negotiation question

[Robert Niosi]

Hi BP,

I recently spoke with a seller who dropped their sale price 14k below the original sale price when I asked for them to give me their rock-bottom price.

I have let it set for a few days trying to decide if the numbers work and they don't. 

They sent me a followup asking if I had considered their price. I have decided it's still way to high to make a profit. 

How would you go about trying to negotiate even lower? They stated it's their rock-bottom but they most likely have no other offers and seem motivated to sell.

Any advice on an approach to further negotiation would be much appreciated!

[Cheryl Packham]

I am not sure of the situation, however, you may be able to make the price lower without lowering the purchase price.  Perhaps there are some repairs involved that are making your numbers not work.  Tell them I will accept your price if you give me $XXX for repairs and cover $XXX in closing costs.  That way they still feel like they are getting what they want but they understand their are other costs to the transaction that they maybe haven't considered.  Explaining to them where you need to be for the deal to work for you may go a long ways, especially if they are expecting to get hit with a bunch of repair requests during the inspection period.