negotiating a price

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I am looking at a home 3bd 2bth 1400 sq feet. new plumbing good electrics nothing major wrong with it just outdated. Comps are 60-70k. appraised value 39,148. Listed value 40k. exit strategy live in the house and sell it when i leave texas in 2yrs (military). He went with a realtor, he's a motivated seller willing to negotiate the price. i would like to offer 25k to see what he counters with. been on the market for about 2months now. it's in a neighborhood that just keeps getting better. what do you all think of this? im going in nothing down VA loan seller pays closing(if i can get that at negotiation). Im unsure about bidding for 25k but i would feel comfortable wtih 10k to fix things up a bit at first and then rest would come out of pocket as i live there. so im looking for him to counter wtih 30k. maybe offer 30 and he pays closing im unsure... i also had a chance to talk wtih the guy he has 4 properties on the market and i seemed to connect with him during conversation.