What should I not negotiate when buying a home?

Negotiation is a normal part of buying a home, but how you negotiate matters just as much as what you negotiate. In my experience as a California Realtor, here are a few things buyers should avoid: Making unrealistic low offers without market support. A very low offer can offend a seller and may cause them to reject your offer without making a counteroffer. Requesting repairs for minor cosmetic issues. It's usually better to focus on significant health, safety, or structural concerns identified during the inspection. Asking for everything at once. Requesting a large price reduction, extensive repairs, seller credits, and personal property can make the offer seem unreasonable. Ignoring the seller's priorities. Sometimes a flexible closing date or rent-back agreement is more valuable to the seller than a slightly higher purchase price. Making demands outside the contract. Your Realtor should communicate professionally through the terms of the purchase agreement rather than informal requests that can create confusion. Negotiations should never be based on a person's race, religion, national origin, disability, family status, or any other protected characteristic. The goal isn't to "win" every negotiation—it's to reach an agreement that works for both parties. A respectful, well-supported negotiation often leads to a smoother transaction and a better chance of getting your offer accepted.

Hi Rodrigo, do not nickel and dime is the right instinct, and here is the specific list behind it. These are the moves that sour sellers or kill deals outright: - Cosmetic items discovered at the inspection. Scuffed paint, worn carpet, an older but working water heater. The inspection is for surprises about condition and safety, not a second bite at the price for things you could see at the showing. Sellers read cosmetic repair requests as bad faith, and it poisons the rest of the escrow. - Small-dollar items in general. Fighting over a few hundred dollars on a transaction this size costs you goodwill you may badly need later when you ask for something that matters. - The seller's personal property as a demand. Asking nicely whether the patio set is available is fine. Making the washer and dryer a sticking point in a competitive situation is not. - Re-opening agreed terms late in escrow without a new reason. Nothing erodes trust faster. If nothing changed, your ask should not change. - Lowballing and then improving in tiny increments. Some sellers will simply stop responding and take the next offer. If you want the house, open respectably. Now, where you SHOULD spend your negotiating capital: genuine health and safety findings, roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, sewer line, and anything expensive you could not have known before inspection. On those, ask confidently, and credits are often cleaner than repairs because you control the work afterward. One more: do not negotiate away protections to look tough on price. Keeping your inspection and appraisal contingencies is usually worth more than the last few thousand dollars. I am a real estate professional working Los Angeles and the South Bay. For San Diego I am glad to connect you with an excellent local agent from my network who negotiates this way every week. Zoltan

In this competitive market, only negotiate the major and habitable items. Nickle and diming the seller will almost certainly terminate a deal. Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Don't sweat the small stuff—it kills deals. Never negotiate cosmetic flaws (like ugly paint or carpet) or personal property (furniture and curtains). You saw those when you made the offer, and nitpicking them makes you look difficult. Most importantly, if you are buying "As-Is," do not ask for credits on systems that are simply old. The inspection is for finding broken things (like a leak), not for getting a free upgrade on a working 15-year-old AC unit.

Hi Carlos! Everything is negotiable when buying a house. Some sellers state "as is" however it never hurts to ask.

Your Realtor should be able to advise you on the current market conditions, and whether a lower offer is acceptable or not. That being said, some things to consider when putting in an offer are whether or not the items that you would need to pass a 4pt inspection are in good working order. Those items are the roof, plumbing, electrical and HVAC. If these items are older and would potentially prevent you from obtaining homeowners insurance, due to the age and/or condition of them I would consider putting an offer to offset those costs.