Making our first offer - what is the current protocol

[Alex Hochberger]

I bought my house in the pre-crash boom. Back then, there was a push to put in full price offers, but we put in a lowball on a house that had sat (and needed a rehab).

The market we're looking in appears to have softened a bit (we're seeing price drops), but it remains "moving." So we have a virtual tour of the house arranged for later this week when our agent is back in town, and we plan to put in an offer, here is my question:

Is putting in a lower offer still a valid way to get a conversation going?

How fast can we expect the back and forth go? Should we expect a rapid counter offer? Last time we did this, people were still scratching things off on paper forms and faxing them around.

Thanks in advanced!