First Time Negotiating, Tips?

[Travis Quickel]

So after alot of research and forum scrolling.. I may have a possible first deal tomorrow..a little 3 bed 1 bath 1200sq ft. Not in a war zone particularly but def class C. 25k ARV, guessing 5 or 10k in upgrading the place.. But it's able to rent right now. The seller is an 80 yo man that seems pretty motivated to get rid of the rental house he's had for 25 years, the tenants are just moving out now. He said he wanted 25k for it and bought it for that but the tax records say $1.. In the terms of negotiating.. I feel like I could put it under contract for 10k and be safe to make some money, and I'm under the impression you want to start below the amount you want to get, but I feel like offering anything under 10 he's just gonna laugh and walk away? What would you guys do? I planned on kinda mapping out to him how I got to the 10 thousand mark because I think I need a reason why he should give it to me at a certain price. BTW I don't lie so that's out of the picture