depends on the next two steps.

A roof at the end of its life, a failing heating system or outdated electrical service are not negotiating tactics — they are costs the next owner absorbs. Price them at real replacement cost, not at a discount you hope the seller accepts.

Where a cost cannot be confirmed before the offer, name it and reserve the right to renegotiate after inspection rather than guessing high or low.

Days on market, price reductions, the original list price and whether the seller has already bought elsewhere all say something about flexibility. A property that has sat for ninety days after two reductions is a different negotiation from one listed on Thursday.

Terms carry value too. A shorter closing window, a larger deposit or a cleaner contingency structure can be worth more to a motivated seller than the last few thousand dollars of price.

Decide the highest number you would pay before you start negotiating, and write down why. Competitive situations are designed to move that number, and the only reliable defense is having set it in advance.

An offer strategy with three points — opening, likely settlement and walk-away — keeps you deliberate when the response comes back in an hour.